Surviving the Game as a Barbarian-Chapter 527: Giant Island (6)

Ka-waaaang—! Kwang—! Kwang—!

Not only were black spheres pouring down, but when one stuck tightly to my body, it threw the giant off balance, causing him to fall forward.

Kuuung—!

Once again, a cloud of dust billowed up.

[“Wuuuuuuuuugh—!”]

“Behel—laaaaaa!!”

Amid the chaos, I struck the back of his head with my hammer, grabbed his ankle and lifted him up, then slammed him back to the ground repeatedly, doing everything I could to keep him down.

“Wh-what kind of fight is this...?”

“Armin, should we step in?”

“Let’s watch for now...”

After fighting like mad, how much time had passed?

「Elwen Fornaci di Tersia has cast [Concentrated Shot].」

Elwen’s arrows scattered fierce light.

It meant that by now, she had summoned the Spirit King, used up all her MP, triggered [Chaos Circuit], and fully charged [Concentrated Shot]—at least a minute had passed.

—————!

As the arrow flew, the entire world turned white.

And then...

[.........!!]

Right in the middle of the giant’s forehead.

Where a human’s brow would be, the light pierced through and made a huge hole.

“...Is it done?”

However, unlike the explorers watching from afar, I didn’t allow myself complacency.

He was still a monster who might have unknown passives.

Among monsters, some are so tough they survive even after their heads are chopped off—

“Huh, he’s moving...!”

Huh, I knew it.

[“Wuuuuuuuuugh—!!”]

The giant with a hole in his head roared in pain and crouched down on the ground.

The same posture as when I first saw him sleeping.

Thanks to that, I learned a new skill.

Unfortunately, not about his passive...

「Hiphramagent has cast [Crouch].」

I never expected him to have this skill.

I quickly gave orders.

“Stop attacking!”

There was a simple reason.

It would only harm us to keep hitting him in this state.

「For 3 minutes, all resistances increase by 20 times.」

「For 3 minutes, natural regeneration increases by 20 times.」

「During [Crouch], all stats massively increase based on the damage absorbed until the end of combat.」

In effect, an invincible skill.

One of the active skills used by ogres, the most troublesome during ogre raids.

But it has a fatal flaw for tanks.

[Crouch] is undoubtedly an S-rank survival skill...

But when a tank falls asleep and wakes up, there’s usually no teammates left.

Of course, monsters are an exception.

One minute, two minutes...

Over time, new flesh began to cover the hole in his head.

And at exactly three minutes, he slowly rose from his crouch.

He was already fully regenerated.

[“Wuuuu...!!”]

The awakened giant tried to run again.

But...

“No way.”

The shackle locked on his ankle during his crouch.

The restraining magic from the psychic and the mage.

And with my active interference repeatedly blocking him, he steeled himself.

Ka-waaaang—!

Giving up escape, the Hiphramagent charged recklessly as if to kill or be killed.

Only now did it feel like a proper raid.

In battle, the ‘threat’ value was properly applied and aggro was firmly on me.

“Attack!”

Dozens of explorers from various formations started dealing damage actively, and he countered with all sorts of active skills.

「Hiphramagent has cast [Roar of Doom].」

「Hiphramagent has cast [Gravity Field].」

Wide-area damage and crowd control spells written in the chief’s book.

Because we had prepared countermeasures, the damage from these skills was negligible.

Whi-u-u-u-uung—!

Meteors falling from the sky were guarded by the mages’ barriers.

The aura [Gravity Field], which pulls enemies within range with a certain probability, was promptly countered by rescuing all explorers dragged in, minimizing damage.

「Muul Armin has cast [Sensitive Skin].」

「The target receives 30% increased damage.」

「Jackson Zanville has cast [Moving Target].」

「Next attack against a moving target deals triple damage.」

「Noir Merbochi has cast [Precision Shot]...」

「...」

After over ten minutes of dozens attacking, the giant revealed a new skill.

But again, it wasn’t a passive...

「Hiphramagent has cast [Body Compression].」

A transformation skill.

Unlike [Gigantism], his body shrank to half size, but with corresponding buffs for the smaller size—a Grade 3 skill.

‘Even using that, he’s still bigger than me.’

Having tested this skill combined with [Gigantism], handling it wasn’t too difficult.

“Stop attacking!”

We simply ignored him.

Unlike [Gigantism], this skill has a fixed duration.

Ka-waaaang—!

The giant’s fist, now twice as strong and fast.

But I pulled all the melee fighters off to the back, lightening their load, and faced him alone.

Kwachik-!

Each hit shattered bones, but...

Shwaa-a-a-a—!

Our expedition had healers.

One priest and one healer. freēnovelkiss.com

Their focused care and the special stat ‘Restoration’ boosted healing effects, so even when my body was shattered in real time, I recovered quickly.

Well, sharp pain was a different matter.

“Aaaaahhhhh!!”

This was just about holding on with grit and spirit.

「[Body Compression] has ended.」

After some time, the berserk pattern [Body Compression] ended and the giant returned to normal size.

Then the melee dealers came forward again and dealt heavy damage.

Kuung-!

One ankle was completely shattered; the giant knelt down.

From then on, melee dealers aimed for his weak points.

The giant was battered and bruised.

“Almost there!”

“Don’t let your guard down till the end!”

The expedition members looked confident as the tide clearly turned, but I was anxious.

It had already been 25 minutes.

‘[Crouch]’s cooldown was 30 minutes.’

In just five more minutes, he would use [Crouch] again.

Then we’d have to repeat this all over...

At that point, the raid should be considered a failure.

Since he used all his MP this time, it would take much longer to reduce his HP again.

‘We know we can’t kill him without enough damage, so next time, we’ll definitely get him... but still, failing like this is frustrating.’

Is it time to bring out that skill?

My hesitation was brief; the decision was even quicker.

“Misha! Emily! Combine!”

Unfortunately, the two who were fighting for top melee DPS in our team didn’t understand me.

“...Huh? C-combine?”

Misha was flustered, holding her twin greatswords, and Amelia looked at me from afar like I’d gone mad.

Come on, they should have gotten it with a nod.

“Enough talking. Come here!”

Still, they stopped what they were doing and ran over.

So I showed them instead of explaining.

You can’t hold anything new while gripping something.

First, I dropped my hammer and shield.

“Eh?”

“What are you doing...!”

With my free hands, I grabbed Misha’s and Amelia’s waists.

Then...

Swish.

I held them like twin swords in both hands and took a stance.

I called it Barbarian Samurai Mode.

“Yandel... you don’t mean...!”

Amelia was beginning to realize what I planned.

“Just keep your auras on. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Stop that! What nonsense—!”

“Misha, you’re holding the swords well.”

“Uh? Okay!”

Alright, with their consent secured, I swung Misha’s Sword and Amelia’s Sword seriously.

Why couldn’t they land critical hits before?

Because the giant was so big, they were stuck stabbing below.

But...

‘This changes everything.’

Poke—!

The Amelia Sword in my right hand sank deep into the giant’s flesh. The dagger was short, but its aura lengthened considerably, so it didn’t matter.

Besides, it wasn’t just one sword.

Swoosh—!

The Misha Sword in my left hand scratched across the giant’s neck.

Its cutting power was less than Amelia’s sword, but Misha’s sword had a special advantage.

Misha’s sword had the ice attribute.

Jjjjjit—

A cold ice film spread over the wounded area.

Hitting the same spot again shattered the ice film, opening the wound wide.

When I hit him with the hammer earlier, he barely flinched.

‘Is this... a dealer’s sense?’

From below my solar plexus, something hot surged.

“Behel—laaaaaa!!”

I shouted without holding back, swinging the swords in both hands.

Then suddenly, I realized something.

Wait a minute.

Misha has twin swords, Amelia has twin daggers...

“Dual-wield style...?”

Muttering this, Amelia’s sword suddenly showed murderous intent toward me.

“...I’ll kill you.”

Tch, cursed sword, huh.

Though I worried about the aftermath, Amelia faithfully lit her aura in time with my swings and, even just brushing close, moved her arms actively, slashing the daggers vigorously.

One minute, two, three...

[“Wuuuuu—.”]

The giant, slashed mainly on neck and heart, finally...

Ku-uuuung-!

With a roar, he collapsed to the ground.

About 40 seconds left until [Crouch]’s cooldown ended.

Swish.

I hurried to finish it off with the Amelia Sword.

“...Why did I stop?”

When I paused mid-swing, Amelia asked in confusion.

I didn’t answer.

“...”

Just as I thought we only had to capture him, a thought struck me.

There are two types of monsters ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ on Basement 1.

Regular monsters that drop magic stones and essences.

And special monsters that leave corpses upon defeat.

Hiphramagent belonged to the latter.

But...

‘Why do monsters that drop magic stones and essences sometimes leave corpses if hit by distortion magic?’

By the way, even mages can’t fully explain how distortion magic works.

Like how ancient people struck flints to make fire.

They simply use the phenomenon without fully understanding it.

That’s why I became curious.

‘What would happen if I cast distortion magic on a monster that leaves a corpse?’

It seemed worth experimenting.

After all, we already had plenty of corpse samples.

“Versil, cast distortion magic!”

I urgently gave the order, and soon a transparent membrane covered the giant’s body.

Seeing that, I swung both Amelia Sword and Misha Sword simultaneously.

Poke—!

The moment all four blades pierced in, the giant’s body slackened as he gasped sharply.

Then...

Shwaa—

The giant’s body turned into a swirling light and scattered.

「Hiphramagent has been defeated.」

「No.9999 Beginner’s Luck activated.」

Right after the massive body of Hiphramagent turned to light and vanished,

No sensation of experience flowing in came.

But something dropped from empty air.

Thunk.

A fist-sized huge magic stone.

But no one paid attention.

Why bother with some magic stone?

“...An essence.”

“An essence...!”

An essence dropped.

Could it be that Beginner’s Luck had triggered?

I only wanted to see whether the corpse would disappear, but didn’t expect essence to drop too.

“Everyone, fall back!!!!!”

I shouted sharply, and the melee warriors who had been approaching the essence like hypnotized pulled back with a start.

“Ah, no, I was just watching...”

“Enough, fall back!”

Thanks to my loud order, the area around the essence quickly cleared.

I calmed myself and organized my thoughts.

It was good that essence appeared, but a bit disappointing.

‘It’s not green... no...’

The Orc Hero’s [Gigantism] essence was green, so this probably wasn’t [Gigantism].

‘If it’s dark blue... maybe it’s [Crouch].’

What should I do?

Put it in a test tube and think about it?

‘Hmm, maybe I should give it to Ainard... but since I don’t know the passive, it’s risky.’

I hesitated.

[Crouch] itself fits Ainard perfectly.

It could fix the barbarian’s chronic survival problem...

‘If Ainard eats it, I could experiment on what the passive is and the basic stats attached to the essence...’

With Immortal Engraving level 9, combos would be possible too.

So it’d save money on the test tube if I gave it now...

Ugh, what should I do?

“Ainard!”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want this essence?”

First I checked the doctor’s opinion, and as expected, he answered immediately.

“...Y-yes!!!”

“We still don’t know what the soul skill or base stats are.”

“Still, I want it!!”

Well... if the passive or stats are bad, he can remove it later at the temple.

I already had a rough guess about the passive.

“Fine, it’s yours.”

“Really!!?”

“Everyone okay with this?”

I asked the Armin Expedition, who held a 30% share of the loot, but Muul Armin showed no objection.

“The priority is with the baron.”

“Glad to hear that.”

“Even if not, it would be the same.”

“Huh?”

“...We’re not so shameless.”

Why did his confidence suddenly drop like that?

I don’t know, but since the essence’s owner was decided, no reason to drag it out.

“Bjorn... c-can I eat it now...?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

When I nodded, Ainard excitedly ran over and absorbed the essence.

「The [Hiphramagent’s Essence] seeps into Ainard Fnelin’s soul.」

And so Ainard Fnelin learned [Crouch].