Episode 32: Twilight Colosseum (4)
《Time remaining until Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes containment: 2:14:37》
“Wow, time’s already this tight.”
After spending three days practically living in the Tower, less than three hours remained for the strategy deadline.
But thanks to that, I finished leveling my second team.
Vrrr—
My phone’s blowing up—everyone’s clearly worried.
「Greetings, this is CEO Son Tae-ha. I hate to pressure you, but many eyes are watching. I always believe in you, Adventurer Oh Hyun-woo. Wishing you great results today.」
A subtle nudge to join the fray.
Understandable, given the situation.
I’ve been burning company funds on summons, gear, and artifacts without making a single attempt.
It’s not about the money—they’re likely worried about the looming dungeon break.
【Twilight Colosseum Leaderboard】
1. Fire God Guild Seo Ju-hyun: 3,108
2. Revolution Guild Im Yul: 3,033
3. Fire God Guild Go Jun-young: 2,958
4. Radiance Guild Yoon Hae-joon: 2,857
⁝
The rankers’ scores are pathetic.
Even the top ranker’s 3,108 falls far short of the 4,000-point containment line.
Sure, most still have one attempt left, but with this gap…
‘Unless they overhaul their party, they’re doomed.’
In short, they’re all kicking a dud ball.
But no need to worry, folks.
The hero always arrives last.
***
《Fire God Guild Seo Ju-hyun’s Twilight Colosseum score: 3,353 points.》
Korea was in chaos.
Even Seo Ju-hyun, the last hope, failed to break the 4,000-point barrier in his final attempt.
With just over an hour left:
《Time remaining until Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes containment: 1:22:38》
The nation screamed in fear of impending doom.
Soon, they began looking for someone to blame.
- WTF, Seo Ju-hyun only improved 200 points from his second try?
└ Fire God Guild is trash.
- What’s the unknown adventurer doing?
└ You think he’d try? A Floor 50 scrub can’t beat what rankers are failing.
└ Look at them bashing Seo Ju-hyun. People are out for blood to save themselves. If I were the mystery guy, I’d be halfway to another country.
└ Dungeon break’s coming, and we’re all dead. FML.
Amid the despair, one man strode toward the Twilight Colosseum.
Crowds and media surrounded the entrance, their murmurs halting instantly.
His overwhelming presence and confident gait silenced the chaos.
Camera shutters clicked relentlessly.
A reporter rushed forward, frantic.
“Are you challenging the Twilight Colosseum?”
Hyun-woo lowered his gaze briefly, then smiled.
“Yes.”
That single word turned the buzzing air still.
“Are you confident?”
Looking toward the arena’s entrance, he replied:
“I’ll do my best.”
A massive light burst as the gate opened.
The twilight glow behind him illuminated the stage like a spotlight for the protagonist.
No one could speak, only watching as Oh Hyun-woo stepped inside.
***
《Entering the Twilight Colosseum.》
《Facing Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes.》
‘Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes’
Over 8 meters tall, clad in black armor with flames seeping through the cracks.
A crown of fire floated above her indistinct face.
A four-armed extraterrestrial being wielding swords, shields, and flames.
The victory condition: accumulate enough damage to destroy all four arms.
“I am the blazing flame, the new sun of this dimension!”
【Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes】
■ Traits
Flame of Frenzy: Applies Ember debuff to attackers. Becomes frenzied when non-damage skills are used.
Scorn for the Weak: Casts a powerful AoE attack each turn. Prioritizes summons without fire weakness over those with it.
Extinguished Ember: Takes 40% extra damage from water-attribute summons.
After confirming Athenica’s traits, I turned to Hertia.
“Hertia.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Target Iris with the artifact.”
Iris is the core attacker for this strategy.
A giant-killer whose attacks convert to ‘proportional health damage’ when two or more debuffs stack.
Her low rating in practice comes from debuffs being deadly, but she’s perfect for this fight.
“Start with the shield-bearing left arm.”
“Yes!”
Hertia moved first, hurling a mana orb.
Using the artifact Heart of the Bloodied Covenant Tainted by Nightmares, she empowered Iris, who struck the shield with a sharp blade.
“Pathetic!”
《Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes deflects the attack with her shield.》
《Athenica applies Ember to Verdant Shadow Iris.》
One debuff stacked.
But that wasn’t the end!
《Heart of the Bloodied Covenant Tainted by Nightmares prefix effect activates!》
《Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes deflects the attack with her shield.》
《Athenica applies Ember x2 to Verdant Shadow Iris.》
The Nightmare-Stained prefix triggered an extra attack!
This met Iris’s activation condition.
《Verdant Shadow Iris has 2+ debuffs stacked!》
《All of Iris’s attacks convert to proportional health damage!》
Hertia’s turn ended, and Iris’s began.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Iris’s arrows flashed, piercing Athenica’s armor.
“Arghhh!”
The other summons followed, pouring attacks.
Soon, cracks formed in Athenica’s iron-like arm.
《Critical hit! A crack forms in Athenica’s Shield-Bearing Left Arm.》
Only Temina’s action remained.
She had a crucial role this turn.
“Temina! Skill 2—deploy the canopy!”
“Yes!”
《Shade of Flame Temina creates a massive canopy.》
《Reflects one enemy skill, excluding water-attribute attacks.》
As Temina used a non-damage skill, Athenica reacted.
“Resorting to tricks? If I can move, I’ll burn you first!”
《Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes becomes frenzied!》
《Designates Shade of Flame Temina as the next attack target.》
Perfect—this skips her powerful AoE attack!
When her turn came, Athenica unleashed a near-instant-kill single-target attack—
Boom!
Clang!
Temina’s canopy successfully blocked it!
The second turn followed a similar pattern.
This time, Temina’s canopy was on cooldown.
Enter the relief pitcher!
“Dorian, cast Skill 1.”
“As you wish.”
《Scholar of Balance Dorian places a weight on the Scale of Life.》
《This turn, all damage taken by party members is evenly distributed.》
Boom!
“Why… why won’t you burn?!”
A one-shot kill if taken alone, but split among the party, it’s just a sting!
Plus, Iron’s passive, positioned in the back, boosted the party’s defense by 20%.
The health we lost was—
“My body… it’s burning hot!”
Recovered by Flame Healer Ryuk’s skill, which heals allies based on fire damage taken!
After managing damage and piling on attacks for a few rounds—
《Athenica’s Shield-Bearing Left Arm is destroyed!》
《Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes’s defense is reduced by 50%.》
Finally, we shattered her shield and one arm, lowering her defense.
But now came the tough part.
《Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes casts Flame of Raging Fury.》
Athenica unleashes an AoE attack each time an arm is destroyed.
In this phase, we can’t skip it by triggering her frenzy state.
But I had a summon prepared for this.
“Meryl, now. Become the sacrifice.”
“I’ve awaited your command!”
Meryl knelt, hands clasped, cursing herself.
Blood flowed, forming a magical blood circle.
《Black Priestess Meryl uses Sacrifice of Sin.》
“Punish this sinful body!”
《Casts Focused Taunt on Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes.》
Athenica’s gaze locked onto Meryl.
“Insolent fool! You dare worship another god before me?!”
《Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes cancels Flame of Raging Fury.》
《Casts Sword of the Sun on Black Priestess Meryl.》
A flaming greatsword crashed down on Meryl within the blood circle.
Boom!
Whoosh!
A devastating attack, unstoppable by Temina’s canopy or Dorian’s scale!
But Meryl didn’t die.
《Black Priestess Meryl is in Immortal state.》
“What… what is this?!”
“More… I crave greater punishment!”
This was the strategy’s core.
Hertia and Iris destroy Athenica’s arms.
Temina and Dorian skip AoE attacks.
Iron and Ryuk manage health.
Meryl tanks the AoE one-shot with her ability.
After repeating this cycle—
《Athenica’s Sword-Bearing Right Arm is destroyed!》
《Athenica’s Crimson Flame Right Arm is destroyed!》
《Athenica’s Azure Flame Left Arm is destroyed!》
Finally, all four of Athenica’s arms were shattered!
As I moved to finish—
“Out of my way! I am a being summoned by the stars! All who block me will burn!”
《Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes uses Great Wheel of Annihilation.》
Massive fiery wheels appeared in Athenica’s hands.
Their heat melted the ground—a desperate last-ditch pattern when her health was nearly depleted.
“Burn to nothing!”
《Witch of the Apocalypse Hertia enters Scorch state.》
《Liberator of Death Caligo enters Scorch state…》
⁝
《Takes 4 damage per second.》
《Takes 24 damage per second…》
《Takes 48…》
As the wheels spun faster, the Scorch debuff stacked rapidly, with tick damage skyrocketing.
But this was the moment I’d been waiting for.
“Caligo!”
“It’s been a while since I tampered with cosmic laws!”
A cube in Caligo’s hand floated, glowing brightly.
《Through Caligo’s Law of Exchange, Scorch debuff is converted to Blaze Guardian buff!》
《Blaze Guardian absorbs all fire-attribute damage and deals absorbed damage to the enemy upon expiration.》
The flames burning the summons vanished, replaced by protective fiery cloaks.
As Athenica’s wheels faded, so did Blaze Guardian.
And then—
BOOM!
《Blaze Guardian expires, triggering an explosion!》
《Critical hit!》
《Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes is expelled from this reality!》
“You… YOU!”
Having lost all four arms, Athenica screamed in agony.
“I’ll repay this humiliation!”
Furious, she glared at Hyun-woo as she was sucked into a massive warp.
His score appeared, and Hyun-woo gave a faint smile.
《Successfully contained Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes.》
《Unaffiliated Unknown Adventurer’s Twilight Colosseum score: 4,428 points.》
《Ranked #1 in the Twilight Colosseum.》