Usually, with our double sword dancer loadout of Akira and Akabane, the number of Sword Sambas increased. With those two, I might’ve been able to rattle off ultimates until the boss died.
No matter what happened, until the boss went down with two of my ultimates, it was a lot safer for me to stick to Elemental Circle duty. It was kinda boring, though. While it sucked that I had nothing to do in a boss battle of all things, it was better than how I was before! Under the effects of Elemental Circle, I was doing some pretty okay damage myself.
“Then I shall do the same. Rising Dragon’s Triple Gleam!”
Shizuku activated her ultimate as well. It started off with an uppercut, followed by three somersault kicks! It was a crazy-acrobatic ultimate. Martial artists had some tough animations!
Shizuku activated Rising Dragon’s Triple Gleam.
Dealt 1,544 damage to Death Chariot!
We’re making good progress! Get ’em, guys! Sorry I’m dead weight!
Just then...
Dragon Head prepared to activate Fire Breath!
Dragon Head prepared to activate Fire Breath!
The two Dragon Heads simultaneously breathed out hot fire! Armor knights were gods of taking physical attacks, but they were weak against magic. Emily’s HP bar went way down all at once.
Dragon Head activated Fire Breath.
Dealt 625 damage to Emily!
Dragon Head activated Fire Breath.
Dealt 611 damage to Emily!
Dragon Head activated Fire Breath.
Dealt 425 damage to Ryuutarou!
Dragon Head activated Fire Breath.
Dealt 408 damage to Ryuutarou!
Wow! The guy dancing like a weirdo behind her got caught in the blast!
“Aaaah! Ouch, that one hurt!”
“But wait, I say! Worry not, for I will heal us!”
Ryuutarou immediately got to dancing and firing off healing magic. With some added help from Maeda, their HP was quickly back to maximum. Without a comment, Ryuutarou moved away from Emily and positioned himself at a distance. Looks like he learned.
We succeeded in healing them, but now, the Death Chariot spun to face Shizuku. When players were attacked by enemies and lost health, they lost a corresponding amount of aggro. Emily had just taken a ton of damage, reducing her aggro until Shizuku had the most, partly thanks to Yano using Stealth Shot to suppress the amount of aggro she generated.
“Hm?!”
Death Chariot attacked.
Shizuku guarded the attack, taking 207 damage.
Dragon Head attacked.
Shizuku guarded the attack, taking 115 damage.
Dragon Head attacked.
Shizuku guarded the attack, taking 107 damage.
Yukatas came with low defense, so even when guarding, she took a hefty amount of damage. This wasn’t looking too good.
“Don’t worry, I got this!” Emily activated Provoke.
However, the Death Chariot still wouldn’t turn to her.
“Ultimate move: Crimson Calamity!”
Fwoooooom!
From the lance she stabbed into the ground, bright-red pillars of flames shot in all directions.
Emily activated Crimson Calamity.
Dealt 1,577 damage to Death Chariot!
After the aggro from that Crimson Calamity, the Death Chariot finally turned its attention back on Emily. She had been saving her Crimson Calamity instead of using it right off the bat for the sole purpose of stealing aggro when she needed to. As one should expect of Emily, she was a skilled player. I could watch at ease.
The battle continued from there until the Death Chariot was at around a third of his maximum HP. Then, a system message came in!
It has been 28 minutes since you entered. In 120 seconds, you will be booted from the dungeon.
Whoa, dang! We’re almost out of time?!
Panic surfaced on Emily’s face. “This isn’t good! We can win against it, but time is an issue!”
Indeed, at this rate, we would be forced out before we could finish it off.
“But we’ve only just gotten to the good part!” Shizuku complained.
Yano, Maeda, and I weren’t nearly as worried because we all knew that we had a way to make this work. The god of one-shot firepower! One of the great drama cannons!
“Finish ’im off, Takashiro!”
“The rest is all up to you!”
“Awesome! Finally, my time has come!”
I cast a wide-range Enfeebling Circle, in service of managing my remaining MP.
“Once I ult, I’m gonna need a Sword Samba!”
I made sure to warn Ryuutarou ahead of time. He wasn’t Akira, so it was safer to tell him first. Naturally, I would’ve preferred her any day. She always followed up without me saying anything, and she was cute. Really, Akira was just flawless. Meanwhile, I never knew what this guy was gonna do, and I was scared to talk to him because he was a gross perv. Really, he was just... nothing but flaws. I really wanted Akira to come back to us soon.
Maybe I was getting a little selfish. At first, I thought we’d be two bros gaming together, no matter how it looked to other people. But now, I just didn’t feel fulfilled unless I had that beauty by my side. Truly, having a female sword dancer was like a drug. Once you had it, you couldn’t go back.
Whether he understood what I wanted or not, Ryuutarou dramatically crossed his arms, standing tall. “Indeed! I have seen your cooperation with my dear sister. Leave it to me!”
Not that it matters to me, but is he just mute unless he crosses his arms? Ugh, I’m getting a headache.
But anyway, we were out of time. Now was the time to do what needed to be done!
“Here goes. Final Strike!”
I activated Final Strike first. Then I squatted down, turned my upper body, and readied the Quickdraw stance. My body was quickly enveloped in crimson flames the shape of a bird—Suzaku. The combination between Turnover, Explosive Tackle, and Quickdraw!
“Ultimate move: Vermilion Wing!”
Shrouded in flames, I charged toward the Death Chariot with incredible speed! Then, using my momentum, I dashed and swung my sword!
“Graaaaargh!”
It was a clean hit, causing the Death Chariot to cry out.
After unsheathing my sword, I slid by the Death Chariot until I was behind it.
Ren activated Vermilion Wing.
Dealt 5,866 damage to Death Chariot!
Yep, there’s that big damage!
As usual, the Damascus Canesword disintegrated into shining particles.
Yep, there’s my money flying away!
Even after that, the Death Chariot still lived. Thanks to all the damage I’d dealt, it charged toward me. My level of aggro far surpassed Emily’s now, to the point that no amount of her effort could make it target her again. Furthermore, as usual after my ultimates, my HP was low enough to put me in critical condition. If I took one blow, I was insta-dead.
“Ren, watch out!” Emily shouted. “It’s heading straight for you!”
“I’ve got your back. Guilty Steal!”
Yano stripped me of all of my aggro, taking it for herself. Thus, the Death Chariot pivoted toward Yano instead of me. She held her shield at the ready, in full guard position. She couldn’t quite stand up to Emily’s armor knight, but at the very least, she wouldn’t go down easily with her shield up.
“Oh? Neat! Good job, Yuuna!” Emily applauded.
Then, Ryuutarou began shaking and shimmying. It was nothing like Sword Samba’s usual animation.
What on earth is he doing? Do male sword dancers have different animations?
“Receive my holy blessing! Heaven and earth, fire and sea, confer all your blessings upon these sheep!”
He was saying a whole lot of stuff that did absolutely nothing. Is this just some weird dance he likes and not an actual skill?!
“You’re not doing anything! Just hurry up, please!” I cried, forging a new Canesword.
I wanted to kick myself for wasting words on him, but we were almost out of time. He seriously needed to get his butt in gear.
“Very well. Sword Samba!”
See?! The animation isn’t different between sexes!
Regardless, my skills were now off cooldown.
“Final Strike!”
Once again, I was enveloped in the birdly flames. I dashed over to the enemy, unleashing one great slash at the body of the Death Chariot.
“Ultimate move: Vermilion Wing!”
Ren activated Vermilion Wing.
Dealt 5,866 damage to Death Chariot!
Ren defeated Death Chariot.
“Graaarh... Raaaaargh!”
Letting out a guttural yell, the Death Chariot slowly began to collapse.
Nice, we did it! Wait, did I just get another log message?
Death Chariot prepared to activate Dark Possession.
We had defeated it, but it was still kicking. I wondered if this was some sort of final attack. Sometimes, bosses did a sort of Hail Mary just before death, as if to say, I’m taking you down with me!
What’s it gonna do?!
While we braced ourselves, the Death Chariot’s body morphed into a small, black light. It headed toward Ryuutarou, and he was quickly sucked in. Immediately after, poof! He was covered in the black light. Once it disappeared, we saw that Ryuutarou was now clad in the Death Chariot’s bloody, black robe.
“Oooh!”
I for one loved it. This was far easier on the eyes than his nudity.