"Star?!"


    Even Cassy was surprised by Aster''s sudden dash, weaving through the trees ahead. Even the rest of the girls were stunned by his decision, dying their reaction by a few seconds.


    "...! Muscle woman, Vixen!" Kali returned to her senses first and quicklymanded the two beside her. "Go and tank that goddamned boss! Stupid Rabbit, prepare to heal them!"


    Aster, who activated his Physical Enchant, was so fast that they couldn''t catch up to him. He arrived before the boss and swung his sword toward its face. The Berserk Gray Wolf quickly saw his attack and dodged to the side.


    *GROOOWWWL!*


    The wolf roared in annoyance, before pouncing right at him while swinging its ws. Aster quickly saw this and took a short jump back, letting the wolf swipe nothing but air.


    "While I have it''s attention, run!" He quickly nced at the woman, Lori, andmanded.


    "Y-You are...!"


    Her eyes opened wide in surprise upon seeing Aster bravely facing the Berserk Gray Wolf by himself. "N-No, I can''t leave you alone! I, I''ll fight too!" She eximed, her expression earnest, and filled with grim resolve.


    However, before she could move, two figures ran past her,ing to Aster''s aid.


    "Knight''s Challenge!"


    "Stop bugging my darling!!!"


    Liz spread her draconic wings wide as she used them as brakes,ing to a sudden stop right in front of Aster, and activating her taunt skill. All of the Field Boss''s aggro turned to her in a sh!


    While the big mutt was focused on Liz, Tina moved to its side, and let out a powerful punch to the gap between its second and third ribs.


    *BAM!*


    The punch was powerful enough that the giant figure of the boss monster slid a few feet to the side!


    "Assassinate!"


    At the same time, Kali appeared like a mirage on top of the monster''s head, and stabbed her dagger towards the back of its nape. But to her surprise, her dagger couldn''t go deeper than half an inch beforeing to a stop. The monster''s hide was so tough!


    "Haaap!"


    And with a cheerful battle cry, Cassy let out a powerful kick toward the monster''s chin, sending its head up. It was pretty effective! After shended a solid hit, she quickly jumped to a safe spot behind Liz and finished casting her spell, taking in everyone within its range.


    "Priodis Liora Consorie fen Cura! Minor Regeneration!"


    It was a healing buff that continuously restored the health and stamina of those within the designated area! Thankfully, they have two tanks, so they can take advantage of the spell without worrying about getting out of its range.


    Technically, it would continue running until the caster runs out of mana, but Cassy doesn''t have much mana herself. So the buff couldst five minutes, or ten minutes if she doesn''t use any other spells.


    "Holy Smite!"


    At that moment, Liz didn''t hold back and hit the boss with her Holy Smite, a skill she learned after reaching level 8. It was a light element skill that inflicted holy damage and induced a short stun on the target. It was a perfect crowd-control (CC) skill when fighting one-on-one!


    The Bersert Gray Wolf was hit on the head again, just as it was trying to shake off the dizziness from Cassy''s kick. Its head flicked hard down, with the stun causing it to lose control of its body for a few seconds, making it fall to the ground with a loud thud.


    "Mana sh!"


    "Twin Fang!"


    "Flower Palm!"


    "Uhhm! K-Kick!"


    As soon as they confirmed that the boss had be vulnerable, all four went to attack, using their most damaging skills. Other than Cassy, of course, since she doesn''t have any skills to inflict damage.


    "Tough!"


    But as expected, it wouldn''t be so easy.


    Only Mana sh did quite significant damage, leaving a bleeding wound around its shoulder. Kali''s attack could only pierce half through thanks to the 50% defense ignore bonus of the skill. Tina and Cassy''s was practically nothing to it.


    "Tertie Noxis Sirreo Nura Skild! Great Weaken Defense!"


    Suddenly, a ck and red ball, with a helix-like shadow spinning around it, shed past like a speeding arrow and hit the boss. As it did, its body started to change colors, bing a lighter shade of gray.


    "...!"


    Aster turned to look and saw Lori waving her staff forward. It was she who cast that curse debuff to the boss monster!


    *GRRRRR!*


    Right as the boss regained consciousness, the duration of its stun ending, it quickly panicked as it tried to stand. Its body hurt from various angles, causing it to get even more confused.


    "Not so fast!"


    Aster didn''t wait until it regained its stance, of course, and quickly filled the edge of his de with mana, and shed it down towards the neck. "Mana sh!"


    He was expecting to open arge wound again, but to his surprise, his sword went through like a hot knife cutting through butter. The defense-weakening curse was powerful enough to lower its defenses by 40%, allowing Aster''s sword to pierce deeper and faster!


    The Berserk Gray Wolf''s head fell to the ground and rolled like a ball before blood started spurting out of its neck. All five of them stared at the boss''s corpse, wondering if that was it.


    Aster opened his mouth in doubt, muttering. "That''s... all the field boss got?"


    It ended so easily that they all felt lost! They felt that the field boss was too weakpared to its grand reputation!


    "..."


    And all of that was achieved thanks to Lori''s help. Her hex, which weakened the monster''s defense, was the one that shortened the time they needed to win!


    Of course, it''s not like they wouldn''t win without her help. If she didn''t move, then Aster''s party would still manage to hunt the boss after three minutes or so. It was simply a matter of when!


    Seeing that the boss was dead, Aster sheathed his sword and walked toward the woman, Lori, and greeted her. "It''s a surprise to meet you here. Are you perhaps alone? Where''s your party?"


    But her face turned sad the moment she heard the question.


    "That... half died to the field boss, while the other half ran while leaving me behind." She exined with tears in her eyes.


    "... Sorry to hear that." Aster felt that his question was too callous. "Then, do you want us to guide you back to the entrance? It''s dangerous going alone." He offered, as if to apologize.


    "No, it''s fine. Please don''t bother; I''d feel bad disrupting your hunting." But Lori refused, acting reserved.


    "It''s fine, it''s fine." Aster countered. "It''s not that far anyway. Right, girls?"


    "Yep! It''s dangerous going alone!"


    "I don''t care either way."


    "If that''s what Aster wants to do, I don''t mind."


    "As long as you keep your hands off what''s mine, then we''re good."


    Other than Tina, who was intimidating her instead of agreeing, nobody else raised aint. As such, they decided to guide Lori back to the entrance first.


    Nobody noticed the faint, nefarious smile that shed on her face for a brief instant.