chapter 19
< 5. The Strongest Challenger (2) >
gargoyle. A sense of pride that appears only in the second half of the 10th floor. It was not comparable to the elite monsters that appeared on the same floor, but it was a monster armed with a very tricky pattern and strong skin.
In particular, the material was a problem. A gargoyle is literally a living stone statue. Players whose main weapon is a sword or spear had to suffer because they could hardly inflict damage with blades.
Without a blunt weapon, there was only one way to damage the gargoyle. But ironically, that method was extremely difficult to accomplish without a blunt weapon. Especially if the level difference is over 10.
Securing a blunt weapon was the most urgent.
The gargoyle jumped off the pedestal and flew towards Andrea. Andrea quickly pulled herself away.
thud!
Due to its heavy weight, the act of taking it down was a threatening attack in itself. At the spot where the gargoyle landed, the tiles were already damaged and sunk.
The drawn cards are Attack, Defense, and Defense. Andrea used defense. Then he started running towards the podium at the end of the hall.
Every time I passed the colonnade, I could hear the sound of the stone statues creaking. It was the sound of the gargoyles waking up.
The gargoyles that had awakened first flapped their wings and flew up, chasing after Andrea. It felt very strange that the boulder was flying, but that flight was not lift, but magic.
Gargoyles rushing towards Andrea again.
thud!
This attack missed by one step. The shock of the floor sinking was vividly felt. Andrea ran without looking back.
Reaching the podium, Andrea opened the top of the podium as if opening a box. Inside it was a card.
It was a limited item that was deployed for capture.
‘[Rare] Hammer of the Earth Crusher (Equipment Card): A hammer modeled after the weapon of a giant that was said to cause an earthquake if struck once. Despite being an imitation, it had an overwhelming weight. (When attacking, a shock wave is generated with a 30% chance) (This card disappears when you leave the floor)’
‘I’m swearing at the thought of having had a hard time finding this.’
Read from noble mtl dot com
Not long after Jeonghyeon started playing the game, the floor where the gargoyles appeared was the Wailing Wall. It was because there weren’t that many cases of farming blunt weapons while climbing up.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t been crying and rolling over with mustard and kicking with a knife. However, even if I rubbed it with a strong force, the instant death pattern came out on the 32nd turn and I couldn’t stand it. After that, when Andrea met a gargoyle without a blunt weapon, she cursed the developer who designed the stage and quit the game without any regrets.
The discovery of the hammer was purely accidental. I narrowly avoided the gargoyle’s attack with my back to the platform, but the platform was destroyed. Jung-hyeon, who found the card while crossing the wreckage, had no choice but to curse the developer in a different way.
‘No, what if I hide the items necessary for the attack in a place like this without any hints?’
Anyway, after that, when I came to the floor with the gargoyles, the basic strategy was to run towards the platform. The Earth Crusher’s Hammer showed excellent performance against Gargoyles, enough to be called a Stone Crusher.
The problem is that Andrea’s strength is a heavy weapon that is difficult to handle.
Andrea summoned a weapon, but couldn’t dare to use it.
Andrea’s strength is now slightly above average for adults. However, he was unable to handle the Earth Shredder’s hammer. Even the head alone was a weapon that easily weighed over 40 kg, so it was not easy to lift it.
‘If I had reached this floor in a standard way, my strength would have been 30. But with 15 strength…’
Still, the situation was urgent, so I had to write even if it was overdoing it. The chasing gargoyles aimed at Andrea and stirred their feet. Andrea turned her upper body and used the centrifugal force to swing the hammer in her hand.
Boo-uh, bang!
The hammering deflected the gargoyles. Instead, the platform was completely destroyed. The gargoyle hesitated for a moment, as if surprised by its powerful destructive power. Andrea thought that if she continued swinging like this, her waist wouldn’t be left.
‘Damn it, I think Marco can wield this hammer without difficulty…’
It’s only been one floor since I was happy that I didn’t have to rely on summoning Marco, but eventually it seemed like I had to hold on until I summoned Marco again.
Looking back, the gargoyles that had just awakened were ready to attack. If it was an open space like this, it was clear that one-to-many unfavorable conditions would soon be created.
‘Come to think of it, there was a shovel that could be used on this floor.’
Andrea converted the hammer back into a card. And quickly ran towards the right corner of the hall.
In the corner, should I say the sewer, there was a secret passage that I could barely enter while bending over. At first glance, it seems impossible to enter because it is blocked by an iron plate.
Geek.
If you lift the iron plate like this, you can go inside. Unlike the glitch that went back to the waiting room from the first floor, this was a secret space prepared by the developer himself.
Andrea crouched down and went into the sewer. Then he took out his hammer again and put himself on alert.
Sure enough, the gargoyles came to the entrance of the sewer in no time. Andrea held out the hammer in her hand straight forward.
“Eat this.”
Kwa-ang!
A shockwave exploded. One gargoyle was hit with a hammer blow and half of its face was blown off, and the other had a broken forearm.
After falling out for a while, the enraged gargoyles tried to get into the sewer even more viciously. Andrea bent down and silently continued to hold out the hammer.
thud. thud. Kwa-ang!
The entrance was narrow, so the gargoyles couldn’t even get in, and they were hit by shockwaves and fell out. After a few more times, the gargoyles moved away from the sewers and stopped approaching.
It was fortunate for Andrea. His back ached, and his forearm holding the hammer trembled slightly. It was unreasonable to wield the hammer more now that all his strength was gone.
In the meantime, 3 turns have passed. Andrea saw the draw. Physical strength was also a problem, but this sap was nothing more than a waste of time anyway.
‘At turn 5, the gargoyles use a new pattern. At that point, you can no longer attack from hiding in the sewers. Before that, I have to summon Marco.’
The cards drawn are hit, mana boost, and hit. Andrea held her breath and waited for the next turn.
4th turn hit, hit, defense. Turn 5: Defend, Defend, Leap. Marco’s summons were not chosen.
The behavior of the gargoyles was unusual. Andrea already knew what was going to happen. Andrea rushed out of the sewers and hid behind the nearest colonnade.
The gargoyles flew into the sky and spewed fire.
Roaring!
‘Why are the non-dragon cubs breathing fire?’
This was the reason why I couldn’t use the sapphire hiding in the sewer for a long time. If the gargoyles had blown fire into the enclosed area, Andrea would have been grilled.
Even if it was better than the sewer, the hall was also not a good place to avoid gargoyles. If there was only one gargoyle, he would have hidden behind a column and avoided it, but there was no blind spot to avoid all six gargoyles’ attacks.
The gargoyles hadn’t thought about landing on the ground since they were able to breathe fire. Andrea was distracted from avoiding here and there.
Andrea decided to leave the hall. The hallway had a much lower ceiling than here. It would have been a much more unfavorable environment for gargoyles to fly.
I zigzag between the colonnades and managed to get past them until I reached the door leading to the hallway. However, a gargoyle was guarding the door like a gatekeeper.
A gargoyle crouching down with the momentum to engage in hand-to-hand combat without even breathing fire. Andrea didn’t have the confidence to survive being hit with stones and torso.
‘But if only that guy could pierce it… wouldn’t it be possible?’
Andrea had a strange idea. That was something I hadn’t even tried in the game. An attempt that is possible because it is a reality modeled after a game.
There was no time to worry. If it fails, then you should go and find another way. He took out a hammer card and held it between his fingers.
And at the same time as throwing the card, press the surface of the card to summon a hammer.
The card flew towards the gargoyle and turned into a heavy hammer. The hammer flew straight and hit the gargoyle’s torso.
bang!
Facing the massive kinetic energy of the hammer, the gargoyle shattered. Andrea cheered inwardly.
‘Is this going to happen?’
Retrieving the hammer by replacing it with a card, Andrea left the hall. The gargoyles, who had been watching from near the ceiling, followed Andrea to the hallway.
7 turns already. It was supposed to come out at this point. Andrea drew a card. There are a total of 4 cards, including Strike, Marco Summon, Strike, and Reserved Mana Amplification.
After gaining 2 extra mana from Mana Boost, Andrea used all the cards in her hand.
Marco, who appeared above the summoning circle, didn’t look too surprised anymore. He glanced around and spoke to Andrea in a weary voice.
“Okay, what should I grab now?”
“I’ll give you a hammer, so just knock those moving statues out of the railing. Oh, it breathes fire, so be careful.”
Andrea handed Marco the Earthbreaker’s hammer. Marco, who was handed the hammer without much thought, was momentarily taken aback by the weight that was much heavier than he thought.
“Which family cornerstone was this pulled out and made with a hammer?”
“Based on the size, it is probably a well-to-do family. coming!”
The gargoyles came over the corridor and tried to fly again. However, it did not even float as high as Andrea had intended and crashed into the low ceiling. Marco did not give the gargoyles a chance to come to their senses.
“Suck!”
bang!
A cool uplift that extends from the floor to the ceiling. One gargoyle instantly turned into porridge. Marco swung the hammer one after another, as if it wasn’t too heavy after using it.
bang!
thud!
Kwa-ang!
When the shock wave exploded, there was a vibration so loud that I was worried that the ceiling might collapse. The gargoyles’ limbs disintegrated in an instant and scattered like dust. Andrea was at a loss for words at Marco’s incompetence.
Even Marco was surprised. I had never thought of myself as weak in my life, but I had never thought of myself as this strong.
It is natural that the more you wield a weapon on the battlefield, the more tired you become. However, here, the more the weapon was used, the more powerful it felt. Marco went into a bizarre excitement and swung his hammer frantically.
The last remaining gargoyle decided that dealing with Marco was hopeless. The gargoyle instead rushed towards Andrea, who was hiding behind it.
Andrea had been watching the gargoyle from the beginning. The reason I stood precariously next to the railing was for the moment when the gargoyles attacked me.
I could see the trajectory of the gargoyle. Andrea narrowly avoided the attack by taking a step back.
The gargoyle, unable to stop its inertia, leaps out of the railing.
The gargoyle began to stumble upon being hit by a foggy rain. I couldn’t even flap my wings, and I couldn’t even dare to breathe fire. It looks like a mosquito that has been hit with insecticide.
The gargoyle’s weakness was water.
The gargoyle eventually fell into the fog without being able to climb back up into the corridor.
“Originally, I hit it with a hammer to get it out like this…”
Andrea turned her head to look at Marco, who stood tall among the rubble with his hammer on. It seemed hard to think of his pet any longer as an ordinary old man with a beard.
< 5. The Strongest Challenger (2) > End