CH 180

"Ohh, I wonder if this counts as being lucky?"

"Fatty Ghost isn't here... "

"Zephyr-kun, it's that right?"

We had a comfortable break in the safety area of <Ghost Cave Dungeon> before passing through the door of the boss room but stopped altogether.

For the reason was we couldn't see the owner of the boss room, Fatty Ghost, anywhere. Transfer formation hasn't been activated yet and there also aren't any other battle signs left behind that can indicate that the boss has been defeated by someone.

Then this situation only means one thing,

"Yes, that means we have a rare boss to grab. Seriously, we really lucked out to draw a rare boss, naturally something whose probability of happening is incredibly low ... "

"Zephyr, are rare bosses real? I’ve only heard that it's a rarely seen phenomenon."

"Undoubtedly. There's no room for doubt after so many encounters with bosses."

"Hnn, what is a rare boss?"

"Don't you know?"

In contrast to Rika's strained expression when she heard my reply, Karua seems clueless about the situation. What a shock, someone doesn't know about them...

"Basically, they are stronger than regular bosses! Something like an evolved version."

"Well, on a general basis, it's just as she said."

"Hnn, understood."

I thought it was my place to explain when someone doesn't know something, but Lana explained it ahead of me.

That's一一 oh well.

But I'm sure she wouldn't be aware of the next information. Time to get back my "the‘ one who knows all role",’

"The original boss here is a fatty ghost. As I have already explained to you guys on the way, it's a formidable enemy that mainly relies on a quantity of physical attacks. But, the rare boss <Special Fatty> is even more difficult to deal with."

As soon as my words ended, the inside of the room began to shine. It's the effect of a rare boss appearing out.

And then, a fat… or not— ghost with muscles bursted out, the <Special Fatty>, gradually materializes. The rare boss physique is just as plump as a sumo wrestler.

It's also known as <Ultimate Nemesis of MusclesTMK> or <Festival Loving Muscle Fatty>. Though it's more commonly called as <Spe-Fat>.

Not only does this boss have the <Ghostly Physique> in which the prided muscles of the <Berserk> doesn't work, the boss has a magnificent super macho body that exceeds the <Berserks> who take pride in their bodies!

The memory of <Berserks> losing against those muscles and even losing their fighting spirit afterward, causing a big upheaval in the academy is still fresh in my mind.

"The special fatty is the strengthened version of the original fatty ghost! Not only can it divide itself into <Tiny Ghost Version>, even its main body would attack physically! Rear guard should pays attention not to attack its main body during that time, otherwise the aggro of the tiny ghost will shift to you and they will swarm towards you like locusts! Our strategy for the tiny ghosts is still the same as how we deal with fatty ghosts, so save up your strength and attack with your attack when it is just about to fuse. Let's go!"

" Got it!"

The battle begins after I finish the brief explanation I can manage in the available short amount of time.

"Hehehehehe!"

The Fatty slowly begins to show move while showcasing it’s bursting muscles.

"Start the all-out offensive everyone! However Lana, you should start with the mid-rank magic else the aggro will be pulled to you if you attack seriously!"

"Got it! <Divine Protection of Holy Demon>! <Light blade>!"

"<Divine Pillar>!"

"<Throwing Bades>!"

"Gaaaah! Geeeh!?"

The first step is to overwhelm the boss with a large number of attacks before it breaks into tiny versions. This part is nothing different from how we fight with regular fatty ghost bosses.

Lana uses the buff to increase the magic attack and hurls the buffed version of <Light Blade> at the boss. I could only ask Lana to limit her firepower here, as if she, who boasts the highest magic including INT value in the Eden, went seriously, she will attract too much aggro.

Then, she would be left incapacitated to fight in no time from being swarmed by flocks of tiny ghosts and special fatty.

Subsequently, Hannah's mid-rank holy magic leaps towards the boss.

She is equipped with the <Demon Vanquishing Sacred Fan>, the drops from the rare boss we fought last time, <Shaman Marionette>. Though it's given to her for only this exploration since the <Ghostly Characteristics> are weak to holy attributes. In addition to the <Magic Return - R>, she easily shaves away HP in a large chunk with holy attribute magic. Nevertheless, it still pale compared to the power of <Light Blade> conjured by Lana. I guess nothing can beat the real thing.

By the way, the explosive items are still under research so they can't be used for now. She has been training very hard but they are still not in the phase to be used in an imminent boss battle which requires practice.

That's why Hannah is responsible for magic attacks.

Karua follows up with her throwing blade attacks but they are almost useless since physical attacks are ineffective.

As for me, Rika and I gallops at the boss while the others overwhelm it with their attacks.

"Hehehehe! Pop-pop × 6!"

There comes the first fission. The boss is producing tiny versions of itself. Unlike the regular boss fatty ghost, <Spe-Fat> instantly splits apart in 12 parts, so it's quite tough to handle.

"As planned, I will deal with the pipsqueak and Rika, you will focus on the main body!"

"Roger!"

"<Appeal>!"

Rika's job, <Samurai Princess>, is extremely strong in 1vs1 fights and in return, she's not that strong as a tank to handle multiple monsters. She doesn't even have a shield after all.

So it turns into her role to deal with the main body this time while I dealt with the small fries.

"All right, pipsqueaks, come here. So that I can deal with you all together, <Shine Lightning>!"

"Gah!?"

I rushed to the center of the room pulling tiny ghosts behind me and eradicating them together with a range of offensive magic. Gracious, nothing can feel better than sweeping down a crowd of mobs in one go! The crux of this strategy depends on how many pipsqueaks come under the range of my range magic.

Let's see, I manage to wrap 10 out of 12 in my attacks. This accomplishment in one stroke is much fun!

"Leave the last one to me! <Light Pillar>!"

The follow up offensive magic fired by Lana successfully took down the last two pipsqueaks.

"Great going, Rika!"

"<Reveal Thy Name>! <Shadow Commander>!"

"Hehehehe! Gahh!"

Rika's <Reveal Thy Name> and <Shadow Commander> are taunt skills to attract monsters aggro. <Spe-Fat> changes it's target to Rika when all the aggro suddenly transferred to her.

"Gahhhh!"

"Take and return!"

The muscles of the <Spe-Fat> throbs, made a groaning sound and threw a heavy punch at Rika.

However, Rika calmly parries it using her defensive skill.

"Ge!?"

"Woah, that was a sick move just now. What a wonderful use of parry!"

"Hnn. Rika's sweeping stroke is the best in the world"

Rika, who defended herself from the attack with a splendid parry despite the size difference, swung down her dual blades.

"<Swallow flip>!"

"Geh!"

Rika unleashed her counterattack with the <Swallow Flip> with a great momentum after the parry but... the damage doesn't seem as much as imagined due to the ghost body which slips through the attack.

"Hmph."

Rika pouted, realizing the situation but for me, it was as if she had shown me a miracle.

The fluent combo of <Taunt>, <Parry> and <Counterattack> was awfully cool! I can also do this if luck prevails but I know my success rate is still much worse compared to her.

Decided, I will ask Rika-sensei to teach me some skills next time!

"Guhehehe! Pop-Pop × 12!"

Oops, I almost forgot we are fighting the boss right now.

This is the second step. This time, 24 tiny ghosts pop out of the boss's body.

"Damn, we missed the timing!"

"Hey hey, don't you think that muscle ghost is producing pipsqueaks surprisingly fast!"

Complaints fly out from the rearguard behind me who missed the chance to unleash their ultimate attacks.

Well, it seems like we still have a long way to go. Rika wasn't able to pull enough aggro and naturally, the rearguard couldn't attack at that moment. Although it's a fact that the second fission of the <Spe-Fat> was faster than expected, our cooperation level was far from being enough.

"<Appeal>!"

The next thing after the failure was just the exact repetition of step 1. I draw away the pipsqueaks and eradicate them together with Lana's range of offensive magic.

Then,

"<Divine Wall>!"

"<Force Sonic>! <Quick Slash>!"

Hannah creates the light wall through <Divine Wall>, a holy attribute area defense magic which deals massive damage to the small fries who plunged themselves into it while waggrover number of them left was dealt by Karua's punches.

Karua's slash skill, <Force Sonic>, falls into the same category as mine <Sonic Sword> which emphasis on quick motion. It's quite a strong skill since you can pull out as much as 4 slashes in succession if you're a dual dagger wielder.

<Quick Slash> is another slashing skill which can be used while performing swift actions. To describe it short, you slash and run away while evading, i.e. Hit and run!

In this way, we finished defeating the 24 bodies of tiny ghosts quite easily. I wonder if it can be called a cakewalk?