—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The creature staggered backward before it could finish its sentence.
The weapons in its hands fell to the ground and disappeared, melting into the abyss as they turned into shadows.
This was the signal for the beginning of Phase 2.
I also widened the distance and caught my breath.
It was time for a brief rest.
As I did so, I looked down at the blood-stained sword in my right hand.
The blade was shining as brightly as the sun.
As if the duration of Solar Eclipse was almost up, the flickering light gradually diminished.
I took out the sacred catalyst tied to my waist and brought it to the blade of the blood-stained sword.
The bright sunlight rose again.
‘…Is this a bug?’
It had been like this ever since the sacred catalyst suddenly started shining at some point.
No matter how many times I used Solar Eclipse, I didn’t feel like my Faith was being depleted.
While the situation itself was undeniably good, I couldn’t blindly rejoice.
It might be a favorable situation, but it was definitely not a normal one.
‘I never heard of any hidden gimmick in the Creature Abandoned by God boss fight.’
If there had been such a thing, it would have been discovered long ago in some way.
Like most single-package games, Brightest Darkness 4 had also been extensively data mined by countless people.
The Brightest Darkness series was especially known for having a lot of dummy data.
There were even mods dedicated to implementing only the leftover dummy data, so even if there had been a hidden gimmick, it would have been thoroughly uncovered in the 10 years since release.
However, I had never heard of a gimmick where Faith suddenly started recharging infinitely during the Creature Abandoned by God boss fight.
‘…Well, I guess what’s good is good. It doesn’t seem to be harming me.’
There were no signs of life force being drained or anything like that.
There were no noticeable penalties at the moment, and even if there were hidden penalties, it would be impossible for me to notice them on my own as time passed, so there was no point in worrying about it.
I could ask the Inquisitor of the Sun or the Inquisitor of the Moon about what was going on after I got out of here.
For now, I was busy making the most of the opportunity given to me.
Assuming I could use Solar Eclipse infinitely, I might be able to finish this in under an hour if I did well from now on.
—Ah… Ahhhhhhh…
The monster, which had been groaning painfully with all four arms covering its face, suddenly raised its head to look at the ceiling.
Then it cried out in an anguished voice.
This was the dialogue from the Phase 2 cutscene.
It would mumble a few more lines like this and then start fighting again, so I could rest until then.
Whether the world was really created by God as per the Holy Kingdom’s doctrine, or whether this monster was God’s creation, I didn’t know.
But if you carefully read the background descriptions of the items related to this creature, it was all self-inflicted.
It had been cast out to this place for trying to cover the world in shadows and abyss to take God’s place.
And yet, it thought it had done nothing wrong and had been unfairly abandoned.
There was no room for sympathy.
After voicing its grievances to the heavens, the creature lowered its head again.
All eight of its eyes focused on me.
Its numerous teeth clashed nervously.
Shadows and abyss began to gather in its hand, soon transforming into the shape of a sacred catalyst.
It was a much more grotesque-looking catalyst than those used by the Holy Kingdom’s NPCs or players.
The gruff voice from Phase 1 had subsided, replaced by a slightly higher-pitched tone.
It seemed its original personality was starting to show as its health was chipped away.
A dim light swirled around the catalyst.
Black energy rose, writhing, and merged into one above the creature’s head.
The black something soon changed into the sun and moon.
More precisely, they were spheres that only mimicked the outward appearance.
Those things dripping with shadows and abyss being called the sun and moon – if people from the Holy Kingdom heard this, they would foam at the mouth and go berserk.
The spheres floating above the creature’s head glowed with an ominous black light.
From Phase 2 onward, magic was added on top of the existing attacks, making things even more chaotic.
This was the opening pattern signaling that start.
Boom!
The sun and moon exploded, scattering their fragments in all directions.
An enormous number of black pieces rained down across the entire boss room.
I slowly backed away to secure some space.
Where the sun’s fragments fell, black flames engulfed the area, and where the moon’s fragments landed, black frost rose.
When the frost and flames met, another explosion occurred.
The entire boss room was filled with thunderous roars and explosions.
It was utter chaos.
Amidst all this, as I was busily dodging the fragments of sun and moon falling nearby, the Creature Abandoned by God came charging at me with thunderous footsteps.
The sacred catalyst in its right hand turned black and formed the shape of a flail.
The flail was swung horizontally, sweeping across the floor and grazing my position.
I dodged it by rolling and dove inside its reach.
I was about to strike its leg, but upon seeing a fragment falling this way, I quickly changed my strategy and ran to the left to escape.
The fragment that landed in that spot caused a magnificent explosion.
‘How annoying.’
That magic wouldn’t last forever and would soon subside, but it was a bit of a shame to have missed that damage opportunity.
Even after this ended, other magic would surely come flying.
Using the sacred catalyst as a medium, it closely resembled the holy spells used by the Popes, but this wasn’t holy magic – it was black magic.
This was a part where people often got tricked.
Now it was just spewing out random words.
It seemed to have lost its mind after feeling pain again for the first time in hundreds of years.
Phase 1 was just putting on a mask, and the aspect shown in Phase 2 was likely its true personality.
Listening to it speak, it seemed to have become even more pathetic than in the game.
‘To think such a being was the first Pope…’
True to the Brightest Darkness series’ style of indirectly conveying information through item descriptions and character relationships rather than directly explaining the setting, even such minute details were all related to the lore.
After people diligently gathered clues and activated their Brightest Darkness brains, the conclusion was reached that the Creature Abandoned by God was the founder of black magic and the first Pope of the Holy Kingdom.
It was truly ironic that the Holy Kingdom’s greatest enemy was its first Pope.
I rolled to dodge the hammer writhing with black liquid on its surface.
When the hammer struck the ground, it made a sound like flesh being crushed.
In Phase 2, deflecting weapons should be avoided, and it should only be used to block tail attacks and stomping.
Of course, there was a reason for this.
All the weapons this creature was wielding now dealt magic damage.
They looked no different on the surface, but unlike Phase 1, the weapons wielded in Phase 2 didn’t deal physical damage, but pure magic damage.
Naturally, deflecting would result in penetrating damage.
Needless to say, I was a fragile human who would certainly die just from that penetrating damage alone.
I focused on attacking its left calf, then rolled back to escape.
Black flames rose near the creature’s feet.
Simultaneously, black magic struck vertically right above my head.
I widened the distance while watching the creature’s movements.
A flail and an axe formed on its upper right arm and lower left arm respectively, while sacred catalysts shone brightly in its other two hands.
‘That pattern.’
This required intense concentration.
First, the axe made of black magic came flying.
I dodged it precisely by rolling diagonally to the left.
The sacred catalyst in the opposite hand raised black flames, but I was already gone from that spot.
The creature turned its body, scraping the floor with its tail.
I deflected that and immediately raised my sword to reduce combat fatigue.
I rolled to dodge the hammer in its left hand, then twisted my body.
Black flames grazed right past my head.
This was an action that was quite possible even in the game if you paid a little attention to the dodging direction.
‘Right hand, left hand, magic, magic, left hand, right hand, and finally magic.’
I recalled the order of the combo in my mind and moved my body according to the countermeasures for that sequence.
Fierce ripping sounds and black magic continued to graze right past me.
Finally, the axe struck the ground, causing a massive explosion.
Taking advantage of this opening, I swung my sword again.
Another scream burst from the monster’s mouth.
I swung my weapon a few more times while the creature was stunned, then quickly retreated.
After expressing its pain through groans for a while, the monster glared at me fiercely.
I ignored it and prepared to continue my attack.
Or so I intended.
If only the creature hadn’t suddenly spoken in an unexpectedly calm voice.
‘Hiding my power?’
It was an utterly absurd statement.
If I had power to hide, I wouldn’t be in this situation.
Why would I hide my power?
I should just use it all from the beginning.
This was a world where life hung in the balance depending on whether you could dodge an attack or not.
I had neither the thought nor the reason to pretend to be weak.
If I died doing that, I’d be too resentful to close my eyes properly.
“What nonsense are you spouting? Have you lost your mind from getting beaten so much?”
The monster growled.
‘…Huh?’
Now what was that about?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Of course he hid his power. His true might will be revealed once he battles the 2 popes in bed, that will be the real fight of the arc
Thx for chapter