Never Die Extra (Edited)

Resolution of Evan D. Sherden (3)

“Gnar, is it that good?”

[Kyu!]

Gnar flapped its wings with all its might and replied positively to Serena’s question. Although it grew up a bit in the past months, it still looked like a baby; nevertheless, it just ate up the pulped head of the ancient gargoyle in a gulp.

[Kyukyuuu!]

“Oppa, it seems like Gnar wants to eat some more.”

“Really? Isn’t eating this harmful for his body…?”

―Kiyaaaaaaaaah!

The ancient gargoyle was shrieking madly. Evan hesitated for a while in front of it, but he ended up nodding to Gnar’s hungry expression.

“Alright, we need to keep on destroying it to reduce its regeneration if we are to defeat him.”

There were two approaches to defeating the ancient gargoyle. First would be completely obliterating it through a monstrous amount of magic that left no traces behind. In the game, the great ancient mage could acquire the ancient fairy’s blessings and blast it away by adjusting its magic scale. In Yo-Ma Great War Zero, the speed run record depends on whether a party could do that or not, so it became the standard in separating the newbies from the experienced players.

‘And the second method is to reduce its health through non-stop consecutive attacks and once its heart becomes exposed when the regeneration reaches its limit, breaking it.’

One thing that shouldn’t be overlooked was that even the easiest method wasn’t that easy. In the first place, the ancient gargoyle didn’t stumble upon taking the usual attacks, so it was important to deal with it with big attacks consecutively enough to reduce its regeneration while making it stop periodically. It was even more challenging to attack its heart. When it became exposed, it would be in a state where its movement couldn’t be stopped. If other parts aside from the heart were attacked, its heart went back to the body, and the regeneration enhanced. Then the hell began anew.

“Master, the heart looks like it’s about to come out!”

“Hey, wait for a bit.”

“…Yes?”

As Evan stopped thinking, he thrust the battle beads while raising his head. As the bead directly penetrated the screaming gargoyle’s head as its heart was exposed outside, its heart went back to the body, and it completely recovered!

“Mirole and Lua, both of you, on my mark, hit its belly and both of its legs in rotation exactly with 1/3rd of the damage.”

“Alright.”

“Understood.”

“Shine, sever its body when you see the opportunity.

“Huh? The head will be a better target, won’t it?”

[Kyu!]

Perhaps it was because the head had the highest concentration of mana. It was also the part where it took the most time to recover.

“Shine, sever just the head.”

“Right away!”

A reliable response from Shine. Perhaps he felt that this was part of a strategy, but it wasn’t, and Evan felt sorry for him. Evan thought of it as he looked at Gnar, who was flapping its wings and expecting another meal.

“Argh!”

The battle went on. Belois and Mirole precisely followed Evan’s instructions and attacked with magic and wind arrows from a distance. Unlike before, the flawless combo didn’t penetrate its body, but it was enough to stun the gargoyle at precise intervals, making it unable to move. That was what mattered.

“Hiya!”

Although it was unable to move, it carried out laser attacks periodically, which Raihan perfectly blocked, and Shine used that opportunity to activate his augur once more and decapitated it perfectly.

This time, Evan swiftly smashed it with Heaven’s Press and delivered Gnar his meal.

[Kyuuuu!]

Gnar flapped its wings fiercely and screamed. That reaction was seen only when Gnar was excited! While looking at the baby dragon chomping down on the flesh and skin of the ancient demon along with its bones and horns, Evan felt something indescribable.

“So, it is possible to hunt down that monster who regenerates infinitely, then have Gnar feed on it on the spot…wait, wouldn’t that mean all of our members can eat the meat of the ancient gargoyle? Right?”

“Master! I beg you; please, not that one! Stop it!”

As Shine threw himself in the empty air, he heard Evan’s murmur and shouted with all his strength. So, it would be a problem. Evan decided to give up on it completely.

“Master, another one incoming!”

“Okay.”

The regenerated head got decapitated once again and flew into the air. Evan utterly smashed it and tossed it to Gnar while asking it a question.

“Would this suffice?”

[Kyuuuu!]

“It seems it’s asking for more, right?”

“All right, let’s see how much it can eat.”

Since then, Gnar’s meal frenzy didn’t stop until the head was severed ten times. The heart appeared twice more. And the gargoyle looked fine all the while.

“Can you eat more?”

[Kyuuu!]

“Oppa, don’t you think our Gnar grew bigger?”

“Well, it would have grown bigger if 1/100th of what it has eaten becomes flesh and blood.”

As Gnar grew bigger, it ate up the gargoyle’s head really fast. The Gargoyle, which looked fine when the regeneration went past ten times, looked a bit tired as it finished its 20th regeneration.

“Master, I think we can end it now.”

[Kyu!]

“Not yet; Gnar hasn’t finished eating.”

“…Next one coming right up!”

“Shine looks like a chef cooking gargoyle steaks.”

―Grrrrrrrrrrgh!

As it was severed over 30 times, the regeneration considerably slowed. As the number went over 40 times, it continually tried to flee, but they wouldn’t let it run away.

“Wow, so the gargoyle has an escape pattern. I haven’t seen it in the game…”

“You don’t say.”

At this point, it became hard to differentiate who the real monster was…for some reason, why was it that it all comes to that conclusion whenever there’s an encounter with the enemy?

[Kyuu! Kyuuuu!]

“It seems to be full after some more servings!”

“The restaurant’s refill is really fast!”

“I’ll go ahead and sever it, all right?”

Gnar kept on eating. And after eating the gargoyle’s head for the 50th time, it burped a bit as if it were satisfied, and then fell flat on its back and fell asleep.

[Kyuuuu…]

“…”

“A child has to just eat and sleep all the time!”

Serena defended Gnar, but Shine, who had to sever the gargoyle’s head 50 times, felt a bit empty. Of course, he didn’t expect a sudden change to happen with just that, but still…!

“Great, we can preserve some for ourselves too, then.”

―Grrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

It was right at that moment. The ancient gargoyle’s regeneration reached its peak, and the heart came out to the surface once more. Evan cut at other parts to have the heart sink in once again, but suddenly, the other part of its body started to melt aside from the heart. Evan was bewildered at the scene, which he hadn’t even seen in the game.

“Huh, apparently, there was someone who said no changes would happen even if the flesh was severed multiple times, even if it was poisoned…”

A vivid memory came up. Infinitely regenerating body—it was told that as a result of continuously hunting down the ancient gargoyle by the perverted members who were curious about what happened if just the flesh was carved out while deliberately missing the heart which appeared on the surface by its nature…the party used up all the potions they brought, yet nothing happened, so they had to give up while holding back their tears.

“Everyone be alert. Hyeong, your shield.”

“All right…what?”

However, with the heart left in the empty space with all its flesh melted, it started to shine bizarrely, then Raihan, who raised up his shield, rushed towards a different direction. It was that moment that the light got absorbed by Gnar.

“My apologies!”

“That was something Hyeong couldn’t block, right?”

“That’s true…”

“Then it’s fine.”

Even if an ancient gargoyle’s ability were far greater, Raihan’s protection couldn’t be ignored. As Raihan trained himself for about ten years with Evan’s guidance, he could draw in all kinds of attacks, curses, and negative effects. The fact that Raihan could not redirect it to himself meant that it wasn’t a negative effect.

“It seems like there’s some kind of reaction when a portion of its body is eaten.”

“Oppa, is Gnar in danger?”

“The dragon is an unrivaled creature when it comes to magic and mysteriousness, so what are you so worried about?”

Because of the fact that Evan was able to defeat a dragon with Heaven’s Press, she started to dwell on thought about ‘Are all dragons weak creatures?’ but she decided not to mention it.

“Do you have any knowledge about it, Master?”

“As far as I know, Ray’s the first person in human history to be able to tame a dragon, so…”

However, there was one speculation. Between a dragon and an ancient gargoyle, both of them were creatures from the new generation. Nothing about their growth was known. It wasn’t even bizarre to expect something that defied logic to happen.

“Perhaps the sudden change which Shine expected could happen.”

“Ah.”

It was Serena who reacted first. The tamer-restricted necklace which she always had on her neck, Tigris Glory, was shining brightly.

“Huh…?”

“The light from the necklace is shining upon Gnar…!”

‘Where could I have seen this?’

Evan thought it out seriously. Gnar seemed to shine in a pinkish color after being bestowed with light, and as it grew larger within the light, the answer came forth.

“This just looks like the ultimate form from Digimon Adventure!”

“Wow.”

Perhaps the dragons swiftly gained power from consuming other creatures (like those ancient ones similar to themselves). Moreover, it devoured 50 heads of an ancient gargoyle that was known for its immortality and perpetual regeneration, so it wasn’t a surprise that Gnar’s began to grow rapidly.

[Kyuu…kyuuuu…]

But Gnar was sleeping soundly without knowing the fact that its body was growing perhaps ten times or more.

“By any chance, won’t it be able to fly?”

“No, Gnar should make an appearance only in the finale of the scenario.”

“You still insist on a meaningless part…”

As the light from the Tigris Glory subsided, Gnar’s rapid growth came to an end. It was about Serena’s waist when it was ravishing on an ancient gargoyle’s head, but now its body was more than 10 meters long.

“A wyvern…?”

“But the scales are still pink.”

“That’s Gnar’s trademark, so we can’t do anything about it.”

Evan lovingly patted the suddenly grown Gnar’s head and looked at Serena. She was making a serious expression while touching Tigris Glory.

“So.”

Evan moved straight to the point.

“Do you think it can transform even further from there?”

“Yes. I’m not quite sure, but it can.”

Serena nodded with her earnest look.

“Great. I thought Gnar wouldn’t be able to make its appearance since the progress speed of the scenario was just too fast…but.”

Evan felt a flash of intuition while looking at Gnar—which advanced closer to Evan’s scenario.

Maybe the final moment was just one step ahead.

A few weeks passed by, and March came soon. It was time for Evan’s birthday once again.