Chapter 112: Early Meeting with Sierra
Stark gritted his teeth, focusing all his attention on the boss that lay before him. He had no time to think about the implications of the situation, as Sierra already had her bow pointed at him, only a few meters away from him.
"Well well~ you held on better than the others," she shrugged, "You're actually quite interesting…"
"…" Stark didn't answer, he glared at the rift boss.
"I also see that you have Judicator's wings, don't ya~?" she giggled, "I always thought he was too arrogant."
"…"
Stark tried to use [Perception] on Sierra to check out her skills and overall stats, but…
[You are not allowed to check this monster's stats yet!]
A crimson panel came to stop him.
'Fuck you…' he didn't abandon, and instead pushed through, opening his eyes wider, they were filled with determination.
If he was to fight this monster right now, he was sure that he would die without knowing of her stats, HP, or skills, after all they were things that always helped him predict what they would do.
Plus it also cleared the fear of not knowing whether a monster has more skills or not, since he could already check all their names beforehand.
And so… as Stark pushed through that warning, he was granted two pieces of information.
…
[Name: Sierra, the Crystal Archer (BOSS)]
[Level: 80]
[HP: 315000]
[Strength: ???]
[Stamina: ???]
[Speed: ???]
[Defense: ???]
[Skills: ???]
…
He was allowed to see her level and HP, which was more than any other monster he had encountered yet, but all other info was hidden from him.
"Quit glaring at me like that~" Sierra maniacally smiled and took a step forward.
Immediately, Stark answered that simple move by two skills of his.
"AURA SMASH, CRIMSON SPEARS," he sent all 5 attacks at the archer, who just smiled.
"Crystal Shield," she grabbed the arrow that was in her hand and with lightning speed poured out a different aura inside of it, changing the shape from a heart to a circle.
Then… she pointed her bow down, toward the ground next to her feet and shot the arrow.
~BOOM~
Instantly, the moment the arrow hit the ground, a crystal wall appeared in front of Sierra, blocking all 5 of the attacks.
~BOOM, BOOM, BOOM~
~CRACK~
Of course, the wall cracked and crumbled, but it had still protected her.
"Attacking me while I'm only approaching you~" she tried to act cute, "That's really mean!"
"Quit the act, you're too old to do that sort of shit," Stark answered, not breaking his fighting position, but still finding a way to shoot something at her, although it wasn't physical.
"O-Old?!" Sierra looked surprised for the first time, "I don't look old at all!"
And before Stark could even say anything else…
~FWISH, PAW, PAW, PAW!~
"Arrow Barrage!" Sierra pointed her bow at Stark and began to shoot dozens of arrows toward him, each time she shot one, another would instantly materialize, and her movements were too fast for the naked eye to discern.
'FAST!'
Stark couldn't dodge them all, but his upgraded [Focus] allowed him to anticipate the incoming arrows and adjust his movements accordingly.
He grabbed three arrows that were heading toward his face with simple movements of his hands, while he avoided the rest using his speed.
Then he began to run in circles around Sierra, it was the only way to constantly avoid the arrows as being too close meant less time to dodge.
"No point in trying, boy~ just give up~~" Sierra seemed to mock him, not stopping her barrage of arrows at the boy.
"…"
"You know~ I really enjoyed seeing the faces of the seven others as they were transformed into beasts~" she mocked.
"…?" Stark didn't stop running, but his pupils' aura grew stronger.
"They will never see their families again, forced to be stuck in this place with me for all eternity, until I am able to escape that is of course, and I will some day, just like all the other apostles who are still alive!" Sierra laughed, still shooting arrows at Stark.
"…"
[Do not be angry.]
Each arrow that was sent at him, and each word Sierra uttered, only served as fuel to his aura, and it was increasing more and more.
Stark knew that even with all the power he had, he was still weak compared to many other people and monsters, but he still needed to keep going.
If one arrow could transform him into a monster, and if there was no way for him to leave… then he just needed to win.
"Aura Smash!" he sent two fists at the archer.
But…
~FWISH~
In response, Sierra shot two arrows at the crimson fists, and the moments these arrow hit, the two fists turned white and vanished.
"None of your attacks will work," Sierra continued in her speech, just like the villain she was.
"Crimson Spears!" he sent three spears, they were shorter than the fists so he thought they would be able to hit.
But…
~PAM, PAM, PAM~
With expert precision, Sierra shot down the three spears, not missing a single one of them.
"They don't call me the 'Expert Archer' for no reason!" she boasted, puffing out her chest.
'You're too prideful…' Stark's aura was growing more and more, and he was becoming annoyed.
"Those 7 adventurers that came here were all transformed into monsters… how sad…" Sierra giggled, "Five of them instantly got hit at the start since they didn't expect it…"
'…'
"…And the two others traversed the forest, but once they reached me… THEY ALL TURNED INTO BEASTS!" she maniacally laughed.
'…'
"And do you want to know the best thing about all of it?" she stopped shooting Stark for a few seconds, pointing her slender hand at him while he was still running in circles.
By this point, Stark was at his limit, and the aura that surrounded his body was so overwhelming that even he had a difficult time containing it: he hated when monsters talked so arrogantly.
What Sierra said next… was the final straw.
"One of the adventurers was a woman… and after she began to transform into a beast, her body beginning to crystallize and turn white, do you know what she did?" Sierra's smile grew so wide it was scary.
'Kill…'
"She PLEADED, not for herself, but for her UNBORN CHILD, HAHAHAHA~" Sierra laughed and laughed, thinking that she was on top of the world.
'Ok,' Stark understood everything, he wasn't even mad about the woman actually, but just tired of Sierra's attitude, and so…
~BAM, FWISH~
In a fraction of a second, he was right in front of Sierra, his fist centimeters away from her face.
"As I thought, you need to die quick," he sighed, his face hidden by his aura, and making him look as terrifying as ever before.
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