BTOG 271 – The abandoned city at the bottom of the lake, S≠Trillia.
April 3, 2023
Yes, this is a city swallowed by the abyss and abandoned. A place of repose for the souls of the dead.
Sleeping quietly in the depths of the city is one of the Seven Star Kings, Tengen Tenki, the water dragon king, the guardian of the hidden treasures of Iris.
After the Kishin once destroyed the world, people once again built a civilization on the shattered world.
S≠Trillia once soared and then fell to the ground.
One day 700 years ago.
Too suddenly, the earth fell.
An extreme earth collapse phenomenon.
And what was born from it was an enormous void, with a length of hundreds to thousands of meters wide.
All the people who lived in the abandoned city at the bottom of the lake were killed by the impact of the fall, and all that remained was a luxurious town that was half destroyed by the impact.
The grudge and curse against the unreasonableness of sudden death created a different space that rejects everything, and an abandoned city at the bottom of a lake was born.
Protected by the vast amount of water, the truth is hidden.
One shall not forget the tragedy of the abandoned city.
Just as there is one who rules the heavens.
Just as there is one who rules the earth.
Just as there is one who slumbering in the great sea.
Also as one who swallows the earth of the bottom of a lake.
There is something that crawls into the unseen depths of the earth, which still continues to chip away at the world to this very moment.
☆
I arrived at the abandoned city at the lake’s bottom safely, and I was reading the texts inscribed on the stone monument that will be used as a warp point in the future.
“Hmm, I see… so basically, a big mole-like creature dug a bunch of holes, which caused the ground to sink and created the lake known as Water Dragon Abyss, right?”
<It’s ruined.>
<Maybe it is.>
<Could be wurms.>\n“That’s may be right, but it does happen!”
There were four level 105 monsters that we had never seen before. There is no room for carelessness.
At a quick glance, they don’t move that fast. If I concentrate, I should be able to handle them.
“First one who moves will secure the victory!”
I hit the girl ghost on the leftmost side with a full swing to the head since this one is slightly separated from the other three monsters.
Its HP has been reduced only by 30%, considering that my status has increased by 1.4 due to the race-specific equipment. My hit is equivalent to a player of level 140, so this implies that this monster’s HP is quite big.
However, the sensation conveyed by my hit was ‘wetter’ than I expected, and the sensation of having struck a human being remained clearly on my hand.
“This feeling is more of that zombie than ghost, isn’t it? what a bad after taste.”
Well, normal people don’t know what it feels like to hit a human being, so they probably don’t know or care much about it.
But even while I’m thinking, I’m not stopping. I use my hands to ward off the scratching of the adult male ghost, which attacks more quickly than any of the other four and kicks it in the stomach.
“Oh?”
I had already guessed it when I punched the one earlier, but these guys are so heavy.
If we talk about how much they weigh as humans, they probably weigh about 300 kilograms.
Unlike in the real world, mass does not always translate into damage, but it certainly makes them harder to parry or blow away.
“Yes… this is great.”
Despite their high level, the ghost only charged and attacked, so I deflected its hand and closed in for a full-power strike. I grabbed the momentarily suspended ghost’s arm and slammed it down with a back suplex.
The impact of a fall increases with the mass of the object, so throwing techniques are very effective if you have enough power. As expected, the male adult ghost was stunned.
While the ghost was unable to move, I hit it in the face with kanabou and followed up with an attack that had the added power of the Ouma attack, which made it stronger.
“Take thi–…!!!”
While I was wondering whether I should keep my distance and hit and away or pack it in all at once, something flew from a different direction from the three in front of me.
It was magic that sent purple liquid flying. I wonder if it’s a poison type of thing because it’s left a sizzling sound where it landed.
When I looked at the second floor of the building, I saw a ghost who looked like an adventurer, different from the four in front of me who looked like ordinary citizens.
Its name is [Lost City Seeker]. He must have been an adventurer who died with the civilian when this city was destroyed.
“And what is that?”
Furthermore, from the opposite side, there’s the ghost that was launching an attack with a bow. I thought about grabbing it but saw that it was coated with something, so I chose to evade it.
That’s six of them. They were tougher than the normal ghost, and I hadn’t even killed one normal ghost yet, and the number of enemies only increased quickly.
I had a bad feeling and involuntarily released my all-senses limiter.
“No… wa-wait, this is ……!”
There, there, also there.
They are everywhere, and finally, the sound reaches my ears.
The number of people who lived there when the city fell. Or the tourists who visited there, and even the workmen like adventurers.
I knew this was bound to happen, but still, it was far more than I had expected.
“This city is full of monsters!?”
Just within earshot, I could tell there were thousands of them.
Even if I narrowed it down to just the area where the sound of our battle would reach, there were 23 monsters.
I finally understand why Melty said I was a bad match for this dungeon.
It would be difficult to conquer this place without at least one wide-range annihilation-type attacker. This is a hellish dungeon with more than 100,000 ghosts.
They kept increasing, it was four, then five, then six, and it kept continuing.
I killed two, but four came filling the fallen spot. Then eight, ten, thirteen, seventeen, twenty-three, they just keep increasing!
My speed to defeat them cannot catch up with the rate they appear, and they keep increasing their number without any apparent limit.
This is the brutal power of numbers that have already passed a point of unreasonableness.
This is the hospitality of S≠Trillia, an abandoned city at the bottom of a lake.
“Fufufu, FUAHAHA~.”
I am horrified by the number of gazes directed at me.
Using the ghost’s body as a scaffold, I take advantage of the building’s edges and protruding crystal shards.
Sometimes using their attack as a springboard, I soar through the skies of the abandoned city.
This is not a battle to fill the hopeless gap in strength like when I fought Melty.
I am the strongest here.
This is a battle to subdue the grudges of the countless ghosts who are stirring to drag me down.
“Ahaha~ahahaaha!” I can’t contain the laughter that’s pouring out of me.
A chill runs down my spine.
My concentration is heightened. My sight and hearing are fully released.
My ecstatic mind coexisted with a soberingly focused head.
“Let’s see which one is first, it’s either my concentration will break or there won’t be enough of you.”
A battle against the brutality of numbers in which even a millimeter of carelessness is not tolerated.
At that time, the Seeker Ghost shot the arrow that it had been preparing, and that was the signal of my battle.
“Bring it on! Let me see you try!!” {that’s a standard villain dialog…}
This was the longest battle since the beginning of WLO.
A fierce endurance battle with a total duration of 257 minutes will begin.
====*
By the way, the appointment to meet up with Rinne is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.