“All right! That just leaves the big prize—Corrupted King,” Kent said, his voice a little shaky with anticipation.
Frey turned to me, eager to take on the miniboss. “Sharon, if you can apply your Skills once more— What?!”
“Protective Light— What’s wrong, Frey?” I asked and looked toward the plaza. “Oh.” I chuckled. I had a feeling this would happen. The others were far more surprised than I was, staring at the clearing with wide eyes and voicing their confusion by asking each other what could have happened. What had happened was that the Fallen Angels had respawned. “Those Fallen Angels must be adds to the Corrupted King. They dropped no items, and they probably didn’t get us any EXP. Most likely, they’ll keep respawning until we take out their boss,” I explained.
“No!” Cocoa responded most vehemently. It must have felt like a devastating prospect to have the Fallen Angels—already resistant to her magic attacks—infinitely respawn.
“What are we supposed to do...?” Kent asked, at the end of his wits.
“I could use Taunt to draw them away, but I can’t take on five Fallen Angels at once,” Rudith said, sounding just as lost as Kent was.
I did have a strategy in my back pocket for a situation like this, but I decided to make a suggestion first. “It looks like we’re far enough from the clearing here. Let’s take a break.” We needed to eat something delicious and restore our morale. My plan seemed to already be working because everyone laughed at my unexpected idea.
“Great idea. I brought everything that looked good from Blume,” L’lyeh said as if she’d been waiting for me to suggest a meal break.
What kind of food did she buy? I watched her closely and saw her produce a round cookie tin with a cute design on it.
“Th-Those cookies...! There was never less than a three-hour wait for those!” Lina exclaimed before I could make a comment.
“Yes. They’re delicious,” L’lyeh agreed.
Luna groaned in frustration. “I wanted those so badly, but I didn’t have the time between training and switching jobs...”
L’lyeh held up her cookie tin as if to gloat, before her expression filled with compassion. “There’s enough for everyone.” The Goddess of Darkness proceeded to take out eleven more tins. “Treats are more delicious when we eat together.”
“Thank you! Thank you, Lulu!” Lina cried out.
“You are welcome.” L’lyeh handed out a cookie tin to each of us.
“Thank you, Lulu,” I said.
“Let’s eat them now,” she urged.
“Yeah!” I inspected my cookie tin. It was colored light blue and adorned with both pink flowers and smaller white ones. When I opened the lid, I saw several different varieties of cookie filling the tin: an undecorated round one, a jam-filled one, a square one with chocolate, and even some with tea leaves baked in. “They smell amazing.” Why don’t we turn this into a proper afternoon tea? I took firewood from my Bag and Storage and started a fire. Then I put a kettle on it and began brewing tea.
“Yes, Sharon! You get it.” Practically drooling, L’lyeh handed each of us a teacup—the perfect touch to make this a delightful tea break.
Mio was watching us set up with her jaw on the floor. “We are in a dungeon we know nothing about that’s crawling with scary monsters, and yet you are relaxed enough for tea and cookies... You are incredible.”
“It’s exhausting to stay on guard all the time, don’t you think?” I answered casually. Especially in dangerous places like this, it was important to rest whenever we could. “I brewed enough tea for all of us. Let’s have a relaxing tea break!” L’lyeh and I then poured tea for everyone.
I put my first cookie into my mouth, biting into it with a crisp crunch. The buttery morsel melted in my mouth. Drinking the tea afterward without any milk or sugar further highlighted the cookie’s sweetness—so much so that I let out a moan. “That’s so good. No wonder people line up for three hours.”
“Delicious.” L’lyeh smiled, perfectly satisfied. Something told me she would be back in line for these cookies soon.
“I thought a whole tin would be too many cookies, but I might just eat them all now,” Tithia said, stuffing her little face full.
“Your Holiness, here’s milk for your tea,” Leroy offered, ever the loyal servant.
“Thank you, Leroy.”
Same as usual.
Meanwhile, Kent practically inhaled his cookies and washed them down with his tea before stomping over to me. “Sharon, I don’t mind taking a break. I really don’t, but how are we supposed to get through that?!” Apparently, he was too preoccupied with the monsters ahead to be able to relax.
“Kent...” I glanced at the clearing to see the Fallen Angels and Corrupted King still wandering around it. “Well then, while we eat, let’s go over a strategy to take them down.”
Everyone nodded, their expressions solemn.
“Smiting Light, Protective Light, Holy Maiden’s Boon, Moonlight, Starlight...”
“Cursed Conversion!”
Mio, Leroy, and I had buffed the team, preparing the party to take down the five Fallen Angels and one Corrupted King in the clearing.
After a few deep breaths, Kent sprinted forward, followed closely by Rudith and Frey.
“Here we go! Taunt!” Kent began by drawing all monsters to him.
“Dragon Lance! Taunt!” Rudith landed a hit on the Corrupted King and kept its attention on himself.
“Hero’s Strike!” Frey took out one of the Fallen Angels.
“Smiting Light!” I immediately recast my buff on Frey.
Leroy was in charge of keeping Kent safe from the four Fallen Angels targeting him. “Goddess’s Protection!”
We’re going to end this quickly! I thought, turning my attention to Frey, who bellowed as she moved to attack.
“Hero’s Strike!”
“Smiting Light!”
“Hero’s Strike!”
“Smiting Light, Moonlight, Starlight, Rainbow Rejuvenation.”
“Hero’s Strike!”
After giving Frey the buff to take down the fourth Fallen Angel, I focused on healing her. With the help of a potion to recover her mana, Frey had managed to take out four of the five Fallen Angels so far.
“Okay! I’m tagging in, Lord Rudith!” Kent called.
“It’s all yours, Kent!” Rudy called back.
“Got it! Taunt! Shimmering Chase.”
Without missing a beat, Kent attacked the boss and turned its attention toward him as Rudith drew the last Fallen Angel to himself with a Taunt. Kent had more defensive Skills, making him better suited to taking on the boss. Since taking out all of the Fallen Angels would trigger them to respawn, leaving just one alive was the best way to mitigate their threat.
“We’re going to fight the boss without attacking the Fallen Angel!”
“Yes, Meowster! Purrtion Throw!”
“Merciless Retribution!”
“Dark Whispers.”
Tarte, Tithia, and L’lyeh all stormed the boss. To my relief, their attacks looked effective. “Okay, let’s finish this!” I called out.
“You got it!” Cocoa and Luna answered, eager to chip in, especially after having to sit out during all the battles against Fallen Angels.
“Weave and Shimmer, My Blades a Thousand!”
“Freeze and Bloom, Icy Rose!”
Corrupted King bellowed.
“It’s working! We can do this!” Kent shouted.
We definitely had the momentum, and it looked like we could keep up our barrage and take the boss down. Now it’s time to do my part! “Heal Absolutely! Moonlight, Smiting Light!”
“We’re almost— What?!” Kent had noticed a change in the miniboss. I couldn’t tell until I looked more closely, but Corrupted King was quivering. A red aura began to rise around it in a clear indication that its Attack or something else was increasing.
How is it going to attack? After all the damage we’d dealt to it, the boss was almost dead...which meant that this was most likely its last stand. Maybe an AoE attack or a really powerful blow?
Corrupted King roared, “I! Am! King!” It raised its bloated right arm, which began to turn a dark red as if its blood vessels had burst—power concentrated at its fist, sparks crackling from it.
Not even Kent can take a hit like that! Frantically, I cast Protective Light on him, which would shield him from a good amount of the damage.
Then, with another roar, the boss raised its left arm too.
“It’s going to attack with both hands?!” I blurted out.
Corrupted King cackled. “Death to the traitors! Death! Death! Death!” It swung its arms madly, unleashing a barrage of attacks—underscored by a thundering sound effect—so rapid that I wouldn’t have time to reapply any barriers before the next attack hit.
“Kent!” Cocoa screamed, her voice drowned out by the sound effect.
“Heal Absolutely! Protective Light! Kent!” I shouted too, hoping that he was still okay.
After a moment, I heard Kent chuckle. “I didn’t survive Sharon’s training to go down now! Piece of cake!”
“Good, you activated Steadfast Leader,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief. Steadfast Leader negated any attack that came his way for a short duration. “Let’s finish this now!”
“You got it! Hero’s Strike!”
“Merciless Retribution!”
Frey’s and Tithia’s attacks were the final blows. The boss burst into light, along with the last Fallen Angel. Apparently, they were designed to die with the miniboss.
“Phew. That got a little exciting. Good thing it wasn’t as strong as it looked,” I said, turning to the rest of the party...who were all shaking their heads as if I’d said something insane.