laulau20

Chapter 113: Star Reignited

Added 2025-09-05 15:10:36 +0000 UTC

“They want us to reignite the star ourselves? That’s crazy! If this is so important, why don’t they do it themselves? At the very least, help us!” Kouki was distraught. He couldn’t believe they told them to light the star on their own just because the knights had to guard the village. They really had no shame!

“Well, that’s about right—as old RPG games went. I still remember when we had to invade castles with just a party of four.” Andrew smiled wryly.

“Gah! I knew it! I played those damn games too! It’s just so infuriating!”

“At the very least, we have the blessing of Mystis. With more favors, we can keep it. It’s even better than the last time we came here. With the blessing, we’re immune to infection. This will work greatly in our favor on the next floor. The boss there, Liquid Ooze, is an infection specialist!” Andrew beamed. “With this blessing, we don’t need to sit back while the knights of Mystis do everything for us.”

“What did the last boss look like, Andrew?” Kouki asked as the group traveled toward the ruined star city. There was an altar there where they could reignite the star. They had also been given three vials of infection.

It struck him as odd that infection was needed to reignite the star, but he thought little of it. This is a dungeon. It has its own laws. The guild receptionist had told him the infection acted as a starting fuel so the star could burn brighter. But they needed to be careful not to over-infect or douse the star, or it would lose its light forever. Once the star regained its strength, the knights would take care of the rest, including crafting a new casing for it.

“Well, he was similar to the previous boss, except he only had two hands, he could fly, and he could transform into liquid black ooze. Unlike the earlier ones, who transformed as a last resort, this one can shift at will. Ah, and he’s about three meters tall—practically a giant. Be careful; even the weapon skills of the knights of Mystis were no match for him.” Andrew said.

James heard the spoilers and noted them down in his head. He didn’t fully believe Andrew, but every bit of information helped. Don’t rely on it, but precautions were needed.

“Ah, we’re here,” Kouki said as they reached a clearing. James could have sworn this clearing hadn’t been there on the previous floor, but that’s a dungeon for you.

In the clearing, a hemisphere altar made of metal stood with a short pedestal inside. Andrew was supposed to activate the blessing of Mystis on that pedestal, put some infected goo on the half-sphere, and then place the core on the pedestal.

“Andrew? Shouldn’t we clear the area first before doing the ritual?” James suggested.

“We can try, but I don’t think it will matter. The infected that come to us seem to spawn endlessly,” Andrew said. James knew he wasn’t lying, and he didn’t want to waste any more time doing pointless tasks.

“Alright. Let’s do it.” James drew his bow while stabbing his black sword into the ground. Using his new wire, he slung his blue axe across his back. He was ready.

“Henoch, Kaina, Hou Yi, and Delila—you guard the north. James will guard the south. Kouki will guard the east with Ralph, while Sanders and Hain will guard the west. I will stay at the altar.”

“Delila, buy several incendiary grenades. Hou Yi and Henoch, defensive formation, while Kaina takes the vanguard. She’s immune to infection, and as long as the grenade doesn’t explode directly on top of her, she’s immune to fire as well.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Remember, they’re weak against fire. Kouki, will Ralph be enough for you?”

“Don’t worry! As long as I have James’ Sword of Khine, this will be easy!”

“Good. James, I don’t need to tell you, but we can’t let monsters get close to the altar. If they swarm the star before it fully develops, it might be extinguished.”

“As long as they don’t have boss monsters, I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll start the ritual now. Sanders, please help me a bit.” Andrew placed the star on the pedestal. He then poured the black goo from the jar into the massive bowl around it. The black goo wiggled and, through a strange capillary action, climbed the pedestal slowly. James felt disgusted as the goo crawled upward, trying to cover the stars on it.

Sanders then cast a fireball at the star. The star lit up brighter, and warmth radiated from it. The pedestal fed the star with infection, like a wick feeding a candle.

A roar reverberated around the city. James turned away from the star toward the ruins of the city. A blob of black goo formed in the distance, and creatures made from the ooze arose—avatars of goblins, orcs, and men ascending from the netherworld. They numbered in the hundreds, if not thousands. James had faced crowds of monsters before, but never this many.

They crawled on all fours, approaching the dying star like moths to a flame. The infected creatures oozed black goo with every step they took. They came closer and closer. When James could see the vividness of their faces, they leaped.

James struck first, blasting them apart with his fire breath. The beasts died by the dozens as flames raged around him. Their bodies melted down, leaving the husks of their hosts as black goo seeped through the cracks in the clearing.

When the infected died, some of the black goo that wasn’t burned seeped through the cracks and flowed toward the black sphere, fueling the star. James raised an eyebrow at the ingenious design, wondering why the infection behaved that way.

James dropped all his weapons except his axe. Infected creatures were immune to physical attacks. Ice worked, but it only slowed them down. Their true weakness was fire. Blue motes of light emanated from his axe. Using his skill [Boomerang], he hurled it toward the approaching horde. The axe drew a parabolic arc across the field, cutting through ten infected goblins before returning to him.

“They are many, but they are so weak,” James muttered as he doused them with flame. He understood that if one didn’t have access to fire, they would have trouble on this floor. But once they did, the enemy became trivial. Little did he know that this floor held a hidden surprise underneath.

Looking around, Kouki and Ralph didn’t seem to have any problems. Kouki used his sword aura to slash enemies from a distance with James’ sword. The foes burned before they even got close, while his dragon flew around breathing fire on the ones he missed. They might have been performing even better than James. James’ fire breath had limited range compared to Kouki’s flying slash.

Kaina’s team was getting crowded, but thanks to the incendiary grenade Dehlia had thrown, they held their ground. Unlike James’ fire, which could be extinguished if the creatures rolled on the ground, incendiary grenades kept burning like tar. With just one grenade, the fire spread from one creature to another. Soon enough, the field around Kaina burned brighter than a forest fire.

Sanders and Hain, on the other hand, weren’t looking so good. Thanks to the blessing, Hain wasn’t infected despite wrestling with three creatures. But Sanders’ spells weren’t keeping up. His fireballs and firewalls were effective, but the enemy kept rushing and flanking them. They couldn’t slow the enemy the way James did with his ice spells and his blue axe.

“Kouki! Lend Ralph to Hain’s group. I’ll also reinforce them!” Andrew jumped off the pedestal and rushed toward them. He took a deep breath, chanted unknown words for a moment, and then the blessing of Mystis enveloped him. His body glowed blue, signifying that the blessing had activated.

Andrew charged in with his spear. The weapon glowed gold as he lunged at a creature that had slipped past Hain and Sanders. Without finishing it off, he leaped to another, then another, kiting them toward Ralph, who then incinerated them with its fire breath.

“I see. You only need to wound them lightly once to make them turn their aggro to you and not the star,” James muttered. Such information was useless for him at the moment, as he roasted every enemy on his field.

An hour passed, then two hours, then three. The real trial of this floor showed its fangs. Beads of sweat poured from the group as the star kept consuming the infection. Though its growth was slowing down, it grew bigger and bigger. Andrew knew that when the star was fully mature, the metallic hemisphere would enclose it, creating a new star for the city and eradicating the infection here. But he was growing impatient.

“Andrew! I’m running out of grenades!” Dehlia shouted.

“Ralph! Go and help Dehlia!” Andrew groaned.

“Andrew, my mana is almost gone too.” Sanders brought more bad news.

“James! Kouki! Regroup! We’re running out of mana and supplies! We’re counting on you to defend the star!”

“Hah… hah…” Kouki didn’t reply, but he still followed the order. He might be a sword nerd, but swinging swords continuously for three hours had drained him. It was only thanks to his stats that he could still stand. Normal people would have collapsed in the first hour.

James was tired too, but his much higher stats and limited movement left him less exhausted. Still, for the first time since challenging dungeons, James felt lethargic, a side effect of using too much magic. Thanks to his three mana cores, he had a vast amount of mana—but it wasn’t infinite. He had been using it recklessly, thinking it would never run out.

At that moment, James felt it. His magic grew weaker as his mana drained. Not only his spells but also his fire breath and fire fur dimmed. They no longer packed the same punch as when he started the fight.

James then dropped his weapons. He decided to get close and personal. Thanks to his fire fur enveloping his body with flames, every punch and grapple killed at least one infected creature. Like a bull, he rushed through the horde.

It was only at the four-hour mark that the star was fully reignited. Light flooded the field, melting the entire horde that had gathered. It floated in the air as if hope itself had been rekindled. Sunlight shone through the dim cave, its warmth reaching every corner of the dungeon.

As if to congratulate the survivors, a portal to the next floor spawned beneath it. They had won.

Name: James
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 58
Coins: 1400
Merit: 10
Biomass: 300

Stats:

STR: 180 (↑3)
DEX: 177 (↑2)
MAGIC: 140 (↑3)
MANA: 1240 (↑20)

Skills:

Novice Axe Mastery Level 5 (Powerstrike, V-Slash, Boomerang)
Novice Sword Mastery Level 5 (Hurricane, Vorpal Lunge, Twin Fang, Lunar Counter)
Novice Bow Mastery Level 1 (Quickshot, Homing Shot, Triple Shot)
Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1

Magic (Mind Magic Tier 3):

Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar
Parallel Thought
Dispel

Class:

Attacker (Level 41) (↑1) (+10% bonus when attacking, +1 STR & DEX per level)

Shop (Level 2):

Health Potion (100 coins)
Hematonic Potion (50 coins)
High Potion (300 coins)
Antidote (50 coins)
Bullets (10 coins/round)
Grenades / Flashbang (50 coins/piece)
Arrow (50 coins/dozen)
Metal Pocket Arrow (100 coins/dozen)
Poison Dart (10 coins/round)
Sell / Repair Function
Merit Shop (10 merit/skill)
Body Modding (Human: 100 biomass/part)

Unique Skill – Chimera Level 3 (3 Extra Slots Open):

Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts) (Stomach Slot)
Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense) (Right Eye Slot)
Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR +30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Negative Trait: Repairable, MANA -200) (Right Arm Slot)
Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing, Negative Trait: MANA -100, MAGIC -10) (Lung Slot)
Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Negative Trait: MANA -250, MAGIC -10, Repairable) (Heart Slot)
Orc’s Torso (Torso Slot)
Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching) (Mouth Slot)
Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak, Fire Resistance, Physical Resistance +15%, Negative Trait: MANA -100, MAGIC -10) (Skin Slot)
Land Shark’s Ear (Echolocation: 10m) (Ear Slot)
Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, MAGIC +60, MANA +1000) (Extra Slot)
Quetzalcoatl Horn (Lightning Shot: 20 MANA/shot) (Extra Slot 3)
Mana Core (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, MAGIC +20, MANA +300) (Extra Slot 4)