Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 683
Chapter 683: Butterfly (3)
The Siege Slaughterer was a very good item. Its effectiveness was nothing to scoff at, but the fact that it went for a pretty high price compared to the other numbered items in its ranking class bumped it even higher.
There are quite a few iron mace warriors in this world.
Swords, hammers, maces, polearms, spears…
Countless weapons existed in the world, and in most games, the iron mace was considered a fringe weapon.
It’s not bad at all, though.
In Dungeon and Stone, the iron mace was a decent weapon.
Although it was a weapon with low attack speed, the upside was that its damage was higher than any other weapon.
I mean, it made sense. Under the assumption that all else was equal, no weapon could match the iron mace in the utilization of centrifugal forces in its attacks.
That only went for newer players, however.
I used the mace a lot when I first started playing the game…
Due to the limits of the iron mace, I ended up jumping ship to another weapon, but that only applied to me.
The people here didn’t get second or third runs of their life. They would simply grow proficient with the weapons they used the most. After all, adventurers who fought on the edge of death every day couldn’t easily switch off the weapon they had been using. As a result, a lot of people used their early-game weapons all the way to the late-game.
You can see at least one person using the iron mace even above the seventh floor.
In reality, there were quite a few iron mace users among adventurers above the seventh floor. The problem was that the supply couldn’t meet the demand, not when there weren’t that many maces among the numbered items.
This is practically their graduation weapon.
Although it was a piece of equipment in the 600s, there was no better option for an iron mace than this, and mace users knew it. It was for that very reason that the weapon sold for a hefty sum whenever it was put up at the auction house.
That’s not important right now.
I shook my head and forced myself to stop thinking about that for now.
No. 687, Siege Slaughterer. A precious item that I wouldn’t mind selling or using as a sidearm.
That item was now in my hands, albeit via a supposed “lucky” roll of the dice.
Ba-dump!
I couldn’t quite tell if my heart was beating hard from joy or anxiety at first, but the seconds passing by made the truth apparent soon enough.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
This feeling never meant anything good for me.
Even when I got Wall of Aegis, my heart didn’t race like this. If it were a question of whether this could be described as “joy,” there was no doubting the answer to that now.
“What’s up with you?”
Still, it would be weird for me to just stand around doing nothing. I shook myself out of it and picked up the Siege Slaughterer.
[You have equipped No. 687, Siege Slaughterer. Overall Item Level has increased by +2,800.]
As soon as I grasped it, I could feel the change in my physical stats.
This item had a stat bonus to it, and a percentage bonus on top of that.
[Strength stat has increased by 40%. Agility stat has decreased by 80%.]
My Agility decreased and my Strength increased.
Although the total specs weren’t on the same level as with the Demon Grinder, this feature here was the reason I decided the weapon was worth using. I could use it to significantly boost my Strength when I needed a buff.
But I can tell that my body’s gotten pretty slow.
Of course, there was a cost to the increased power.
Still, I would only know what exactly had changed with practice.
Swing.
As a test, I cast the skill targeting the air. Iron maces were still considered blunt weapons, after all.
“Eh? Baron, why are you moving in slow—”
Like so.
Pang!
A boom echoed out as the iron mace slammed into the air.
At that, everyone, including me, flinched for a moment.
“Huh?”
Their expressions convinced me.
Holding onto it is definitely better than selling it.
I now had a new weapon.
Of course, it didn’t erase my nerves. The more I liked the Siege Slaughterer, the more anxious I became.
Ba-dump!
Well… Anyway, I should just think of it as the reward for suffering those last few months in the dream world.
Ba-dump!
Uh… Still, I should keep my guard up for the time being.
It could be the premonition for the next curveball coming our way. I had to stay focused so that I could respond to any incoming dangers.
Yeah, if I did that—
“E-e-every…!”
Without warning, the archer began to splutter out a shout.
“Everyone, dodge!”
Huh? Already?
Just what was going on?
I immediately scanned our surroundings out of habit to assess what was going on and make my own decisions. However, my senses had dulled due to my lowered Agility stat and I couldn’t sense any danger.
“…Tsk!”
Everyone else around me looked to be in a hurry, though.
No, they didn’t just look at it, they were moving as quickly as possible to run away.
“Jaina!”
The archer handled the less agile priest.
“Gramps!”
Baekho took Fallen Gramps.
“Get on my back!”
And Aures picked up the stun-locked GM on his back and quickly ran away.
I still couldn’t understand what was going on even until then, but one thing was crystal clear.
Ba-dump!
This place was dangerous. I needed to run away like the others.
I tried to move my feet…
Damn it.
However, because I’d equipped the Siege Slaughterer and cut away 80 percent of my Agility, my body was too slow.
Belatedly, I tried to put the weapon into my sub-space, but I unfortunately missed my chance.
“What are you doing?!” Baekho shouted over his shoulder, still running away with Fallen Gramps. “Above you!”
Above…?
I followed Baekho’s gaze upward above where I was standing, and I ended up lifting my head as well.
Ah, so this is why everyone ran.
Only then did I realize why everyone had run away so quickly.
“Kiyaaaak!”
There was a bone-chilling screech as a supermassive flying creature dove down from the sky. The majority of enemies featured in the Dragonskull Mountains were relatively easy. In fact, this thing was its only exception.
One of the infamous Tomb of Stars Trinity. The rank 1 undead type monster.
Bone Dragon…
Although it had the word bone in front of its name, it wasn’t a drake or a dragonian.
[You have entered the area of Dragon Fear.]
It was a true dragon that even possessed that characteristic passive ability.
Speaking of, the effect of said passive was very straightforward.
[There is a difference in power.]
If your level was lower than ten, it gave out a debuff that didn’t care about Mana Resistance or anything like that.
For a level nine, they were only affected by Paralysis.
Level five and below would instantly die.
Level six would be hit by Unconsciousness and Soul Exhaustion.
Level seven would get Petrified and Soul Exhaustion.
And as a level eight, I…
[You are Petrified for 10 seconds.]
I was stuck in place for ten seconds, and that wasn’t even all there was to this broken skill. Petrification didn’t end in one go and would reapply itself after a certain time passed. It meant that as the battle went on, a special effect would activate if the Petrified condition was applied enough times.
For that reason, dragon raids were only ever recommended to level ten characters or to level nine at the bare minimum.
Now, however, wasn’t the time to be thinking about that.
Transcendence.
I quickly cast my skill in my Petrified state.
[You have cast Giantization.]
I first used Giantization (Transcendence) to raise my base stats.
[You have cast Iron Fortress.]
I then raised Physical Resistance,
[You have cast Scales of Greed.]
And then Magic Resistance as high as I could.
BOOM!
The next moment, the monster crashlanded on me, crushing my body, which had frozen like a rock, with its front legs.
I could handle the physical impact. Sure, I ended up coughing up blood, but it was still manageable.
The problem was what came after.
[You have taken physical damage.]
Just like Dragon Fear, every dragon also had this next passive skill.
[The conditions for Dragon Claws are met.]
The effect was very straightforward.
[Magic damage will be applied proportional to the physical damage dealt.]
That damned passive skill meant that when it dealt physical damage, it would deal additional magic damage, and vice versa. In other words, it always dealt hybrid damage.
It felt like something had exploded within my body, and my ears began to ring.
The shield barbarian I had built to the best of my abilities had been put into a critical state with just one attack, but it didn’t shock me at all. That was just the type of game Dungeon and Stone was. All rank 1 monsters were unbelievably powerful, and the dragons were especially worse among them.
[Jaina Flyer has cast Healing Leech.]
[Jaina Flyer has cast Curse of Restoration.]
[Jaina Flyer has cast Emergency Transfusion. The cursed blood has…]
Still, it seemed that our healer had already begun casting her spells as I luckily received her heals as soon as I took the damage.
Hmm… Maybe it was too early to say I was lucky.
[The body quickly regenerates.]
[The body quickly regenerates.]
[The body quickly regenerates.]
[The body quickly regenerates.]
[The body quickly…]
Although the injury that could have led to my immediate death began to regenerate, nothing had changed.
I had been counting as soon as my body had frozen.
Four.
I still had four more seconds until the petrified condition thawed off, and if this bony bastard made two more regular attacks, or even used a skill against me…
I’ll just die. That’s just what a rank one monster does.
No matter how much effort you put into raising a character, they would end up dead if they fought a rank 1 monster without any preparation.
Boom!
The dragon chose that moment to use its front legs and attack me again. Its movements were light and unbothered, like a cat playing with its toy. However, as the one getting toyed with, the impacts certainly weren’t light.
“Urgh…!”
From what I could tell, something like two-thirds of my health had just evaporated because of that strike.
Heedless to my plight, the dragon moved its front legs again, but I could tell that it wasn’t trying to slam down on me again.
It’s unfurling its wings…
Damn it.
[Bone Dragon has cast Bone Breath.]
So it was using that.
Knowing what was to come only confirmed that my future was bleak.
If I get hit…
I was dead.
I was certain of it. That was just how much danger I was in.
“You son of a—!”
Suddenly, I heard Baekho’s voice from behind me.
What? Was he coming to save me?
But how was this guy able to move right now? It was as if he wasn’t affected by Dragon Fear at all.
Ah… He’s already level 10…
I got one more piece of information about Baekho Lee. But with things as they were for me, I wondered if that even meant anything—
…Shut up.
I got hit a few times, and suddenly, my mind was filled with despair. I shook myself out of it.
Although randomly dying on the ninth floor was by no means an unusual fate, I wasn’t going to let myself die this dog’s death.
Vwoong!
Soon, the Bone Dragon unfurled its bone wings to their full length and opened its mouth wide.
Flash!
A breath of beaming, black light fired from its mouth. However, I didn’t dare close my eyes.
Well, I couldn’t even if I wanted to since I was Petrified. But, you know.
I had turned away from the dream world with a heart beating with determination, so giving up here wouldn’t even be funny—
“Safe!”
I heard Baekho’s voice close by and felt something forcibly tug me backward.
I’m a little moved, honestly.
I never expected him to run in and save me when the dragon was using its breath attack.
Zero.
After shouting the final number in my heart…
[Petrification has been cleared.]
My stiffened body naturally relaxed.
Baekho shouted at me, still pulling me away. “What are you doing?! Put up your guard!”
What the, was this guy thinking the same thing as me? He counted the seconds left on the status condition like I did?
I would need to ask him later if I wanted to know the details, but I first raised my shield and covered my body.
[Defense successful. Wall of Aegis absorbed all damage.]
I sighed. I really thought I was a goner.