Chapter 260: Painting Spirit

"But then again, why is it still an old-fashioned prefix?" Yun Mu complained.

Forget it, it's not a big problem anyway, let's just continue exploring the Dungeon.

"Gaba gaba!"

Leaving Xiaoqie aside, Yun Mu, accompanied by Lucy and the Goblin Brave, walked toward the depths of the corridor.

"Da da."

The corridor was extremely dim, and there was only one path forward; aside from the breathing and footsteps of the group, Yun Mu could hear nothing.

The only light source was a small window that appeared every so often; outside the window was a bright, full Moon, surrounded by stars, which didn't seem to be a problem either.

Could it be a horror-type Dungeon?

Considering that the Dungeon name 【Painting Spirit】 was somewhat similar to the name of a classic horror movie, and that horror Dungeons often appear in many infinite-flow works, "Eek!"

Yun Mu shivered subconsciously.

She had never been good at this sort of thing since she was a child; if no one was with her, she would absolutely never play horror games.

Even walking alone at night had only improved after she obtained the memories of her predecessor.

"Miss Yun, are you cold?" Lucy noticed her movements and asked with some concern.

"No, no, that's not it! Yes, I am indeed a bit cold!" Yun Mu answered subconsciously, then immediately corrected herself.

She gave a light cough and looked at Lucy with some embarrassment: "Could you move a little closer?"

"Sure." Although a bit puzzled, Lucy still moved closer to Yun Mu's side.

"Is this okay?" The two stood almost shoulder to shoulder.

"Mm, this is fine!" With someone standing beside her, Yun Mu suddenly became much bolder.

"Yosh, let's keep moving forward!" Casually uttering a Japanese-style accent, the two continued to advance toward the depths of the corridor.

"There is a Gate ahead."

After walking for a while longer, a stone wall formed by multiple rings blocked their path. Lucy looked at the different patterns on the rings and analyzed: "This Gate requires a password to open."

"Can we just turn the rings on it?" Yun Mu tried turning the outermost ring of the wall once, and as expected, the stone Gate did not react at all.

"We need to know its password," Lucy said.

There were twelve rings on this stone Gate; trying to crack it by brute force was simply unrealistic, so the two could only look for clues in the surroundings.

"I think I might know what it means."

After a short while, Lucy looked at the patterns on the various rings on the wall.

"So fast!" Yun Mu looked at Lucy in surprise.

She hadn't even cleared her thoughts yet, and Lucy had already figured out what the password was?

"What exactly does it mean?" She asked Lucy curiously, resting her index finger on her chin.

"It's actually quite simple." The other party chuckled and pointed at the center of the rings.

"Doesn't this thing look a lot like the Moon?" she said.

"Mm, now that you mention it, it really does look like it." Yun Mu looked in the direction Lucy was pointing; in the center of the twelve rings, there was a round sphere that could not be moved.

"Ah, could it be..." Looking at the patterns on the rings outside the sphere, Yun Mu suddenly realized: "This sphere refers to the Moon, and the patterns on those rings refer to the stars in the sky?"

As everyone knows, there are a total of 111 stars in this world, divided into six constellations.

Lijianzuo, Gunner, War Hammer, Archer, Tianpingzuo, and finally Gemini.

The patterns of the items represented by these constellations could all be found on these rings; the only problem was, "There are only six constellations, but there are twelve rings on the wall," Yun Mu voiced her thoughts.

"Don't be impatient, let's follow the order first... like this, like this, and then like this..."

Lucy turned the rings, moving the constellations in different positions to their corresponding spots.

For a Constellation Magic user proficient in astrology, Lucy could draw a complete star map with her eyes closed, let alone just turning the patterns on the rings to their corresponding positions.

"Next..."

Lucy stood up and walked toward the direction they had come from, stopping when she reached the small, slightly translucent window.

"It really is like this."

Looking at the Moon outside the window and the stars surrounding it, Lucy muttered: "I felt these stars were strange earlier, but I didn't pay attention because I considered this a Dungeon world. Now that I look closely, there is indeed a problem."

"These stars... what's wrong with them?" Forgive Yun Mu; she couldn't see anything and could only ask Lucy beside her.

Although she had level 8 Mysticism, that was knowledge obtained from the memories of a deity from another world.

Although there were many commonalities, the stars unique to each world were completely different.

"There are more than 111 stars here." Lucy raised her hand to point at the stars in the sky and explained to her: "The number of stars has almost doubled, and accordingly, there are more constellations."

"Mm, stars of the same constellation will emit light at the same frequency. As long as we record these extra constellations, we should be able to crack the password."

Lucy raised her hand, and a stone slab was transmuted, appearing out of thin air in her palm.

And as she continued to drive her Alchemy, the patterns on the stone slab changed rapidly.

Before long, a star map recording the appearance of the stars outside the window was produced by Lucy.

"Just in case, let's go check the other windows," Lucy put away the stone slab and turned to look at Yun Mu.

"Oh, oh." Yun Mu nodded blankly, then together with Lucy, observed the stars outside the other small windows once more.

After confirming that the stars outside all the small windows were the same, the two returned the way they came and went back to the sealed Gate.

"... Mm, this should be fine now."

Comparing the star map on the stone slab, Lucy turned the rings on the Gate one by one, until the last ring was turned to the correct position.

With a dull boom, the Gate slowly descended until it was completely submerged into the ground.

"This way we can continue forward."

Casually discarding the stone slab, Lucy turned to look at Yun Mu and gave her a "done" gesture.

Good, good, good, very good.

Yun Mu followed Lucy and passed through the Gate.

However, in the next second, the world before the two suddenly blurred, as if dye dampened by water were spreading on paper; the entire scene transformed into something abstract, similar to a Van Gogh painting.

A man with an indistinct face sat on a stool, a Painting Board placed before him, appearing in front of the two.

The Game Panel's notification message also chimed at this moment.

【Battle start!】

【You have encountered an enemy—【Painting Spirit: Painting: Starry Sky lv22 (Elite)】

Race: Painting Spirit

Max HP: 50, Attack: 11, Spell Strength: 18, Defense: 12, Tenacity: 4, Dodge: 50, Speed: 22, Precision Correction: 30, Crit: 0%. Traits: Spirit of the Painted World (Cannot be directly attacked; one must wait for it to reveal a flaw before damage can be dealt), Master of the Painted World (As the master of the Painted World, it can summon ordinary Painting Spirits at will). Skills: Distort, Smear, Scrape White, Color, Harmonize】 "We're entering battle just like this?"

Before Yun Mu could react, three monsters resembling star clusters appeared out of thin air in front of the 【Painting Spirit: Painting: Starry Sky】.

【【Unknown Star Cluster lv20 (Elite)】

Max HP: 35. Race: Painting Spirit

Attack: 10, Spell Strength: 15, Defense: 0, Tenacity: 5, Dodge: 25, Speed: 20, Precision Correction: 40, Crit: 12%. Trait: Self-Destruct (Will explode after being defeated or acting twice; the former explodes on teammates, the latter on enemies)

Skills: Expand, Spin】【Current Turn: 1】

【Player Yun Mu acts first!】

"Although I'm not sure what the situation is, what I do know is that I'm about to start slaughtering everything!"

With the idea of testing out a skill, Yun Mu did not choose to use any AOE-related items or skills, but instead simply and plainly used Mental Shock to attack.

【Mental Shock!】

【-173!】 The monster 【Unknown Star Cluster】, with 0 Defense, took the full damage of Yun Mu's Mental Shock.

In just an instant, its health bar was emptied, followed by 【Self-Destruct!】

The 【Unknown Star Cluster】 in the first position swelled up violently, and in the blink of an eye, it... "Bang!!"

【-20!】

The 【Unknown Star Cluster】 in the second position lost more than half its health bar instantly, and as the monster in the first position died, it automatically shifted forward by one spot.

【Painting Spirit: Painting: Starry Sky begins its turn!】

【Harmonize!】

The man with the indistinct face picked up his Paintbrush and smeared it wantonly across the paper.

Under the influence of a mysterious power, the two 【Unknown Star Clusters】 gradually merged into one, and then turned into a larger star cluster?

"Max HP 50/70, Attack 20, Spell Strength 30... Did all the attributes just add up?"

Yun Mu clicked open the panel to check the attributes of this merged monster.

If this were to accidentally explode, the power would surely be terrifying.

She thought to herself.

【Unknown Star Cluster Diploid begins its turn!】

Because all attributes were stacked together, the Unknown Star Cluster's speed successfully reached 40 points.

It was even faster than Yun Mu, who had various traits and equipment bonuses.

【Spin!】

【Designate a non-self friendly unit to act immediately!】

【Painting Spirit: Painting: Starry Sky begins its turn!】

【Scrape White!】

The man with the indistinct face picked up his Paintbrush and smeared it on the painting draft; the next moment, a large amount of white mist suddenly surged out from the body of the 【Unknown Star Cluster Diploid】.

【Invisibility!】

The 【Unknown Star Cluster Diploid】 disappeared from everyone's sight, and Yun Mu's expression changed instantly, a bad feeling rising in her heart.

Invisibility... Does she not have any skills that can break invisibility? Blood Perception... Damn it, that star cluster doesn't have any blood in its body at all.

What about area attacks? AOE skills can hit invisible units; the only problem is that currently on the field, aside from that invisible Diploid, there is only the monster 【Painting Spirit: Painting: Starry Sky】 left.

However, because of the opponent's trait 【Spirit of the Painted World】, Yun Mu cannot select it as an attack target to release AOE skills... Does she really have to take a Self-Destruct head-on?

Yun Mu glanced at her own HP.

【175/175】

Uh, did she have this much HP?

She was slightly stunned for a moment.

What about Lucy's? 【52/52】

Forget it, with this HP, she can't withstand the Self-Destruct damage of the Diploid, so Yun Mu decided to think of other ways.

Hey, what if it's a non-targeted AOE skill?

Yun Mu looked at the skill effects of the painting Cold Crow and was pleasantly surprised to find that the skill 【Artillery Barrage】 indeed did not require selecting a target to be released.

Because its effective range is all enemy targets, there is no option to select a target at all.

In other words, if she uses the 【Artillery Barrage】 skill, she will be able to hit the invisible Unknown Star Cluster Diploid.

"Phew, thank goodness, I finally found a solution."

Yun Mu exhaled lightly, then had Lucy release the equipment skill of the 【Immoral Notebook】 on her.

【Immoral Pleasure!】

【Damage Correction +10% / Crit +5%】

【Desire +5】

The skill's bonus effect popped up above her head; Yun Mu suppressed the inexplicable desire welling up in her heart and chose to have the Brave use the skill Battle Cry.

"Roar!"

【Battle Cry】

【All friendly units' Attack +5, Critical Hit +6%】

【Note: The effect of this skill is related to the stats of the skill user.】

【Scarlet Knight begins to act!】

"Call Mount," Yun Mu ordered decisively.

"Neigh!"

Following the Hiss of a warhorse, a horse clad in Scarlet Heavy armor appeared beneath the Scarlet Knight.

【Current Turn Number: 2】

【Player Yun Mu acts first!】

"Heh heh, even with 40 points of speed after the diploid stack, there's no way to compete with me for the first action of the turn!"

Yun Mu's own base speed stat is 31 points, but after the attribute bonuses from various equipment, it is 36 points.

In addition to this, there is the +5 speed effect from the Concealment Cloak when acting at night.

Plus the effect of the Fleet-Footed trait, which adds +10% speed, surpassing 40 points is simply a breeze.

"Cold Crow, fire for me!!"

The phantom of the painting Cold Crow appeared behind Yun Mu, and as the muzzles of the Broadside Cannon extended from the firing ports, they aimed at the ground in front of her.

The next second.

"Boom!!"

【Artillery Fire Salvo】

【-148!】

【Self-Destruct!】

The unknown star cluster diploid that was in a hidden state died instantly, then violently exploded.

And after the opponent died, two small characters popped up above the head of 【Painting Spirit: Painting: Starry Sky】.

【Flaw!】

"I can attack now!"

Yun Mu's eyes lit up, but unfortunately, because the speed of Lucy, the Scarlet Knight, and the Goblin Brave were all inferior to Painting Spirit: Painting: Starry Sky, it would be Painting Spirit: Painting: Starry Sky's turn to act after her action ended.

【Distortion】

"Ahhhhh!"

The man sitting in front of the Painting Board suddenly clutched his head in pain with both hands, and on his face, where features could not be seen clearly, an extra mouth appeared as if sketched by a Paintbrush.

At this moment, this mouth was in an O-shape, and at the same time, like a speech bubble in a Comic, the words "Ahhhhhhh" appeared beside the man.

An indescribable pitch-black darkness enveloped Yun Mu, yet she did not suffer any damage.

【Silence】

【For the next two turns, you will be unable to cast any spell skills.】

(End of chapter)