Chapter 327 - Party Time
""Whoa…""
The light of the teleport faded, and the moment our eyes, dazzled by the brief flash, adjusted to the darkness, Sora and I uttered the same words in unison for what felt like the dozenth time today.
It was a circular field, just like the ones for the four preliminary bosses, with unadorned black walls traced by lines of blue light.
Aside from being particularly dim with no obvious source of illumination, it was an 'unremarkable boss room.' But it was precisely that 'darkness' that made the presence of it stand out.
Its translucent white body floated in mid-air, its silhouette resembling an 'octopus' or a 'jellyfish.' A vortex of brilliantly colored light, never mixing but continuously swirling, was packed inside its swollen, mochi-like head. And from that head sprouted a total of ten necks.
Extending downward from the floating sac like the tentacles of an octopus, the ten necks each ended in a head of equally indescribable design.
Well, not so much a head as… a skull? You could say they looked like distorted snake skulls.
"…Sora-san, you okay?"
"I-I'm still… more or less okay…"
Ah, that's good… It just has a kind of inexplicably grotesque design.
Being translucent and floating, I can't guess its mass, but it's quite large. If it stretched its necks, it could probably match the total length of [Angalta] in its giant knight form, and if you include the mochi-head on top, it might even exceed ten meters.
As I continued to watch, fighting back my instinctive fear of the 'monster,' the familiar color cursor and status bar appeared above its head.
The enemy's name was [Altera Anguis].
"One, two, three, four, and then ten… they just added them up, huh."
"I thought the last one would be five…"
Its visual impact was certainly worthy of the final boss in a boss rush, enough to be intimidating. However—
"The fear… I don't really feel much of it, after all."
"…!"
Even an eerie appearance becomes familiar after staring at it for thirty seconds. As I spoke, swinging the [Everquartz] I had summoned, Sora next to me created her sand sword and took a stance, as if in agreement.
We had been thoroughly observing it from outside the circle, and it seemed likely that it would start moving once we crossed the glowing line drawn on the perimeter. I glanced over to signal my readiness, and our leader nodded and opened his mouth to take charge.
"I said he'd have some fight in him, but he's still just a regular boss. There's no way this party will struggle, so let's finish this quick."
"So we're just playing it by ear again?"
"Nah, this guy's got a bit of punch, so let's take this chance to practice some basic coordination. You're one thing, but it's better for Sora to get some experience while she has the leeway."
That's certainly true.
"I-I'll do my best…!"
"Don't worry, it's nothin' complicated. Just move freely. Rinne, you're the tank. This time, focus on being a wall, no counterattacks."
"Roger that!"
"Maru and Haru, you're on skirmish duty. A normal light warrior role. No big moves, focus on 'chipping away.' A light tap from you guys will be enough."
Huh? Oh, I see. That kind of pattern.
"Okay."
"Got it."
"And… Sora, this time, you're on artillery. I'll be beside you giving instructions, so when the time comes, hit 'em with a big one. The rest of the time, just observe the flow of the battle."
"…Yes!"
"Alright—and don't worry, this is just for this time. I know you shine brightest as a double front with your partner. You're a jack-of-all-trades, so I'm just planning on having you try everything one by one."
Oh, nice one, Tiger Lucky. Good catch.
Her tendency to want to be on the front lines is hard to discern from her graceful, ladylike appearance and demeanor.
Surprised that he had read her so well, Sora looked momentarily stunned before looking down, slightly embarrassed. She wasn't making a dissatisfied face or anything, so I don't think she needs to worry about it.
It's simply that our leader was far more of a leader than I imagined.
"Alright… if there are no questions, let's get started!"
◇◆◇◆◇
"—I see."
About ten minutes into the battle. With more than enough breathing room, I had already figured out most of [Altera Anguis]'s attack patterns.
First off, as its name 'Ten Heads that Do Not Stare' implies, it has zero vision.
The skulls at the end of the necks growing from its head-sac have eerie, pale blue will-o'-wisps burning in their eye sockets, but Altera's necks only pursue those who make noise or touch it.
Or, more precisely, those who use skills or magic… those who consume MP.
In other words, it seems to perceive 'the movement of mana' in addition to hearing and touch. But as of now, all ten heads of that snake-octopus-jellyfish thing are—
"Come on, come on, what's wrong!"
—completely fixated on Rinne-chan-san, who's acting as a cloth tank, of all things.
Not just physical attacks like bites and slams, but a barrage of diverse magic—fire, water, and wind—pours down on her to no effect. An invisible armor mediated by 'sound' easily deflects every spark that rushes toward her.
As expected of the North's eighth-ranked, [Bell-Mail]. It really makes you realize just how insane Hinayo-san was for making her cry one-sidedly like that…
"Heh heh! You can't reach me!"
And what a lively tank she is.
I think it was called [Bell Opressia]? Her Anima supposedly gets stronger the louder she is, making it a perfect fit for an energetic girl like her.
In a good way, of course. Now then, the skirmishers can't just keep poking at it forever.
"It's coming!"
"Okay!"
MMO bosses, big or small, are always loaded with gimmicks.
It's rare to find a kindly designed enemy that's game over once an invincible tank gets its attention and everyone else just wails on it.
They usually have special actions like party-wide attacks on a timer or random AI… and figuring out how to deal with those is what 'clearing' a fight is all about for players.
[Altera Anguis], which had been obsessed with Rinne, suddenly raised three of its necks high. As their skulls opened their jaws toward the heavens, a magic orb imbued with an attribute lit up in each one.
Red, blue, blue. If we leave those alone, they'll cause a chain reaction and inflict massive, unblockable damage on the entire party. In that case, I'll take the side with two!
"Count!"
"3—2—1—GO!"
At Maru II's call, I kicked off the floor and leaped toward my target. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my partner closing in on the neck housing the 'red' orb.
"And… now!"
As I closed in on one of the necks cradling a 'blue' magic orb, I slammed my left fist, clad in [An=Ru Galta], into its lower jaw.
CRUNCH! The skull was forced to eat the chunk of mana it had created, and the 'color' flowed back from it with great force… The conflicting 'fire' and 'water' mana mixed within [Altera Anguis]'s transparent head-sac—and detonated.
The massive damage from the extremely straightforward gimmick caused the giant's body to convulse as it let out a silent scream, shaking the space around us before it fell.
—The perfect attack opportunity.
"Now!"
"Yes!"
In that instant, a barrage from our artillery rained down. Receiving the commander's order, Sora brought down a massive tower of magic swords on the prone giant.
An immense shockwave and a gale-like aftershock, even greater than the tremor from the beast, echoed through the chamber. I rode the blast to create distance and checked the boss's status.
"Fourth bar… down!"
Of its five stacked HP bars, only the last one remained. If there was going to be a phase change, it should be around now… and there it is, right on schedule.
As the giant floated back into the air, it began to change its appearance for a final struggle.
Its head-sac started to swell, and the mana light within grew brighter, as if about to explode. Each of the ten heads began to glow with a multitude of attribute colors.
I have a feeling a flashy rampage is coming… however,
"This is the home stretch! Stay sharp and let's wrap this up cleanly!"
Under our reliable leader, no matter how much it struggles, our victory is assured.
And so, the boss, which had turned into a merry-go-round of a snake-octopus-jellyfish indiscriminately spewing magic, was completely shut down by our overpowered party until the very end.
◇You have defeated [Altera Anguis]◇
With the tower of sand swords that dealt the final blow serving as its tombstone, its body scattered spectacularly and vanished.
Any questions that might have come up will be addressed in the next chapter's study session for Sora-san.