Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player-Novel

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Having walked for roughly 30 minutes, Kieran eventually led the party to what marked the beginning of the Underground Labyrinth's third floor. Similar to the setting before this floor, it followed the same ominous layout. The only difference was the higher concentration of broken and aged bones and the thickening smell of putrid flesh.

"What the hell is this? Some type of graveyard for the monsters?" Bastion commented while pinching his nose. The smell was sour and pungent, which birthed a stinging sensation in their nostrils similar to inhaling pure ammonia.

However, Kieran lifted his head and inhaled deeply. The others looked at him as if he was a freak because they failed to understand how this smell didn't bother him. A few of them even felt queasy and in need of fresh air. Alas, being so far beneath the ground, there was no source of fresh air. They would have to deal with the odor for the time being.

​ "This smell... it's faint but familiar. It's goblin blood, but it must have become acrid after years of festering. Something may be devouring the goblins. Perhaps that's why the numbers aren't as high as we expected," Kieran voiced while slowly lowering his head and gazing forward.

Although he enhanced his vision with Mana, he still couldn't see too far into the darkness ahead. But, at least the lack of impending peril told Kieran there wasn't a threat close by.

"Wait, you sure? I mean, wasn't this a dungeon based solely on goblins? What exactly eats goblins? I know those things can be slain, but eaten? Whose diet would be so terrible?" Cyr commented while scratching his head. His face was scrunched up in confusion as he tried to digest what Kieran had told him.

"Not who, but what…" Kieran corrected. Afterward, he continued to move forward cautiously. After a few minutes, a low crunching noise barely audible to the others registered in Kieran's hearing.

He stopped before a bend and exhaled. 'I hope that isn't what I think it is. If it is, then me not having a weapon is terrible.'

"Cyr, scout ahead but do not make any noise," Kieran directed.

"Understood," Cyr nodded and took advantage of his class passive which made his presence sparse by decreasing any bodily noise by 50%. Furthermore, for 30 seconds, his weight would be reduced. These two passives were perfect for forest terrains with large trees to scale and scout. It was similarly helpful in towns with high vantage points.

Cyr moved forward cautiously, passing Kieran and moving around the bend. After doing so, he hugged the wall and controlled his breathing so that the only noise was the occasional rustle of bone fragments on the ground.

The stone corridor wasn't that long, so Cyr cleared it in a few seconds, but what he saw made him pause. If he thought the Giant Ogres from before were large, he was breathless as he saw an enormous figure hunched over and munching on fresh goblin bodies. The eerie crunch of numerous bones breaking due to the giant figure's powerful bite resonated in Cyr's ears.

He blinked in horror as he glanced down and saw over ten mountainous piles of bones scattered around the area. Cyr made the mistake of gulping and not controlling the volume.

The sound echoed in the hollow cave, and the figure's head perked up as it turned around. One monstrous eye gazed at Cyr as a light of gluttony shone within.

"Rooarrrgh!"

"C-c-cyclops?!" Cyr muttered. Just then, he felt a strong hand grasp his collar and pull him back quickly. An instant later, the light in front of the path darkened, followed by a few tremors that felt oddly familiar.

The cyclops drove its fist into the tunnel's opening, but it was far too large. Cracks spread along the wall while some rocks fell from inside the tunnel's ceiling.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

"Dude, that's a cyclops! And it's at least three times larger than the Giant Ogres. I think it's almost 20 meters tall or something!" Cyr screamed out.

"No way, a cyclops? For real?" Nemean chuckled doubtfully.

Cyr frowned since he saw this as contempt towards his skills of scouting. "Don't believe it? Why don't you peek your head out there and see for yourself? I'm sure you can verify whether or not it's a cyclops once you do that."

"Stop it; he's right. It's a cyclops. I don't suggest you follow up on his suggestion until you want to be mushed to human paste. I think this is the boss of the labyrinth," Kieran said.

"Boss? Oh, then let's go kill it and be done with this place," Altair commented. He had grown impatient since this dungeon seemed to have more obstacles than monsters.

"I agree, but we need a distance else the party won't be able to leave be the tunnel collapses," Kieran said.

"I'll be the distraction," Luna volunteered. "I'm fast, so my movement speed should be enough to avoid being hit and provide a large distraction for you all to leave the area safely."

Kieran rubbed his chin while considering his options. Speed was definitely a requirement in avoiding the Cyclop's attacks, but so were reflexes. Its attacks were bound to have an aftermath, so one needed to be able to pull off successive reactions fairly quickly.

Nevertheless, in Kieran's eyes, only two people fit the description. Thus, Kieran relied upon both of them. "Both you and Altair will handle the matter of being a distraction. I'll lead the party once I grasp the right timing."

"Understood," Luna nodded.

"Roger that boss!"

Neither Luna nor Altair hesitated in dashing out of the tunnel, but they were momentarily awed by the sheer size of their opponent. Cyr's comment about the monster's size wasn't an exaggeration. The cyclops was indeed 20 meters tall with a robust build. Large striated muscles rippled under its mix of brownish-green skin, and dense mucus spewed everywhere as it roared.

It seemed to be a naturally enraged entity since it really wasn't disturbed.

"You go left, and I'll go right," Altair stated before dashing away from Luna. A large shadow appeared overhead as they moved away from each other.

Boom!

The cyclops punched the ground and as if a bomb had gone off, the ground exploded and left a crater the size of its fist underneath.

Instantly, both Luna and Altair shared the same thought. 'Can't get hit by that…'

That destructive blow was most likely enough to wipe out their entire Health bar, given that the monster was classified as a boss they had yet to face.

「 Lv.29 Lesser Cyclops (Unique Boss)

Dungeon Boss

Humanoid, Giant

Health: 460,000/460,000 (100%)

Special Traits: «Frenzy» «Rock Solid» «Immense Strength» 」

Every trait this Lesser Cyclops possessed seemed to be pretty powerful, given that until now, most traits were one word. The more detailed a trait, the more inherently powerful it was. So the fact it was in possession of two of such traits left the party devastated.

Both Luna and Altair darted around in opposite directions, driving the Lesser Cyclops mad as Kieran guided everyone out of the tunnel. Kieran finally whistled when they prepared a suitable formation, recalling Luna and Altair.

"As you saw earlier, this is a monster of devastating power. It's our first Unique Boss, and its unique forte is Strength. While we are currently unaware of how fast it is since it didn't seem to commit to destroying either Luna or Altair fully, given its standard, I urge that you consider its speed to be on par with mine or slightly faster," Kieran said.

After stressing the importance of protecting the tankers, Sithik and Cygnus became unusually focused. They had zero intention of letting down Kieran, especially since they might have been the first to go against a Unique Boss.

"Bastion, go!" Kieran instructed.

Wielding his heavy shield, Bastion stormed forward with a focused expression. As he moved forward, he frequently shifted left and right just enough that the cyclops didn't get to initiate an attack. Just before it moved its arm to unleash a blow, Bastion would move and cause it to stagger its movements.

Naturally, this wasn't something Bastion thought of himself. It was an action devised by Kieran after using his prior knowledge of fights with such a monster. Because of its large attack area, one wanted to stop the cyclops from attacking altogether if they didn't have the means to dodge it.

Of course, this wasn't a tactic with a 100% success rate. It was only meant to be used at the beginning of the fight when the cyclops was unfamiliar with its opponent. Contrary to popular beliefs, even monsters regarded as mindless weren't mindless. They all possessed some degree of learning capacity that allowed them to soon adapt to the players going up against them. If that weren't true, players would effectively thrash any opponent given to them by weaponizing their intellect.

Although this was required in battle, allowing the monsters to adapt meant players would require this skill of higher quality. One would need to be able to make up strategies on the fly and possess teammates skilled enough to implement them quickly.

Finally, after Bastion repeated this over 20 times, the Lesser Cyclops grew enraged and unleashed an attack irrespective of Bastion's position shift. The attack was like a judge's gavel delivering a swift verdict.

"Guardian's Stand!" Bastion echoed, bracing for the incoming impact with a defense-increasing skill. Bastion's Health well exceeded 3,000, but once the Cyclops fist made contact, his eyes widened while simultaneously holding back the urge to puke. Over half of his Health vanished with the one attack, but the cyclops was far from done.

The shadow of its other fist expanded as Bastion felt a pressure bear down on him.

Bang! Bang!

"Enforcer's Pursuit," Nemean exclaimed. His two shields released a soft radiance as he intercepted the strike from the side, knocking it off course with all his might. This skill was viable as both a form of offense and defense since it reinforced his shield with a type of energy force.

"Luna, Altair, Cyr!" Kieran exclaimed. Naturally, their role was to aim for the cyclops' period of immobility and unleash as much damage as possible. With its rank, Kieran didn't expect much damage to be dealt in one rotation, especially with its Rock Solid trait that reduced damage received by 40%.

By the time Altair and the others retreated, they only managed to shave off 1% of the cyclops' Health.

However, that meant nothing when it could regenerate that much Health every minute. After crossing the threshold into becoming a Unique Boss, it was only natural that its regeneration rate improved. Hence the reason most players didn't recommend tackling said bosses unless you had the means to burst it. Otherwise, the battle could very well drag on for hours.

Nevertheless, this was the damage without Alice or Kieran joining the fray. Kieran needed first to understand how helpful their damage was in retrospect to the bosses' regeneration.

"It should be doable," Kieran thought as crimson wisps slowly seeped from his body. Immediately Kieran sacrificed half of his Health to fortify the broken Scarlet Steel Greatsword in his hand, which in turn increased his lethality. The True Berserker would once more strike, and this time, it was against an equally brutal opponent.