Surviving the Game as a Barbarian - Chapter 796: Skull Island (3)
The moment the cave door shut and we were cut off from the outside—
Fwoosh—!
The sconces on the wall ignited all at once, expanding our field of view. Not that it lit up the whole area—anything past ten meters ahead was still pitch black…
“Rieate.”
Raven tossed a light orb into the darkness and looked intrigued.
“Oh, it really doesn’t light up. Magic still works, so it’s not being suppressed.”
He looked genuinely curious about the mechanism, but I didn’t care.
I’m not a scholar. I’m a player.
Trying to figure out the mechanics behind a field effect? What a joke.
「Your character has entered a special area.」
「Field Effect – Catacoma is now in effect.」
「Debuff: Severe Wound Aggravation applied.」
「Defeating monsters in this area will reduce a random stat by 1.」
「Countdown timer removed.」
「Only the light of the dead can banish the darkness.」
Inside this cave, light magic, torches, anything—none of it works to pierce the darkness.
I even tried using necromancy-style items due to the “light of the dead” keyword, but all of them failed.
So the only thing that can serve as a light source is the torches mounted to the wall.
Granted, those didn’t extend beyond the immediate area, but that wasn’t a problem.
Because monsters were about to start spawning.
“Ooh! Look! A skull-head over there!”
“Wait! Hold it, Ainard.”
The moment Ainard tried to charge forward at the sight of the monster, I stopped her quickly.
“Huh? What’s the problem, Bjorn?”
“From now on, all monsters will be handled by Ilia Adnus.”
Ainard still looked confused, but the Guildmaster immediately understood and gave a dry smile.
“You’re offering me up as a sacrifice, I see.”
“What sacrifice? You’re not even dying.”
“Understood. I shall willingly volunteer myself.”
Ugh. We all know what’s going on here.
He keeps using words like “sacrifice” just to make it sound more dramatic, doesn’t he?
I can’t say for sure, but Ilia Adnus drew his sword.
“A sword…? Isn’t he a bowman?”
Well, he uses a bow too.
To be exact, he’s a hybrid. His skill set isn’t very dependent on weapon type.
Shhk—!
The Guildmaster advanced toward the monster walking in from the shadows and cut down four of them with a single strike.
It wasn’t anything surprising.
The mobs in this zone average around Grade 7.
The combat itself isn’t difficult.
The problem is what comes after.
「Ilia Adnus’s natural regeneration has decreased by 1.」
「Ilia Adnus’s strength has decreased by 1.」
「Ilia Adnus’s flexibility has decreased by 1.」
「Ilia Adnus’s fire resistance has decreased by 1…」
The more mobs you kill here, the more your stats decrease.
Still, that doesn’t mean you can just skip them.
Fwoosh—!
“Ooh! Look, more torches lit up!”
Catacoma is designed so you can only proceed by continuously defeating monsters.
“Well, one thing’s for sure. Losing strength first really sucks.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
It was Raven who answered Ainard’s question.
“Every time you kill a monster here, a random sub-stat gets reduced.”
“Sub-stat…? What the hell is that?”
“Things you gain from essences or Gavrilius’s blessings. Strength, agility, resistances, that sort.”
“…What? That actually decreases?”
Ainard, who had been ready to charge in earlier, looked horrified. The Guildmaster gave a bitter smile.
“But someone has to take the hit, right?”
“…I respect you, Adnus…! Taking that burden for your comrades! You are a warrior worth trusting!”
“…Haha, thanks.”
To me, it looked like a bad comedy skit.
“Burden,” my ass. It’s not even permanent.
Once you leave this area, all accumulated debuffs vanish instantly.
Still, that doesn’t mean you can completely cheese the place.
“Even if it’s fine now, you should brace yourself mentally. Everyone I’ve talked to who went through this said it was an experience they never want to repeat.”
“Yeah, I guess if your stats drop to average human level, that emptiness must hit hard.”
“Probably. We mages wouldn’t really know though.”
“Huh? Then shouldn’t the mages just do the killing?”
Misha, who had been listening, tilted her head. Raven avoided her gaze.
“…I heard that mages lose mana here.”
“Huh? Then wouldn’t that make them just as miserable?”
“…”
Raven didn’t respond.
A rare sight, really.
Misha had managed to shut Raven up with logic.
“All right, enough chit-chat. Let’s move.”
It was a funny moment, but as the leader, I couldn’t let time be wasted. I cut them off and kept the expedition going.
「Ilia Adnus’s fire resistance has decreased by 1.」
「Ilia Adnus’s tenacity has decreased by 1.」
「Ilia Adnus’s soul power has decreased by 1.」
「Ilia Adnus’s soul power has decreased by 1…」
「…」
「…」
As we continued the dungeon crawl and the Guildmaster racked up more kills, his complexion grew steadily worse.
Where earlier he was slicing down four at once, he now struggled to take down even one at a time.
Which is exactly why I didn’t assign this role to Auyen.
This strategy requires a certain minimum stat threshold.
“Bjorn. Shouldn’t we help him out a bit…? He looks like he’s struggling. I mean, couldn’t the Guildmaster just land the final blow?”
Ainard spoke up with concern, but I shook my head firmly.
“Just watch.”
The fewer variables, the better.
If someone tries to help and accidentally lands the finishing blow, it defeats half the reason we came here.
So the only thing I could do for the exhausted Guildmaster was this—
“Phew…”
“Good work. Let’s keep moving.”
Choosing the correct path to minimize wasted movement.
“This way.”
Catacoma isn’t a straight corridor.
It’s more like a crystal cave—a winding maze. If you get lost here, your stats get wrecked and you won’t be able to handle the boss fight.
Of course, for an expedition with tons of sacrificial lambs, that wouldn’t matter.
“There’s the door!”
“Ooh! We finally made it!”
“What’s that thing in front of it?”
Eventually, the dungeon crawl brought us to the boss room.
‘317 mobs…’
That was the total number of monsters the Guildmaster had killed by the time we got here.
‘Okay, over 300. That meets the requirement…’
Without another glance, I immediately initiated the fight with the gatekeeper.
***
Killing the mid-boss was a bit of a hassle.
Honestly, Elwen could’ve just one-shot it with a fully charged arrow…
But that would’ve caused issues in the next phase.
So—
“…Adnus! Kill it now!”
“Ugh…! I’m trying! I’ve just taken on too many curses…”
“Yeah, yeah, just hurry!”
We whittled it down carefully until it was near-death, then held it in place so the Guildmaster could land the finishing blow.
And as a result—
「You have slain the Gravekeeper, Alleton. EXP +6」
「Bonus for defeating a rare variant. EXP +1」
The Guildmaster successfully landed the final hit, and the mid-boss vanished into light.
There was also a hidden piece here.
「A Cursed One has slain the Gravekeeper.」
「The curse of the vengeful spirit will not spread.」
Normally, when the Gravekeeper dies, the debuffs from the character with the most curses get shared with the entire party.
So the standard method is to rotate who lands the kills to balance the curse stacks. That’s what I used to teach back when I sold info.
Well, that woman didn’t even know a hidden boss existed.
No reason to tell her that letting one person take all the curses prevents the spread.
“No essence drop.”
“Too bad.”
“Too bad? It would’ve been trash anyway.”
“Still, it’d sell. It’s rare. Might be worth researching.”
Oh, right. She was always into that kind of thing.
“Whatever. Let’s just go in.”
We passed through the door that had opened after killing the gatekeeper.
“Nothing here?”
“Because all twelve of us are inside.”
The layout of the cave resembled the island.
Walls, ceiling, floor—all made of bones. Even the sconces were made of skulls, with candles burning inside them.
The boss room was similarly designed.
The only unusual feature was the massive skull mounted on the front wall—much bigger than the one we saw at the cave entrance.
“Ooh! Raven! What kind of monster is that? Looks super strong!”
“No idea. Monsters that big are rare even in the labyrinth… maybe it’s not a monster at all?”
“Hrm… Too bad! I was hoping to fight it later!”
We advanced cautiously, formation intact.
“Elwen, begin.”
“Yes.”
At my command, Elwen closed her eyes ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ and focused. I didn’t take my eyes off her.
And then—
「All accumulated energy has been consumed.」
「The empty vessel is filled with unknown power.」
The moment [Chaos Circuit] activated—
“Now. Everyone else, out.”
At my words, everyone except the selected few quickly exited the boss room.
Me, Amelia, Ainard, Misha, Elwen, the Guildmaster.
These six would take on the boss this time—
Not because they were elites, but because I wanted them to get the EXP.
There wasn’t going to be any real combat anyway.
Thoom—!
Rumble-rumble-rumble—!
As soon as the others left the room, the door slammed shut and the chamber shook as if from an earthquake.
And then—
[GROOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRR—!!!]
The same howling we heard when we first entered the cave echoed once more.
Clatter-clatter-clatter—!
The boss, with its dramatic appearance, rose up from the sea of skulls on the floor.
And at the same time—
「Elwen Fornaci di Tersia has cast [Focused Fire].」
[GROOAAARR… huh…?]
Three entire phases were skipped.
***
The Skull King’s normal fight is pretty tough.
As the battle drags on, the soul orb it carries gradually depletes—
That orb is its life.
At 80% HP, it casts a massive curse.
At 60%, it summons adds.
At 40%, it uses an instant death move.
And at 20%, it enters an invincible recovery state with buffs.
「Skull King’s soul reservoir has fallen below 20%.」
「Skull King casts [Soul Absorption].」
Three phases skipped. Phase 4 began immediately.
Not that Phase 4 was hard.
Elwen in infinite MP mode had more than just [Focused Fire].
「Elwen Fornaci di Tersia summons [Spirit King of Darkness, Diclore].」
BOOM-BOOM-BOOOOM—!!!
Elwen poured all her firepower into the boss. The soul orb drained faster than it could replenish.
So—
「Skull King has absorbed all available souls.」
「All of Skull King’s powers are significantly amplified—」
「Skull King’s soul reservoir has fallen below 20%.」
「No souls available for absorption.」
The moment [Soul Absorption] ended, HP hit 20%, triggering the final phase.
「Skull King casts [Eternal Liberation].」
Every boss monster has some kind of berserk mode.
This one’s easy.
「Skull King gains immunity to all damage.」
「Soul orb rapidly depleting.」
All you have to do is survive—my specialty.
「Skull King’s soul orb is nearly depleted.」
After one minute of berserk rampage, the Skull King finally stopped moving.
It wasn’t technically dead, but the raid was over.
Even a civilian could walk up and shatter a glass orb on a frozen monster.
‘About two minutes total since summoning…’
With one minute for recovery and one minute for berserk, it could be said we cleared it in seconds.
“Good work, Elwen. As promised, Adnus, finish it.”
“So I shall.”
The Guildmaster approached the immobilized Skull King and shattered the soul orb to end the raid.
「You have slain the Skull King. EXP +7」
「Bonus for defeating a rare variant. EXP +1」
No essence dropped, but I didn’t care.
The main dish was something else.
「A Cursed One has slain the Skull King.」
「A fragment of a long story has been completed.」
As the Skull King’s bones scattered into shimmering light, the entire chamber began to shake again.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—!
“Ugh… What now? Wasn’t that the end?”
I laughed lightly at Ainard’s muttering and said:
“Congratulations, Ainard.”
“Huh? For what?”
Instead of answering, I looked toward the massive skull mounted on the wall.
“You said you wanted to fight that thing later, didn’t you?”
It’s time for the hidden boss.
