novelraw Chapter 159 : Werther - (2)
Chapter 159 : Werther - (2)
Chapter 159: Werther - (2)
A melee broke out immediately.
Perhaps due to the frustration of having to lose to Sanghyun once before advancing to the next phase, he fought with even more venom.
‘I can just crush him with status effect counters.’
Sanghyun had a strategy for Werther's second phase as well.
The bastard had a Berserker form, dishing out high firepower in a short period while relying on tricky resistances.
In other words, all he had to do was endure.
The problem was that it wouldn't be so easy to withstand.
At that moment—
Siiiing!
He couldn't see it, but he could hear it clearly.
Several invisible threads of death had appeared between him and Werther.
‘Killing Silver Threads.’
Official name: Killing Silver Threads.
They created countless threads with razor-sharp edges in midair, invisible to the naked eye.
Because they couldn’t be seen, there was no way to defend or dodge them—making them an extremely dangerous killing weapon.
Especially in the chaos of melee combat, with high-speed movement—what if you happened to touch one?
Even without deliberately trying to kill, it was the perfect trap that could cause self-inflicted death.
“Tch.”
Sanghyun clicked his tongue.
Of course, he had a countermeasure.
Werther wasn’t stupid—he too avoided the area where he’d laid down the Killing Silver Threads.
Those threads didn’t discriminate who they cut through. So all Sanghyun had to do was track Werther’s movements.
The next moment—
“……?”
Sanghyun tilted his head at the activation of a new special ability. It had been added to his buff window.
◎ Shared Vision
◎ Observation ability is synchronized with Player ‘Han Hyunjeong.’ You can see what she sees.
‘This skill... It’s incredibly important—no exaggeration—even if the mana consumption is explosive.’
Later on, there would be several instances where Han Hyunjeong used this skill to great effect.
But at this moment, Sanghyun hadn’t expected to be able to use it.
To stably use the Shared Vision skill, one needed at least 5,000 mana.
He could imagine it being possible because it was Han Hyunjeong, but that wasn’t an easy stat to reach.
That was a stat you could only hope to touch after coating yourself in Artifacts. As expected of her.
Shrrrr.
From this point on, he could clearly see them.
The Killing Silver Threads, originally transparent, now glowed red—an overlay added by Han Hyunjeong.
With that level of vivid crimson, you couldn’t not see them even if you didn’t want to.
“I’ll make you feel death!”
“Tch, that cringy line…”
Werther's body, charging at him, had already turned red.
He had become heated—meaning he had imbued himself with the fire attribute.
『Cold Blast』
His first response was a storm of frost.
Fired straight at close range, this skill didn’t even require fine control.
“This trash!”
Bang!
“Wow.”
Werther's response to Cold Blast was simple—he batted it away.
Unless it was a refined skill like Counter Barrier, deflecting a skill was no easy feat.
More than anything, it was inefficient.
To bat something away, you needed more power than the skill projectile flying at you.
But Werther didn’t seem to want to lose his forward momentum—and that gamble paid off, for now.
“Raaaaah!”
Werther, now right in front of Sanghyun, let out a roar and began a fierce assault.
Like a beast, he extended ten claws, slashing at Sanghyun.
It wasn’t just that his claws had lengthened—they had become finely forged metal, like they were alloyed.
‘As if that’ll work.’
『Song of the Sword』
His second response—Song of the Sword.
It was an invincible option Sanghyun could choose with ease.
Of course, it had the downside of immobilizing him. But Sanghyun understood the nature of Werther’s claws.
‘A Berserker-style attack—high-damage assault that momentarily drains health to fuel itself.’
That was a pattern that consumed its own stamina. In other words, all Sanghyun had to do was endure.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Damn it! Daaaamn it!”
Though the enraged Werther continued to attack relentlessly, he couldn’t break through complete invincibility.
‘In the first place, I don’t need to drag this out against Werther’s second phase. Just stall him.’
Since the strategy was clear, there was no need to hesitate or worry. He even felt ahead in terms of mind games.
“Hmph. That kind of cheap trick…”
Realizing the invincibility lasted quite a while, Werther backed off.
Instead, he took a stance similar to Full Charge, gathering energy for a single explosive move.
Ruuuumble!
Around Werther, energy began to swirl like a windmill, sucking in surrounding air.
Sanghyun immediately recognized this as a kind of explosive attack similar to Steel Storm.
Defend thoroughly, then counter.
With his strategy clear, Sanghyun moved on to his second plan.
Swoosh.
The moment his invincibility faded—
Bang!
With a loud explosion, the air that had been pulled toward Werther now slammed into Sanghyun with a deafening roar.
『Counter Barrier』
His preparation was flawless!
The shockwave was radiating out in a circular pattern—he only needed to deal with the portion heading toward him.
Sanghyun timed it perfectly and deployed the Counter Barrier—redirecting the shockwave 180 degrees.
『Downward Draft』
The moment he confirmed the projectile had reversed direction, Sanghyun cast Downward Draft without hesitation.
It was his favorite kind of situation.
Receiving a skill the opponent had carefully prepared—and slipping in his own attack at the same time.
From the opponent's perspective, it was the absolute worst kind of situation.
“Damn it!”
As expected, Werther's gaze was caught by the shockwave he'd unleashed coming right back at him.
A perfectly natural reaction.
Even Sanghyun himself, unconsciously, would naturally see his own skills first.
Right then—
Thud!
“Kegh!”
The gravity boost from the Downward Draft landed perfectly on Werther at just the right timing.
It wasn’t as if he had calculated it down to the second, but the attack landed at the optimal moment.
Werther’s plan to block the returning shockwave was thrown off.
His body was slammed down from above, throwing off his center of gravity, which delayed the activation of his defensive skill.
Thud!
“Graaah!”
Werther groaned as he took the shockwave—infused with immense energy—straight to his torso.
It was one of the worst possible outcomes in combat.
Sanghyun had only lightly countered once, expending minimal effort.
Meanwhile, Werther had launched his skill with full power—and ended up receiving all the damage in return.
Even if he didn’t want to get enraged, he simply couldn’t help it in such a situation.
“I’ll soothe my deep sorrow with your death!”
Werther entered a berserk state earlier than expected.
This was his ultimate pattern in the second phase—called the ‘Killing Sword Dance.’
The Killing Sword Dance was composed of ten strikes, with the first through ninth gradually increasing in power.
Starting from 1x base damage up to 9x base damage. And the tenth strike? A guaranteed instant death.
That was why many players who challenged the Labyrinth of Serenity ended up dying during the Werther phase.
Especially during the second phase—most commonly, they would block the tenth strike on reflex and die.
Because that tenth strike had a death sentence flag—it couldn’t be blocked. It had to be avoided at all costs.
‘What’s actually more frightening is that you can’t block it in the same way. Each one has to be dealt with differently.’
There was another tricky aspect.
Werther would learn the enemy’s defensive actions and skills, so repeated use wasn’t allowed.
If repeated, he would immediately activate the ‘Weakness Insight’ buff, gaining the advantage of acceleration.
He was already fast enough to be overwhelming. If he got even faster, Sanghyun couldn’t guarantee the next round.
“Stop flapping your mouth and come at me!”
“Raaaagh!”
Werther let out a near-scream and opened the first move of his attack.
It was a killing move full of bloodlust, trying to bury his enhanced claws into Sanghyun’s flesh at all costs.
『Acceleration』
『Back Step』
Dodging the first strike was easy.
Feigning closeness until the last moment, he then combined Acceleration and Back Step to retreat.
“No you don’t!”
True to form as a berserk-phase boss monster, Werther’s follow-up was lightning-fast.
The key difference in the second strike? His claws had turned red—meaning increased lethality.
『Perfect Sword』
Clang!
Sanghyun blocked the second strike easily with the invincible defensive form of Perfect Sword.
No matter how powerful the strike, there’s no winning against the word “invincible” in rock-paper-scissors!
“Damn it!”
Maybe he was pissed off.
After seeing his attacks nullified twice in a row, Werther’s face turned red as he extended his left hand.
It was obviously the preparatory motion for a summoning skill—one of those obvious but hard-to-avoid traps.
But—
『Recovery』
‘I mastered handling this level of skill long ago. These petty tricks won’t work on me.’
Sanghyun countered it effortlessly. Thanks to that, Werther’s third strike became another waste.
“Even so!”
Brimming with rage, Werther spat a thick wad of saliva and thrust both arms forward together.
From Sanghyun’s perspective, protected by Sage Armor on his chest and abdomen, it might’ve been strategic to take the hit.
But this was the fourth strike—quadruple the base damage. He didn’t let his guard down.
『Sacrifice』
Direct counter!
He took it straight to the gut.
Sanghyun didn’t budge an inch—even Werther, who had attacked, looked stunned by his boldness.
Wham!
The impact was there, but it only pushed his body slightly and was entirely restored via health regeneration.
The next moment—
‘Sometimes, the best defense is a good offense!’
『Brave Charge』
Switching up from a defensive stance, Sanghyun turned the tables and aimed for Werther’s opening.
He wasn’t just recklessly charging.
It was a timed attack aimed specifically at the moment Werther was preparing for his fifth strike.
“Shi—!”
Werther’s mouth shaped into a curse, his expression changing in an instant.
At the same time—
Thud!
Piercing through space, Sanghyun drove the True Demon Sword into Werther’s side while he was spinning.
“Graaaaah!”
A spray of blood erupted.
Because Sanghyun had stayed defensive, Werther assumed the next strike would be blocked—his fatal mistake.
He lost half his opportunity that way.
Considering the skills drained extreme amounts of health—if all ten attacks were nullified—
‘He’ll become the final Werther, living only a one-minute terminal life.’
From that moment on, time would be entirely in Sanghyun’s favor!
Victory was close.
But just then—
“Right here, friend.”
Werther’s voice came from behind.
It was an ultra-high-speed teleportation Sanghyun hadn’t predicted.