VOLUME 2
Chapter 1: The Raid
Part 4
The sacred beast, Vermillion Bird, had colorful feathers like a peac.o.c.k, and when it spread out its wings, it spanned 10 meters from tip to tip. Though it wouldn’t be able to fly in the cave, it could shoot its feathers like missiles. The feathers regenerated, and could corrode weapons and armor. Without a well thought-out plan, its attacks could be very dangerous.
However, this time, Jun had the raid members use anti-corrosives. In this situation, overly specific explanations paid off.
He got OKs from all of the group leaders to proceed. Without a moment’s delay, Jun gave instructions to enter the cave.
Inside was waiting the Vermillion Bird. Once it noticed the adventurers, it began asking a question in a calm, female voice.
“Do you have the courage to take on this test?”
If the adventurers said no at this point, the Vermillion bird would disappear for ten minutes. In that time, other quests could be completed in the cave. However, these fifty well-buffed adventurers were not about to do so.
“We accept your challenge,” said the heavy warrior in the front.
The Vermillion Bird’s name turned red. It went into active mode.
“If that’s the case, show me your strength!”
It spread its wings and the fight began.
The fifty adventurers scattered all at once. Guard monsters sp.a.w.ned all around the large cave. They were dressed up in colorful armor as if they had come straight out of a movie about the Three Kingdoms [1]. However, they were centaurs, a horse-man hybrid, and they were more than three meters wide.
They were called Vermillion Bird Guardians. Their high attack powers posed a serious threat to the group attacking the Vermillion Bird itself, so the support groups’ ability to keep them at bay would determine the outcome of the battle.
The four weaker monster killing groups took the Vermillion Bird Guardians’ aggro and pulled them towards the corner of the area. At the same time, the main group’s heavy warrior clashed with the Vermillion Bird.
The main group had three white magicians, led by Eri. Their job was to make sure to heal the heavy warrior. When the heavy warrior took a enough enmity from the Vermillion Bird, the attackers began their onslaught of close- and long-range attacks, arrows flying from afar. However, the Vermillion Bird was a high level raid monster with a lot of HP. Its health bar was only slowly going down.
As expected, it became a long and drawn out battle.
Translator’s/Editor’s Notes:
[1] – A Chinese historical period around 250 AD, where three states, Wu, Shu and Wei, competed for supremacy over China. There’s a Chinese TV series of the same name, also a Hong Kong movie, and the era seems to be overall a popular theme in local movie industry. An example of an armor in such a movie could be found here. The period is also marked by the emergence of armored cavalry in the area. Just google or wiki it if you want more info.