Chapter 68: A Battle of Attrition

I gave up on the thought and expectation of taking down the Abomination in a single blow.

“At the very least, this thing is a Named Monster.”

Named Monster.

A Monster that is not only stronger and more special than regular Monsters, but also drops rare items—those are called Named Monsters.

And the Abomination standing before me was exactly that, a Named Monster.

So, I decided to go back to my Modern Society self for the first time in a while.

“I’ll take this down step by step, nice and steady.”

Just like clearing a Named Monster in a game.

First, I figured out the Abomination’s basic attack patterns.

Every time I rushed at it, a specific pattern always appeared.

When I charged at it head-on, the Abomination brought its Meat Cleaver down at me with perfect timing—clean, precise, deadly.

The force behind it was monstrous.

“If I rush in from the side, it swings horizontally.”

Not just once, either. It would raise its body and swing twice in succession. I needed to watch out for its consecutive attacks.

“If I got close, it’d try to grab me with its free hand, or kick me.”

When it tried to grab me, its chest would puff up first, so I could dodge by timing my movement. And when it tried to kick, the non-kicking leg would shift back for support, so as long as I timed it right, I wouldn’t get hit.

The Abomination also had no such thing as a back.

If I tried to circle around behind it, its head and arms would rotate a full 180 degrees in an instant, keeping its eyes locked on me.

“This is what it takes to be called a Named.”

It almost felt like I was staring at the castle of a mid-boss in a game.

Maybe that’s why? My whole body was surging with adrenaline as my excitement continued to rise, and a smile naturally spread across my face.

-You have acquired the Skill ‘Combat Focus.’

With the Notification Window floating before my eyes, I focused even more.

And, though it was only a little, the Abomination’s movements started to look slower than before.

“Or maybe I’ve gotten faster?”

As my mental processing sped up, the Abomination’s attacks appeared slower to me.

I charged the Abomination head-on.

Whoosh.

The Abomination’s Meat Cleaver came crashing down vertically. Watching it, I could definitely sense it—the attack looked much slower than before.

“Now.”

I dashed in with even more speed, matching the timing of the falling blade.

Only after I had passed beyond the reach of the Meat Cleaver and closed in did the weapon finally hit the ground, and instead of targeting the body, I swung my sword at the arm that had just swung the cleaver with force.

Slash.

I made sure not to stab, but to cut. My sword carved off a chunk of flesh.

I’d already been caught by that attack once, but I couldn’t let it happen again. Do you know how expensive a sword is?

“Uwaah!”

A scream erupted. The Abomination reeled back, then tried to punch at me with its other arm.

Right then, having figured out a good method, I timed it so that as the punch flew at me, I ducked behind the Abomination’s wounded arm, the one I’d just slashed.

Thwack!

“Uwaaaaagh!”

Thanks to the cut I’d made, the Abomination’s own punch slammed into its already bleeding arm.

Naturally, the wound grew larger, and even more blood gushed out. The meat fell off in thick chunks.

Seeing that, I cheered inwardly as I retreated a few steps.

Of course, just backing off would feel wasteful.

“Fireball, Fire Bolt, Fire Spear.”

To cauterize the wound, I hurled three fire-based Skills, and then for good measure, unleashed a fifth-circle Skill.

“Fire Cannon.”

Fwoooosh, boom!

A crimson flame engulfed the Abomination.

At first, the Abomination tried to snuff out the flames by flailing its arms, but this time, it couldn’t manage it.

“Uwaaaaagh!”

Maybe because the wound was burned by the flames, it simply clutched at the spot with its remaining hand, showing no other reaction.

“Then I’ll just keep attacking.”

I charged at the Abomination, still smoldering, and swung my sword.

“Frenzied Slash!”

I slashed wildly at the Abomination’s torso, still engulfed in flames.

There was no particular pattern—I just kept hacking away. One thing was clear: every time I swung, chunks of flesh fell away, and the fire crept into the wounds, burning the inner flesh.

“Aaagh—!”

Writhing in agony, the Abomination thrashed its body and kicked at where I’d been standing.

By then, I’d already jumped back.

After its fit, the flames on the Abomination were extinguished.

But now, a smell like roasted meat filled the air, and the blood oozing from its entire body was now coming only from the wounds I’d inflicted.

At a glance, it looked like I’d done quite a bit of damage.

But contrary to my expectations, the Abomination was still very much alive.

“Uwaaaah!”

Bang! Bang!

If anything, it seemed enraged, displaying a completely different attack pattern than before.

With its free hand, it balled a fist and began slamming the ground furiously at me.

Not just the fist—sometimes the Meat Cleaver, too, swinging back and forth.

The shockwaves from its blows shook the entire cavern.

Crash, crash.

Stalactites hanging from the ceiling began to fall, and stone pillars broke apart.

“Come on, what am I, a mole?”

That was the only way to describe it. I was like a mole in a whack-a-mole game, scrambling around while the Abomination swung at me with its fists and cleaver.

“Ugh! Ugh! Uwaaah!”

At first, it attacked in rage, but now, it almost looked like it was enjoying itself. I was getting annoyed.

So, dodging its attacks, I began preparing a Skill, and when it was ready, I unleashed it.

“Call Lightning!”

Crash!

A bolt of lightning dropped from the ceiling and struck the Abomination.

“Argh!”

The Abomination froze in place. The power of Call Lightning was truly overwhelming.

I quickly kicked off the ground and leapt into the air. While airborne, I unleashed a Skill at the Abomination’s chest.

“Frenzied Slash.”

Slash, slash, slash.

I didn’t have much time in the air, but within that window, I slashed, carving deeper wounds.

Splatter, drip, splat.

The Abomination’s blood splattered onto me. The blood landed on my leather armor and pants, starting to eat away at them.

As my time in the air ended, I prepared to deliver one more decisive blow on my way down.

Meanwhile, the Abomination seemed to snap out of it and reached for me with its hand, so I quickly unleashed a series of Skills.

“Fireball!”

I aimed the Fireball right at the wound, then immediately shouted the next Skill.

“Blink.”

Boom!

The moment the Fireball exploded, the Abomination’s hand arrived.

But I had already Blinked away, escaping the flames and dodging the hand safely.

“Urgh!”

The Fireball had exploded inside the wound I’d carved, not outside.

As a result, cracks began to form in the Abomination’s body, and something corpse-like started to ooze out from within. At the same time, the Abomination’s size shrank a bit.

Hmm.

I could sense it—I was getting closer to victory.

On top of that, the gaping wound on its chest showed no signs of healing and remained open.

“If I just focus on that spot…”

I kept my distance and began preparing my next Skill.

“Ugh, ugh, uwaaaagh!”

Clearly, that attack had hit hard. The Abomination moved like it was screaming in agony.

Waving its Meat Cleaver and punching with its remaining fist, it charged at me like a beast trying to kill.

Thud, bang! Bang! Bang!

The underground cavern shook. Stalactites rained down from the ceiling as if an earthquake had hit.

“Whoa!”

Honestly, the falling stalactites scared me more than the charging Abomination.

Crash, crash.

I had to dodge both the stalactites and the Abomination’s attacks—it kept me on my toes.

A Skill like Blink wasn’t safe in this situation.

If I Blinked to the wrong spot, I could get crushed by a falling stalactite. So I had to dodge by sight alone.

But just dodging wasn’t enough to take down the Abomination.

“Magic Missile, Fireball.”

I kept hurling these two explosive Skills at the Abomination.

My target was the big hole in its chest, but there was no guarantee every Skill would hit that spot.

Even with my high accuracy, it was impossible to hit perfectly every time with a target moving so wildly.

So, I decided to rely on quantity. Fortunately, several Magic Missiles and Fireballs exploded inside its chest.

“Uwaaaagh!”

Every time that happened, the Abomination screamed and went berserk.

But its rage didn’t last long.

When the fourth Fireball exploded inside it, cracks began to form in the Abomination’s body.

Crack, crack.

The fissures spread across its torso, and then—finally—they burst open.

Boom!

Blood and flesh flew in all directions.

If there were ever a rain of corpses, this was it. The falling blood poured like a torrential downpour.

Crash, drip, drip.

After the bloody rain subsided, the remaining blood trickled down the walls in rivulets.

The lumps of flesh that made up the Abomination’s body bled out onto the ground. In the midst of that pile of meat, something red stood out.

Thump, thump, thump.

As if it were the Abomination’s heart, the red lump on the ground was absorbing the blood and throbbing.

I immediately drew my sword and stabbed it into what looked like the heart.

Squish.

Putting my weight behind it, I sliced it open.

Squelch.

As my sword split the heart-like lump, I saw three shining objects at its core.

“Oh, two Magic Stones?”

Amazingly, two out of the three were Magic Stones. Not just any, but massive, top-tier Magic Stones.

And the item in the center, unlike the blue Magic Stones, was red. Instinctively, I realized this must be the Core.

“This is it, right?”

I took an empty bottle from my Magic Bag and placed the presumed Core inside. As soon as I did, a Notification Window popped up before me.

-Quest has been completed.

-Reward is being issued.

-You have Leveled Up.

-5 additional stat points have been awarded.

-You have Leveled Up.

-5 additional stat points have been awarded.

-You have Leveled Up.

-5 additional stat points have been awarded.

-You have Leveled Up.

-5 additional stat points have been awarded.

That meant my Quest was complete, and my level had gone up as well.

“As expected, Named monsters really are something else.”

Besides the Quest reward, I also received a satisfying amount of Experience Points.