The Goblin Veteran riding atop the lizard wasn't exactly tall or imposing, yet when he charged, accompanied by thunderous tremors, he carried a momentum capable of shattering earth and mountains—unstoppable!
"!!!"
In the blink of an eye, Lefiya was whisked away by Filvis, leaving the entrance they had just occupied and distancing themselves from the charging BOSS.
This was both a subconscious reaction to approaching danger.
And a tacit understanding cultivated by the three-person squad over the past dozen hours of adventure.
However.
Filvis also clearly sensed it: the guy in front of them was completely different from previous [Monsters], even more terrifying than that giant [Two-Headed Lizard].
Therefore, facing the Veteran General's charge laced with the force of a thunderbolt.
The [Elf] girl even worriedly looked at the boy still standing in place, almost instinctively planning to put down Lefiya and run back to cover him.
This was a cherishing of her companion.
But Isagi wasn't standing still because he was scared stiff; he had prepared and planned for this!
Facing the Goblin Veteran rushing straight at him, just as the opponent was about to reach him, Isagi used his Spirit Ash skill.
Mist rose.
A massive [Two-Headed Lizard] suddenly appeared. With perfect timing, its first attack—a downward smash using its massive heads—collided with the Veteran General riding the lizard!!
As the trembling of the earth and the explosion of thunder intertwined.
The lizard's great maws opened, spraying crimson pus at the Goblin Veteran now within arm's reach, covering him completely!!
Thus, his originally unstoppable charge was "parked"!
With a stumble, the lizard beneath him roared and retreated a few steps, momentarily lying flat on the ground.
"Tssst—!"
The tooth-aching sound of corrosion sounded like a boiling oil pot. As the mist dissipated, Isagi's attack was not yet over!!
Before entering the Fog Gate.
He had already switched his active "Character Card" and fully charged the three "Energy Points" used for heavy attacks.
So.
Accompanied by a burst of powerful light gathering in his hands, while the opponent hadn't yet risen, he unleashed a reinforced attack consuming all Energy Points.
Isagi leapt up, holding the [Glimmer Greatsword], and slashed heavily down at the opponent!
Blood splattered!!
On the Veteran General's exposed dark green upper body, aside from the tiny, dense pits caused by the corrosion, a deep, bloody sword mark was added!
However, having finished a burst combo.
The skill entered cooldown, and his Energy Points were depleted, requiring subsequent attacks and dodges to slowly recover.
Isagi immediately and decisively shifted into the "Defense Phase".
"Bang"!
Rising from the "Knockdown" state, the Goblin Veteran, holding an iron hammer wrapped in golden lightning snakes, smashed down towards him, beginning its counterattack.
Lightning snakes splashed. Accompanied by the lizard beneath it violently shaking its head and charging again, the Veteran General's right-hand hammer swung continuously, and finally, his left hand grabbed a lightning spear from the void and threw it violently!
Watching all this from a distance, Filvis felt a wave of heart-pounding fear.
The coordination between the Goblin Veteran and his mount was nearly seamless. Either the top attacked while the bottom defended, or the bottom attacked while the top defended; they even launched pincer attacks from different angles simultaneously.
This forced Isagi to be unable to engage in close-quarters combat, leaving him no choice but to retreat and distance himself from their attack range.
But this led to another result.
Once the distance opened up, he would charge again. And this time, Isagi, unable to transform into that [Two-Headed Lizard] again, was sent flying directly by this sudden acceleration.
Fortunately, the boy seemed incredibly skilled at this. After smashing through a pale stone pillar, he quickly got up, dodged the ranged lightning spear thrown by the Goblin Veteran immediately after, and instantly moved away to avoid the secondary explosion.
And he didn't forget to take a swig of the medicinal wine from his gourd during the process. But one sip wasn't enough this time; Isagi quickly took a second sip.
What kind of invincible charge is this? Almost got wasted right there!
In the boy's "Character Cards", healing and resurrection were universal abilities. The counts and effects were identical, just the names differed.
In [Land of Reeds], healing was the [Healing Gourd], and resurrection was "Dragon Heritage".
In [Journey to the West Redux], they became "Monkey Wine" and "Life-Saving Fur".
Standing up again.
Although it was just a brief encounter, Isagi realized that the BOSS before him, [Veteran General Gmorrs], had already shown signs of being absolute bullshit.
In melee, the mount and knight joined forces, high and low, covering each other, plus large-scale ground tremors and lightning strikes.
At range, it was an invincible charge plus a zero-frame startup ranged lightning spear throw—and it even had a delayed secondary explosion damage.
And...
"[Arcs Ray]!"
The moment she landed after being carried away by Filvis, Lefiya, who had already begun aiming at the distant BOSS and chanting magic...
Unleashed her first attack. The target: the giant lizard beneath the Goblin Veteran.
If there's a "horse", kill the "horse" first!
Lefiya evidently remembered Isagi's teachings well.
However.
The moment the pure white ray flew towards the large lizard, Filvis seemed to notice something and quickly stepped in front of Lefiya, raising the short wand in her hand.
"Raise the cup as a shield, chalice that breaks evil!"
"[Dio Grail]!"
Just as the girl's defensive magic took shape, a gleam of golden light flashed across the aged lizard's originally dull scales. Subsequently, Lefiya's magic, which would have landed precisely on the lizard's flank, was actually reflected, crashing directly into the sky-blue magic shield.
Blinding white light erupted silently!
Who would have thought this guy's mount could reflect magic!!
Fortunately.
Only the mount could do it; the guy riding on top could not.
After fighting for a while, both Filvis's and Lefiya's magic had successfully left charred marks on the Goblin Veteran's body.
This counted as a small piece of good news.
Because if magic were truly completely ineffective against him, the combat power of the two [Elf] girls would be greatly discounted.
Not to mention Lefiya; aside from magic, the girl couldn't be said to lack other attack methods entirely. Waving her staff to take out some ordinary [Goblins] or [Kobolds] (the kind not buffed by Isagi's skill) was no problem.
But that was about it.
Facing the BOSS before them, she would probably deal a whopping "0" damage.
Filvis was better off; the girl was at least a Magic Swordsman. The short sword [Tear Pain] in her hand was also a Second-Class Armament. Although it was a mage weapon emphasizing increased Mind and magic output efficiency, it still had some melee capability.
But undoubtedly, if she couldn't attach her lightning magic, her "attack damage" would certainly be greatly reduced.
[This is hard.]
Facing the Goblin Veteran who charged wildly everywhere and couldn't be intercepted at all—except by the boy's [Two-Headed Lizard] transformation ability, which required a considerable interval between uses...
Filvis lamented this from the bottom of her heart.
Through the battle, the [Elf] girl could surmise that in terms of "Status", the [Monster] before them was roughly between the peak of Level 2 and the beginning of Level 3.
It made sense; after all, the [Monsters] encountered outside were mostly around Level 2. No matter what, it shouldn't suddenly jump to Level 4 or 5.
But if that were the case, logically speaking, the battle shouldn't be this difficult!
Because although [Monsters] might be stronger than average adventurers in stats, they lacked "Magic" and "Skills", the two important factors determining strength between adventurers.
Besides that, [Monsters] didn't understand combat techniques, nor did they possess wisdom. They only rampaged based on instinct and brute force, which naturally gave adventurers the chance to defeat the strong with the weak.
For example, the [Monster Rex] Goliath on the 17th Floor of the [Dungeon] is a [Floor Boss] estimated at Level 4.
But perennially, it is hunted by adventurers based in [Rivira]. The teams formed are usually composed of several Level 3s, a large number of Level 2s, and some Level 1 adventurers confident enough to leech off the [Feat].
Once every two weeks, without interruption.
Occasionally, [Familias] on expeditions to the Deep Floors would clean it up on their way, or backbone [Familias] of the city, still led by Level 3s, would take it down with a mass of Level 2 and Level 1 adventurers.
If a Level 4 adventurer led the team, the subjugation would become incredibly easy.
This behavior, akin to "farming a BOSS", even reached a point where the materials dropped by Goliath, a [Monster Rex], became less valuable than rare [Monsters] from the Upper Floors, such as [Infant Dragons].
For adventurers, especially High-Class Adventurers.
Easily dealing with [Monsters] of the same level 1-on-1 was nothing special. Defeating stronger [Monsters] a level above wasn't too difficult either.
But the Goblin Veteran before them completely exceeded Filvis's imagination.
This guy...
Is an "Adventurer", right!
If [Goblins] could also receive the [Falna] of the gods, a genius among them who leveled up to Level 3 would probably look like this?!
No, he was even stronger.
Because Filvis had tried to block his charge with defensive magic earlier, only to be sent flying and sustaining severe injuries.
Luckily, Isagi ran over to cover her and gave her a sip of the wine in his gourd—it tasted like fruit wine.
It turned out to be an excellent healing potion; the severe injuries were healed almost instantly, comparable to some powerful healing magic!
Yet even so, this guy was too strong...
As a Level 3, she could barely withstand a single blow, let alone Lefiya. For her kin, even being grazed by the opponent's attack could be a fatal injury!
For a tiny moment.
Filvis even wanted to grab Lefiya and Isagi and flee.
Those who have experienced the death of companions understand and fear "death" itself more profoundly. This is normal.
However.
No words were needed.
At this moment, Lefiya continued to seize the time firmly, standing in place and chanting her magic.
The [Elf] girl's eyes were incomparably determined.
[Adventurers must not adventure.]
But.
[Adventurers must never fear a challenge.]
Otherwise, they will be trapped in place, never able to move forward.
Filvis looked at Isagi, who was always on the most dangerous edge. The boy was the one facing the terrifying [Monster] head-on.
His eyes were different from Lefiya's.
It was a pure silence, as if apart from himself and the [Monster] before him, apart from the act of "fighting" itself, all other distracting thoughts had been swept from his mind.
Their purpose in coming to the [Dungeon] was for this very moment.
Adventure is about pursuing battle.
So right now, there is no choice but to fight!
Filvis understood. Lefiya, this usually lively and innocent kin, was completely influenced by Isagi. In such an atmosphere, the boy naturally infected those gathered around him.
Even a person like herself felt a small spark ignite within her boundless, pitch-black heart.
[Don't think about other things. Fight, Filvis.]
And this.
Is the meaning of an adventurer's existence, isn't it?
___
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