Chapter 109

(Double sized)

I heard the sound of a chiming bell. I wonder what is going on?

Ah, I died again. I remembered the hazy memory of my final moments fighting a Boss monster.

Most of my weapons become unusable. Electricity will disperse by the ocean water almost instantly, fire bullets will be extinguished, poison will lose its effect and dissolved by the body of water while normal bullets lose momentum very fast when traveling through water that most bullets simply drop to the ocean floor past 200 meters.

2 hours prior.

"Damnit, most of my weapons become useless in this water filled environment other than my melee weapon." Ray complained while swinging Arondight to clear the monsters guarding the cave entrance.

Thankfully the Ouroboros was remodeled later in the IS world to be like an IS that meant to work in outer space. Ouroboros didn't face difficulty functioning underwater but the majority of Ray's firearms are compromised though.

Armed with Arondight, Ray cut down all the monsters in its path before rushing into the dungeon hoping the inside of the dungeon will not be submerged by water. But his hope shattered when the inside was indeed submerged by water.

Other than giant aquatic fauna, he met the first fantasy creature, a beautiful woman on the upper half and a fish's tail on the bottom half within a crystal cavern.

"Ray? Where have you been? We are waiting for you to come home." The scene of the crystal cavern changed to his mansion back in Eden.

The bewitching voice that mimics his loved ones rang sweetl in his ears, one after another. Slowly trying to chip away his mental defenses. Until the voice of Lancelot called out to him.

"Ray…"

"It's fine, Lancelot. I'm still okay." Ray said before gripping Arondight tighter and releasing a sword wave at the imposter that was impersonating his wives and daughters and his loved ones.

A shrill shriek of the monster is heard before the scene returns to the crystal cavern and the previous beautiful half women turned into hideous monsters with dried and sunken faces. One in particular is a bigger sized one with stronger presence than the others.

Ray quickly identified the boss and summoned all his operators into combat to take care of the normal Sirens while he marched forward and took on the Boss Siren.

Another shriek hit his eardrums and felt like bursting before his armor filtered out the voice in the surrounding.

Once the magical voice of the Sirens couldn't affect him, taking down the Boss is very simple since it isn't much of a fighter and more of a debuffer that stays out of combat to assist its allies.

Cornered, the Boss Siren's eyes glowed briefly before mana gathered in its throat that burst out as a sound wave that caught him off guard as there isn't a way to block the strong sound waves other than dodging it.

Ray becomes stunned for a moment after being hit by the sound wave attack. Then the Siren bares its fangs and claws coated with venom to attack the gap in Ray's armor. Mainly his neck that isn't covered by armor. Normally those unprotected parts are still difficult to be injured because his Sacred Gear is considered his armor and has the barrier his other SAS 4 armors have but the nature of the attack is venom that manages to affect him.

Ray feels his vision become slightly blurry and a burning sensation flows through his vein that makes him feel weakened. Here he noticed his max HP dropped by 20% immediately and his physical stats also reduced.

The system categorizes this debuff as weakening. He didn't have the luxury of reading through its description as he gave the order for Lancelot to appear and assist him.

He didn't expect the effectiveness of enemies abilities scaled with levels which mean any debuffes he received from the enemies will be several fold stronger due to his low level. The only simple reason he isn't dying yet is because of his superior equipments that allow him to cover the gap between his below 150 levels to the Boss Siren that apparently is level 400+.

Ray pick himself up before summoning his ol reliable, heavily enhanced and modified firearm, Proposition as replacement for Arondight.

Lancelot that went ahead to engage on a melee combat against the Siren stall the Boss while create opening for Ray to unleash hail of metal bullets on the Boss Siren.

Ray aimed his shot at the arm jointof the Siren that are about to perform an overhead swipe with its claw on Lancelot. Ray also didn't forget to turn on his skill before pushing down on the gatling gun's trigger.

A short burst lasted less than a dozen seconds, delivered all four hundreds anti-magic bullets to prevent the Boss from able to perform anymore magic that cause debuff to Ray's allies.

The other operators, numbered to more than a hundred already taken down the Elite monsters that accompanied the Boss. They immediately focus their efforts to also assist Ray in chipping down the Boss' HP.

The shower of bullets lasted more than 15 minutes before they manage to slay the Boss Siren only to find out the enemy they thought is the Boss are actually a Mini Boss and after killing it, a path opened up from the shattered wall that revealed another path to progress further.

———

Turns out the weapons that he provides for his operators are too unspecified that some have an easier time killing monsters and some have a harder time. For example, operators using firearms that shoot normal bullets work on monsters like giant fishes that lurk the dungeon but struggle a lot on those Giant Clam. Meanwhile bullets infused with electricity works really well on those Giant Clam to electrocute them and cause their muscles to spasm before opening itself for Ray and his people to finish off.

Weirdly enough, fires just work well in general despite their environment because the fire is too strong and heat up things really fast.

The most surprising discovery for Ray is his operators using magic. Though, only magic Ray himself mastered to some extent. The only spell the operators could use for now are Fireball, Lightning Bolt and Wind Blade.

Lightning Bolt being the most effective in such terrain and there is no risk of friendly fire because everyone either has high magic resistance or gear that insulates electricity. However the spell still isn't the first choice for everyone and the operators only resort to magic when they need to reload or drop their firearm somehow.

With Lancelot leading the Heavy class operators as their defensive line while the Assault class operators led by Ray delivered devastating firepower on their enemies. Then the Medic class operators support with their auras that increases defense stats and healing.

The formation marches without obstacles that is insurmountable for them until they reach an even bigger cavern with an underground lake that has beautiful glowing corals and crystals at the bottom.

The whole room screamed a Boss room as the challengers got ready for the real Boss this time. Then the cavern shaked and followed by several quakes that caused some stalactites to fall from the cavern ceiling and almost impaled several operators alive if not for a timely save from Ray as he shot those stalactites into smaller pieces. The result is injury but better than having his operators impaled to death before the final battle.

Then from the depth of the lake, a serpentine creature emerged with its colossal size. A dragon-like body but very long without limbs. A Leviathan emerged from the lake before releasing a roar at the intruder that disturbed its rest.

"Now! Aerial Bombardment!" Ray ordered as 30+ Heavy class operators unleashed a devastating rain of explosive warheads on the Leviathan that appeared from the holographic glitch on the cavern ceiling.

"Aim for its softer flesh inside the mouth!" Lancelot's turn as he also barked his strategic order to focus their firepower on the softer flesh than trying to attack the outer flesh covered by sturdy dragon scales.

The Leviathan howled in pain before submerged itself and re-emerge again with a breath attack charging in its mouth that can be identified from the bright light escaping the gap of its jaw.

"No you don't!" Lancelot noticed the incoming breath attack and unleashed his noble phantasm without hesitation to interrupt the Leviathan.

"Forever shining, radiance of the lake. The holy sword that once felled a dragon, lends me your strength. Arondight Overload!" Lancelot recites the chant and invokes the Mystery contained in Arondight where its past wielder once slayed a dragon to gain the attribute advantage.

Lancelot leaps into the air before slashing his sword in a straight line to bisect the Leviathan in half but his strength obviously isn't sufficient to achieve this act. However, his intention is only to disrupt the breath attack which he succeeded and satisfied with it.

The accumulated energy exploded inside the Leviathan's mouth and injured the mighty monster enough to stun it for a while. Ray and his summons capitalize this opportunity and intensified their attacks.

Multicoloured glow from Ray's side as their numbers inflated to triple the size thanks to Assault class operators using their ultimate ability. Meanwhile the Heavy class operators make use of their stronger unconventional firearms like rocket launchers, literal stationary defenses mounted weapons like heavy machine guns and other energy based heavy weaponry to rain down hell on the stunned Leviathan before it is able to rise up again.

For that brief moment, victory seems close to grasp as the Leviathan's HP drops rapidly and reaches the last 30%.

Little did Ray expect, the Boss had a second phase. It raised its slumped body from the lake's surface while its eyes turned glowing red before it released a strong roar that created a strong shockwave that pushed everyone a few feets back. Mana leaked from its body and caused disturbance on the lake as few waterspouts appeared and bombarded a high speed, pressurized water jets at Ray's group.

Few casualties popped up as the water jets killed off a few operators that failed to take cover behind the Heavy class operators that used their 'Die Another Day' skill.

The Leviathan charges up another breath attack but significantly faster than before. A beam of extremely strong pressurized water blasted a 5 meters wide area within the formation and almost killed of a huge number of operators if not for Ray's timely activated 'Sacrificial Bulwark' that diverted all the damage to himself and activated the 'Reactive Barrier' since the previous attack exceeded the remaining durability of his 'Anti-magic Barrier'.

Another one of that breath attack and this raid will fail miserably. Ray thought as he glanced at the berserk Leviathan that was going for round two with the breath attack.

"Aim for its neck! Don't let it shoot another beam! At least not until my Reactive Barrier reformed!" Ray ordered

"Affirmative, High Commander Ray." For the first time today Ray heard the operators sound excited and motivated compared to their usual monotone voice.

———

The operators, contrary to what Ray believes to be mindless artificial humans created for his ability, are actually all former SAS 4 service members that gave their lives in battle for their organization. They were brought back to life at the moment of their death with the promise of once again fighting under a new leader.

Those operators aren't formerly a normal civilian enlisted to a supersoldier program. But specially raised humans to become the blade and shield of humanity and to safeguard their colonies that stretched few stars. This should be obvious because a normal civilian turn soldier will not have the courage to embark on a suicidal mission that require them to be drop in a zombie infested hive city and battle through monstrosity to complete their objectives.

They were bred and raised to be tools to only listen to the bigwigs of the organization. To fight and bleed for them in battle. This is their purpose. However, these tools raised to be used also have a will. A wish which is to fight alongside a worthy leader.

The said leader that they already found during the times when they are fighting against dragons and liberating the world from the menace of them. However, the sharpened blade turns dull during the time of peace. With time of peace dawning on them, their leader no longer retains his quality of a glorious leader and soon focuses on his family. Leaving behind the old life of a great leader to become a husband and a father.

However, now that he is once again dragged into conflict he never wished for. Their High Commander once again put behind the wishful thinking of a peaceful life and lifted his gun to lead his soldiers.

(Think of those Operators as vikings. Once dead in their world they are sent to a special place where they wait to be called to battle by Ray via summon. They are never dissatisfied with how Ray treats them because they are raised to listen to orders and that thought is ingrained in them since their birth. Their only wish is to be called to battle and a great leader to lead them.)

———

*ROAAR*

The Leviathan finished its breath attack's charging as none of the attacks from Ray's group could interrupt the Leviathan.

"Tch!" Ray clicked his tongue as he glanced at the corner of his UI that stated the Reactive Barrier still has another twenty seconds of cooldown.

He quickly sprung into action and unsummon everyone, leaving himself in the cavern alone with the Leviathan.

There isn't enough time to cast a defensive magic. Evading the attack seems impossible because the Leviathan has higher sheer stats that outrunning the pressurized water jet is simply out of his capability. Escaping into the lobby is also impossible as he is engaging a hostile enemy. He didn't have any choice but to take the attack and hold his ground.

'Lord Ray! Let me receive the attack instead. It's a stain to my knightley honor to be hiding behind the lord he was supposed to protect!' Lancelot shouted at Ray but he was disregarded.

"Don't speak nonsense, Lancelot. If I die, I can still be resurrected for another 8 times. If you die, we will lose a heavy hitter for another 24 hours to come." Ray replied before adding. "Though, I will be borrowing the sword."

Ray grabs the sword that materializes back to his hand as Blessing of the Lake boosted his overall stats while he is equipping the sword.

"Heh, hopefully I can resist this attack long enough to 'Die Another Day'." Ray half jokingly activated his skill as the beam exited the Leviathan's jaw and came toward him at neck breaking speed.

*BOOM*

The water jet causes a small explosion on impact before trying its best to cut apart Ray with sheer pressure of the water that cuts through the bedrock ground like tofu. Yet Ray keeps holding his ground as he looks at his HP drop more than 5% every ticking seconds.

1 second…, 4 seconds…, 8 seconds…

Ray looked at his HP dropping non stop and his regeneration could only do little to stall his death. Even his Sacred Gear, Ouroboros are breaking and cracking under the immense pressure of the attack. The only respite he has is the still unblemished and forever shining Arondight still strong despite the immensely strong attack it is trying to block. Not even a smallest scratch can be seen on its blade.

Then he heard a ringing audible only to himself. The Reactive Barrier has already finished its cooldown. When Ray glanced back at his HP bar, he was down to the last 3%. Barely hanging by the hair breadth.

When the Reactive Barrier sprung back to life, it created an array of hexagonal holographic shapes that arranged itself into a circular barrier around Ray.

The still ongoing beam made contact with the barrier that immediately broke not long after being reformed and made a sound of glass breaking into pieces before the beam vanished alongside the holographic barrier.

The Leviathan looked confused that its attack suddenly vanished without a trace before he even finished with it. Then it looks at the barely standing Ray, supported by Arondight that has been made into a makeshift walking stick for Ray.

Unlike Gamer systems that offer Gamer Body, Ray's HP bar reflects his body condition. Green or above 60% means his performance capacity is still at hundred percent. Yellow or above 30% means his performance capacity is reduced by half. Red means Ray is in critical condition and requires medical help or rest for his regeneration to kick in.

His Health Point or HP is his own health limit before he drops dead that reflects in the form of numbers in his status screen or bar on his UI.

Thus with Ray's situation, he is already in a very critical condition but remains standing because of the psychotic amount of drugs pumped into his vein by the ACE suit to keep him in a state capable of combat. His pain numbed and every sense enhanced to the limit. Even his heart is working overclock, pumping the drug filled blood into his body.

Any normal human that was subjected to this treatment probably would have their heart explode the moment the drug's effects kicked in. But Ray isn't a normal human anymore. His tolerance limit grew higher with his growth.

He smirks at the Leviathan to flaunt the fact he survived its attack. Soon more of his allies will rejoin the combat and the Leviathan will be slain. Ray resummon his operators and Lancelot that are eager to rejoin the battle and finish off what they all started.

The Leviathan that was already in a berserked state due to its second phase now became enraged and focused on Ray and Ray alone. It growled and roared to show the amount of fury and resentment it bore against Ray for interrupting its sleep and now had the audacity to slay the Great Leviathan.

"No you don't!" Lancelot jumped into action immediately after his body reformed from the golden particles.

He saw the Leviathan locked it's eyes in Ray that is receiving healing from Medic operators.

"Defenders, form a line! Protect your lord!" Lancelot ordered as he sped to the bank of the lake and used his entire strength to bash the monster with Arondight in an attempt to taunt the Leviathan.

Yet he failed and Leviathan's resentment still locked on Ray. A great disturbance happened under the lake that sent a wave crashing on the lake's bank. Hiding behind the water wave turns out to be the tail of the Leviathan, sweeping toward Ray.

The Heavy class operators tried to stop it but failed as the great monster's tail is too strong and unstoppable as it sweeps the rank of soldiers, including Ray that is in very critical health condition. He unfortunately died by the tail sweep and the Leviathan roared proudly while eyeing the others like ants.

It might be mindless but not stupid. It knows Ray is the summoner and with the summoner dead, all the operators are also unsummoned. However it forgot about someone that is seething in maddening rage that dyed his pure silver sword and armor into pure dark milace. Black flame-like corrupting aura burns proportional to its anger.

The knight-turn-berserker roared back at the dragon that was proudly celebrating its victory, unaware there was still another challenger on the field waiting for its turn.

"▂▂▃▃▄▄▄▄▄▄▅▅▅▅▅▅"

"Ḻ̴̨̤͐̒͌̈e̷̘͎̺̋̇̋v̴͕͇̐̎͜͠ỉ̴̲͓̗̙̒͐͜a̴̦̘̲̘̜̅̀̎͝t̸̡͎̰̦̏̓̄ḧ̷̺̞̹̞́a̶͎̍̍̏̄̓n̴̹̥̋͊̈́̂!̶̼̗̳̬̊̍!̷̟̊̌͋̔̑!̴͖̥͆̇́͝!̶̠̰̜̖͋"

Alongside the previously holy now turned demonic sword, Darkened Lancelot attacks with maddening fury that is boiling away his sanity until all that is left is a goal, that is to slay this monster in front of him.

Without any restraint, the corrupted Arondight now has its noble phantasm in constant active state. The light condensed on his blade increased his cutting power that allowed him to stab the Leviathan and pry open its hard scale before entering the aquatic dragon's body to wreak havoc from within.

From the stomach, Lancelot carved open the inside of the Leviathan all the way to the mouth where he exited. Along the way, he made sure to mince its organs that all of them look like they went through a shredder machine. The Leviathan already died when Lancelot turned its heart into minced meat.

———

"Ah, yes I was fighting the Leviathan and died somehow." Ray mutters as he is still trying to regain his senses while his ACE suit is detoxifying his blood by running it through a filter.

Ray sat up and laid his back on the cavern wall while looking around only to find the crystal cavern looking half collapsing like a major earthquake just wrecked the place up.

"Did I fail to kill the Boss?" Ray asked while his hand quickly opened the system and entered the notification screen to find the most recent one.

Nope, apparently the Boss is slain for sure.

[Congratulations for slaying Crystal Lake's Leviathan.]

[User ranked No.1 in Contribution Ranking with 100% damage done by user.]

[No. 1 Contribution Ranking reward is Crystal Lake's Leviathan (Mount) or Merfolk Queen (Battle Summon). Please choose either one.]

[Congratulation user obtained the Blue Key.]

[User received the reward for clearing the Crystal Cavern dungeon. Please check the reward in the user's inventory.]

Confirmed to have already killed the Boss, Ray closes the screen and stands up before walking to the banks of the lake. He saw miscellaneous rewards like gold coins, random magic crystals for slotting on equipment and materials. No actual piece of equipment apparently.

Then the fallen rock suddenly shaked which prompted Ray to jump back, preparing to defend himself but stopped halfway when he saw the familiar blade poke out one of the rubble's gaps.

"Lancelot? Are you the one that slayed the Boss?" Ray asked the disoriented silver knight emerging from the rubbles, not in a great condition just like himself just a moment ago.

Lancelot nodded while slowly walking to Ray's side.

"I apologize that I once again failed to protect you, Ray." Lancelot said with a guilty look on his sullen face.

"Not just once but many times had I failed to fulfill my duty. I wonder if this is the curse that afflicted mine and the original Lancelot."

"A person born with a great sense of honor and bound by a duty that he will always fail to fulfill. Just like-"

"Silence, Lancelot. Speak no more. It isn't your fault at all. This is the price in exchange for victory against the Boss. I already expected to die once or twice when I stepped into this battle. That's what my ability is for, that is what God Hand is for." Ray put his left hand on Lancelot's shoulder in a consoling manner.

"This is what my abilities, specialization and role are. A tank is the one that risks his life to give an opportunity for his allies to secure a victory. This role is my choice and what I wanted myself. If a false death can secure me a victory then I am willing." Ray gives Lancelot a thumb up with his right hand while grinning.

"So, stop trying to blame yourself for something that isn't your fault. In fact, you did great and managed to slain the Boss." Then Ray points at the place where the loot is scattered and half buried by rubbles.

"Let's grab our loot and move to the next dungeon. The faster we complete all this, the better." Ray gives Lancelot a few taps on his shoulder before going to retrieve the loot.

However, after Ray walks past Lancelot. He blushed and cringed a little. All the knowledge he blurted out came from the game and anime he usually played and read. He wonders if the nonsense he came up with at the moment will be discovered by Lancelot.

—————