Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter  848. Illuminating

--- Colossal Dungeon, the Crypts---

As the whole dungeon around them shook, the lights atop the sarcophagus were extinguished. Seth had a sudden premonition.

"Everyone, get ready! Raise every defensive measure you have!" he exclaimed as he did just that.

The party was enveloped by <Apollo's Shield>, several elemental shields, a holy barrier, and Jame's new skill <Klinker's Barricade>. It was just in time as the lid of the sarcophagus moved aside by a little and a massive wave of miasma rushed out from inside.

The torched lining the aisle were extinguished one by one as the whole space was filled with murky black miasma. The dark power surged up against their defenses, like ocean waves against the coast. For now, it held, but <Apollo's Shield> only had a duration of 30s. It was questionable whether their other measures would hold.

"Get closer behind me! Fin, keep your skill ready," he instructed as his shield,  Antares, grew to the size of a blast door where three people could hide behind, standing side by side. With James and Seth huddling together, they would hopefully be able to break the stream of miasma in front of the party.

"Are you sure? It has a long cool time, if I use it now I won't be able to use it in an emergency," Fin asked worried. The skill Seth was talking about was <Protection of Bes>, the skill that had saved her party's life during the first explosion of a Mushroom Fiddler.

"I didn't mean to use it now. Just be ready in case this does not work," Seth explained, watching the counter for <Apollo's Shield> count down.

"The shield will fall...now! <Scorching Light>"

A bright, scorching light shone from the polished surface of the massive shield, purging the miasma crashing into the shield. Right after the shield skill was deactivated, the blacksmith used another skill of the shield, to buy them more time.

Only when the terrifying bright light dimmed, did the miasma finally reach the barriers and shields they had set up. Like a sandblaster, the miasma ground away at their defenses. The outer magic shields quickly broke, one after the other. Seth's and Jess's Fire Shields hold the longest, even longer than Tatzel's.

The light barriers Bulko, Fin, and Ferdinand had set up held even longer, whereas longer in this context meant several tens of seconds. Fin's and Puffles' went head to head, almost holding a minute each.  Evee's ward mitigated the surge, while her <Bone Barrier> managed to withstand almost as if all other barriers broke.

When it finally fell, only James' <Klinker's Barricade>, a dam of illusory menhirs, was still holding on, keeping the miasma from directly hitting Seth's shield. Suddenly the illusory menhirs started burning in flames.

Jess had stepped behind James and covered him in flames. Instead of hurting him, the flames strengthened his defense and that of the skill. Despite the heat, James didn't seem to feel anything but a surge in power.

The miasma had been gushing out for three minutes when the divine skill finally couldn't keep up anymore and broke. Now it was on Seth, holding up the massive Antares Shield, however, the force he expected didn't come.

Seth was prepared to use all his strength to hold against the flood of black ink, but he could barely feel the force exerted against the shield. 80% Damage Reduction from the material, 40% Damage reflection from the forging ballad, 25% Damage reflection through the synergy of <Shieldwarrior's Constitution> which automatically created a barrier around him when carrying a shield, and <Tisiphone's Mirror> reflection 25% of the damage on barriers. Seth had even started using <Self-immolation> burning his mana to raise his defense in anticipation of the impact.

With all the reflection and negation that happened through the direct contact, there was almost no sensible pressure against his shield. The blacksmith felt like he could stand there holding up his shield all day, as the miasma raced past them.

"Are you okay?" Mina asked him worried. Fin also looked at him concerned. He gave them a cheeky smile.

"I could do this all day long. Everything is fine."

The miasma had been flowing and breaking against his shield for over ten minutes when it finally became slower and started to stagnate again. The dark fog was now even thicker and without the dungeon's torches, it was impossible so past the length of an arm.

When the rush of the miasma finally subsided, it was suddenly answered from the darkness. A sound created from the mournful roars of hundreds of dry throats answered the miasma and the choir of the damned ended with the sound of ripping metal and breaking stone.

"What are we going to do now? We can't see anything, we are surrounded and I'm sure the things from those cells are free now," Faenys worried.

"Let me try something..." Seth said and pulled out his bow.

Who ever said he had to see something to hit something, right? The Mind Reaper, one of his oldest weapons, but still his favorite. Auto-aim, a slew of debuffs, and a great synergy with his other skills.

"<Life Reaper>" Seth generated a light arrow and cast the bow's sole skill. < Life Reaper> would automatically aim for the closest hostile target and deliver a deadly shot. The moment the arrow left the string, it bulged up, as it was hit by the strengthening effects of his equipment.

His Light Attribute was already strengthened by roughly 250% because of the effects of different items, in addition, there was the +200% to skill and spells from Sight of Theia. Meaning just these individual effects already strengthened the arrow by almost five times. Other effects like <Leraje's Archery> came on top of that.

The arrow of light, looking more like the bolt of a ballista, made a turn and flew straight up. The shining light was barely dampened by the thick miasma as it illuminated the massive rotten face of an undead bending over, ready to attack.

Seeing the face only for a moment, they were almost blinded when the arrow penetrated the eye cavity and exploded, ripping apart the head and helmet of the undead. Like the light of a lightning strike in a thunderstorm, the explosion allowed them to get a glimpse of their current situation.

The undead soldiers and knights had risen from their knees, standing tall, and all their empty eye sockets were pointed at them, staring at the intruders with their lip-less skeletal grins.

"Fuck, I could have lived without seeing that...," Ferdinand cried out.

"I'm glad it's dark again...," Azul agreed with him.

"Then you better close your eyes, I'm about to bring the sun."

~Pff, if anyone brings the sun, it would be me!~ Puffles boasted

"What are you doing?" Lydia asked worried, seeing him pull the string without an arrow and point it at the ceiling.

"Make us some room," he said and let go.

<Apollo's Rain of Light>

The moment he let go of the string, 300 arrows of light, the same size as the previous one, were launched from the bow. Seth had chosen the largest area possible, not that it really mattered. Like a swarm of bees, the arrows started seeking their targets with malicious intent, blowing the colossal undead surrounding them to pieces.

~...Fine, I will admit that that wasn't bad.~ the Ivicer acknowledged begrudgingly.