kscans

Chapter 327 - Party Time

""Whoa…""

The light of the teleport faded, and as my eyes, momentarily blinded by the flash, adjusted to the darkness, Sora and I saw it and spoke in unison for the umpteenth time today.

It was a circular field with black walls and blue light lines running along them, just like the four preliminary rooms. Aside from the fact that it was particularly dim due to the lack of proper lighting, it was an 'unremarkable boss room,' but it was precisely that 'darkness' that made its presence stand out.

The silhouette of its translucent white body floating in the air could be likened to an 'octopus' or a 'jellyfish.' A vortex of brilliantly colored light, never mixing but constantly entwining, was packed into its swollen, water-dumpling-like head—and from that head sprouted a total of ten necks.

Extending downward from the floating head-sac… just like octopus tentacles, were ten necks, and at the end of each was a head of an equally indescribable shape. Or rather, not a head but… a skull? You could say it was like a distorted snake's skull—

"…You okay, Sora-san?"

"I-I'm still, mostly okay…"

Ah, that's good… It has a kind of inscrutable, creepy design. Since it's translucent and floating, I can't guess its mass, but it's quite large. If it stretched its necks, it would probably reach the full length of [Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King]'s giant knight form, and if you include the dumpling on top, it might even exceed ten meters.

As I continued to watch, fighting back my instinctive fear of the 'monster,' the usual color cursor and status bar appeared above its head.

Enemy name: [Altera Anguis, Unseeing Ten Heads].

"One, two, three, four, and then ten… they just added them up, huh?"

"I was expecting five for the last one…"

The visual impact was worthy of the final boss of a boss rush, and it was certainly intimidating. However—

"The fear… yeah, I don't really feel much of it."

"…!"

Even a grotesque appearance becomes familiar if you stare at it for thirty seconds. As I spoke, swinging the [Everquartz, Sky-Soaring White Crystal Sword] I had summoned, Sora next to me created her sand sword and took a stance in agreement. I'd observed it from outside the circle for a good while, and I figured it would start moving once we crossed this line of light drawn on the outer edge. I glanced over to signal that I was ready, and our leader nodded, opening his mouth to take command.

"I said it had some bite, but at the end of the day, it's just a boss. There's no way we'll have trouble with this group. Let's get it over with quick."

"So we're just improvising individually again?"

"Nah, this one's got a bit of a punch to it, so let's practice some basic coordination. You aside, it's probably best for Sora to get some experience while she has the leeway."

That's true.

"P-Please take care of me…!"

"Well, it's nothin' difficult. Just move freely—Rinne, you're the tank. This time, just focus on being a wall, no counterattacks."

"Roger that!"

"Maru and Haru, you're on skirmish duty, playin' the role of a normal light fighter. Seal away your big moves and focus on 'chipping away.' A light tap is all I need from you two."

Oh? —Ah, I see. That kind of pattern.

"Okay."

"Got it."

"And… Sora, you're on artillery duty this time. I'll be beside you givin' commands, so drop a big one when I give the signal, and watch the overall flow of the battle."

"…Right!"

"Alright—don't worry, this is just for this time. I know you two shine brightest as a double front, but since you're so versatile, I figured I'd have you try everything in turn."

Oh, nice one, Tiger Lucky. Good catch. Her tendency to want to be on the front lines is hard to guess from her graceful, lady-like appearance and demeanor. Surprised that he had read her mind, Sora looked stunned for a moment before looking down, slightly embarrassed. She wasn't looking dissatisfied or anything, so I don't think you need to worry. It's just that our leader is much more of a leader than I thought.

"Now then… if there are no questions, let's begin!"

◇◆◇◆◇

"—I see."

About ten minutes into the battle. With plenty of room to spare, I had already figured out most of the attack patterns of [Altera Anguis, Unseeing Ten Heads].

First of all, as its name 'Unseeing' implies, this thing has zero vision. The skulls at the end of the necks growing from its head-sac have will-o'-the-wisp-like pale blue lights in their eye sockets, but Altera's necks only pursue those who make noise or touch it. Or, those who use skills or magic… more accurately, those who consume MP. In other words, in addition to hearing and touch, it seems to be sensing the 'movement of magical power.' However, at present, all ten heads of that snake-octopus-jellyfish are—

"Come on, come on, what's wrong?"

—completely fixated on our makeshift cloth tank, Rinne-chan-san. Not only physical attacks like biting and slamming, but also a barrage of diverse magic like fire, water, and wind, are all easily brushed aside by the invisible armor mediated by 'sound' that deflects every spark that rushes towards her. As expected of the North's eighth-ranked [Bell-Mail]—somehow, this just highlights how insane Hinayo-san was for making her cry one-sidedly…

"Heh-heh! You can't reach me!"

What a lively tank she is. [Bell Opressia, Ever-present dignified Bell-flower], was it? It's said that the louder she is, the stronger she gets, so it's a fitting Anima for the energetic girl. I mean that in a good way—now then, the skirmishers can't just keep poking at it.

"It's coming!"

"Okay!"

Bosses in MMOs tend to have gimmicks, big or small. A game where an invincible tank takes the aggro and everyone else just has to wail on it until it's over—such kindly designed enemies are few and far between. Usually, they're equipped with special actions like party-wide attacks on a regular or random AI basis… and figuring out how to deal with those is the players' 'conquest.'

[Altera Anguis, Unseeing Ten Heads], which had been so fixated on Rinne, suddenly raised three of its necks high. In the jaws of the skulls, which were opened wide as they looked to the heavens, three elemental magic orbs lit up. Red, blue, blue. If we left those alone, they would cause a chain explosion, resulting in massive, unblockable party-wide damage—so, I'll take the side with two!

"Count!"

"3—2—1—GO!"

Matching Maru II-shi's voice, I kicked off the floor and leaped towards my target. In the corner of my vision, I confirmed my partner closing in on the neck housing the 'red' one—

"Ready… set!"

I closed in on one of the necks holding a 'blue' magic orb and slammed my left fist, clad in [An=Ru Galta (Hypothesis: The Wedge-Armor that Sings of the King's Path)], into its lower jaw. CRUNCH! The skull was forced to eat the mass of magical power it had generated, and the 'color' forcefully flowed back from it… and the opposing magics of 'fire' and 'water' that had mixed within the transparent head-sac of [Altera Anguis, Unseeing Ten Heads]—detonated.

A massive amount of damage from a very straightforward gimmick. The giant's body writhed as if letting out a silent scream, shaking the space around it, and fell. —The perfect opportunity to attack.

"Now!"

"Right!"

In that instant, the artillery fire of the attacker rained down. Receiving the commander's order, Sora brought down a massive tower of a magic sword onto the prone giant's body. A deafening impact and a shockwave like a gale, even greater than the tremor from the beast itself. Riding the blast to gain distance, I checked the boss's status—

"Fourth one… down!"

Of the five-layered HP bar, only the last one remained. If there was a form change, I thought it would be around now… and there it is, just as expected. The giant's body, which had floated back into the air, began to change its appearance for its final struggle. As its head-sac began to swell, the magic light within it also grew brighter, as if about to explode—and each of the ten heads began to be dyed in a multitude of elemental colors.

This looks like it's going to be a flashy rampage… however,

"This is the home stretch! Don't let your guard down, let's wrap this up clean!"

Under our reliable leader, no matter how much it struggled, our victory was assured.

Afterwards, the boss, which had turned into a snake-octopus-jellyfish merry-go-round spewing magic indiscriminately, was completely shut down by the overkill party until the very end—

◇You have defeated [Altera Anguis, Unseeing Ten Heads]◇

With the tower of a sand sword that had delivered the final blow as its gravestone, its body spectacularly scattered and vanished.