Chapter 276: Black Rain (Dungeon End)
"Shadow…"
The two Black Watch Commanders on the Third Floor of the Hotel heard the report through their communication headsets.
They exchanged glances, then made their decision at the same time.
"We can't kill both Shadow and those cultists at once. The original plan stays unchanged. Killing those cultists takes priority. They absolutely cannot be allowed to reach the upper floors of the Hotel!"
Just as Iwanaga Kotoko had speculated, there were indeed Players among the current Black Watch members.
These two Black Watch Commanders were Players.
After some of their members registered as Players, Black Watch had also gained a general understanding of the so-called "game," solving many of the mysteries that had troubled them before. For example, why people appeared inside their strictly controlled areas, carried out certain actions, then suddenly vanished.
Shadow was likely not from this world.
There was no doubt that Shadow was also an enemy of Black Watch. However, the other party was not native to this world. He could only appear here while carrying out a Dungeon. No matter how powerful he was, the threat he posed to Black Watch was limited.
The cultists were different.
Those people belonged to this world. This was not the first time they had clashed with Black Watch. The two sides could already be described as enemies in a death struggle.
The two on-site Commanders did not know why the cultists had appeared here, nor did they know what the other party wanted to do. But through the past hour of combat, they had already realized one thing.
Those people wanted to reach the upper floors of the Hotel.
They did not need to know why.
If the enemy wanted to do something, then they absolutely could not be allowed to do it.
Shadow was certainly terrifying.
But those cultists had higher priority.
…
Meanwhile, in the Hotel lobby on the First Floor.
"Thirty-five seconds left."
Hearing Iwanaga Kotoko's reminder, Asagiri, Kato Megumi, and Yuuki Asuna quickened their pace, trying to kill as many enemies as possible within the one-minute time limit.
However, at that moment, the two Priests in a state of Divine Descent finally reacted.
One of them led the Fire-Clad Believers to attack Black Watch, while the other raised his heavy flaming greatsword and faced Asagiri's group. His face twisted into a ferocious expression.
"Evil Black Watch heretics, today I shall use the power of God to personally…"
Before the Priest could finish, something completely unexpected happened.
The flames wrapped around him, forming his heavy armor, suddenly began to tremble. Even the flaming greatsword in his hand gradually dispersed.
The power that had filled his body rapidly vanished, as if…
"God? God!?"
The Priest's pupils suddenly dilated.
He tried to grasp his fading flaming greatsword, but all he caught were fleeting sparks.
"God… why have You abandoned me…"
While the Priest was still stunned and shaken, Yuuki Asuna gave him no chance to wallow in sentiment. She stepped forward and pierced his head with a single thrust.
Watching the Priest slowly fall to the ground, Asagiri shook his head and spoke softly.
"You still don't understand? Are you too foolish to see it, or simply unwilling to believe it?"
"Your so-called God is a weak existence that fears death."
From the previous battle, Asagiri, Yuuki Asuna, and the others had already discovered this.
Just before Kato Megumi's arrow was about to kill the Priest, the power possessing his body had vanished.
Was it because the time limit had been reached?
No.
According to Iwanaga Kotoko's analysis, the Priest's ability was to use himself as a sacrifice to summon a portion of the God to descend into his body. If the ability had ended because of a time limit, then the Priest's body should have turned to ash, dispersed, or collapsed outright.
But after the God left, the Priest still had one breath remaining.
That could only mean one thing.
The God was afraid.
It possessed great power, yet feared death. Even if it was not death in the true sense, even if it was only experiencing death through one of its Fire-Clad Believers, that God was still afraid.
The moment death arrived, He abandoned His believer.
Meanwhile, the other Priest was leading the Fire-Clad Believers in a massacre of the Black Watch troops.
Firearms and bullets had no effect on them. Even though the Black Watch members wore specially made fire-resistant mobile combat suits, most of them were still ordinary people in the end. They were completely unable to stop these cultists wielding supernatural power.
Asagiri summoned the towering Human Asura, but did not have it attack. Instead, he had it use its massive body to protect Iwanaga Kotoko, whose physical defense was the weakest.
He himself, along with Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi, charged into the enemy ranks once more.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Three consecutive bullets struck Yuuki Asuna's left shoulder.
However, at this moment, she was sprinting at full speed and possessed astonishing defense. Coupled with the protection of the Armor of Flashing Light, it felt like an ordinary person being hit by rubber bullets.
It hurt, but it was still within the range she could endure.
Her attacks, however, were not something these Black Watch members could withstand.
Yuuki Asuna did not need to use Sword Skills at all. Even the simplest thrust could easily take the life of a Black Watch member.
Although Kato Megumi's stats were slightly lower, she was an Assassin-type class. Coupled with the buff from her exclusive talent, as well as Asagiri and Iwanaga Kotoko, two highly conspicuous teammates, attracting attention, the Black Watch members could not even notice her presence.
They only detected her when her first arrow struck their bodies.
But by the time they noticed, Kato Megumi's second arrow had already arrived.
Through the exclusive effect of the Bloodstained Nightingale Bow, the second arrow, now enhanced in power, directly pierced through their tactical helmets and took their lives.
Compared to Yuuki Asuna's agility and Kato Megumi's elusiveness, Asagiri's fighting style was much simpler and far more brutal.
He directly ignored every bullet, relying on the terrifying strength granted by the Human Asura. Every time he punched, he sent a Black Watch member flying. Even if their external tactical mobile suits appeared undamaged, the people inside were already dead from internal organ rupture caused by the impact.
Only when they encountered the Fire-Clad Believers did Asagiri's team face any real obstacles.
But since this was the final battle of the Dungeon, Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi no longer needed to worry about injuries. They fought without restraint, enduring the scorching flames and directly trading injuries for lives to kill the Fire-Clad Believers blocking their way.
In the chaotic Hotel lobby, three factions fought in a wild melee, making it impossible for the Black Watch members outside to provide long-range support.
"Leader, ten seconds!"
Just as Iwanaga Kotoko called out the reminder, she suddenly heard a shriek.
When she turned her head, she saw two dark figures pouncing toward her.
"Kings Gambit."
Seeing one of the Hunters bypass the Human Asura's defense, its bloodstained, filthy claws about to reach Iwanaga Kotoko, Asagiri immediately activated Kings Gambit.
At the instant their positions swapped, he pierced the Hunter's head with the Rope Dart in his hand and slammed it heavily into the ground.
But at that very moment, two more Fire-Clad Believers happened to attack Asagiri's original position.
Two huge fire snakes lunged toward Iwanaga Kotoko, who had just swapped places with him.
"Phantom."
Iwanaga Kotoko had no time to take any defensive measures.
But she did not need to.
She directly activated the exclusive effect of the Phantom Robe and entered the Phantom state for a full minute.
Seeing the two fire snakes pass straight through Iwanaga Kotoko's body, as if they existed in completely different dimensions, the surrounding Black Watch members and Fire-Clad Believers were momentarily stunned.
"Time's almost up."
Asagiri spoke softly.
Dark red patterns surged around his body, and his eyes changed from their original black to a brilliant golden yellow.
The phantom of the Human Asura appeared behind him.
Pitch-black light surged upward, rising high into the air.
Everyone present, Fire-Clad Believers, Priests, Black Watch members, and even the irrational Special Infected that should not have known fear, were seized by stiff, trembling terror at that moment.
"Supreme Magic Bullet."
The black rain of light descended.
As Asagiri and the others vanished, everything present, Fire-Clad Believers, Priests, Black Watch members, and Special Infected, was erased into nothingness.
A few seconds later, the two Black Watch Commanders who had just arrived at the scene, along with the Black Watch troops forming a cordon outside the Hotel, stared at the empty area in disbelief.
"This… What happened?"
"Is anyone alive? What the hell happened!?"
"That black rain just now… What was it?"
The Black Watch members entered the First Floor lobby of the Hotel.
Looking at the lobby, which seemed as if nothing had happened at all, everyone felt a fear rising from the depths of their hearts amid the dead silence.
Even in this world overrun with Cursed and horrifying phenomena, they had never seen anything so bizarre and unnerving.
There had been no sound.
Only an instant.
The hundreds of Black Watch members who had just been present, the Priest in a state of Divine Descent, the few remaining Fire-Clad Believers, and the dozens of Special Infected…
All of them had turned into nothingness.
…
[Congratulations, Player Utsunomiya Asagiri, you have cleared this Dungeon.]
[In this Dungeon, your special bonus actions were: leading the Player group through the first stage of the Dungeon, leading and successfully killing the hidden BOSS "Thousand Faces," guiding the Player group to survive until the end of the second stage, killing "Flame Cultist," killing "Flame Cult Priest," killing "Black Watch member," guiding the "Flame Cult" and "Black Watch" into combat, and learning important information about the Cursed world.]
[Your Dungeon clearance rating for this run is: S+.]
[All injuries sustained during the Dungeon have been healed.]
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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