The Healing Solaris Cleric

Chapter 63: Instance Dungeon (3)

Swoosh!

The spinning sword excitedly stirred around inside Trebinzer, like a child with an express pass at an amusement park.

"Squeak, squeak, kaaagh!"

As Trebinzer screamed and squirmed in unbearable pain, Kai’s eyes sparkled.

Now's the time.

Kai pulled out his sword without a moment’s hesitation.

Trebinzer's remaining health was at 94%. It wasn't disappointing, but it wasn't very satisfying either.

But then again, I wasn’t aiming for such trivial things.

When Kai suddenly withdrew his sword and stepped back, Trebinzer also created some distance between them, wary.

Kai watched this with satisfaction, his left hand twitching with excitment.

I've got the upper hand now, so it won’t charge at me for a while. Shall we get things started then?

The Boss Run strategy consisted of speed to outrun the giant rats, traps to delay their arrival to the boss room, and the skill to hunt Trevenzer alone but it was a strategy where even high-level players who possessed all these elements consistently failed to succeed.

Well, they were inevitably bound to fail.

No matter how skilled, it was impossible to handle Trebinzer and the giant rats alone. Of course, a high-level player could manage, but the moment a player surpassed level 85, that record would lose its significance.

Ultimately, the point of the Boss Run strategy was to defeat Trebinzer before the giant rats arrived. Numerous players had endlessly researched ways to succeed in the Boss Run in the Rat Kingdom.

And the conclusion they came to was the Five-Minute Theory.

The theory was that if Trebinzer wasn’t defeated within five minutes, the giant rats would arrive.

Once people realized this, the very concept of the Boss Run vanished from players' minds.

Because it’s impossible to kill the boss in under five minutes.

Even a player at level 85 with all Rare equipment found it impossible to hunt Trebinzer within five minutes.

But the five minutes isn't for fighting Trebinzer.

Kai considered these precious five minutes, even ten minutes, as preparation time to set up the stage for a one-on-one battle with Trebinzer.

He raised his left hand high to create the stage.

"Holy Explosion!"

Boom!

With a loud noise, part of the ceiling collapsed and blocked the only entrance to the boss room!

It's as powerful as always.

The destructive power of Holy Explosion was enough to bring down the dungeon's ceiling.

It was a strategy Kai came up with after trapping Fermi by collapsing a ceiling before. After all, thinking of different ways to use an established skill lead to completely different ideas and strategies!

"Krrrgh!"

Trebinzer, its red eyes full of murderous intent, was enraged. Hostility toward the invader who had damaged its home continuously flowed out.

There's just one thing to be careful about.

Unlike the Orc Lord, Trebinzer possessed an instant-kill technique. It was a fearsome technique where if it bit the target with its front teeth, it would continue to tear apart its target until the their health was completely depleted.

As someone without any other teammates, it's the skill I have to be most wary of.

At the same time, it was a technique that Kai could exploit to his advantage at the moment.

"Krrr."

Then Trebinzer quickly circled around Kai.

Is it looking for an opportunity?

After allowing a deadly attack, the creature had become significantly more cautious.

If so, I can just create one for it.

Kai’s movement abruptly stopped. To Trebinzer, it seemed that Kai had momentarily lost control of his movements. It was a perfect act!

"Kaaagh!"

Reminded of the previous pain, Trebinzer charged at Kai with even more ferocity than before.

Close combat is welcome!

Despite their bipedal movement, giant rats had short arms and legs. Ultimately, their only close combat weapons were their giant front teeth, claws, and tails.

For me, this distance is the best right now!

Kai instinctively found the most advantageous distance for himself. It was a risky distance where just one sword's length could finish everything off!

In a fight where one gained an advantage, the other would inevitably be at a disadvantage.

"Squeak!"

It was too far for a front tooth attack but too close to use its tail. It could have used its claws but that was its weakest offensive options.

Eventually, Trebinzer chose to back off to regain distance. However, the moment it moved back, its small eyes doubled in size.

"Krrr!?"

It was because of Kai.

As Trebinzer backed away, Kai matched its pace, consistently maintaining the distance between them.

"Squeak!"

The situation drove Trebinzer crazy as it tried to figure out what to do.

However, Kai was also desperate.

Getting too close would result in me getting struck by its front teeth, and if I distance myself too much, that whip-like tail would come striking at me.

Therefore, the most ideal situation for Kai was to force Trebinzer to use only its claws.

Ultimately, maintaining this distance was crucial for him to control the battle! And once he established the distance, the fight began to flow in his favor.

"Argh!"

Clang, clang, slash!

Kai’s sword, which clashed with Trevenzer's claws and sparked continuously, struck Trevenzer's weak points from time to time.

Even though Swordsmanship of the Dawn was considered a trash skill, leveling it up to intermediate level 7 was now paying off.

[88%... 87%... 86%...]

Fermi's Venom and the sword consistently targeted its weak spots!

And these two attacks steadily decreased Trebinzer's health.

Phew, It’s working, I can win!

Fully immersed in the rhythm of the battle, Kai continuously pressured Trebinzer.

"Krrr, krrrgh!"

With a distance close enough to hear each other's breathing, Trebinzer’s claws and Kai’s sword powerfully clashed once more.

Then, something snapped loudly, striking their eardrums.

"Huh...!?"

"Krrr!?"

While Kai's lips curled upward, Trebinzer's front teeth trembled.

[Trebinzer's left claw has been destroyed.]

It was an unexpected favorable condition during the fight!

Empowered by this news, Kai’s movements became even more quicker.

Just need to focus on the left now!

Slash, slash, slash!

Having lost one means of defense, Trebinzer quickly found itself cornered.

Eventually, with its health dropped to 50%, it crouched down and touched the ground with all four limbs.

"Squeak!"

Wait, that stance is...

Kai's eyes sparkled. That was the posture Trebinzer showed before doing its lethal front teeth attack!

It’s finally doing it!

Kai, who had continuously maintained the same distance, suddenly kicked off the ground backward and put his back to the wall.

I just need to dodge it once.

A solemn expression crossed Kai's face.

Trebinzer's lethal move was dangerous to both itself and its opponent. If successful, the attack could definitely kill its opponent, but during the execution, it wasn’t able to move.

That's why some parties get caught in that lethal move on purpose.

A well-known strategy involved the sturdy tank getting struck by the front teeth attack on purpose, while healers continuously healed the tank and damage dealers took down Trebinzer.

However, two conditions were necessary to use this method. One was having enough health and defense to withstand Trebinzer's incredible attack power. The other was having teammates to heal and attack while Trebinzer was busy biting someone.

Unfortunately, I don't have the health and defense of a tank, nor do I have any teammates.

The 30-minute cooldown for summoning gnoll undeads had long passed, but he had no intention of using them.

The level 50 skeletons would be instantly summoned back the moment they're bitten anyway.

That wouldn’t allow his plan to be executed.

Kai crouched down, muttering as if he had a trick up his sleeve, "...Come at me."

As if Trebinzer understood Kai, it stretched its body backward on all fours, and then launched forward like a bullet.

Swoosh!

Its massive body cut through the air as it charged.

Not yet.

Kai's body instinctively flinched sensing the danger, but he suppressed those emotions and waited.

Not yet....

"Kaaagh!"

As Trebinzer came close, it opened its mouth wide, showing its large front teeth.

It was also then that Kai moved, quickly maneuvering his hands.

Now!

Crunch! Clang!

Trebinzer's eyes flashed. It was certain it had bitten into its opponent's weapon. It grasped the target with both hands and began to tear it apart. At the same time, a screeching noise filled the room like nails on a chalkboard.

Screech, screech, screech!

"Ugh!"

Unknowingly covering his ears, Kai slowly opened his eyes.

Screech, screech, screech!

He sighed in relief, seeing Trebinzer busily chewing on his sword.

It worked!

Then, as Trebinzer looked at Kai’s relieved expression, its eyes curved maliciously, as it knew that the durability of Kai’s equipment would drop drastically as long as it was in its front teeth.

However, as Trebinzer kept chewing on the sword, it realized something was wrong.

[Trebinzer's front teeth have decreased the durability of the Iron Will Longsword.]

[This equipment does not lose durability.]

[Effect does not apply.]

No matter how much it chewed, the sword continued to shine and retain its smoothness.

Kai smiled as he saw Trebinzer taken aback.

"I can't use it myself due to level requirements, but I can drop items."

Kai formed a gun shape with his fingers and mockingly shot at Trebinzer who didn’t know what to do.

You just bit the bait.

***

[You defeated the King of the Filthy Rats, Trebinzer.]

[+100,000 XP.]

[+32 silver.]

"Phew...."

As expected of a closed dungeon, the rewards were somewhat disappointing compared to the effort put in.

However, he didn't feel particularly disappointed since he had low expectations to begin with.

More importantly....

Kai swallowed nervously and cautiously looked at the interface window that appeared before him.

The dungeon results window.

It was essentially a report card that neatly summarized what parts of his play were good and what were lacking.

"Check dungeon results."

Ding!

[Player Level: 68.]

[Number of Hits Taken: 75.]

[Number of Attacks: 234.]

[Number of Critical Attacks: 122.]

[Monsters Remaining: 102.]

[Clear Time: 1 hour 12 minutes 34 seconds.]

[Calculating final total score...]

Having it laid out like this really makes it easier to understand.

During the hectic fighting, it was impossible to keep track of how many hits he took or made.

As Kai closed his eyes and waited for the total score, a familiar notification sounded.

Ding!

[Total Score: S-]

[Solo Ranking: 1st place.]

[Special title acquired: Instance Dungeon Champion.]

"Huh...?"

Kai rubbed his eyes with a dazed expression. However, the results remained the same even after rechecking.

I’m 1st?

Of course, even Kai himself noticed that the clear time had drastically decreased.

The previous 1st solo ranker, Raktasha, had a clear time of 3 hours 42 minutes 16 seconds.

Well, I didn’t hunt a single giant rat, so of course the time was reduced, but....

Originally, if the others could have ignored the giant rats and just killed Trebinzer, they would have done so too. But they hadn’t. No, they couldn’t.

Part of Trebinzer's pattern involves calling the giant rats into the boss room.

Unless someone removed the entrance entirely like Kai did, being surrounded by giant rats and dying was the typical ending of a Boss Run.

"That means...."

The deductions for the remaining monsters were outweighed by the bonus points for his level being only 68 and the exceptionally fast clear time.

Well, this is going to cause quite a stir.

He could already envision the uproar from people claiming it was a bug.

However, Kai soon muttered with a happy face, "Well, does it even matter?"

[Please enter the name to be recorded in the rankings.]

"Unknown."

After all, all the attention would be directed toward Unknown.