Chapter 926

Let's use Gwangrim. As my character in the game soared high into the sky, the robe—like a galaxy, a gift from my class—was swept up in the Gwangrim effect, glowing brightly and fluttering in the air.

But before my Gwangrim fully activated, an anomaly occurred.

"'Ingestion of the Water Offering' has stopped!"

"Huh? It really stopped."

[Huh?]

[Why did the water pillar stop?]

[????]

"Why is everyone making a fuss? Isn't that the Gwangrim effect of the shield bearer?"

"You don't know what shield bearer Gwangrim is? LOL"

"A shield bearer's Gwangrim can't stop that. Is it a bug?"

The shield bearer's Gwangrim was "Indiscriminate Shield."

Wherever the shield's light touched, both enemies and allies were indiscriminately protected.

It was an incredibly powerful ability, able to withstand even the most devastating attacks, but it had a flaw.

The flaw was that, while both enemies and allies were protected, neither could attack during the activation of that Gwangrim.

In a sense, this Gwangrim could be considered the weakest, and Yoo Sang-hoon really liked it.

— I like that the name of the Gwangrim has 'shield' in it. And when you use it, you can even block things that the 'Vengeful Wind' can't.

That’s true.

Yoo Sang-hoon's Gwangrim, "Vengeful Wind," absorbed damage and reflected it, but it had a crazy flaw.

The flaw was that if Yoo Sang-hoon couldn’t withstand the damage absorption process, he would die.

So, "Indiscriminate Shield" was better in terms of just being a shield.

But, like "Vengeful Wind," it lacked the ability to take down enemies, yet Yoo Sang-hoon didn’t hesitate to choose it.

— If you buy time, you'll give me a suspicious move, right?

Since I couldn’t always play the game with him, Yoo Sang-hoon said something like that.

Honestly, it was a Gwangrim that would be very helpful from a tactical perspective.

Using the shield bearer’s Gwangrim would allow us to buy time and confirm something important.

‘Yoo Sang-hoon’s Gwangrim only blocks attacks, it can’t stop support actions. But now…’

Both sides couldn’t attack, but actions that weren’t attacks were allowed.

So, even with "Indiscriminate Shield" activated, we could still provide buffs or healing.

However, as soon as the shield's light touched the water pillar, it stopped, halting the rising of the corrupted spirit’s health, which called forth the tsunami.

‘The fact that "Ingestion of the Water Offering" stopped means that, to the spirit, that water pillar was considered an ‘attack.’ Even if the spirit’s health fills, it still perceives it as an attack.’

At the moment, my character, the Bard, was floating high in the air, so the entire map was visible to me.

The party members could approach the corrupted spirit now that "Indiscriminate Shield" had cleared the sea wall.

Yoo Sang-hoon led the way, moving close to the spirit, but the spirit only wriggled occasionally, showing no real movement.

Far in the distance, the threatening seawater still swelled.

"This is strange. It can’t attack us, but it should be able to summon the tsunami. Why is it staying still? If it escapes the range of the shield, it could summon a tsunami, and we wouldn't be able to do anything."

"Don’t speak ominously. What if the cursed one summons the tsunami? The lighthouse keeper and the villagers are still fighting!"

While Jang Nam-uk and Jeong So-hui voiced their doubts, the chat was ablaze with discussions of whether it was a bug or not.

Some viewers, sensing the moment, flooded the chat with their theories, strategies, and spoilers, only to get permanently banned in the process.

Most of it was nonsense with wrong assumptions, but I saw a few viewers who seemed to share my thoughts.

If "Indiscriminate Shield" wasn’t a bug, and if they knew another strategy, they would easily reach the same conclusion I had.

‘I said that if we eliminate the water pillar and just hold on, the cursed one will die from exhaustion. But I also said the tsunami won’t happen in the meantime.’

Thinking from the villain’s perspective, something felt off.

If it knew it couldn’t defeat the players in front of it, it shouldn’t just stay still.

As Jeong So-hui had pointed out, if it couldn’t escape, it should have tried to summon the tsunami with all its might, the very attack the players had been trying to block.

If it had exhausted its power, it might not have been able to summon a strong tsunami, but it could have swallowed parts of the island.

But the corrupted spirit summoning the tsunami didn’t do that. Even when the players stopped attacking, it didn’t try to resist.

‘The answer lies in using the Bard's Gwangrim.’

[By the way, why has the Bard been floating since earlier?]

[Does he know flight magic too? LOL Is he planning to run away alone?]

[This is taking so long. What’s he doing??]

[Bard’s skill activation takes forever.]

[Noob, don’t ever pick Bard. They have to perform a song and play an instrument, so they get killed before they can activate their skill.]

[It looks like you picked a bad Gwangrim. If you have a long skill cooldown, you’re supposed to pick a fast Gwangrim. LOL]

As the chat indicated, my Gwangrim activation took a while.

I knew the standard practice was to pick a faster Gwangrim when you have a long skill cooldown.

But even with that disadvantage, I had chosen this Gwangrim when creating my character.

‘In a way, I made a similar choice to Yoo Sang-hoon.’

Like him, I had chosen an ability I didn’t have.

The Gwangrim I got in PlayerZ was something I wanted in Flare Master, and even in this world, it was an ability I couldn’t get.

No matter how much I progressed the story, no matter how much I leveled up, that power was always out of reach.

There were playable characters who were born with the talent associated with that power, but Yoo Sang-hee had given up the power of Akeia for revenge, and Yoon Yeorang had died before becoming the Oracle of the Dragon King.

The power I had wanted was the ability to heal injured characters.

≪Bard jo2god111 used Gwangrim, 'Song of the Night Sky.'≫

As the song was completed, the sky darkened, and the Bard, floating in the night sky, played a harp to match the melody.

With my back to the tranquil night sky, my voice and the music echoed louder and farther than usual.

The Bard had healing and purification skills, but since it also served as both a buff and debuff, it wasn’t as powerful as a dedicated healer like a monk or a priest.

The skill that covered up this flaw was "Song of the Night Sky."

"Song of the Night Sky" greatly enhanced the range and effectiveness of the Bard’s performance and song skills during activation.

It had a long preparation time, and you couldn’t move while it was active, but if you used "Song of the Night Sky" along with the Bard's healing skills, it could perform at the level of a healing Gwangrim.

— Ahh...

As the spirit reacted to the melody of purification and healing, its color, once reminiscent of the deep sea, changed.

It was getting closer to the color of the clear sea in the old paintings the lighthouse keeper had shown when we first arrived on the island.

Jang Nam-uk, who had been overly immersed in the story, recognized the color and was greatly surprised.

But it wasn’t the time to be amazed.

"Five seconds until 'Indiscriminate Shield' disappears. Get ready."

"What!"

"We need to hold on until the Bard finishes the song. Fight thinking that you’re the only support."

As the light of the shield surrounding us disappeared, the water pillar started rising again, as if waiting for this moment.

The water pillar, searching for its offering, swallowed the players and swelled again, giving strength to the spirit.

The spirit, its color changing, stared at the water pillar in fear.

It was hard to believe that just a moment ago, it had been targeting the players.

Jang Nam-uk and Jeong So-hui looked confused, but following Yoo Sang-hoon's order, they formed the lines and began to fight the water pillar.

"Physical attacks aren’t working well!"

"Use elemental magic. Don’t save items or magic."

"Ah, I’ve used up all my healing items."

"Dark Mage, fall back. Don’t use big spells, focus on small attacks."

There were four water pillars.

Three party members could fight.

Even with the spirit gone, this wasn’t an easy fight.

If Yoo Sang-hoon hadn’t been giving mechanical briefings while fighting, we would’ve wiped out a long time ago.

It was dangerous, but I trusted my party members and kept singing.

The sky, darkened by the Bard’s song, was brightening, and the elemental energy was almost used up.

When the Bard’s strength finally ran out and the song stopped, the surroundings brightened as if dawn had arrived.

Whoosh!

"What’s that!"

"The screen just changed!"

The screen was overtaken by a water splash effect, and the BGM changed.

Just moments ago, the urgent sound of the water and the Bard’s song mixed together, but now, a lively BGM, like water droplets bouncing, played.

Behind the Bard, who descended from the sky, stood the spirit.

—...!

At the spirit's gesture, a wave, rising from the sea, crashed toward the Ingestion of the Water Offering.

The spirit had begun to fight alongside us.

When it became clear the target had changed, Yoo Sang-hoon checked the enemy’s health bar, but the status screen only reflected the water pillar, not the spirit.

"Three seconds until the attack buff cooldown is ready. Use everything we have."

"Uh... okay!"

"Let’s go."

With the spirit’s help, our party overwhelmed the water pillar.

Since we knew this was the final battle, Jang Nam-uk and Jeong So-hui also used their Gwangrim without holding back.

Our party’s health was near zero, but none of us fell, and we reached the end.

Finally, the water pillar lost its strength and disappeared.

[ssssss]

[Looks like the shield bearer did his job again.]

"That last order was insane. This is what a raid leader and party leader and shield bearer should be like."

"Wow, we broke it like this?"

"Did we really beat it?"

"What did we just see...?"

"Why did the cursed one fight with us????"

In the chat, there was a mix of celebration for clearing the raid, admiration for the shield bearer’s efforts, and some suspicion.

It seemed some still thought it was a simple bug.

But the corrupted spirit no longer summoned the tsunami, and it stood before us, unchanged.

The screen had now switched to a cinematic video created by the game company.

— "Those who have opened the door."

The spirit’s voice could be heard.

The viewers, who had only ever heard the screams and hateful cries of the spirit during raids or in-game, were shocked.

Even if it were a bug, there was no way they could have prepared such a voice.

The spirit’s appearance shimmered with the color of the sea.

Whoosh...

The party members’ figures were reflected one by one in the shimmering light of the spirit.

The shield bearer, who had led the raid and succeeded in protecting all the party members.

The spear master, who had provided many hints due to getting overly immersed in the story.

The dark mage, who continually lightened the mood during the repeated raids.

And finally, me, who had sung "Song of the Night Sky" to the spirit.

— Thank you. If it weren’t for you, neither I nor this island would have been saved from evil.

As the sea calmed, the otherworld that had opened due to the spirit’s power closed completely.

From a distance, NPCs led by the lighthouse keeper, who had been trying to protect the island, were rushing toward us.

With the spirit’s thanks, the island’s appearance was captured broadly.

As the sunlight shone on the sea, the message spread across the entire Zeta continent and all of PlayerZ’s servers.

≪Shield Bearer, Spear Master, StillThinkingOfNames, jo2god111 have purified the 'Tsunami Summoning Corrupted Spirit.'≫

Many players had passed through this island, but it was the first time anyone had purified the spirit.