Chapter 242
Boss Rush dungeons have a certain defined characteristic, or rather, a general direction.
Boss Rush dungeons select five bosses to form a key, categorized by various aspects such as race, area, or attribute.
There are completely random Boss Rush dungeon keys, but those are Class 10 keys—even whales avoid them due to their excessively high randomness.
So, basically, you can predict what kind of enemies will appear.
From a player's perspective, Boss Rush dungeons are considered lucrative hunting grounds.
It's common to cover all of them, except for the less useful Boss Rush dungeons.
Therefore, the information is compiled in an easy-to-understand manner even for casual players, and it's so popular that not knowing it is considered uninformed.
"Three Trolls from the right, four from the left, hold off the Cyclops in front with the Golem! We'll handle the adds! Nel and Claudia, take the Trolls on the right!"
After experiencing such Boss Rush dungeons numerous times over the past week, we were prepared for unforeseen circumstances.
And I thoroughly drilled them on efficient methods to defeat the bosses.
Boss Rush dungeons allow for a certain exploit that isn't possible in regular dungeons, making normal progression not too difficult.
First and foremost, Boss Rush dungeons are fixed to an arena area.
While regular dungeons prepare various areas like caves, deserts, lakes, mountains, and forests, Boss Rush dungeons are exclusively fixed to an arena area.
Since the first area you see becomes the battlefield, if you understand that area's information, you can take various countermeasures.
"Ingrit and I will handle the Trolls on the left!"
"Understood!"
"Certainly."
"Engaging!"
And though I call it an exploit, what we're doing is quite simple.
We just build a stage for Amina to sing on, in a corner of the arena that serves as the Boss Rush stage.
A portable,简易 (kanyu - simple/portable) stage that also incorporates defensive features.
Its true form is a turtle-shaped Golem.
Unlike the angler-focused Angler Golem, the one we prepared this time is purely for defense.
We equipped it with a magic tool that generates magic shields around the edge of its shell, making it effective against ranged attacks.
Furthermore, the turtle Golem's shell is made of magic iron, so its strength is guaranteed, and since the stage moves, it's hard for enemies to surround it.
It's a highly capable Golem for manipulating enemy movements.
It's invaluable as a mobile stage.
If Amina sings on top of that shell—the one any player using an idol-type build would use at least once—lo and behold, the monsters' attention focuses entirely on Amina, and they ignore us completely.
And if they approach her...
"You are powerless before the magic I acquired just this week!!"
They are intercepted by the magic of Lady Esmeralda, who has become a fixed turret, riding on the back of her guardian Angler Golem and casting spells.
During our previous Boss Rush dungeon conquests, the effects of Nel's "Inviting Fortune" were applied, yielding a significant number of scrolls, which, of course, included skills that strengthen us.
"Hound Lightning!!"
One of them is the magic Lady Esmeralda is currently unleashing with great enthusiasm.
It has a near-perfect hit rate in one-on-one situations, a decent range, enough firepower to one-shot a Troll, and reasonable mana efficiency.
Hound Lightning.
True to its name, "Hunting Dog Lightning," it's a single-target lightning magic with high homing capability.
Previously, she had to spam area attacks like Blizzard Wave followed by Lightning Rain, which consumed her mana recklessly, but learning this has somewhat improved her poor efficiency.
Even now, the two Golems are coordinating against the Cyclops approaching from the front, not allowing it to get close at all.
Proof that the paralysis effect, a common effect of lightning magic, is working.
At that pace, we can finish it off before it gets close.
But if we do that, we won't meet the condition for Ingrit to obtain her unique skill, so we need to finish off the Trolls first.
"Mirage Phenomenon"
Today's quota is almost done, so there's no need to hold back.
Phantom Kill Technique—mirror illusions appear to my left and right, and a scythe-spear grips my hand.
"Head Hunt"
From there, the scythe of the grim reaper is released.
A horizontal slash cuts down three Trolls simultaneously.
"Phew, one down."
It's inefficient in terms of mana, but it's a good skill for taking them out efficiently.
The remaining Troll is being handled by Ingrit.
"......"
She neatly dodges the swung club, a silent draw of her concealed blade sends a silver flash through the Troll's body, and as it staggers, the returning stroke of her broom sweeps the Troll's legs.
It falls, and she pierces its heart, now at a low height, finishing it.
Even though she's support-type, she's been drilled in the minimum necessary combat skills.
Sword techniques and combo attacks combining them with her broom.
Her per-hit firepower is low, but she still has enough attack power to overwhelm add monsters like this.
"This concludes the fourth wave."
"Yeah."
The Boss Rush range we chose this time is the Ogre species.
Starting with Goblin General, then Ogre Leader, Ogre Camp Fighter, and the fourth is Cyclops.
All have stamina-oriented stats and are highly mobile monsters, but they have low magic resistance.
So, by using Amina to attract them and control their direction, Lady Esmeralda can make quick work of them.
No matter how much their stats are boosted, if they're all focused on brawn, it's just full of openings.
Sure, they're faster, stronger, and tougher, but it's still well within our ability to handle.
"For now, today's session ends with the next one."
This is the third dungeon today.
The first one we did was a Treant-type Boss Rush where they couldn't move at all.
Hiding is their forte, but appearing right in the middle of an arena renders that useless.
They were promptly bisected by Nel, and that was that.
The second dungeon was a Mage-type Boss Rush.
Ogre Sage, Shadow Magician, Puppet Tricker, Phantom Illusion, and a Lich—bosses that fight using magic-based skills. But if the adds are attracted to Amina, the main body is defenseless.
No matter how powerful the magic they cast, we already know their skill composition and how to counter them.
Ogre Sage mainly uses support magic to strengthen the adds.
And since the adds are brawny Ogres, Lady Esmeralda's magic wipes them out in one go.
Once the adds are gone, it's just a straightforward beatdown.
Shadow Magician uses dark-type magic and is a monster like a heat haze.
Shadow Dive, which lets it hide in shadows, is annoying, but in this arena, we know where it will appear, so the agile Claudia uses Lightning Step to flank it and knocks it out with a gut punch combo.
Puppet Tricker uses Golems, but it's the same as Ogre Sage; once the adds are exterminated, the main body isn't that strong.
In a way, the most troublesome is Phantom Illusion, a ghost-type monster with a floating clown mask and cape.
The main body is the mask, and only it can take damage, plus it creates illusions to confuse you.
But even so, if you just throw your spear with full force and hit the mask before it can use any magic, you can defeat it without issues.
And when you say Mage-type boss, you think Lich! It's the quintessential classic boss.
Attack magic, debuff magic, and using undead monsters as adds is its specialty, you could say.
But if you give the Golems shields designed for anti-magic skills, you can completely block its attacks, and status effect magic doesn't work on Golems anyway.
And fog-based poison gas and such can be nullified by Ingrit.
As a result, stamina-oriented bosses become nothing more than Boss Rush dungeons solely for strengthening Lady Esmeralda, as long as you handle the adds.
"Liberta-sama. The final boss has arrived."
"Hmm, still as huge as ever."
And thus, the Ogre-type Boss Rush, which has become a perfect hunting ground for the strengthened Lady Esmeralda, concludes with:
『■■■■■■■■■■！！』
A giant Ogre even larger than the previous Cyclops.
A splendid red single horn grows from its forehead, and its skin is a hard, rocky texture that makes you think it's harder than iron.
Rock Ogre.
You might think it's a Golem species, but it's also a legitimate biological monster.
The final boss has no adds due to its enormous size.
No adds means less hassle for me, which is fine.
This Rock Ogre is as sturdy as it looks and seems powerful, but...
"Well, it's slow, so it's a good target for magic."
This is a Boss Rush dungeon where brawny types gather.
They have excellent stamina, but you have to say their magic defense is pathetic.
"Blizzard Wave!!"
The moment it appears, it gets frozen solid until its body is rock-hard.
"Follow up with Lightning Rain!"
It ends up taking the rain of lightning on its huge body, turning the area magic attack into a single-target, multi-hit type magic.
And as a result of the multiple hits, it becomes paralyzed, falls prone, and can't move a muscle. Then, a recast blizzard assaults the Rock Ogre again, and it continues to be pelted by the lightning rain.
Watching from a distance as this has become Lady Esmeralda's winning pattern, I note that today's quota is now complete.
Inviting Fortune is still on cooldown, so nothing this time.
"This successfully concludes day one."
"Yeah, we've done so much it's starting to feel like routine."
"The fact that it feels routine is for the best."
Ingrit quietly sheaths her sword in her broom's scabbard and surveys the surroundings.
The treasure chest that appears in its fixed location.
From a distance, it looks like a wooden chest.
Following the Cyclops, the contents are a bit meager, but since it was Esmeralda who defeated it, not Nel, well, it's understandable.
"Tomorrow, we'll do the Slug-type Boss Rush, and after that—"
"According to the schedule, it's the Turtles."
"The Turtles are in the afternoon, right?"
"Yes, the Slug-type Boss Rush is scheduled for the morning."
This marks the end of the first phase; tomorrow we enter the second phase, meaning today's work is done.
Starting tomorrow, it's the slow-moving type Boss Rush dungeons.
Completing one per day is because, while they can be defeated safely, all the boss monsters are so tough that it takes time to bring them down.
Ensuring safety naturally takes time, so it's quite taxing.
Stretching my tired body, I reconfirm tomorrow's schedule in my head when my companions open the treasure chest and bring the contents over.
"I sang, I sang!!"
"Did you have fun?"
"Yeah!"
She brings the Golems along behind her, which is quite impressive.
I give a wry smile and speak to Amina, who nods with a smile.
"Time-wise, it seems we could tackle one more dungeon."
"No, we'll stop here for today. Let's withdraw."
"Understood."
We started in the morning, and now it's just before evening.
It's a bit early for dinner, and as Claudia said, we probably could manage one more dungeon, but it's precisely at times like these that failures happen.
Our concentration is waning, and we're not so pressed for time that we need to push ourselves.
There are no urgent requests from the spirits either.
No need to push it. Safety first. For us now, that's the most certain path to getting stronger.