Chapter 112: Fighting Derug Part 4

I couldn’t believe what was happening. In SCRL, things weren’t this difficult—Derug couldn’t change forms or heal himself. At this point, I was starting to believe I was in a hard mode version of SCRL.

If there was anything worse than a boss with a second form, it was a boss with a second form that could heal itself. But Derug wasn’t even a boss, and he was already showing this level of difficulty.

The dark mass forming around his arms was at first shapeless, pulsing as if it had a life of its own, but it didn’t take long for it to take form. Just like the rest of his body—dark as a starless night—the mass shaped itself into Derug’s new arms, as if he had taken no damage at all.

“What should we do, Rick?” Sarah asked me.

There was a way to defeat him. If this were like a video game, the best way to deal with a monster that could heal itself would be to deal as much damage as possible—preferably far beyond what it could regenerate. I used my Tamer Appraisal once again to see how much damage he had recovered.

[

Name: Derug

Monster: Demon

Level: 25

Health: 300 points

Mana: 90/100 points

Strength: 30 point

Defense: 40 points

Magic: 30 points

Agility: 30 points

]

’He had 100 mana, so he spent 10. That much I understand—but did he spend it to regenerate just enough to recover the lost health, or does his skill always restore 100% of his life?’ I thought, weighing the possibilities.

Regardless of how powerful his regenerative ability was, it had a cost of 10 MP. I had spent 36 MP, leaving me with 39 MP to fight him, while Sarah still had 44 MP. Despite having used so much mana, I had the Drain Sword, which could let me recover 10 MP per use by stealing it from Derug—and the same applied to the red-haired girl beside me.

The perfect strategy took shape in my mind. If we could use the Drain Sword a total of nine times against Derug, he wouldn’t be able to use his regeneration anymore, and then we could finally put an end to him.

“Sarah,” I whispered to her, “he managed to completely regenerate his body.”

“Rick, that’s kind of obvious, isn’t it? It doesn’t even look like we attacked him,” Sarah said without taking her eyes off the monster.

“Listen to me! We need to use the Drain Sword. Nine hits will be enough!” I said as quickly as possible—the fight could restart at any moment.

“Are you two lovebirds done talking? I still have to kill the other two behind you, you know?” Derug said in an arrogant tone.

“Is that so?” Sarah asked. “I was thinking something similar about your master.”

“What?” Derug asked, as if Sarah’s words had offended him.

“Hmm? You don’t know? As soon as we kill you, the boss of this dungeon will be next,” Sarah said in a malicious tone.

Derug had been kneeling on the ground ever since his body began regenerating, and at that moment, it started to tremble. At first, I thought he was going to change form again, but that wasn’t the case. His body shook with rage. His mouth, lined with sharp teeth, opened once more, and with it came his deep, grating voice.

“How dare you openly defy the Great Master Zalrorg in his own dungeon? Such a grave offense cannot even be atoned for with your death!” Derug said, seething with the deepest rage, and the ground beneath his feet cracked.

I shoved Sarah aside. I was the fastest among us, and though I wasn’t as fast as Derug, I could sense what was about to happen.

The demon leapt toward Sarah, and the force of his feet shattered the ground where he had been standing. If I hadn’t pushed her, the strike could have crushed her—but instead, it obliterated the ground just seconds after she had been there.

After his attack failed, Derug turned toward Sarah. I didn’t know if the creature was consciously targeting the weakest link in our group, or if he was simply seeking revenge for the wound to his pride—but one thing was certain: I wasn’t going to let him touch her.

“Thunderblade!” I shouted, my sword crackling with electricity.

I was close enough to strike, and I had no intention of holding back, aiming directly for his peculiarly shaped head. But Derug had other plans.

With a swift swing of one arm, he blocked the path of my Thunderblade. My strike cut through half of that arm, but in the same instant, his massive body lunged toward Sarah.

Derug closed in on the girl, who had her back to him, his remaining fist coming down on the side I had struck, aiming for Sarah’s head. But just as he got close enough, I heard Sarah’s voice.

“Flash Thrasher!” With a feint, Sarah dodged Derug’s punch, delivering multiple slashes across the demon’s bare chest.

I didn’t hesitate and attacked Derug from behind. “Drain Sword!”

My sword carved a diagonal slash across the demon’s back, opening a gash in his skin. Dark liquid, almost like oil—Demon Blood—poured from the wound.

“Aaah, that burns!” Derug roared in pain. “You bitch! What did you do to me with your sword?”

“Eh? I just put a bit of this on the blade. You may have changed your appearance, but you’re still a filthy demon,” Sarah said, showing a small metallic object in her hands.

Water dripped from Sarah’s sword—but it wasn’t normal water.

“Holy Water! You still have this trick with you?!”

“Of course I do,” Sarah said, a mischievous smile on her lips. “Unfortunately, I just used this one, but we still have plenty more to use against you.”

“Hehe, I see. Hey, boy, that sword of yours just drained some of my mana a little while ago, didn’t it?” Derug asked me, without taking his only eye off Sarah.

I didn’t answer—not only because I didn’t want to reveal my plan to him, but also because I wasn’t in the mood to chit-chat.

“I’ll take your silence as a ’yes,’” Derug said in his deep voice. “I see, you two have figured out the weakness of my regeneration. If I don’t have mana, I’ll certainly lose to your Holy Water.”

I grew more tense as he spoke. Derug was admitting he had no chance against our strategy, but his voice was far too calm. ’He has another card up his sleeve.’

“That is, if this fight continues to be so one-sided—and I have just one skill that can balance things out against your Holy skills. Dark Veil!”

I braced myself, looking upward, where his skill had materialized twice in a row. Alicia was out of the fight, her efforts focused on taking care of Justine, so I would have to use Crystal Wall to block Dark Veil.

At that moment, a fist the size of my face came straight at me, incredibly fast. I only had time to block the attack with both arms. I felt the impact of Derug’s punch in my bones, spreading through my body and sending me flying back until my back slammed against the ground. My head was spinning, but I could still hear the demon’s voice.

“Hahahahaha! How can you be this stupid!” Derug burst into demonic laughter. “I knew you could use Holy skills, so I just bluffed that I was going to use Dark Veil. Did you really think I’d throw away my regeneration? Hahahaha!”

“Scum,” Sarah said in a cold voice.

“Hey, hey. It’s a fight to the death. You use whatever you can to win. That Holy Water of yours is a huge cheat against us. I’m just balancing things out. That said, it looks like your boyfriend is still lying on the ground, miss.”

“Huh.” A low, nervous sound escaped Sarah’s throat.

“Zalrorg is like a god to me, young lady. I don’t intend to let you leave here unscathed.”

I pressed my hands against the ground, but my legs wouldn’t move. ’Come on, get up! You stupid legs, get up already!’

My mind couldn’t control my body. Even with my blurred vision, I could see Derug slowly approaching Sarah, as if savoring the moment.

“I can still fight!” Sarah said in a determined voice.

“Hahahaha! Maybe so, but I’ve noticed something. Aside from that brat, you’re all very fragile,” Derug mocked her. “Now that the strongest has been defeated—”

In a single instant, the demon grabbed Sarah by the neck, lifting her into the air without any effort. Her sword fell to the ground, and her hands tried in vain to pry his grip loose.

“…None of you can stop me,” he said.

My dazed mind watched the scene in panic. Sarah’s life was hanging by a thread. There had to be some way to stop Derug, and I needed to find it as fast as possible. I felt weak, my thoughts clouded by pain, my vision faltering. But I didn’t want to fall—I wanted to fight until the very end. And thinking that, I remembered.

The image of a giant wolf with red eyes staring down at me, and the fight to the death we had. I didn’t think much—my lips just moved instinctively…

“Berserk Wolf.”

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