So I devised a plan to work around that. I say plan, but it was nothing complicated. I was just going to cover up our scent by engulfing an area in strong-smelling perfume. Up until now, Sukegawa had been throwing the perfume bottles directly at the Cerberus Lion, but this was how I had originally been intending to use them.
Will it work? Carro and I were invisible, and the perfume smell was permeating the area...
“Carro, just keep still.”
“Neigh.”
Since we couldn’t step out of the perfume’s range, all we could do was wait for our chance where we were. And sure enough, that chance came sooner than later.
The Cerberus Lion stopped right in front of us. It glanced around in all directions, but it couldn’t tell where we were. It knew something was off because of the strange smell, but it hadn’t picked up on me or Carro.
The lion stood fifteen meters away from us. My heart was thumping wildly as I held the firecracker at the ready, aimed at the Cerberus Lion, and then threw it as hard as I could.
“Hah!”
Please hit it! The firecracker arced in the air, flying in a completely different trajectory than I had meant to throw it. Since the firecracker was an irregular shape, it was actually harder to throw than I thought.
“Dang it!”
The firecracker whizzed right by the Cerberus Lion and exploded near the ceiling. I watched as a shower of red chili powder sprinkled down all over the boss.
“W-Wait...!”
Maybe that actually worked? Despite my wishful thinking, nothing happened. I didn’t know if that was because the chili pepper itself was ineffective, or because the boss had now become immune to traps and status abnormalities. I should’ve known things wouldn’t be that easy!
However, making it rain chili powder wasn’t the only thing the firecracker did. I heard a deep, heavy cracking sound come from the ceiling. Even the Cerberus Lion joined me and the rest of the raid party in looking up at it.
I watched as a crack formed at the base of a large stalactite, which then dropped rapidly down. And right underneath it was—
“Grrraaawrrr!”
“Ouch, that’s gotta hurt!”
With a loud crash, the stalactite landed right on one of the Cerberus Lion’s heads. It took damage, and a star effect like you’d see in comic books showed up above its heads.
The true value of that hit was the effect it had on the lion’s status. Shockingly enough, the Cerberus Lion had lost consciousness and the flames that were scattering around it had weakened. The colorful star effect continued to spin around its heads.
Kokuten gave a rallying cry. “Th-This is our chance! Come on, everyone!”
“R-Right, let’s go!”
“Here I come!”
Once they saw Kokuten rush over to the Cerberus Lion, Filma and Akari followed after him. We had all been so stunned by the sudden turn of events that we had momentarily frozen.
“I-I’m coming too! This chance is too good to miss! Fau! I need you to bring out the big guns! Earth Spirit Awakening!”
“Aye!”
Fau was enveloped in light, and then transformed into her larger size.
“Aye-aye! Aye!”
She’s still the same old Fau, though. Fau stuck her hands out in front of her, drawing two magic circles in the midair, out of which shot two large boulders.
“Raaawr!”
“It dodged!”
The Cerberus Lion had regained consciousness a moment too soon and dodged the right boulder. The left boulder, however, nailed the lion right in the belly and forcefully knocked it back. The last time I’d had Fau use this attack against a predator boss, she was able to flip it on its back, but this time the lion just leaned back a little but managed to stay on its feet! Well, this was a raid boss, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
Rikyu followed up with a bomb that left the Cerberus Lion crying out in pain.
“Grrraaagh!”
“Another stalactite!”
Another stalactite fell down, though this one was smaller than the last. And it missed the boss. I found it hard to believe that the bomb had only made one stalactite fall and none of the others. Was it random? Or did stalactites only fall if they were near the Cerberus Lion? As I tried to think of a reason, Sawyer figured it out.
“I think the white stalactites fall when disturbed.”
Fuka nodded in understanding. “So when Rikyu used her last bomb, there must not have been any white stalactites close to the boss?”
Th-Those are top crafters for you! Their powers of observation are a cut above the rest!
In short, if we used bombs to make the stalactites fall and hit the boss, we could deal damage, make the lion lose consciousness, and get a chance to launch an all-out attack all in one go. All right! Let’s test it out!
“Fau! Can you take this string to tie this firecracker around that white stalactite? The stalactite is sensitive to touch, so be careful.”
“Aye!”
Fau took the firecracker, gave me a salute, and then flew up to the stalactite. Now we had to guide the boss over there.
“Perca, can you circle behind the Cerberus Lion and hit it with this? Then, I want you to draw it back this way.”
“Honk honk!”
I gave Perca my last perfume bottle. These actually turned out to be pretty handy.
“Himka! I need you to make sure the boss stops right underneath that stalactite. You’re the only one for the job!”
“Hm!”
Not only was Himka resistant to fire and heat, but he also had the Counterattacker skill, which made him the best candidate to stop the boss’s charge attack. While I was laying down the preparations for my plan, Fuka, Sawyer, and a few other players came over to me.
“We’ll help too!”
“I can help stop the boss with Himka! I have fire resistance!”
“Thanks!”
As the rest of us got moving, Perca had made it in position and used Penguin Highway to fly.
“Hooonk hooonk!”
As he glided past the Cerberus Lion, he dropped the perfume bottle on its face. Now that he was the target of the boss’s aggro, he continued flying in our direction, slapping his own butt as he did as an added taunt. I had no idea if that taunt was effective or not, but regardless the Cerberus Lion started furiously chasing Perca.
“Yes! Nice work!”
“Honk honk!”
I caught Perca and praised him. He flapped his flippers, looking very proud of himself. Fuka and Sawyer interrupted our little interaction with a dose of reality.
“Silver-Haired! Play with your penguin later!”
“We’ve got incoming!”
“Hmm!”
Himka, don’t give me that look!
“Grrraaawr!”
The massive Cerberus Lion was charging right towards us, but we had some reliable tanks in front of us. I’m not scared of you, lion! Okay, I’m lying. I’m a little scared. Tanks, please hold out!
“Hm-hmm!”
“Hyaaah!”
“Hah!”
Himka, Fuka, and Byden confronted the Cerberus Lion that had chased Perca our way. They weren’t able to block it completely, though.
“Hmmm!”
“Eeek!”
“Aaargh!”
All three tanks were knocked back and took heavy damage. Nevertheless, they had still managed to hinder the boss enough to stop it in its tracks. I knew you could do it, tanks!
“Sawyer! Now!”
“Roger!”
At my signal, Sawyer used his spellbook to cast a wind magic spell. But instead of aiming his wind bullets at the Cerberus Lion, he aimed for the firecracker tied around the stalactite. The firecracker burst with a loud bang, and just like last time, the stalactite cracked at the base and then plummeted down.
CRASH!
“Graaagh!”
“Awesome! Bull’s-eye! Everyone, go, go, go!”
“Squeak squeak!”
“...!”
“Triii!”
“Chirp chirp!”
With my new set of monsters already switched in, we all ran towards the Cerberus Lion at once. I had swapped out Reflet and Fau, who had nearly exhausted their MP, and Carro, who was still a weak attacker, for Drimo, Sakura, and Olea. I had also swapped out Himka, who had sustained a lot of damage, for Rick.
I was honestly worried about how Sakura and Olea would fare out here, since they were both weak to fire. There was even a risk that they’d be killed in one hit by one of the Cerberus Lion’s fireballs. Still, both were among my strongest attackers, and we were in a now-or-never situation. Plus, I did give them items to boost their Flame Resistance. They were potent potions I had made using Lantern Pumpkins and Flarestarter Plants.
I had gotten the recipe from Sawyer. Unlike players, monsters didn’t receive the fire resistance granted by Lantern Pumpkin Cookies, so Sawyer came up with this recipe that could work on monsters too. He was a genius!
Still, since Sakura and Olea were naturally weak to fire, I didn’t know how much the potions would compensate for that. It was possible that they would just take major damage instead of dying instantly to fire.
“Drimo! Use Dragon Blood Awakening! Then Fortify, Tailwind, and Pierce!”
“Squeak squeak squeeeak!”
“Sakura and Olea, focus on attacking!”
Drimo transformed into a large dragon and sped over to the lion so fast it seemed like he was gliding. Then, he crashed into the unconscious Cerberus Lion with a loud boom, sending it back on its hind legs. Sakura and Olea attacked those back legs with their whip and scythe, making the boss lose balance. In just a few seconds, they had toppled over the giant beast.
“Get ’im!”
“Chirp chirp!”