Chapter 341
**The True "First Strike Wins" - Aži Dahāka Subjugation Log**
This entire process of subjugating Aži Dahāka was something even I, who had tried every known pattern within the game, had never experienced.
The path to settling things with Boldrinde wasn't normal either, and I never imagined we'd have a consecutive battle with an artificially revived Aži Dahāka (Fake) using a replica magic puppet afterward.
Since it was a copy of Aži Dahāka, there were no drop items, so it really was a complete waste of effort.
Maybe that's why.
"...Are you actually angry?"
Nell asked with a hint of confusion, wondering if there was anger behind what I was about to do.
"Nell, in a boss fight, the iron rule is to never let a chance for a preemptive strike slip by."
In response to Nell's confusion, I flashed a smile and gave a thumbs-up, then activated the magic tool meant to break the seal.
Thanks to Ingrid's 'Air Clean' and 'Thermo Control,' the flames were kept away from the area around this magic tool, allowing me to work busily.
"I get that, but..."
The reason I'm working so cheerfully boils down to one thing: being able to get a preemptive strike in a major boss fight. That's it.Ah, a preemptive strike. What a wonderful ring it has.
Originally, this magic tool was supposed to be used at the very beginning of the Aži Dahāka subjugation battle, but thanks to Boldrinde's little tricks, it was almost shelved.
"Are we using all of them?""Of course."
Until the seal is completely broken, the enemy cannot move from that spot at all.So, naturally, if there's a chance to inflict damage, it's always better to take it. That's a given.
Honestly, Aži Dahāka got greedy too, aiming for a full resurrection, which led to it being trapped in a situation where it couldn't move until we had it surrounded, because its revival wasn't complete in time.
When there's an irregular existence like me around, going out of your way to take time aiming for a full resurrection... you can't complain if someone says you're underestimating your opponent, right?
The tool used to break Aži Dahāka's seal is a magic tool called an "Earth Crusher," which is essentially a rock drill with added magic stone bombs.
It's an application of golem technology. It looks like a cylindrical main body with a drill attached to the front. Inside that cylinder, an overloaded golem core is set, and magic stone bombs are packed around the core to boost firepower.
Originally, it was a sort of "bunker buster" item used against monsters active underground or enemies with hard surfaces, but we've made one more improvement here.
"Alright, set the depth to the target in the sealed zone, and... fire!"
A direct hit naturally packs a punch, but against Aži Dahāka, even one hit is a drop in the bucket.
If we're going for a preemptive strike, we want maximum results. So, we *have* to go all out, like surrounding the sealed area with Earth Crushers loaded with magic stone bombs.
Nell asking if I was angry was probably her guess based on my attitude, as I seemed to be having way too much fun driving each one into the ground and setting them off.
These Earth Crushers are also incredibly expensive items, but frankly, fighting a Class 9 monster is always a high-risk, high-reward battle.
Using high-value items like water, and bringing back drop items that more than make up for that expenditure.That's combat in the later stages of FBO.
If you start being stingy with items at this level, you won't have the mental fortitude for the battles to come.
"Liberta-sama, is it alright to set the next one here?""Yeah, let's get them set before the flame throwers and the barrier tower's spirit stones run out!"
The best way to fight is to decide the outcome before the battle even begins.Huh? Attacking an enemy before it appears is underhanded? Hahahaha! Faced with a world crisis, who cares about formalities? An FBO player isn't going to hold back when presented with the chance for peak efficiency!
Properly waiting for it to resurrect and fighting head-on, fair and square... I think that's the domain of the "enjoyment-focused" players.
If you swear to achieve certain victory, fighting in a state of "Underhanded? Ruthless? What's that, does it taste good?" is the supreme way.
Next up after the Earth Crushers is setting up *this* item.
At first glance, it looks like just an obelisk.It looks like a stone monument with characters carved into it, but this item has a special effect.
What effect, you ask?A simple one.
When Aži Dahāka's heads emerge from the ground, it hardens the earth to be tougher than reinforced concrete, immobilizing its body. It's a ground-hardening magic tool.
Originally, it was a magic tool for construction, used to solidify and maintain foundations, but it has high instant effect and durability. If you pour in materials without holding back, it exhibits quite formidable defensive strength. That's the excellent item.Since there will be a huge explosion on the ground, we use floating skills to levitate it slightly off the ground and secure it with wires so it doesn't get blown away.
The Earth Crushers unleash firepower that blows the ground apart, so we don't stick the wires into the ground.So, where do we stick them?
In mid-air, of course.
If there's a skill like 'Air Step' that can create footholds in the air, then naturally there are also skills that can fix objects in the air. Thus, a bizarre spectacle appears: stone monuments fixed in mid-air by wires, set up here and there.
The great thing about this magic tool...
...is that what it affects isn't Aži Dahāka itself, but the *ground*.
The total number to set up is one hundred.One can cover about 1 are (100 sqm), so placing them evenly in a 10x10 grid covers about 1 hectare.
'Hehehe... Don't think you can fight properly wearing a bedrock anchor 10 meters deep and 10,000 square meters wide.''I can't see your face with that mask on, but I can tell Liberta is making a very nasty smile right now.''There's probably some frustration from things not going according to plan, but it just reaffirms what a terrifying person you are to have as an enemy.'
If you thought you understood our tactics just from watching through the replica magic puppet, you'd be sorely mistaken.What happened earlier was an emergency, an impromptu countermeasure we threw together for the Aži Dahāka battle line.
The meticulously prepared strategy is nothing like that.
In the previous battle, we drove stakes into its torso, but the original tactic was to use the Earth Crushers to forcefully wake the sealed Aži Dahāka, then use this magic tool to firmly solidify the ground and pin its torso as it tried to crawl out.
Then, as it struggled, we would stitch its necks to the ground with stakes being reloaded in mid-air, rendering it immobile, and proceed to pummel it. That was the intended battle plan.
With this prepared, if we could damage Aži Dahāka, it would truly become a work-game, and even if it managed to escape by some accident, we should have dealt enough damage by then.
If you fight over and over again, you naturally establish efficient hunting methods like this.
It's a strategy made possible only because we forged connections with the spirits, for which I'm truly grateful.
Maybe I should open a buffet supervised by my Japanese palate here?
I even have the leisure to think about the victory celebration, but I definitely won't let my guard down.
'Master!! The setup on this side is complete!''Our setup here is also finished without issue.''Our side is done too.''Indeed! Traps are also a warrior's art! A task of this level is nothing to us!!'
The drawback of this trap is, above all, the sheer number of magic tools that need to be set up.
Even just one of these tools can create a vast bedrock, and that usage is more convenient for construction purposes.However, the strength of the bedrock is lower that way.
In contrast, the bedrock created by preparing many tools like this has significantly higher strength because it's interlinked over a wide area.
Having those who can operate within the flames split up the work and set them up also saves time.
'Alright, all personnel, retreat beyond the blast radius!! After the Earth Crushers detonate, we begin the subjugation of the revived Aži Dahāka!'
I look up at the sky, confirming the stake reloading. The barrier tower also has enough magic power left in its spirit stones to operate for several more hours.
The flame throwers are the same.
Now, now, my killing intent has risen considerably compared to earlier.No, it's better to say I've regained my full killing intent.
Confirming that everyone has evacuated to a safe distance.
The ignition switch is in my hand.
The more I hesitate pointlessly, the more time passes, so without hesitation and with a smile, I press the switch.
With a roar like a volcanic eruption, the ground bursts open.
Soil and sand fly into the air.Dust clouds block the view.
'■■■■■■■■■!?'
Immediately after, the monster's shriek.Unlike the birth cry of the Aži Dahāka copied by the replica puppet, this is a scream writhing in pain.
'And a little extra tap.'
The Earth Crusher's damage broke the seal and reached Aži Dahāka's main body. Wounded and furious, it escapes the seal. The moment its eight heads appear from the ground and its necks emerge, I activate the hardening devices.
'■■!?'
Ohh, it's panicking, panicking!
As Aži Dahāka tries to crawl out of the ground and enter combat posture, before its torso can fully emerge, the hardening devices cause the scattered soil and sand around it to rapidly gather and solidify. That earth hardens, and Aži Dahāka's body is enveloped by the bedrock.
It tries to thrash, but its very body is covered in bedrock, making movement nearly impossible.
'Aim carefully... FIRE!!'
The perfect timing is when it starts charging at its mouth, trying to destroy the bedrock with its breath.
Aim for the heads entering the breath posture, and fire the stakes reloaded in mid-air.
To unleash its breath, it absolutely needs that charging motion no matter what.
With its original stats being high, a little damage wouldn't make it flinch, and it would just unleash its breath—that's the usual flow of battle with high-tier monsters.
But even it has no choice but to interrupt its breath when stakes are driven through its necks, pinning them.
'■■■■■!?'
First, three necks are stitched down by stakes.And those stakes are linked to the bedrock by the hardening devices, becoming impossible to pull out.
The moment the remaining five necks look up in surprise, the additional stakes, already aimed, rain down. In an instant, the remaining five necks are also impaled by stakes.
'Yep, skewering complete.'
Someone is surely thinking, 'This is horrible.'Aži Dahāka, hailed as a calamity, now has its body sealed within bedrock, and the necks that should be moving are skewered by stakes.
And within the space maintained at high temperature by the barrier erected by the barrier tower, the continuous barrage of white flames from the flame throwers.
This is the genuine, true Aži Dahāka subjugation combo—the *Kabayaki* Combo.It's a certain-kill combo that works perfectly precisely because Aži Dahāka is, by story setting, absolutely sealed underground.
All that's left is to be careful not to get in front of its face to avoid the Snake Eyes.
'Hardenant-mixed mud bombs, launch!'
Using a hammer-throw motion—whether by the Red Armor troops, Dwarves, or Beastkin—those confident in their physique hurl mud aimed at Aži Dahāka's face, to seal its last lifeline: the Snake Eyes.
The mud, designed to harden with heat and magic potion, solidifies, covering Aži Dahāka's face.
The Snake Eyes are certainly troublesome, but they have no physical destructive power, after all.Their effects are paralysis and petrification.If you cover the eyes with hardening mud like this, they become unusable.
It desperately tries to open its mouth to peel off the mud, but with it stuck tightly to its face, peeling it off is impossible.
It might manage by rubbing its face on the ground or using its necks to scrape at each other, but unfortunately, all its necks are pinned to the ground, so no matter how it struggles, it cannot move.
As a last resort, it tries to spew breath from its mouth, contaminating the area around its mouth with curse poison to secure a source of recovery, but...
'All personnel, charge!!'
It's already a fish on the chopping block—no, an Aži Dahāka one step away from being *kabayaki*.Now, now, compared to the DPS-focused settings in the game where it never anticipated our counterattacks, in this real battle, will Aži Dahāka's recovery keep up?
There's not a shred of hesitation.
If the seal breaks on our timing, we can settle things in this way.
Even in this state, given who our opponent is, we cannot let our guard down.
'Claudia-san, Nell! I'm counting on you to go all out!!''Understood. I will go all out.''It's time for a feast!!'
Time to play the trump cards.
'We're going all out!! Gold Smash!!''Heavenly Fist! Here I go!!'
Alright, let's grill Aži Dahāka to perfection and take it down.