“Kh! Just when I thought things were going too smoothly, it turns into this. Seriously, a Rank 4 hidden boss? Damn it.”
“Hanbyeol, I’m sure you can feel it too, but this isn’t an opponent we can take lightly. Be careful.”
To be honest, I had considered bringing Lisa along to conquer the Temple of Time.
She had awakened her Gift not long ago and acquired an ability related to time, so I thought she might be of help.
She might even have been able to counter the poison of this episode’s boss monster, the Royal Scorpier.
But after thinking it over, I had to give up on the idea.
Not only would we have to fight while protecting her, but as long as there was a chance she might be put in danger, the losses outweighed the gains.
Thanks to that, I was now relieved by the choice I had made back then.
‘I knew it was a good thing I didn’t bring her.’
The creature was so quick it could close the distance and reach us in an instant.
It wielded its claws and tail like swords, and its combat style, mixing in hand-to-hand techniques between attacks, was extremely threatening.
If we had had to face it while protecting Lisa, there was a high chance we would have been in for a brutal struggle.
‘Of course, we’re struggling even now. But if she were here, it would’ve been worse than this.’
With a face that made it hard to tell whether it was a scorpion or an insect, and a long, narrow head, the creature suddenly charged at me.
Then, once there was little distance left, it leaped into the air as if spinning.
Judging by the form, it seemed to be trying to unleash the same consecutive attack that had unilaterally pressured me earlier.
The corner of my mouth twitched.
‘You think I’m going to fall for that again?’
If so, it was mistaken.
Its shin filled my vision.
Taking one step back with my left foot, I deflected the attack with the Ultramarine Sword.
Then, as the creature landed on the ground, it tried to follow up by swinging the sharp claws on both hands.
Its tail came flying in as a variation as well.
But that wasn’t going to work.
Kirrrk!
Whether the creature snapped its pincer-like mouth in irritation or not.
I calmly guided it, moving as though drawing a whirlpool across the floor.
Completely unaware of this, the creature followed me into the center of the vortex.
Lion Round Dance
A defensive form that guides the direction of the opponent’s attacks and reverses the positions of oneself and the enemy.
At a certain moment.
Kirrrk!?
My situation and the creature’s were reversed.
The initiative in the battle now belonged not to it, but to me.
The creature, which had been pouring a fierce assault on me only to end up being attacked instead, seemed deeply flustered and wavered in confusion.
Having been waiting for this moment, I immediately widened the distance.
The Ultramarine Sword took on a blue glow.
Lion Rending Slash
Against a target caught in Lion Round Dance, attacks using the Beast King Style were even more effective.
I sent a slash flying toward the creature.
The moment the blue light struck it directly, the whirlpool of Azure Lightning drawn on the floor dealt additional damage.
On top of that.
Kang Hanbyeol, who had activated the buff residing in the necklace he had won from his bet with Mikhail before, released all at once the mana he had accumulated in the magic sword Lucid until now.
A black explosion swallowed the creature.
Kwa-kwa-boom!
Black flames shot up vertically.
Even so, the creature was a Rank 4 monster, and a boss monster at that.
It might have taken considerable damage, but there was no way it would die just like this.
Sure enough.
Kirrrk!
With part of its armor shattered, the creature leaped out from within the explosion.
Kang Hanbyeol and I placed our hands against the floor and kept our guard up against the creature, which had raised its tail high.
Right then.
Bulge, bulge….
‘…Phase two.’
As if it were laying eggs.
The creature’s tail seemed to tremble, and then the end of its tail split into four, with some kind of protrusion jutting out.
“Gyeonu, that’s…”
“It’s probably poison. We don’t know what kind, so make sure you absolutely don’t get hit.”
Kang Hanbyeol nodded.
He covered himself in Hard Skin again and strengthened his defenses with the built-in magic of the Stormwave Brooch.
Likewise, I deployed Hard Skin and sharpened my senses in order to respond swiftly.
It was then that the creature, glaring at us with red eyes, fired its poison needles.
Pshuk! Pshuk! Pshuk….
‘Six shots.’
After counting the number of launches inwardly, I dodged the poison needles according to the urging of my evasion instinct.
The number I dodged was three.
The number Kang Hanbyeol dodged was two.
As for the last one…
‘There.’
Keeping watch for the poison needle that had definitely been fired but could not be seen, I ran toward Kang Hanbyeol.
Then I stood behind him and swung my sword into empty air.
The poison needle appeared out of thin air almost at the same time.
Ting!
I knocked the poison needle far away.
Kang Hanbyeol seemed somewhat startled by the sudden attack from behind.
“Why did that suddenly appear? Gyeonu, what on earth is this…”
“It’s a delayed attack. I think it fired it at the same time when it first shot the poison needles.”
“So that’s what it was… Anyway, thanks for helping me, Gyeonu. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve been hit.”
“It’s nothing. Even if it hadn’t been me, with your skills, you would’ve dodged it just fine, right? In any case, from now on, make sure to count how many poison needles it fires.”
“Okay. You really are amazing. How did you think to count that?”
“I got lucky.”
The delayed attack, which had been the main reason the creature’s subjugation difficulty rose in the game.
Having naturally conveyed that information to Kang Hanbyeol without arousing suspicion, I shrugged.
Meanwhile, near the flower garden where the deflected poison needle had embedded itself…
Rustle….
As if a long time had passed.
The flowers began to wither one by one, and in the end, the land became barren.
After confirming that sight, Kang Hanbyeol furrowed his brow and said,
“What kind of poison is that? I’ve never seen poison like that before… We really should be careful.”
“As long as you know.”
We resumed the battle.
* * *
After the creature entered its second phase.
The battle turned into a close fight, with neither side able to seize a clear advantage.
However, as time went on, we were in an increasingly unfavorable position.
‘Did it figure out our tactics in that time? It’s gradually responding to our attacks. What a pain…’
Because the fierce battle continued without giving us any proper chance to rest, the depletion of our stamina and mana was severe.
I was out of breath.
Of course, it wasn’t as if we didn’t have potions, but…
‘As if we can drink them at ease.’
In the game, all you had to do was press the button you had set to use a potion.
Unfortunately, in this world, you had to take out the potion and drink it yourself.
It was unbelievably cumbersome.
In that situation, whenever we tried to drink a potion, the creature would constantly interfere.
Because of that, it wasn’t easy for one of us to take on the creature while buying time for the other to drink a potion.
On top of that, even if we did manage to drink one, the effect wasn’t immediate, so it was difficult to expect results right away.
‘Of course, it’s better than not drinking at all, and even if the effect drops a lot, we can drink them in advance, but…’
The problem was that the creature tired less than us humans and recovered faster.
Moreover, it was even growing stronger moment by moment as it fought us.
Kirrrk!
“…”
Whether it was aware of that or not, the creature behaved arrogantly.
We had no choice but to harden our expressions.
‘Seriously…’
How did Kang Hanbyeol defeat that thing alone in the game?
Even if the story did describe it as a narrow victory.
But then I realized the answer.
‘My controls were a work of art. At one point, I even beat that thing without getting hit once.’
It was simply regrettable that in this world, unlike in the game, I couldn’t fight by manipulating keys.
After praising myself like that, I decided to turn my mind back to the battle.
It was then that I discovered our chance of victory.
“Ah!”
Because the creature had moved out of the way, the slash Kang Hanbyeol had launched unfortunately headed toward the Stake of Time.
Immediately after that.
Kirrrk!
The creature hurriedly turned and moved to protect the Stake of Time.
It had thrown its own body in the way and blocked the slash.
“Oho…”
“So that’s how it is?”
…Kirrk?
Even though we had neither spoken to each other nor exchanged glances.
Kang Hanbyeol and I had the same thought.
Looking at the creature with its back to the Stake of Time, we smiled.
‘It might be something you couldn’t do in the game, but it’s possible in this world, all right.’
I released the Azure Lightning dwelling in the Ultramarine Sword.
A thick bundle of Azure Lightning swiftly flew toward the Stake of Time.
Once again, the creature…
Kire-rerrek!
Threw its body in the way and took the Azure Lightning.
With this, we were certain.
“Why didn’t we think of this? Is it because we’ve been living too kindly lately?”
“Seriously. I guess we lost sight of our original mindset. Master said combat is all about being underhanded. I can’t believe we overlooked this…”
Laughter escaped me on its own.
Looking at the creature, which could not carelessly move from its place because it had to protect the Stake of Time, we drank our potions.
While we were at it, we even made a toast.
Even so, the creature merely stood there forlornly and watched us, without interfering.
“Those who have something to protect can become stronger because of it, and they can also become weaker because of it.”
“Wow, that’s a great quote. Who said that?”
“Just now, me.”
“Nice sense. Master would love that if he heard it. Gyeonu, let’s really stay together for life.”
“That’s what I want too. Sounds good.”
“But what happens if an attack hits the stake by mistake? Won’t it break?”
“That thing will block it with its life, so surely it won’t break, right? Even if it does…”
From my perspective, I would only be grateful.
I felt sorry for So Hyeyul, but from the beginning, my plan had been to destroy the Stake of Time.
But since I couldn’t reveal my true thoughts, I deliberately trailed off.
In any case.
“Let’s make this easy. Easy.”
Kang Hanbyeol and I raised the corners of our mouths.
Kicking off the ground just like that, we used the Stake of Time as a hostage and attacked the creature.
Kieeeek!
The creature, taking the attacks head-on in order to protect the Stake of Time, screamed.
Our joy doubled.
In that way, the tide of battle rapidly began to tilt in our favor.
That said, the creature was still not an opponent we could look down on.
Pshuk! Pshuk! Pshuk….
‘Eleven shots. That’s a lot.’
Unable to leave the Stake of Time, the creature tried to keep us in check by focusing on firing poison needles.
Because of that, we couldn’t approach it carelessly, and we had to pay even more attention to the poison needles.
‘Can’t we do something about that? If only that were gone, this would be much easier…’
My evasion instinct reacted.
As I was running straight toward the creature, I hurriedly changed direction.
Immediately afterward, the poison needle the creature had sent into the future fell on the spot where I had been.
‘It keeps giving me a headache. It’s not like I can block the launch port… Huh?’
A thought that suddenly flashed through my mind tempted me.
It wasn’t a bad idea.
It was worth trying.
Having made my decision, I took action.
As it happened, the creature had its hands on the ground and its tail raised.
Pshuk!
‘Now.’
The end of the creature’s tail opened.
Having been aiming for that moment, I thrust forward my left hand, the one not holding the Ultramarine Sword.
I activated the magic built into the glove.
From my palm, I expelled a lump of spiderweb that had not been unraveled.
The round clump of spiderweb flew straight into the creature’s launch port.
As a result.
Pshu… shoooo-too-doo-doo-duk!
…Kirrk? Kire-rererek!
The poison needles that were about to be fired were blocked midway, and in the end, an explosion occurred inside the creature’s tail.
In an instant, the tail turned into chunks of flesh and scattered in every direction.
And the creature, having lost its tail like that, howled in a bizarre voice.
“I only did it thinking it’d be fine even if it didn’t work, just to block the launch port, but this is better than expected. Jackpot.”
“Gyeonu, still, this is a bit…”
Nam Yuri should have seen this.
Putting aside my proud feelings, I charged without hesitation toward the creature writhing in pain.
At this point, the outcome had practically been decided.
* * *
In the end, the creature, unable to defeat us, was on the verge of disappearing.
We looked down at it.
Kihrrrk… Kirrk….
The cry of the creature lying on the floor as it turned into particles of mana sounded truly sorrowful.
From the sight of its body trembling, not even the slightest trace of dignity befitting a boss monster could be felt.
Then, as Kang Hanbyeol watched the creature disappear, he opened his mouth.
“This should be the end now, right? Then let’s go collect the stake.”
“Wait a second. We should watch until it disappears and leaves behind a mana stone. So it doesn’t try anything stupid, just in case.”
“Hm… True. They say people die all the time because they let their guard down in situations like that.”
…Hanbyeol, that’s your story.
I smiled bitterly inwardly.
According to the game’s development.
‘Hanbyeol, who barely managed to defeat it, allowed a surprise attack at this point and ended up falling victim to its poison.’
And in the round where he regressed because of So Hyeyul, he noticed the creature’s trick and handled it splendidly.
Having thought that far, I did not relax my guard.
Not long after that.
Pshuk!
Crackle!
A poison needle suddenly revealed itself.
Sensing the danger through my evasion instinct, I immediately swung the Ultramarine Sword and destroyed the poison needle aimed at us.
Meanwhile, Kang Hanbyeol flinched.
“…That startled me. Good thing I listened to you. That could’ve been bad.”
“Right? I saved your life. Be grateful. And make sure you keep listening to me in the future too.”
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll remember it.”
With its surprise attack coming to nothing, the creature now seemed to have given up.
It let its body go limp and slowly closed its red eyes.
Even so, we did not let our guard down until it completely disappeared.
And so, after a little time passed, a mana stone fell to the floor.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss