The Healing Solaris Cleric

Chapter 112: Blue Plague, Aosa (3)

Kai stood confidently on the roof, looking down at Aosa. His armor that glowed blue due to the effect of the Tyrant of the Sea set, combined with the pale moonlight, gave him an otherworldly appearance.

Two people would usually be dancing under such bright moonlight, but...

However, Aosa and Kai were not on such terms.

In fact, Aosa was displeased with the failure of its attack and lightly stomped the ground. In one leap, Aosa soared over Kai and landed on the roof of the building opposite, staring intently at him.

Aosa's body resembled that of a human, but it had no eyes, nose, or mouth on its face. Yet, Kai instinctively felt that Aosa was staring at him.

After a moment, Aosa muttered.

—Interesting. I see I’ve met another puppet of the cursed tribe again...

As Aosa's words reverberated through Kai’s mind, a long tentacle shot out from under its feet. It casually grabbed the tentacle, which was dripping blue liquid. The tentacle took the shape of a longsword, much like the one Kai held. Though it was a sword made of liquid, it reflected the moonlight and appeared incredibly sharp.

Does that mean its pride was hurt or something?

Forfeiting the advantage of attacking from a distance, Aosa chose to wield a sword. That was the combat method selected by the monster whose pride had been wounded.

It’s better for me, but...

Kai's eyes sparked with annoyance as he gripped his sword tighter.

But being blatantly disrespected doesn't feel so great.

As enemies, it was natural for them to have no good feelings for each other. Moreover, their pride had been mutually scratched, so that was why their first clash had to be fierce.

In an instant, Aosa propelled itself off the roof and swung its sword.

Kai didn't dodge and instead thrust his own sword directly into Aosa's blade.

Clang!

"Argh!" Kai let out a rough breath.

The attack power of a 175-level field boss raid monster was indeed strong. However, Kai wasn't pushed back by Aosa, and the reason for that was simple.

According to Tardal, Aosa has two weaknesses.

One was the core hidden somewhere in its body, and the other was...

It's weak to holy power!

Fwoosh!

Kai's sword was imbued with Solaris Blessing and Holy Enchantment, and perhaps because of that, Aosa's HP began to decrease with every second their swords clashed.

Clang!

Eventually realizing that it was only receiving damages, Aosa forcefully withdrew its sword and stepped back

This is manageable. It's different from the time with the Orc Lord.

The situation was entirely different from back then. Urghan's attacks, even when not hitting directly, would chip away at Kai's HP just from the shockwaves when their swords clashed.

But now, I'm the one with the upper hand. Just clashing swords gives me the advantage.

Aosa couldn't help but take continuous damage from Kai's holy power.

Aosa had initially charged confidently, but he retreated after seeing its HP drop. As if this further wounded its pride, its atmosphere became even more menacing.

Judging by its mood... it seems it's giving up on close combat and planning to attack from a distance again.

Kai, who had read its thoughts exactly, immediately began to provoke, "Why do something you're not used to? You won't win in close combat anyway, so fight like you usually do."

—How dare you!

People often hesitate to do something they initially wanted when someone else urges them to do it. Aosa found itself in just such a situation. It wanted to go back to long-range attacks, but with a lowly human laying the groundwork like that, it felt like admitting defeat by avoiding close combat.

As a creation of the Church of Muldine, Aosa had a strong sense of pride, so it couldn't accept retreating from a fight with an inferior human.

—What nonsense. Close combat is more than possible against someone like you!

Aosa shouted boldly, and charged at Kai once more.

No matter how strong the attack, seeing it multiple times made it familiar. Even a fast, precise, and flashy swordplay couldn’t avoid this process.

In fact, master swordsmen and knight NPCs never repeated a single technique. They mixed various techniques and skills, making their next attack unpredictable.

But Aosa is still inexperienced.

It was likely Aosa didn't enjoy close combat usually and was only fighting in close combat because of Kai's taunt, as its main strength was still its tentacles. So naturally, its swordsmanship wasn't that great.

Clang, clang, clang!

Thanks to this, Kai began to press Aosa more and more with his swordsmanship as time went on. At first, he merely blocked its attacks, but soon he started counterattacking, and the situation completely changed from the beginning.

Clang, clang, clang!

Kai attacked, and Aosa struggled to block.

In this absurd situation, Kai brought out another weapon.

Until now, I've been hiding the fact that I can use holy power.

It was to ensure no one suspected that Unknown was a Cleric. However, the goddess of fate smiled upon Kai, granting him a skill.

Holy Chains. I have that now.

Holy Chains was a skill favored by NPC paladins and inquisitors, and while Clerics could also learn this skill, none had done so until now.

Because it’s inefficient.

A Paladin, being a frontline combat class, found Holy Chains useful in many situations.

However, for a Cleric who had to care for allies from the back throughout the battle, there was no need to spend the high cost to learn Holy Chains. Instead, it was far more beneficial to use that money to purchase other buff skills.

In short, there currently was a deeply fixed idea that only Paladins used Holy Chains in MID Online!

Then I should exploit that fixed notion.

A pure white light emanated from Kai's fingertips. Allies would cheer with their hands raised, but Aosa before him certainly wouldn’t be able to stand this energy—the holy power of the Church of Solaris.

A blinding, intense holy power was summoned into the air.

Confronted with its fatal weakness of holy power, Aosa instinctively retreated.

Kai didn't miss the opportunity.

“Holy Chains!”

In an instant, he bound one of Aosa's arms with the chain and yanked. As Aosa's body was pulled forward, Kai slammed it down.

Smash!

Aosa's body was thrown to the ground. However, Kai didn't stop his attack there.

I need to keep attacking until its HP is depleted.

Despite gaining the upper hand, Kai didn't let his guard down. With all his strength, he pressed his leg down on Aosa's chest.

Crunch!

A deafening sound, like a giant tree falling, erupted. It was the scream of the roof collapsing under the accumulated damage. The entire two-story building began to collapse slowly.

Crack, crack, crash!

[Argh!]

Naturally, neither Aosa or Kai could avoid falling. However, even while falling, Kai didn't stop his attack.

Holding onto the chain tightly with both hands, he spun his body. With enough centrifugal force built up, Kai released the chain. Naturally, Aosa, bound by the chain, was flung to the ground.

Thud!

It was a Newtonian-style throw!

[Aaargh!] Aosa let out a pain-filled groan as its body felt like it was being shattered into pieces.

It was the first scream of pain it let out since the battle started!

“Huff, huff.”

Kai was also exhausted. His health had dropped significantly from the fall damage and the debris of the building.

With a tired expression, Kai pulled on the Holy Chain.

“Huh?”

Kai furrowed his brows.

Why is the chain... light?

It didn't feel like Aosa was still bound. In fact, the chain that came to his hand had no Aosa attached.

At the same time, alarm bells started ringing in his mind.

The Blue Plague is known for its sudden appearance and disappearance. It moves by blending into the shadows at night, so you might not even realize it’s passed by.

Tardal's advice flashed through his mind. Remembering it, Kai instinctively cast Sacred Barrier and crouched.

The next moment, something massive shattered the shield and struck Kai's side.

“Ugh!”

It was the tentacles that had hit Blizzard like a dump truck! Kai's body was thrown through the rubble of the collapsed building and onto the street.

Cough... Aosa, so you're finally getting serious, huh? Well, it’s about time for phase two.

As a result of Kai’s relentless swordplay, Aosa's HP had already dropped below 20%.

Kai, wobbling on unsteady legs, looked at the collapsed building. He heard the sound of the tentacles moving, and the debris of the collapsed buildings scattered into the sky like erupting lava.

[How dare... a lowly human... a minion of the cursed sun...!]

Roaring in fury, Aosa began to swell as if about to explode. Countless tentacles erupted from the ground like a blazing fire and wrapped themselves around Aosa.

I can't just sit back and watch!

Anyone could see it was in the process of a transformation.

Feeling uneasy, Kai immediately shot Holy Explosion at Aosa.

Ding!

[The target is in an immune state.]

“Damn it!”

The immune state meant that Aosa's transformation couldn’t be stopped. In other words, everything was going according to Pegasus' script.

And I’m supposed to handle this alone?

Kai gulped as he looked up at the massive entity that could no longer be called a human.

[The Unleashed Beast of the Blue Plague, Aosa. LV. 200.]

“...This is a joke, right? Is this a hidden camera prank or something?” Kai asked with an awkward smile, but no one answered.