Chapter 3: A Path to Redemption
Upon the high podium of the demonic throne room floated a blood-red greatsword.
Vince, Josef, and Cherise could not help but gasp in shock to what they were seeing. The ominous voice that they heard just now came from the demonic sword! A talking weapon? A talking weapon could only mean one thing in Dark Descent—
"It's— It's a mythical weapon! But how is that even possible? Isn't the Priya Kingdom just a D-rank area!?" Vince spoke in confusion. The knowledge they have about the game was quite vast, and things regarding weapon rarity would obviously not slip their minds. The fact that a mythical weapon suddenly appeared in a D-rank area was mind-boggling to them. It was simply impossible.
Ominous energy suddenly poured out from the demonic sword, dripping down towards the corpse of the fallen Demon King Jin.
*Click* *Click* *Click*
The decapitated head of the demon king suddenly came back to life. It moved on its own and inched towards the demon king's body. In the next instant, it floated and re-attached itself, reforming the demon king anew. The ominous energy continued dripping down as it seeped inside the wounds of Demon King Jin, healing it in the process.
The party of three could not help but feel pressured by the suddenness of the scene.
Nothing good ever happens when they couldn't even clear a raid after presumably killing the boss. The fact that everything else within the kingdom was pathetically weak and the boss was even more so made things a whole lot more confusing. The appearance of a mythical weapon, however, made them doubt that there was nothing more to all this. Only one thing was certain— they won't be returning home with their remaining lives intact.
"How many more lives do you two have?" Vince whispered, his gaze still fixed at the scene of the dead demon king slowly being revived by the mythical blood-red sword.
Cherise immediately opened and scrolled through her status page to check, "I… I'm good, I have 22 lives left." A look of relief appeared on her face. Even if she dies, she won't be suffering that much. Even if she loses 20% of her current gold and experience progress; it wouldn't really matter. What's more important is that she could still play the game comfortably with more than twenty lives remaining.
However, a grave expression was suddenly painted on Josef's face. "I— I have 4 more lives left. Tsk, I can't waste one more here! Damn it!" The effeminate looking avatar rebuked in rage. Josef, a spear-wielding player who mostly farmed things in-game, have spent too many of his lives in the hunt for the best equipment. However, this took a toll on him:
In an instance of an unexpected event, he runs the highest risk of having his game character die and not respawn again. Mere four more lives meant that Josef could not risk losing one more against the reviving demon king.
"No. I won't lose another life here. I'll end this stupid demon boss myself."
Josef hardened himself as he drew his bronze spear.
With the spear handle suddenly embellished in flames, it was apparent that his main playstyle revolves around the use of fire element. Imbuing weapons with an elemental attribute had always been a common playstyle among players. Josef was no exemption.
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Status
Name: Josef Smith [SickBurn] LV: 35 (In Combat)
Job: Flame Lancer (+4 more)
Title: Efficient Farmer (+2 more), Effect: earns +10% more Gold
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HP: 2,500
MP: 170
Fatigue: 44
---
STR: 20 --- INT: 12
AGI: 98 --- DEX: 110
VIT: 10 --- LUK: 0
Stat Points: 30 (Base) + 210 (Levels) + 10 (Bonus). 0/250 Total.
---
With fiery eyes and the intent to not lose another life, Josef aimed to kill the demon king as fast as he could; from his stats alone, one could clearly see that Josef was capable of doing just that. A hard-hitting player with a glass cannon build. It was apparent that Josef was fond of doing things as quick as possible.
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Skill(s)
𐣿 Elemental Imbuing (Fire)
Amplifies all attacks by 20%. Has a chance (10%) to apply Burn. Mana Cost: 2 MP/sec.
(Burn: 10HP/sec Damage Over Time. Lasts for 20 sec. Cannot be Disjointed)
𐣿 Lancer's Rage—
Passive. For every attack, has a chance (5%) to apply Formless Joust.
(Formless Joust: Applies (+200% x DEX) damage to attacks proc'd with Lancer's Rage)
𐣿 Eclair Thrust—
Deals 150 (+500% x AGI) damage. Hit Chance: 30% (+10% x DEX). CD: 10 sec.
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Josef stepped forward in a brazen manner, not minding the other two in his party. If he can't recall and escape, then he'll just have to fight and deal with the annoyance himself. Having a perfect skill set to quickly deal and finish off opponents, Josef felt both confident yet worried at the same time.
Time moved as the Josef's MP ticked down, little by little.
He could not waste anymore second waiting for the revival to complete. Josef then rushed towards the deceased demon king's body, which was now slowly recovering from all its wounds, and immediately pointed his flaming bronze spear straight towards latter's chest.
(Eclair Thrust!)
[Lancer's Rage proc'd!]
[Formless Joust applied!]
[Elemental Imbuing applied!]
(1,004 damage dealt!)
…
'Hahaha, who needs a luck stat when I am truly this lucky! A proc in my very first attack? Damn, the heavens must be on my side. This boss is already a goner!' Josef inwardly celebrated as he pulled his flaming bronze spear back. If he were even luckier, the Burn proc might've triggered. Luckily, or unluckily, it didn't.
However, Josef's smile immediately vanished when he saw the demon king's health pool…
.
HP: -1,281
.
"What the heck! What is going on?" Similar to what happened to Vince, Josef's attack was negated and instead was absorbed, showing a negative number instead of hitting a zero.
...
*Plok*
The last drop of the ominous energy coming from the blood-red sword resounded.
Shivers ran down the spine of the trio. A heavy atmosphere immediately enveloped the entire room. They still couldn't use a recall scroll or even save their progress. The 'In combat' status still flashed in a bright red font through all their status pages.
"I don't think this is something that we could win against. Let's get out of here…" Vince immediately went and tugged Josef back. The latter still had a dumbfounded expression on his face. Cherise promptly cast a fear-negating spell towards Josef, she then went ahead and did the same towards Vince and herself.
As veteran support, she had learned the ways of helping others before herself. Although most people would do things the other way, Cherise had grown used to doing this unorthodox method. She was, after all, a compassionate person. She simply could not stand watching others suffer while she's in comfort.
"Forget about using a recall scroll. Let's just run away from here!"
After tugging Josef back, Vince immediately went towards the throne room's door. The door was still wide open, however, a menacing feeling in their heart kept them on their toes. This unusual instance would simply not let them escape.
*Bam*
True enough, the wide open door swung shut before Vince could even get close to it.
.
HP: 2,298 (-202)... "Ack!"
.
Josef was unable to react from the appearance of the blood-red greatsword. In an instant, it rushed from the podium towards him and, somehow, managed to pierce his armored chest. The same demonic sword, however, wasn't emitting the same ominous energy it once had. Instead, the foreboding force was now coming from the revived demon king…
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Status
Name: Jin Vel Frey [Jin] LV: 0 (In Combat)
Job: Demon King
Title: The One Who Gained Sentience (+1 more), Effect: grants S.P.C. (Passive)
---
HP: 500 x (--)
MP: 50 x (--)
Fatigue: --
---
STR: 0 --- INT: 0
AGI: 0 --- DEX: 0
VIT: 0 --- LUK: 0
Stat Points: 30 (Base) + 0 (Levels) + 0 (Bonus). 30/30 Total.
[Character unable to move...]
[Please assign your base stat points!]
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Skill(s)
𐣿 Corrupted Saint Sword Seyna (Demonic) (Toggled: ON)
(Toggle) Attacks and deals 200-250 damage to random opponents within a 100 unit radius. Has a chance (5%) to apply Corruption. Has a chance (1%) to apply Conversion.
(Corruption: 5HP/sec Damage Over Time. Lasts for 60 sec. Cannot be Disjointed/Dispelled)
(Conversion: Turns opponent into your mindless puppet for 10 sec.; Cannot be Dispelled)
𐣿 Feeding The Darkness—
Passive. For every 100 damage taken, adds 200 to Seyna's total damage.
𐣿 (Skill 3: Unlock at LV 20)—
𐣿 (Passive Skill 4: Unlock at LV 40)—
𐣿 (Skill 5: Unlock at LV 60)—
𐣿 (Passive Skill 6: Unlock at LV 80)—
𐣿 (Ultimate Skill: Unlock at LV 100)—
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"An opportunity to redeem myself… This— This is something that I could not waste!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone