I’ll have to put my faith in the Ancient Dress.
Still, I couldn’t just stand around and do nothing.
I could whittle him down with ranged attacks, but I want to see how effective this is.
“Let’s do this!”
Picking up on my intent, Library Rabbit pulled out a talisman and tossed it at Shouko, who dodged just in time to let it strike and slow the Dark Lord Lizardman, unaware of its approach.
Great!
“Cleaver! Cleaver! Cleaver!”
Gripping the Hakugei no Tachi, I unleashed Cleaver, a dismantling skill.
“Haaahhh!”
“Oh snap!”
Wham! I’d been too focused on attacking; I’d failed to dodge in time. I took a hit head-on and was blasted back. But Library Rabbit caught me in his arms, cushioning the fall with a smooth landing.
If I’d been alone...I would’ve been tumbling across the ground. That hit was ridiculously heavy.
“Kizuna! Are you all right?!”
“I’m fine... Well, not really, but I’m still kicking. I’m a Spirit, after all.”
The Shield Energy of my Intermediary Stone had been completely blown away, and I’d taken a hit to my base Energy. Just how powerful was that thing?
“Pen!”
Cleric Pekkle, whose AI prioritized allies with the lowest HP, rushed to me and began casting healing magic. With Spirits, only our Shield Energy could be restored like that—so technically, the AI was treating me like I was at 0 HP. Gradually, my shield was being restored.
“Kizuna, do you want to fall back?”
“No, I just got too reckless. I’m fine.”
Charging in like a madman wasn’t going to cut it. I needed to fight like Shouko—properly using my mobility to avoid hits.
“Pennn!”
Brave Pekkle was working hard to deflect all incoming attacks. I couldn’t let his efforts go to waste. Looking at it logically, I was supposed to find openings while he soaked up the brunt of it.
Even though this was our first encounter, I was starting to piece together the Dark Lord Lizardman’s attack patterns.
His attacks had an immense area of effect; at mid-range, they were nearly unavoidable without a mount. They couldn’t be crouched under either, as the shock wave had a hitbox too. It couldn’t get more annoying.
Taking a direct hit would hurt like hell, and the shock waves weren’t anything to shrug at either, and...yeah, I learned it the hard way after getting hit a second time. If I hadn’t been wearing an enhanced Ancient Dress, I’d have taken so much damage that it would have forced me to hang back and chip away from afar while I left the fight to Shouko.
“Haaaah!”
“Take this!”
He was moving around so much that using skills was often just a waste of Energy, and it became far more efficient to use faster regular attacks instead. If I even attempted a charge skill, it would’ve left me an easy mark.
Should I just leave it to Shouko, Brave Pekkle, and the other Pekkles...? I could provide support with my lures or my bow. It’s irritating how hard it is to bring down his HP. It would be nice if I could hook his mouth...
“I’ll try!”
With that, Shouko pulled out her own fishing rod and cast it from behind the Dark Lord Lizardman, hooking the line around him to restrain his movement as her cat mount pounced with its claws.
Whoa... I didn’t know it could attack like that—or so I thought. But the line broke almost instantly, and she found herself on the receiving end of a powerful charge.
“Erk... My skills were insufficient.”
“I think the idea was there.”
“Thank you...but the enemy is quite formidable. Not only are its attacks heavy, it’s fast and leaves few openings.”
“Yeah. Without Tsumugi or Yamikage, we’re in for a rough time.”
“Agreed.”
Shouko was still managing to hold her own, but I was on the fast track to becoming deadweight.
“Kizuna. Please, don’t worry about it. You’re the one giving directions to the Pekkles. It’s only thanks to you that I can fight. I would have been exhausted without you.”
“Thanks. I still wish I could do more.”
“Even just hearing that is enough. I’m going in again!”
“Mreeoowwwrr!”
Heeding her will, the cat mount took a large leap, using even the ceiling as a foothold to launch itself at the Dark Lord Lizardman.
I’m not going to drag her down.
Keeping my distance with my fishing rod in my left hand, I cast my Blue Shark’s Lure, triggering a slash and bleed on contact.
“Pennn!”
“Nice!”
The moment Brave Pekkle absorbed an attack, I switched out with him and slammed a Cleaver into the Dark Lord Lizardman, then immediately ordered my mount to leap back and retreat to safety.
Yep. This is going decently well. If we just keep at it, slow and steady, we can do this.
“Grah... Heh heh, you’re not half bad! Now try this on for size!”
Thud! Just when we’d managed to chip him down to near half health, the Dark Lord Lizardman drove his battleaxe into the ground and clenched his fists.
Immediately, a “Danger!” icon popped up in my field of vision.
Ah, is he about to unleash a powerful AoE?
“Pen! Fall back, pen!”
As if on cue, Brave Pekkle rushed to the front and raised his shield. The other Pekkles gathered behind it as well.
The AI behavior is essentially spelling out what we have to do.
“Shouko! Get behind Brave Pekkle!”
“Right!”
Anticipating the incoming attack, Shouko and I both slipped behind Brave Pekkle.
“Also, Shouko!”
“What is it?”
“There’s one more thing we should be doing at times like these.”
I gripped my Hakugei no Tachi with both hands, preparing myself.
“Understood. I’ll follow your lead, Kizuna.”
Good, she caught on.
“Take this! Energy Blast! Haaahhh!”
The Dark Lord Lizardman opened up his clenched fists, unleashing a hefty wave of energy that completely swallowed up our field of vision. The air was on fire, with sizzling sounds coming from all around us as we hid and staved the storm.
And eventually, once our foe’s ultimate blast had finally dissipated—!
“Now!”
A silence had fallen over the area with thick clouds of smoke rising from every surface.
“How did you like that?!” the boss said.
“Unfortunately for you—”
“Brave Pekkle took it for us!”
“Pen...”
Brave Pekkle slumped down, unable to fight due to all the damage, but this was undoubtedly a gimmick for the fight. By my read, we’d need to heal him before the next Energy Blast. As I issued a recovery order to Cleric Pekkle, Shouko and I set our sights on a now wide-open Dark Lord Lizardman as we both let off our strongest skills.
“Circle Dance Zero Formation: Snow Moon Flower!”
Countless flower petals burst into existence at point-blank around the Dark Lord Lizardman, each individual petal registering as a hit...and that barrage led into—
“Blood Flower!”
I had the Hakugei no Tachi—specialized for boss battles—equipped, and I’d taken just a sliver of damage by taking a quick and slight step ahead of Brave Pekkle before the Energy Blast ended. That activated the tachi’s Power of Vengeance buff, and with my charge complete...I unleashed Blood Flower.
Kshk! Slash effect layered over slash effect as I tore through the Dark Lord Lizardman’s HP bar.
“Gwaaaaah?!”
Yeah, you’ve got to charge up those flashy skills when they give you a chance.
Cut the flesh, shatter the bone. The Dark Lord’s HP bar was being rapidly shaved down.
“Go! More! Keep going!”
“Aaaaah!”
And finally, we managed to completely deplete it.
That was close... If I hadn’t activated Power of Vengeance, there’s no way that would’ve finished him off. That said, I can’t just write off the Energy loss.
“Guh...”
The Dark Lord Lizardman dropped to one knee.
I landed the final blow with Blood Flower, but he didn’t get dismantled.
“I see... I’ve witnessed your true strength firsthand. As expected of the ones who stand beside the great hero of old, your power is commendable.”
For some reason, he slowly rose to his feet, showering us with words of praise.
Umm, does that mean we cleared the quest?
“In honor of your strength, I shall bestow a reward.”
As the Dark Lord Lizardman extended a hand, a notification appeared in my field of view.