Vol. 7 - Ch. 390 - Chubby but king of the cats—‹Meownarch›!

"Fufufufu-meow.""And this is the ‹Meownarch of the Cat King›, a remarkable cat who has the unnatural habit of adding 'meow' at the end of its words."

"......It sure is fat. And lazy too."

At the deepest part of the last floor, what awaited us was a chubby cat resting on the throne adorned with the imposing face of a gigantic cat with two black and white cats serving it on either side. The lackey cats were both standard size and bidedal. Contrary to its lackey's sharp dignified aura, ‹Meownarch› on the throne was completely exuding a slothful atmosphere. In term of size, it should be around as big as us but because it was resting on the throne with a rather sloppy posture, it appeared smaller/

Its appearance hadn't change from the game. Despite being chubby, it had the cat-like cuteness to it. While many exclaimed how it could be so adorable despite being a roundball, a cat phrase like 'it's cute because it's chubby' was suddenly invented.

Well, it seems like Karua here shares different sentiments though. She quietly muttered out her harsh criticism. On the other hand, other members were already on their battle stance.

"Be careful as it is pretty agile regardless of its appearance. It is especially hard to deal with area attacks. Rika, just call out to us when you feel it's impossible to handle, Lulu or I will switch the tank role."

"Understood. I will do so. Though, I want to avoid it as much as possible."

‹Meownarch› often use area attack which was opposite to Rika's style. While she was strong against straightforward attacks, this was where she fall short at. ‹Meownarch› attack pattern was basically a combination of AoE attack followed by a swift single strike. Dealing with this combo could be quite challenging.

Rika gained the boss's aggro by offsetting the attack, but there were many times it was impossible to parry the AoE attacks. It was easier for the target to switch to the attacker, so we atleast have to be careful Celia doesn't get targeted.

That's why I have asked her to switch with me or Lulu. I mainly was in charge of the healer role so if possible, I want Lulu to handle this matter.

Well, that's enough preparation I guess. Our opponent seemed to be waiting for us as well. Alright, time to act now.

‹Meownarch› leisurely stood up from its throne while holding a greatsword around 2m in size.

I quickly fired my instruction.

"We first have to handle its lackey just as we had discussed in the meeting. Lulu, can you handle them?"

"Leave it to Lulu! Lulu will drag them away in jiffy!"

"But keep it in mind to not use the skill like last time, alright?"

"Roger! Then Lulu is going, Celia onee-chan!"

After putting Lulu in charge of dragging away the ‹Meownarch› lackey, Celia and I watched her step forward.

Boss and its lackeys, too, had started moving, signifying the battle was about to start.

"Then I will handle the boss."

Following Lulu, Rika assumed her role to tackle boss's aggro.

On the other hand, as Lulu closes the distance, the cat duo immediately step forward to intercept her.

Black cat was equipped with a ‹Fish Bone Sword› in its right hand, ‹Fish Scale Shield› in its left hand while wearing ‹Cat High Boots› on its legs. White cat was a twin sword user, holding ‹Fish Bone Sword› in both hands and wearing ‹Cat Geta› on its legs.

In fact, both sides were so similar in height it looked like a battle between miniatures. Honestly, it had struck an oddly adorable vibe that it inevitably attracted everyone's attention. Rika, who was about to face the boss, also stopped in her tracks, attracted by the spectacle. No, I know you want to watch it, Rika. But please endure for now. You know you are in charge of your boss, right?

As a matter of fact, Celia had already come to a standstill.

"Hyaaa! You can't even tickle Lulu with these attacks!"

Oh, here comes Lulu’s signature catchphrase. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ N0ᴠᴇFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Black cat and White cat struck down with their skill ‹Tri Meow Slash› and ‹Combo Meow Slash›, but it hardly fazed Lulu who had high knockdown resistance. On the other hand, even after receiving the duo cat's slashes, Lulu still stood tall...I mean excitedly.

"Payback time!"

"Meowrg!"

"Meowgh!"

Brushing off the cat duo’s attack, Lulu made her move next and followed with a regular attack against them, chipping away their HP. Unlike the cat duo’s attack, Lulu’s attack chipped away their HP. Well, it only caused them to utter a painful groan, though.

Lulu took this chance to turn on her heels and deliberately showed her escaping stance to the cat duo.

"Come and try to chase me! I'm here!"

"Meowfu!!"

"Gu-nya!"

Sure enough, Cat duo's hate was already on Lulu so they took the bait and chased after her.

Alright, it seems to be going fine. Let's see, as for the boss…it didn't budge at all. Boss's target was fixated on Rika—the first one to enter the boss room.

This was one of the reasons Lulu managed to separate its lackey. And one other reason was Lulu didn't use any skill.

In addition to the aggro set on the first person who entered the boss room, using ‹Skill› or ‹Magic› also contributed to attracting their aggro, even if the skill wasn't aimed at the boss. This was the reason Lulu only followed with normal attacks earlier, since Rika had yet to make a move and it also prevented aggro from being shifted.

People learn from their mistakes, huh. As a matter of fact, Lulu had precisely made a mistake of using skill against the lackey of ‹Meowtherhood›, the 30th floor field boss. This resulted in her attracting the aggro of not only its lackey, but of the boss as well.

Fortunately, she seemed to have remembered her lesson this time.

"As expected of Lulu. Now, I can't be the one to drag down the others, eh. ‹Parallel Slash›!"

This time Rika moved to make her move on Boss. A good choice. ‹Reveal They Name› would have caused even the cat duo to focus on her.

"Hmph-meow!"

‹Meownarch› calmly swings its sword facing Rika's offensive skill. Oh, it was a wide range attack—‹A Cat's Horizontal Sweep›.

"Kuh!"

It was just a single large swing attack but because the sword itself was 2m long, it easily closed the gap between them and struck Rika, causing her stance to break and canceling the skill activation. ‹Meownarch› didn't just stop there as a glow envelops it—it was the sign ‹Meownarch› was using its one hit skill, ‹A Warrior Cat's Downward Slash›! A vertical downward slash attack skill that ‹Meowrrior› had used as well. Though, ‹Meownarch› was a far cry from the image of a warrior.

"‹Parry›!"

"Purrr-meow!"

Of course, Rika had experience blocking it once already. She easily neutralizes the skill. Alright, this scores a point in aggro.

I looked at Lulu's direction and she, too, had started using skill to retain the cat duo's aggro. Hmm, it means our initial phase of the plan divide is successful.

Both worked in tandem, Lulu drawing away the cat duo while Rika started using her taunt skill like ‹Reveal They Name› or ‹Clone› etc to further build up boss's aggro.

Well, well, it's finally the time for our attackers to step up on the main stage.

"I request thy help, ‹Ice Spirit›. ‹Spirit Summon›! Please protect Rika, ‹Elemental Lease›!"

Elemental Lease——A special magic. Users can loan the spirit to an ally, granting them a buff in a particular status that scales to 1.3 times of their respective status.

Celia loaned the spirit Rika, which raised her VIT by 1.3 times.

"‹Aura Heal›! Celia, you first help out Lulu in taking down the boss's lackey. Rika and I will keep the boss busy till then. I'm going to circle around its flank and attack. Karua, follow me and see how to get around the boss."

"Hnn. Let's go "

I surveyed the battlefield, healed Lulu and as soon as I was sure everything was right, I switched from my healer role to attacker.

I circle around from Rika's side and close up to ‹Meownarch›. Once I had entered the sword's range, I slammed down my skills.

"Skill time! I select you—‹Sonic Sword›!

"Hmph-meow."

The moment I activated my skill at close range, ‹Meownarch› once again followed with ‹A Cat's Horizontal Sweep› to repel me. Great , it was following the same pattern as in the game.

Whenever a player entered its close range, the boss would follow with wide area attack in order to counterattack. Of course, it was a deadly move against not only tanks, but attackers as well. At best, it would deal significant damage, and at worst, it could lead to the downfall of a party member.

A linear attack at a close range would have been a game over action but it's in anticipation that I used the ‹Sonic› series skill—a quickstep skill.

As for what happen when I use it at this timing is—

"Voila! It's back is completely defenseless!"

"Gufu-meow!?"

By evading the wide area attack, this provides a window to attack its back.

‹Meownarch› itself was a great sword user, so it was a tad slow in turning around. If one played a card well, it was possible to deal a critical hit. Albeit, this possibility didn't turn into reality for now. A pity.

However, the opportunity didn't just end there! It has once again created an opening to attack by turning back.

"Karua, roll around here quick! ‹Brave Slash›! Rika, focus on attacking it from where you are, ‹Lightning Slash›!"

"Hn. ‹Slow Slash›! ‹Scale Break›!"

"Leave it to me! ‹Clone›! ‹Battle Intent›! ‹Shogun's Burst›!"

"Purryaaa-Meow!!"

Karua and I from behind and Rika from front pin it down in a pincer attack and whittle down its HP.

Suddenly, ‹Meownarch› let out a war cry as its sword emits a radiance. This, it's going to use an AoE attack!

"An AoE attack incoming!"

"‹Escape Dask›!"

"‹Substitute›!"

"‹Defense›!"

Karua swiftly dashed away to open the distance, Rika also used evasion skill while I activated my defense skill.

Momentarily, ‹Meownarch› released a flurry of slashes. The storm generated from the sword swing released what seemed to be green-colored flying slashes in the shape of cat’s face that scattered around the whole room. This was ‹A Cat's Forehead Chaotic Slash›!

Phew, we somehow managed to endure this. Celia also seemed to have passed through the sudden upheaval with the defensive stance. And Lulu, well she was acting as usual.

"Purr-meow."

"Don't let down your guard, Rika. It's targeting you!"

Following the AoE attack, ‹Meownarch› pursued with a follow-up attack.

With agile steps, and its sword resting on its shoulder, it swiftly closes the gap between itself and Rika and performs a one-hit skill ‹Meow Slash›. Ugh, it's so fast!

For Rika, there couldn't be any other bad timing to face this. She had just used her evasion skill as well, so she was slow in utilizing any other defense skill. It's a direct hit.

"‹Parr—ouch!?"

"‹Aura Heal›!"

"Purrfufu-meow."

"I will not let you do it. ‹Extreme Step›! ‹Delta Stream›!"

I hurriedly healed Rika but ‹Meownarch› showed no sign of slowing down its onslaught against Rika who had just taken damage.

Luckily, Karua plunged at its back and released a flurry of attacks, somehow disrupting its momentum.

Afterwards, there were multiple times where Rika was caught up in a precarious situation as a tank. More specifically, area attacks continued to break her stance.

Rika only had ‹Substitute› as a evasion skill to defend against them, however when she used that, she was left with an opening which made her unable to react to the following attack. She also tried to resist using the defensive stance but that would render her from using skill. So, she wanted to avoid using it as much as possible.

Ultimately, after several rounds of exchanging blows, being knocked back by the AoE attack, she finally succumbed to down status when ‹Meownarch› attacked with ‹A Cat's Furious Slash› that struck her squarely.

"Argh!"

"Rika!"

"Karua, unique skill. Carry Rika and retreat from here at once. I will switch with her."

"! Yes! ‹Number One Sonic Star›!"

Karua activated her unique skill and in a fleeting moment, carried Rika to the corner of the boss room. It was a place outside of target range. ‹Meownarch› obviously couldn't chase after her as a result.

Monsters gave up on pursuing the target when the target was far out-of-reach. ‹Number One Sonic Star› was an extremely effective skill in such a situation.

"I will be your opponent this time. ‹Appeal›!"

I activated my taunt skill to attract its target. Of course, I didn't forget to assume my signature pose.

Alright, the situation looks grim. Lulu's HP was also reaching the red zone. Haa, is it finally the time to show the world Brave's Trump Card?