"Jigagagaga!!" (Monster voice)


    "Hurray! We have a rare boss to grab!"


    It''s boss round 2!!


    The effect splendidly piled up this time when I used [Rare Monster Summoning Flute (Boss only)].


    The monster this time was a doll wearing an exorcist costume, with long white hair extending till it''s waist, a kabuki face1, riding a segway with a fan on it''s each hand.


    The rare boss of <Tsukumo2 Bamboo Forest Dungeon>, the <Shaman Marite>.


    Well, the probability of summoning it is 70%, after all.


    I swear for a moment I felt as if <Giant Bamboo Doll> had turned into a rare boss and beckoned me, saying "Let''s have a rematch", but it must''ve been my imagination. Yeah, it should be so.


    "Move as we have discussed earlier! And pay attention to the stray bullets lest you get hit by them, their magic power is extremely high! Especially you, Hannah, evade even if you have to roll down!"


    "I know!"


    Due to the effect of <Magical Spell - Switch>, Hannah''s RES status has changed back to its default value. I fear even a light strike would be enough to shave off her HP to a dangerous level. I have reinforced her defense as much as I can, but if I''m being honest, it''s barely enough to prevent the worst case scenario.


    "Jijijiji一一一"


    "<Aura Point>!"


    Sierra made a move first, pulling the <Shaman Marite> aggro who began to move towards her.


    <Aura Point> is the enhanced version of <Defense Stance>. A skill to firmly pull the enemy''s aggro towards herself during thebat.


    The <Shaman Marite> turns toward Sierra, opens her fan and waves it towards her.


    "Ji, jijiga一"


    As soon as it waved the fan, three magic balls fired from the tip. It was a light attribute magic, the <Triple Light Ball>. A mid-grade low rank magic.


    "Don''t avoid it!"


    Earlier in our strategy meeting, we had decided to first check what kind of damage a mid rank boss can rack on Sierra without using any of her skill.


    She''spletely devoid of any buff support right now as I didn''t ask for Lana to cast <Evesting Demon''s Blessing>.


    Considering it''s just the beginning, requirements were ripe.


    The magic <Triple Light Ball> shes against Sierra''s <Kite Shield> in multi-hit.


    "...... I see. It''s certainly impactful."


    Sierra might have muttered it only to herself but I was able to hear it just as well. It seems the attack strength holds quite the punch, enough to push back Sierra slightly. Though her HP didn''t seem to be affected at all.


    Oh-ho, as expected of our Bastion Sierra.


    "Should we act now, Sierra?"


    "Ah, yes. I''ve made you wait, Your Highness Lana."


    "Let''s go then! <Lion''s Blessing> and <Evesting Demon''s Blessing>!"


    "Let''s go! Let''s chase after him. Support is up to you, Hannah. Ester, let''s go!"


    "Ok! I''ll do my best!"


    "Leave it to me!"


    "Jigaaa!"


    Ester and I dashed off in the opposite directions.


    The strategy was simple一 literally corner the boss to the wall. The <Shaman Marite>''s movement speed is high due to her riding on a segway and it''s also hard to approach her because of the setting "the more you try to approach, the more the boss will distance itself".


    However, there''s also a tactic to reverse its pattern and drive the marite to the wall by purposely distancing yourself until you get her to the desired position.


    It''s a rmended strategy, since it''s not tough to drive her into one ce as long as two people cooperate. The only problem was you''ll be more exposed to its attack, so it''s necessary to tank on his attacks.


    "Jigaaa!"


    "Evade! There''s no need to face it head on, Sierra!"


    "I know---- <Shield Protection>!"


    As we tried to corner her, the <Shaman Marite> fired AoE light balls, a ranged type attack magic, <32 Consecutive Light Balls>.


    We focused on avoiding while following stray bullets dealt by Sierra. Rana''s RES value is devilishly high so I don''t need to worry about her, but Hannah needed to be kept an eye on.


    <Shield Protection> is a defense skill focused on swift interruption. Sierra, being agile at aiming, quickly interrupted the oing attacks and protected her.


    The <Shaman Marite> who was seemingly disgusted by our continuous advances while avoiding the attacks, retreated back even more and once again swung down its fan.


    "Jijijijigagagagaga---!!"


    The magic this time was a full area burst magic, <Light Wave>. It was an inescapable wide AoE attack without any gaps, so the only thing we can do is try to endure this wave if attacked.


    "Ester, quick! Take the defense stance! Avoid being knocked down at any cost! <Defense>!"


    "Got it!"


    "Sierra, support!"


    "<Induction Cover>."


    Induction cover is a range guided defense.


    It belongs to the


    skill on the upper tree of <Shield Protection>. It''s an outstanding skill which pulls all the attacks towards the caster and defends allies from attacks. As for the price, the damage the caster receives will be multiplied but some of it will be cut, since it''s a defensive skill.


    <Light Wave> attack was rapidly gathered towards Sierra, to the point that it didn''t even reach the rear guard. Reliable Sierra, as always. An optimum skill was chosen!


    Though Ester and I still received slight damage, being out of the range of Sierra''s <Induction Cover> as we''re chasing down the marite, the damages were reduced plenty thanks to her outstanding defensive power, and we weren''t affected that much.


    "I''m going to heal now, <Healing Prayer>! <Heaven''s Mercy>!"


    "I''m backing you up! <re Lance>!"


    Lana''s <Heaven''s Mercy> is a mid-grade continuous AoE healing magic. It should be able to heal the damage we received in ten seconds or so.


    Hannah''s <re Lance> leaped towards the <Shaman Marite>, who stopped its attacks temporarily to avoid it.


    "Can you move, Ester?"


    "Yes, I''m all right."


    "Okay, let''s go!"


    Ester continues to move forward without backing down despite the massive damage she took earlier. Tagging will change if we back down now. It would be impossible to get support at our position and we would have to start from zero again, even though we are finally driving the boss into the corner.


    We resumed our advances under Lana''s healing, and after dealing with various attacks, we finally managed to corner him.


    "Jijiga!?"


    Caught off handed, the <Shaman Marite> fell down after colliding into the wall.


    Now''s the opportunity!


    "Magic group,mence long range attack immediately! <Lightning Burst>!"


    "<Holy Light Sword>! <Light de>! <Light Pir>! <Rise of the Sacred Tree>!"3


    "<Fireball>! <re Lance>! <Ice Lance>! <Fireball>!"


    "Jijigaga!?"


    The incessant magic downpour finally managed to deal massive damage to the <Shaman Marite>.


    "Sierra, Ester!"


    "Understood!"


    "I will not let it escape. <Shield Protection>!"


    Ester and I shut off its escape route, while Sierra uses a defense skill from quick interruption to move and pin the <Shaman Marite> down from front. She was able to catch up quickly as the rear guard gradually advanced.


    She broke out in a dash as soon as the <Shaman Marite> fell down to the ground and we managed to surround her safely.


    Now it''s my turn to end this.


    "Jijiji!?"


    "<Induction Cover>!"


    The marite tried to invoke the full area burst spell <Light Wave> as ast resort, which was the standard pattern used by the <Shaman Marite> when being surrounded.


    I had informed Sierra beforehand to use <Induction Cover> as soon as the marite was surrounded. Everything went as nned, and the full area burst spell was pulled through by Sierra, leaving the <Shaman Marite> full of gaps.


    "Now.


    ,


    !"


    "<Triple strike>! <Quick lightning thrust>!"


    "Jigaaa!?"


    The second unique skill of [Brave]?;


    . I have only used it once in the battle but the buff it provided was tremendous. There couldn''t be any better chance than now to use it.


    "Wah! Hang on, Sierra, I''m going to heal you <Mega Heal Blessing>!"


    Sierra, who pulled the full burst spell, was almost shaved half of her HP. Lana, who was surprised to see that, immediately healed her by using high rank recovery magic.


    I don''t need to worry about them, it seems.


    The development afterwards was just a one sided massacre. Without the mobility of a segway, the corner driven <Shaman Marite> was forced into an intense battle where we surrounded it to not let it escape, held him down to that position, even if it meant taking some damage and thoroughly continued to give her damage.


    The tactic was based on the <Shaman Marite>''s inability to use close range attacks or attacks with knockback effects by which we could have forcefully made a break with.


    When the effect of


    ended, the <Shaman Marite>''s HP dropped to critical level, and a familiar red effect emitted from the fans she was holding.


    "Iing <Unique> attack from above! Pay attention!"


    What came to my mind was the in game, the [Puppeteer Style: Giant Bamboo Ax Beheader]. It was the scene of giant axes dropping down like a meteor I had seen multiple times on screen. Though it''s quite hard to imagine from my current position.


    "Everyone, move as nned!"


    "Jigaaaa!!"


    It was the final killer technique of the <Shaman Marite>, and also itsst resort.


    With the addition of rage mode due to the boss HP reaching critical points, the power of this skill has risen even further. The front lines would copse if any of us got hit by it and at worst, we could be wiped out by an all-out attack.


    <Shaman Marite> fans turned into eight giant axes which revolved around itself as the center and then poured down incessantly one after another.


    However this attack has a weak point, which is its narrow attack range due to its straight arc shaped attack pattern. In other words, this can be avoided by taking a roundabout route. Hence,


    "<Sonic sword>!"


    "<Lance assault>"


    "<Material shield>!"


    Ester and I immediately opted for agile skills used as emergency maneuvers. The split and corner strategy was sessful precisely because I knew about its attack method.


    The <Shaman Marite> has stepped forward a little to initiate attacks again.


    I immediately dashed in an arc, avoiding the attacks. Fortunately, Ester didn''tg behind either.


    While Sierra simply withstood the onught of the attacks by using another defensive skill, <Material Skill>, which offers unusually high magic resistance.


    "Now, <Lightning Strike>!"


    "Jigagagaga!?"


    My follow up two hit attack, <Lightning Strike> splendidly scored a critical hit, which has a high chance to ur when the boss has just finished using a unique skill, putting it in a stunned state.


    "Now or never. Commence all out attack!"


    At my cue, everyone released their strongest <Skill> and <Magic>.


    "Ji, gaga...... ga..."


    Finally, the <Shaman Marite>''s HP fell down to zero and soundlessly vanished with a huge effect.


    As expected, a mid-ss boss was iparable to your ordinary joe.