Star Grave(1)

The 9th floor of the Labyrinth, Star Grave.

This floor also serves as the final gate to reach the 10th floor where the ‘Abyss Gate’ exists.

Monsters that should’ve only appeared there were now spawning right in front of us.

I had hunted this type before in the Basement Floor 1 library, so killing it wasn’t too difficult.

「You have defeated Brachiaistelro」

Even so, the fact that they appeared here revealed quite a bit about what was happening.

‘So… this isn’t the labyrinth.’

The place we’re in right now is not inside the labyrinth.

Firstly, the royal family have already sealed the labyrinth. And while it was true that we needed more time to be sure, there were several signs that suggested we were not inside the labyrinth.

On the flip side, there were several things out of place that I couldn’t simply say we were just outside the city walls either.

Anyway.

‘I should have realized after seeing the craters…’

Everything is confusing, but one thing is clear.

Even if there are some minor differences, this place is clearly modelled after the ninth floor: the Star Grave.

Judging by everyone’s faces, they’d realised it, too.

“……”

A heavy silence enveloped the group after the battle ended.

“What’s with the faces all of a sudden?”

Only Rex Aures seemed completely oblivious to the current situation.

In terms of team roles, he was basically doing what Aynar usually did on my team.

‘Why are all warriors like this?’

The question crossed my mind, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

We stood in silence while Aures tilted his head in confusion. Suddenly…

A torrential downpour began.

“This …”

Lee Baek-ho, who had been quietly looking down at Brachiaistelro’s corpse, muttered.

“This might be… a dangerous situation.”

His words perfectly captured our current situation.

The 9th floor is not a place you should enter unprepared.

Shwaaa—

Like stage lights turning on, a red glow spilled down from above, covering about fifty meters around us.

It was the famous field effect of the 9th floor, Star Grave.

“Huh…? Isn’t this..”

Aures stood frozen, dazed like a deer caught in headlights.

“If you know what it is! Get out of there!”

The moment I barked the order, everyone snapped out of it and moved outside the range.

Speed was everything right now, so those who could manage it carried the priest and the mages.

Being mobile and being agile are two different things.

Mages need to cast spells to move quickly and Jayna, Karui’s priestess, had to summon her mount first.

But in a situation like this, no one had time for that.

Tap-tap.

After I had barely managed to drag the startled GM out of range —

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang-!

A red meteorite fell from the sky and struck the ground where we had been standing, and exploded.

And then…

Whoosh-!!

An intense gust of wind, strong enough to send a grown man flying, swept towards us, kicking up a storm of dirt.

Fortunately, the downpour cleared our vision almost immediately.

“E-everyone okay?!”

Goosebumps ran down my entire body.

“…We need to stay sharp, no matter how exhausted we are.”

As the dust settled, the crater that formed where the meteor hit made my knees go weak.

That’s how it was in the game.

‘Instant Death.’

That meteorite has an instant death judgment.

No matter how you’d built your character, if you were hit within a five-metre radius of the impact point, you’d die and the game over screen would appear

However, if you were hit on the outer edge, you would only incur fixed damage. But that didn’t mean much.

The damage was still enough to kill most tanks in a single hit.

“Phew…”

I briefly sympathised with everyone staring dumbfounded at the explosion.

Then I shouted loudly enough to snap them out of it.

If the meteor attack matched the game’s pattern, then the next part would too.

“Everyone, focus!”

As soon as I roared—

BZZZT!!

A bolt of lightning struck the centre of the crater.

And then…

‘Knew it. This bastard’s here too.’

From the point of impact, a white mass began to swell, quickly taking on a distinct shape.

A bipedal humanoid monster with two arms and a neck rising up along its spine.

Ah, of course — it’s just a classification — but it’s far from human.

Because no human was made of light that crackled with electricity across their body…

ZZZZZZZT!

And its sheer size—

No human could be that big.

Unless it’s a Barbarian with [Gigantification].

“Giga Zeros…!”

As soon as he saw the monster, the GM opened his mouth and began explaining.

But his tone was different from before.

“It uses very powerful lightning attribute abilities, and despite its appearance, it’s incredibly agile!”

He spat out the words in a rush.

Perhaps in his haste, he skipped the most important detail.

“It’s a Level 2 monster, so everyone be careful!”

Level 2 Monster Giga Zeros.

Like Brachiaistelro, it only appears in Star Grave, and among all level 2 monsters, it was the most powerful in combat.

I usually called it the ‘Thunder Giant’.

Because, well, no matter how you look at it, that suits it better than Giga Zeros.

「Giga Zeros has cast [Great Discharge].」

As soon as I pulled out my shield and rushed forward, electricity exploded from the Thunder Giant’s body.

There was no point in trying to guard.

Even the Aegis Barrier couldn’t stop a wide-range skill like that.

All you could do was take it head-on…

「Character has cast [Scales of Greed]」

My enlarged body became covered in blue scales—the Dragon Mode I’d acquired by devouring Bellarios’s essence.

‘Damn, that stings.’

The electricity radiating from the Thunder giant’s body surged into mine, numbing my muscles, but…

「Character has been inflicted with [Paralysis].」

That was it.

「Paralysis removed.」

Thanks to my anti-magic resistance setup, I broke free of the paralysis in less than two seconds.

However, glancing back…

‘Baek-ho’s still paralyzed, huh?’

Guess your CC resistance isn’t finished yet, buddy?

‘No wonder you haven’t cleared the tenth floor.’

Smirking at his weakness, I charged in even harder.

「You have entered the range of [Short-Circuit Zone].」

The moment I got close to it, small white orbs in the air sparked and linked to my body.

「Your Soul Power is continuously draining.」

[You’ll take damage proportional to the amount of Soul Power used.]

「All damage from Giga Zeros is taken as Lightning damage.」

「You are now [Conductor].」

「When receiving Lightning damage, [Great Discharge] is cast.」

Short-Circuit Zone was the aura-type passive skill every lightning-type melee fighter dreamed of having.

ZZZZT-!

The Thunder Giant slammed its massive fist down on me.

「Defense successful.」

「Aegis’s Barrier absorbs all damage.」

I blocked with my shield and absorbed the impact, but the white spheres that scattered like splashing droplets fired their own lightning bolts at me.

Hmm… maybe “shot” isn’t exactly the word I’d use.

Just as the eye cannot follow the speed of light, by the time I regained my senses, the white lightning from those particles had already connected.

Of course, the damage itself wasn’t great, but…

「Character receives Lightning damage.」

「[Great Discharge] is cast.」

Just as when the electricity was released from its body earlier, light burst from my body and lightning streaks shot out in all directions.

And this time, the effect was amplified by 300%.

Luckily, everyone had already pulled back, so the damage was minimal.

Still…

‘Guess that means no close-range support…’

Once I’d made my decision, I grabbed the giant’s body, ignoring the prickling sensation, and forced it even farther from my allies.

I could feel my condition deteriorating by the second, but that didn’t matter.

Well, everyone has their own role, right?

If the tank’s role is to get hit…

「Jayna Flyer summons [Healing Leech].」

The healer’s role is to heal.

Tap.

Translucent leeches attach themselves to my body, continuously replenishing my HP and MP.

「Jayna Flyer has cast [Curse of Regeneration].」

She used a continuous healing skill—though for some reason, it was treated as a curse.

Then, in the centre of the battlefield, an altar-like structure was erected, connected to all members by red threads.

‘Okay, this should be sufficient for tanking…’

The rest is up to the damage dealers.

“…Huh?”

…Just as I thought that, an incident occurred.

***

What is the most important class in [Dungeon & Stone]?

If someone asked me that, I could answer without a moment’s hesitation.

The most important class is the Tank.

And for good reason.

If the DPS is weak, the fight just takes longer. However, if the main tank’s stats are too low, the entire party will be wiped out.

In fact, I was able to safely protect my allies through dangerous expeditions because I always performed my duties as a tank.

…Except for a few times, that is.

I value tanks much more highly than mages or priests.

But…

‘Damn this new map.’

The area outside the walls is practically a new field, and we used an unknown dimensional headstone from that field to reach this place. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any reliable information about the area.

That’s the reason it happened.

While I was tanking and the damage dealers were doing their job, the thunder giant suddenly started acting strangely.

Without warning, it ignored me completely and charged toward the backline.

FLASH!

It moved with such speed that it was impossible to intercept in time.

“Ugh! Aagh—!”

Unfortunately, the first one it went for was GM.

The poor guy threw up a mana shield at the last second, but—

CRACK!!

True to its Level 2 status, his quickly put-together mana shield shattered completely under the direct hit.

Nevertheless, it probably saved his life — without it, he might’ve died on the spot.

“Shit! Havelion! You alive?!”

“I-I’m alive!”

“Then heal him! If he dies, who’s gonna fix the magic circle?!”

I wondered what use a magic circle was when we hadn’t even found a way to escape this place yet…

But, at Baek-ho’s orders, Jayna began to focus on healing the GM.

And then—

“BEHEL—RAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

I rushed in to regain aggro but—

The bastard blinked again and vanished.

‘What the hell…’

Once might’ve been random, but twice?

No denying it now.

‘Threat level… doesn’t work?’

Not even my increased threat level from Gigantification or the guaranteed taunt effect of the Aegis Barrier worked.

The Thunder giant disregarded both of those factors, as though he weren’t a monster at all, but a person.

“Hold on tight!”

“Kyaak!”

Fortunately, during the second ambush, the archer reacted quickly and pulled the healer to safety.

Even so, the situation wasn’t good.

ZZZZZZZT—!!

This wasn’t some weak creature. It was a Level 2 monster.

Without proper tanking, someone was bound to die.

‘What the hell am I supposed to do…?’

For the first time in a long while, I felt genuinely helpless facing this monster. My thoughts were clouded by panic…

“…Damn it.”

Baek-ho clicked his tongue while looking at the Thunder Giant.

But something was off about his tone. It wasn’t the kind of curse you mutter out of frustration.

It sounded … regretful.

“Didn’t wanna show this one…”

…What?

It was as if he had a way to break through this situation.

“Everyone, run away as far as you can.”

Baek-ho extended his hand forward as he said that.

And —

ZZZZ—

A sphere of darkness formed in his palm and began to spin, sucking in the surrounding air.

‘Wait… hold on.’

I’d seen that before.

“R-Run! Now! If you get caught up in that, even the Baron won’t survive it!”

Aures shouted frantically as he bolted in the opposite direction of Baek-ho’s hand.

Snapping back to my senses, I hurried after him.

And just few seconds later—

“Alright… charge complete.”

Baek-ho muttered under his breath.

Booom!!

The dark sphere exploded, and a black flash swallowed the entire world.

「You have defeated Giga Zeros. +EXP 8」

My vision went completely dark, as if I had been blinded, but I didn’t doubt for a second that the Thunder Giant was gone.

I knew exactly what that skill was.

“Star’s Annihilation…”

It was the active skill of the Lord of Darkness, Deadred, and, in terms of pure destructive power, it was unmatched by any other essence — the strongest attack skill in Dungeon & Stone.

‘Holy shit…’

This bastard had that skill…?

Continue reading more chapters at henprogressive.com

Please join here, I need supporters to help me continue translating Surviving game as a barbarian and Lee Gwak
If it doesn’t work support me here buymeacoffee.com/hennoveltranslations. There are advanced chapters for supporters as well.