Nonhyeon-dong Dungeon Explosion Incident (14)

“First, we continue exactly like this!”

At this point, only its defense had changed. Its attack power and patterns were the same, so there was no need to change formations immediately.

‘Unless another buff or skill drops…….’

Constellations other than the Enemy Knight’s owner were talking about “fair play” and interfering with sponsorship.

From the tone of the argument, it seemed unlikely there would be additional sponsorship right now.

‘Unless it’s shameless enough—or high-ranking enough—to ignore all of that.’

If something did get sponsored later, they could deal with it then.

“The goal itself is simple. First: stab where its defense is weak. Second: break the helm and cuirass.”

Right now, the weak-defense spots were the waist and neck where Song Jiwoo had applied the bleeding debuff. They were already injured areas, so even with the defense buff, hitting them should still deal meaningful damage.

But that alone wouldn’t be enough to fully cut its breath off within the time limit.

If they played it right, the neck wound could become decisive—but with armor like this, it wasn’t easy to target from range.

That was why they needed to remove the helm and cuirass that covered the neck.

‘And if we force it to show its face, we might be able to create even more weak points.’

Lastly, Hyeonseong swept her eyes over the raid team’s condition. The formation was holding, and buffs to resist mental-type debuffs from the Enemy Knight had already been prepared.

“Alright. We hit the Enemy Knight’s left side first.”

Hyeonseong issued the order to the people blocking the Enemy Knight’s left. The goal was to scatter its focus.

On cue, the Awakened used attack skills. Everyone except the team positioned opposite the target side and Song Jiwoo attacked the Enemy Knight’s left.

Hits landed in a chain from its left shoulder down to its left foot.

‘As expected, it doesn’t look like much damage got through.’

Even after taking repeated hits, the Enemy Knight’s stance didn’t waver.

But it wasn’t completely ineffective. Recognizing the attacks, it turned its head slightly left.

“Right side!”

Hyeonseong shouted at that moment—the signal to stab the bleeding waist immediately.

Just before she even finished the call, Song Jiwoo slashed the Enemy Knight’s waist first.

Then the Awakened who received the order drove their attacks into the same spot again.

Puuuk—

……!

The Enemy Knight twisted its gaze sharply right with a soundless scream. This time, it looked like a meaningful hit landed.

‘Just like I thought—the areas that already took heavy punishment didn’t gain much defense.’

Confirming the effect, Hyeonseong ordered them to repeat the same sequence.

When the left or rear distracted it, the right or front hit the Enemy Knight’s waist and neck.

While that continued, Hyeonseong activated ‘Mad Gatherer’s Eye’ again and checked the Enemy Knight.

‘Not the body—parts on the armor we can break…….’

Scanning quickly, she found what she wanted.

She could see weak-point golden marks: one on the helm, three on the cuirass.

‘The helm is a little above the forehead. The cuirass—one between the collarbones, and two on the back…….’

Hyeonseong thought as she watched the drone feed circling behind the Enemy Knight.

Standing near the front, she couldn’t see its back directly. So she confirmed the rear weak points through the live footage.

‘This skill’s better than I expected.’

Some “vision” skills still worked through video feeds. It wasn’t common, so she hadn’t counted on it—an unexpected gain.

‘Either way, thank god the weak points are all in reasonable spots.’

Then Hyeonseong watched the Enemy Knight’s reaction.

It seemed angered by the rapid consecutive attacks, and its movement was gradually growing more violent. Even its somewhat standardized pattern showed signs of changing.

A red haze like heat shimmer began rising from the Enemy Knight’s body.

‘A berserk warning? They copied even that detail from the original.’

Enemy Knights classified as “originals” typically telegraphed state changes or powerful skills with red aura beforehand.

It looked like the owner preserved even those fine details when creating the synthetic Enemy Knight.

‘Makes recognizing the pattern easier, at least.’

“NEMESIS, put a hologram marker over the Enemy Knight’s helm.”

Recalling the weak-point location she’d seen, Hyeonseong ordered Nemesis. A holographic target marker appeared at the weak point.

“Song Jiwoo!”

Hyeonseong called next.

“Hit the marked spot!”

At the order, Song Jiwoo shifted her grip into a high vertical stance.

In the meantime, the Enemy Knight’s swinging sword was deflected once by Hyeonseong’s Infinite Corridor, then blocked again by another raid team.

KWAANG—!

With the Enemy Knight’s sword pinned, Song Jiwoo struck the hologram target with a piercing aura attack.

A crack spread across the helm centered on the impact point.

“So you want me to break it.”

Catching the intent, Song Jiwoo used a rapid consecutive thrust skill and hit the target again.

Jjeojeok

Right after the helm split, the Enemy Knight entered a berserker state.

“Everyone! Widen your distance, now!”

Hyeonseong shouted while pulling several skill cards from Infinite Corridor.

All the Awakened who had been close withdrew quickly. They kept the formation, but expanded the spacing.

‘I was hoping to save these.’

Hyeonseong blocked the Enemy Knight’s movement path with Infinite Corridor, drew a card, and used it with the Enemy Knight centered in the skill’s area.

As the message appeared, large numbers of flaming rocks formed in the sky.

‘One volley won’t be enough.’

Hyeonseong chained skill cards she’d obtained before the bosses appeared.

It hurt to spend them, but she had no choice. The only one who could keep the berserk Enemy Knight anchored here was Song Jiwoo—and she couldn’t afford to waste the very person who had to take its neck later.

‘And in that state, one person alone can’t really pin its feet down.’

Flaming boulders and metal pillars kept raining down until the Enemy Knight was completely buried between rock and metal.

KWAANG!

Kkagang!

Between the impacts, the Enemy Knight could be heard smashing rocks and pillars apart. Half of it was berserk reflex, half was conscious effort to carve a path.

But even swinging wildly and using skills, it couldn’t break out of the bombardment zone. Hyeonseong was dropping more volume than it could clear.

She wasn’t just spending skill cards—she was dumping stored rubble and pillar fragments from inside Infinite Corridor as well. The Enemy Knight, caught unprepared, had no way to push through.

As the debris kept getting stripped away, the Enemy Knight returned to normal.

‘That ended faster than I expected. Did getting pelted speed it up?’

Seeing the message, Hyeonseong raised the megaphone.

“Close the distance again. The moment the rubble clears, we stick to it.”

She opened Infinite Corridor and swept up the remaining debris. The Awakened around the zone narrowed their spacing toward the center.

When all debris was cleared, the ruined street appeared again. In the middle, the Enemy Knight stood missing its cuirass and one gauntlet.

KWAANG!

The instant she saw it, Song Jiwoo swung first. The Enemy Knight raised its sword and caught the blow.

Then the fight continued—flowing in a similar way to before berserk triggered.

The pattern remained: distracting hits, then the real attack. Only the distraction target shifted.

“Always the head! Fire at the head!”

At Hyeonseong’s order, all attention-drawing attacks went to the Enemy Knight’s head.

From the front they aimed for the eyes, from the side the temples, from the rear the back of the head—spots that were infuriating even before they were painful.

!

Every time it took a hit to the head, the Enemy Knight reacted sharply. Its crudely patched face twisted, as if eager to prove it was “synthetic.”

‘So it knows getting hit in the head is annoying.’

Its focus broke more easily than before. The effect was much more reliable than other targets.

“You don’t need anything strong! If you’ve got nothing else, throw dirt in its eyes!”

No matter what the Constellations said, the dirt-throwing worked extremely well. Even with almost no damage, it disrupted the Enemy Knight’s vision properly.

‘Feels like we can go for a big hit now.’

The Enemy Knight, blinded again, swung its sword in a frenzy.

At this point, there was no clear “pattern” left in its attacks. It had been chipped at nonstop since the bombardment, and every time it showed signs of a big move, the Awakened disrupted it.

In a state like this, they needed to attempt at least one major strike.

‘If we stall longer, the odds of a better opening showing up are low. The only odds that go up are it regaining its composure.’

She checked Song Jiwoo’s condition. It looked good—she could deliver the single decisive blow she’d promised.

‘Let her top off mana once, then I’ll create the opening.’

Hyeonseong sent Song Jiwoo a message through Nemesis to take a potion, then opened Infinite Corridor in front of her and dropped a mana potion.

While the other Awakened threw dirt and fire at the Enemy Knight’s face, Song Jiwoo used the potion.

“Song Jiwoo—can you take its neck off?”

Hyeonseong asked as Song Jiwoo tossed the empty bottle to the ground.

“If you buy me time to charge!”

Song Jiwoo shouted confidently.

“Not a slash. A thrust.”

“Can do!”

The confident reply came instantly again.

‘She’s caught on to how she needs to attack…….’

Hyeonseong immediately compared Song Jiwoo’s highest-output thrust skill to the Enemy Knight’s current state.

‘Problem is, that Ironwall’s Guard buff still hasn’t disappeared.’

Even though more than five minutes had passed since the Constellation’s last sponsorship, the buff was still active. Worse, it had no time limit.

‘And they still whined that it wasn’t enough, after giving that.’

It was infuriating, but there was no other way to strip the buff. Their dispel-level debuffs were below the buff’s tier.

‘If there’s a way to peel it off, it’s probably by dealing damage that overwhelms it. And to peel it off, we have to hit it anyway.’

Either way, Song Jiwoo’s single strike was locked in. Now Hyeonseong had to create the opening she demanded.

‘If it works, it’s a one-shot. Even if it’s short, we can shave down the buff’s effect.’

Hyeonseong quickly came up with a way to force the monster to expose an opening.

‘It’s time to try this.’

She opened Infinite Corridor over her palm. A skill card dropped onto her hand.