Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Chapter 272 Defense (2)

The eastern shore, where reefs protruded haphazardly.

The place where the waves surged and crashed, shattering our boat.

"We've arrived."

The beach, already half-submerged by the rising tide, was teeming with monsters.

Lanemut warriors and shamans, representative sea monsters of the 6th floor.

Conch Shell Horns, which spat venom from afar.

And Garvels, which multiplied up to three times when killed.

"Bjorn, I'll help too!"

Seeing the scale of the horde, almost a hundred strong, Ainar expressed her concern and stepped forward.

"It's fine."

"What? But..."

But my ass.

Ah, right, I haven't shown her this after absorbing the new essence.

"Don't worry, this much is nothing."

I held my mace like a batter holding a baseball bat.

And...

"Erwen."

"Yes, what should I do this time?"

"Wind."

I activated Elemental Barbarian (Wind) Mode.

「Erwen Fornachi di Tersia has cast [Spirit Transformation].」

Sharp winds, like blades, started swirling around my body.

「The Wind Spirit has been imbued into the character's body.」

「Evasion bonus added to all damage.」

「Magic damage taken is doubled.」

「Strong bonus added to penetration and slashing actions.」

「Agility greatly increased...」

The effect of this mode is simple.

It makes me faster and allows me to tank by dodging. If I were a damage dealer, my DPS would skyrocket.

Ah, but the important part is something else.

「All attack ranges are tripled.」

This is the biggest characteristic of Elemental Barbarian (Wind) Mode.

My normal attacks become AoE attacks. In other words, even a blunt weapon warrior like me can deal splash damage.

"Kieeek!"

The surrounding monsters, sensing my ominous aura, started swarming towards me.

But I just held my stance and waited for the right moment.

There's no need to swing twice.

One good swing is enough.

'Transcendence.'

When enough monsters had gathered, I immediately activated [Transcendence].

And...

「Character has cast [Swing].」

I swung my mace horizontally, like a skilled swordsman drawing his sword.

Whiiiiiish!

The sound of wind being torn apart.

And then...

Whooosh!

The mace in my hand elongated like a magical staff, growing in size proportionally.

The effect of Transcendence Swing.

「Strike range is tripled.」

This is why most characters in Dungeon and Stone can pull off insane plays in the late game.

It's mostly multiplicative calculations.

Kaboom!

Phew, that was satisfying.

After finishing [Swing], I looked around with a satisfied smile.

'This is the way to do it.'

There wasn't a single monster left alive.

_______________________

"Bjorn! How did you do that?! Teach me!"

"You can ask Erwen to do it for you later."

"So I can do it too if I have Erwen!"

"Yeah, something similar."

I gave Ainar, who was impressed by my new combo, a vague answer and then checked the sea.

My powerful attack had cleared most of the monsters on the shore.

"Mister, the waves! The waves are coming!"

We waited for a while on the empty beach, and then a tsunami-like wave surged towards us.

「The first Wrath of the Sea has begun.」

The effect that appeared when the first wave's mid-boss appeared.

"Siren! It's the Siren Queen!"

Priestess Ersina shouted, recognizing the monster surfing on the wave.

She seemed to know about this monster, having explored the 6th floor for a long time.

"A 4th-grade monster is on this island? Why...?"

Why, you ask?

Because someone here triggered the event.

"Everyone get behind me. Erwen, get ready to fight."

"Okay."

"What about me? Am I just going to watch again?"

"For now. I'll call you if I need you, so just wait."

"Alright!"

After briefly adjusting our formation, the Siren Queen finally arrived in front of us.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaak!"

She let out a scream that didn't match her beautiful face and thrust her trident at us.

Kwaaang!

Even her normal attack was quite powerful, as expected of a 4th-grade monster.

Well, there was another reason why she was classified as 4th-grade.

「Siren Queen has cast [Song of the Sea].」

「Character's stats are decreased.」

An aura that decreased stats proportionally to exposure time.

「Siren Queen has cast [Whirlpool].」

She also spat out whirlpools that drained MP on hit.

And...

「Siren Queen has cast [Proof of Loyalty].」

Every time her cooldown was up, she summoned more Sirens, 5th-grade monsters.

Not just one or two, but fifteen at a time.

'The typical debuff shaman type boss monster.'

She's not an easy opponent.

Unless we met her here.

"Behel—laaaaaaaaaa!!"

The Siren Queen's difficulty lies in her numbers.

Hundreds of Sirens usually guarded her.

But when she first arrived on the island, she was alone.

Of course, she would multiply if we just left her alone...

'But why do you think I came all the way here?'

I came here to kill her before she evolved into a raid boss, even giving up on searching for my companions.

"I'll help too! Give me a weapon! You can't handle a 4th-grade monster with just three people!"

Nebarche offered to join the fight, but I just ignored him.

Ainar did the same.

"What are you talking about? Bjorn is a great warrior!"

"Hey, great warrior or not, you can't handle that monster with just three people—"

"Bjorn, can I break this guy's mouth?"

"If he says one more word."

"Alright!"

"..."

Ainar's threat must have been effective, as Nebarche shut his mouth. Thanks to that, I could focus on the battle.

A priestess, the epitome of healing and buffs.

A spirit archer.

A tank barbarian.

We were practically fighting with just three people, but the boss fight progressed smoothly.

After all, we had a healer, a damage dealer, and a tank.

「Lyrine Ersina has cast [Blessing of the Sun].」

「5th-grade or lower debuffs are removed, and stats are increased proportionally.」

The priestess dispelled the stat decrease debuff at regular intervals.

Whiiiiiish!

The [Whirlpool] that drained MP on hit could be easily dodged with good control.

'Agility is so high, it's really convenient.'

Even the summon pattern wasn't that troublesome.

Erwen, who was circling me in spirit form, took care of them before they could even reach ten.

"Behel—laaaaaaaaaa!!"

My threat level was so high that they didn't even try to ignore me and attack the backline.

Therefore...

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

I just had to tank and DPS the Queen.

"Kieeek!"

After about 20 minutes of fighting...

「Siren Queen has been defeated. EXP +6.」

The Siren Queen, who had taken about thirty hits to the head, finally disappeared into particles of light.

I was hoping for an essence, but there wasn't one.

'If a summoner essence had dropped, I could have sold it for a fortune. Ah, but we don't even have a mage, so it doesn't really matter, does it?'

I dismissed my regret and lowered my mace.

And then I went to where my companions were with Erwen, who had deactivated [Spirit Transformation].

"...To think they really killed a 4th-grade monster with just three people."

Priestess Ersina still seemed to be in disbelief.

Nebarche was the same.

"They said he was a 5th-grade explorer..."

Nebarche trailed off and then looked at me with a strange gaze.

"So, you were hiding your true strength...?"

What the hell is this guy talking about?

I almost laughed, but I didn't bother explaining.

'It's ridiculous. This is just because the standards here are so low.'

It was one of the things I realized after the game became reality. Explorer rank in this world was just a minimum standard.

The guild only looked at the average grade of your essences, they didn't consider the synergy between them.

For example, Nebarche was a prime example.

'This guy was 4th-grade, right?'

He had a 4th-grade explorer badge.

It wasn't his real ID since he was from Noark, but he must have earned 4th-grade himself.

But he lost to me in less than 10 seconds.

My build was strong against ranged attackers in PvP, but...

'He's just weak.'

Most explorers in this world were like that.

They had high ranks, but they couldn't utilize their full potential.

'Come to think of it, the Dragonslayer was also like that.'

He had a high level and many essences because he had explored for a long time, but that was all.

His essence combination was a mess.

Honestly, I wouldn't even hesitate to call him a noob.

'It's like those guys who quit the game after a few days, complaining that it's a trash game.'

This game was about synergy, not just having high-grade skills.

[Gigantification] was the core skill, and everyone built their characters around it, finding ways to utilize it.

'The only one with a decent combination was the Corpse Collector.'

I was organizing my thoughts when...

"Hey, Yandel!"

"What? What is it?!"

'Wait, this voice...'

I hurriedly turned my head towards the source of the sound.

"Raven! Avman!!"

"Partslan! You're okay!"

Four people were emerging from the forest.

Phew, now only Misha is left.

____________________

"Yandel, Erwen, Ainar. It's good to see you all safe."

"Avman! You're okay too!!"

We exchanged brief greetings and then quickly shared information.

"What happened?"

"Ah, that?"

Raven's story was simple.

They started together with Avman, and then they encountered Partslan and his mage companion and moved towards the center of the island together.

They then found the note I had left behind, "Going east," and changed their direction.

"But why did it take you so long to get here? We waited for over two hours."

"Sorry. We got lost on the way..."

The reason for their delay was ridiculous.

Four people, and they couldn't find their way?

'Well, two mages, and he doesn't seem to be good at anything besides using a sword...'

And Avman was hopeless.

Yeah, it's not surprising that they got lost.

"But... where's Misha?"

"Misha is still missing."

"What? Still missing...?"

"Don't worry too much. You guys also just reunited, didn't you? She'll be fine. She's somewhere on this island."

I tried to dismiss their worries and then shifted my gaze.

Partslan, who had finished greeting his companion, was approaching me.

"I heard from Ersina what happened."

"You heard...?"

"Ah, no, I heard. You protected her all this time? Thank you."

"We have to help each other when we're in trouble. By the way, have you heard about the blond... no, Drowus?"

"Ah, about that... I heard. It's hard to believe that Drowus was from Noark. Can I ask him a few questions myself?"

Partslan politely asked if he could talk to Nebarche, and I readily agreed.

"Use him well and return him."

"Of course, I'll use him carefully."

Okay, then that's settled.

I listened to Partslan and Nebarche's conversation and then approached Raven.

And I whispered to her.

"Raven, you don't have to answer, just listen."

"...?"

"There's a traitor among them."

The one who betrayed the team and told Amelia that they were coming to this island.

Only Amelia knows who it is.

"I don't think he'll try anything in this situation, but just be aware. If you notice anything strange, let me know."

Raven nodded with a serious expression.

Okay, then information sharing is done.

"Hey, mage. What's your name?"

I approached the mage who was resting on the ground and asked his name. I thought I might find something suspicious if we talked.

Well, I should have...

"Ah, nice to meet you. My name is Aulock."

The mage smiled and extended his hand.

I froze.

Priestess Ersina, swordsman Partslan,

And the archer who hasn't arrived yet.

I haven't been able to figure out who the traitor is among the many suspects...

But I had a hunch.

"My name is Hans Aulock. Just call me Hans."

I got you, you bastard.