The arrival of Tsugumi… and the rest of the reinforcements turned the whole situation around.
Our lack of numbers was instantly no longer a problem.
Mages and archers were very popular with their wide-area skills. They probably don’t get the chance to use them every day.
‘Different enemies are showin’ up!’
Things were getting interesting.
I’m sure not everybody agrees, but I get the most excited in fighting games when my opponents and I are neck and neck.
Stomping or being stomped by the other side isn’t fun at all.
That’s why right now, things were interesting. The difficulty is just right.
It’s now evenly matched.
“… now where’d they go?”
As our reinforcements arrive, the more chaotic the battlefield became.
The noise of metal clashing against each other, the whistling on arrows in flight, and magic explosions create a sea of sound.
We advanced and attacked to the sound of shouting voices and death rattles.
I expected to lose my party members in this chaos. What are they up to now?
Well, obviously, fighting.
‘This is A6! We’re nearing the towers from the center!’
The people here on the right flank burst out cheering.
We met up at a crossroads at B5 and now we’re racing towards the ominous black tower.
The path was littered with the remains of Dimensional Skeletons, Dimensional Beasts, and Dimensional Beetles.
I cast my gaze upwards at the tower.
We must be like ants crowding around this tower of sugar.
If my hypothesis is correct, then we’ll win by destroying this tower.
We’re at the verge of victory, even though we were at the brink of destruction when the enemies swarmed us.
Maybe I should get ready to set sail again tomorrow.
Shouko and the rest of them must be gradually farming more Energy right now.
“That was… quicker than I had imagined.”
As the tower fell, ominous...o...b.. of purplish black exploded from the center.
There were players who succ.u.mbed to explosion and died. I couldn’t see well through the cloud of dust, but there was some kind of boss monster that appeared.
‘This is A6! The tower exploded and a monster sho—argh!”
His final moments were broadcasted throughout the map.
Things were heating up again.
‘Its arm… there’s a rift opening up from its arm.’
The dust settled to reveal a monster covered in black hair, swinging his great arms tipped with razor-sharp claws. Many of the men on our side were torn apart by the monster.
It definitely looked stronger than the Lizardman Dark Knight from before.
Well, it’d be rude to even compare the two.
… even the ones in the heaviest armor fell to the monster.
I didn’t want to imagine how much damage it’d do to me.
I’d be lucky if a single hit were to deal damage in the thousands, or at least that’s what I a.s.sumed.
Surely, it wouldn’t be here for long.
A crackling of electricity sounded as it pried open the dimensional rift.
‘Let us attack it at range! Fall back, men!’
It wasn’t long until the arrows and spells started flying at the monster.
We had no choice but to do that, even if it meant dealing little damage to it.
Oh, most of the vanguard were withdrawing to let the rearguard attack, but there were a few who stayed at the front.
“… well, that’s no surprise.”
Among the ones who stayed were Shouko and Tsugumi.
Since most of Shouko’s attacks are AoE, her damage output wasn’t that great.
However, her folding fan was one of the lightest weapon cla.s.ses in the game which—combined with her light armor—made her very effective at dodging attacks.
She made great use of her skills to attack and dance around the enemy.
On the other hand, Tsugumi’s scythe had a lot of range as well.
I’ve heard that it was great for mobbing mooks, though I’m not too familiar with them.
The downsides are that it’s weaker for single-target attacks and its weight. But the biggest downside is that scythe skills consume an extreme amount of MP.
They say scythes don’t get good gas mileage.
“Guess I have to go over and help too, eh?”
Shouko’s striking kimono will probably draw in Yamikage and Sheryl as well.
They’ll definitely give me c.r.a.p if I were to shirk away now.
Alright, let’s go!
No, wait, hold on.
I’ve gotta have a plan if I’m going to go up close to the boss.
I’m not happy about it, but I’m not nearly as skilled as players like Shouko or Tsugumi.
If I ran in there without any tactics, I’d just be getting in their way, let alone helping out.
What can I do?
Name/ Kizuna†Exceed
Race/ Spirit
Energy/ 67,720
Mana/ 8,100
Serin/ 46,780
Skills/ Energy Production X, Mana Production VII, Fishing Mastery IV, Gutting Mastery IV, Cleaver III, Speed Gutting III, Naval Combat IV, Trans.m.u.tation I
Unlocked Skills/ Energy Production XI, Mana Production VIII, Fishing Mastery V, Hate & Lure I, Helmsmanship I, Night Vision I, City Travelling I
Hate & Lure I
A basic support skill with a fishing rod.
An attack with a lure and hook to draw hate from fish or monsters.
Consumes 50 Energy per use.
Costs 100 Mana to acquire.
Unlock requirement: Defeat 1 or more enemies with fishing rods.
Upgrade requirement: Defeat 10 or more enemies with fishing rods.
The h.e.l.l kind of skill is this?
And when the h.e.l.l did I kill anything with a fishing rod?
I’ve been constantly fishing during the week on the boat, but I don’t remember this happening at all.
Hate means that I’ll draw the enemies’ attacks towards me.
My light armor can’t be good for it.
But if it works on fish as well, that would mean I’d get more bites. I’ve gotta try it next time.
I don’t exactly know how I’m going to use it, but I’ll take it this skill just in case.
But no! I should be focusing on its arm right now!
I’m way too obsessed with fishing… I’ve gotta keep myself in check.
“Sorry! I couldn’t stop it!”
I closed my status screen to see Tsugumi shouting and the dimensional rift opening up in the monster’s arm.
His fierce glowing deep crimson eyes matched its gigantic, pitch-black body, standing about five players tall.
The most noticeable feature of it was the three heads on its body.
It reminded me of a certain dog in mythology.
“Whoa!”
One of its three heads spat a breath of flame at us.
I barely dodged its attack since it wasn’t specifically targeting me, but half of the archers were wiped out by that one attack.
That’s probably phase two of the monster with its different attack pattern. It happens all the time in games.
Shouko and Tsugumi dodged Cerberus’ swipes and bites and were still attacking it.
… I moved up close to its legs, but what am I supposed to do?
I don’t think I’ve ever fought anything like this in a game…
‘… bad news, everyone. It seems since the boss appeared, players who die can no longer return.’
I looked behind me.
The entrance at the edge of the map had a black visual effect coming from it.
I guess that means that dead players can’t get back into the fight.
Well, Spirits had that problem to begin with anyway but no resp.a.w.ning sucks for other races.
You’d want to be decked out in full armor for this fight.
Shouko, Tsugumi, and others were still attacking Cerberus from melee distance. Those who couldn’t do so were surrounding it firing their bows and spells.
“Step aside! Our ranged attack is ready to fire!”
“Wild Dance, the First: Chain Strike! I can dodge fine, so please just commence!”
“Yup, yup!”
How does anyone dodge the spells and arrows falling down like rain?
Are we the noobs for not being able to do the same?
I remember how in Western FPSes, Tsugumi was able to get headshots with her sniper rifle without even so much visual confirmation of the enemy.
Maybe it’s the same concept how she can master spatial awareness in this game too.
I hate to say it, but I’m not nearly as crazy good as she is.
While some other players ran out of the attack zone, Shouko and Tsugumi kept attacking Cerberus. Someone probably has to draw Cerberus’ aggro at all times.
And somehow, the ones who stayed really did dodge left and right, evading the arrows, and kept tanking the boss.
Seeing how good she is, maybe Shouko is a bit like a fish out of water to be sailing with us.
Another five minutes past and Cerberus swiped with its talons again.
I was able to escape it by the skin of my teeth, but Tsugumi couldn’t.
“Ah… I’m all out of MP.”
As she muttered out, Cerberus swung its arm down…
… but no way I’d let it hurt my sister.
“I had wondered before, but… do I like my little sister too much or what?”
After evading its attack, I ran back right into it.
I put up my Cetus Longsword to protect us and was sent flying backwards.
I would love to have saved my sister from the wicked claws of Cerberus, but unfortunately, I lacked the ability to tank for her.
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