When the shattered flesh exploded, it was like a brilliant, multicolored rainbow blooming, transforming into specks of cherry-pink dust that scattered and fell.
Next, the hands!
Isagi's strategy was simple and easy to understand: first, sever the wings to keep the creature from flying all over the place, then cut off its hands to remove its ability to attack.
As for the remaining legs...
The Meat Cup Princess couldn't possibly kick people with her long legs like that Mimic we once encountered, right?!
Indeed, she couldn't.
But, at the same moment her wings were "shattered"...
Lefiya, who was holding her magic shield high to block the boss's rabid slashes, saw that behind the azure curtain of light, the Meat Cup Princess, once beautiful and elegant with a hint of sorrow, suddenly revealed a ferocious expression.
The cherry-pink eyes on her canine head snapped wide open!
As she bared her sharp fangs, she let out an utterly deranged, low growl.
Is she protecting her food?
No! She's gone berserk!!
"Isagi, Tiona, you two..."
Before the elf girl's words could even land, the two of them, who had already moved to either side of the boss and begun attacking the hands that had transformed into a shield and a longsword, had already noticed it.
The beginning of the change.
A sword and shield are weapons used by "intelligent beings," not by "beasts."
Flesh bulged and writhed, then burst apart in an instant. As a deep crimson mist of blood emerged before their eyes, the Meat Cup Princess's hands had already transformed into sharp, slender claws.
"She's changing phases!"
Isagi's concise warning alerted the other two girls. He then decisively pulled Lefiya back, quickly retreating away from the boss.
Tiona, on the side, did the same. Although it was her first time experiencing such a battle, the young man had repeatedly gone over many crucial points with her on the way here, and the current situation was, of course, one of them!
"WUUUU————!!!"
The cry emitted by the Kobold inexplicably sounded like a wolf's howl.
Isagi and the girls even subconsciously covered their ears, as the beastly roar made the world before them blur.
The once-elegant, humanoid Meat Cup Princess had reverted to a bestial form. It hunched over, like a so-called "werewolf," completely devoid of her former beauty and indifference.
[Beasts cannot become human.]
Madness and bloodlust surged in its eyes.
Then.
Tiona, who had just separated from Isagi and Lefiya, felt a fetid wind rush past her face.
She was being targeted!
She ducked almost instinctively, and a few strands of her hair silently drifted down. The Meat Cup Princess's claws were like countless intersecting blades, leaving only streak after streak of crimson, cold light in the Amazon's perception.
Dodging, parrying, even with all her might, she could only barely cope with the ceaseless attacks, managing to find a moment's respite only occasionally.
And then return a few punches of her own.
Tiona couldn't think about anything else right now; she had to focus all her attention on the battle before her just to hold on!
Seeing this.
Isagi and Lefiya were already rushing over.
However, learning from their previous lesson, the young man and the elf girl kept a constant watch on the boss's movements as they ran, ready to react if it switched targets at any moment.
But...
After changing phases, the "mechanics" seemed to have changed!
From the very beginning.
The Meat Cup Princess was fixated on Tiona, "savagely tearing" at her, showing no intention of switching targets.
Even when Isagi had run over, still dual-wielding his daggers, and started attacking one of its arms, it paid him no mind, its eyes locked firmly on Tiona.
Has she gone completely mad?!
Why isn't it targeting the Goblin!!
(Akshi: ?)
They had to hurry.
Isagi quickly changed his strategy, telling Lefiya to use magic and attack the Meat Cup Princess's legs with him!
The Meat Cup Princess currently attacking Tiona was swinging the claws on her hands far too quickly...
Forget Lefiya trying to aim with ranged magic; even he was having trouble hitting its hands in close combat. In comparison, because Tiona wasn't moving from her position much, constantly weaving and blocking within the boss's attack range...
The Meat Cup Princess was essentially standing still, which naturally made her long legs the best target!
Now.
They could only hope Tiona would hold out!
And for the Amazon girl, this was indeed a challenge!
Even though she was a top-tier Level 3 adventurer, with both her [Strength] and [Endurance] at rank A or higher.
But even so.
Simply taking the punishment here was starting to feel overwhelming!
What is this thing!
How did the monsters in the Dungeon become like this?!
Tiona couldn't help but think back to when she first came to the Dungeon with her sister and the others from her tribe.
It was like a "revolving lantern" of memories.
Countless fragments of memory surfaced from the bottom of her heart, flashing before her eyes.
She had effortlessly kicked a Minotaur's head to pieces and, together with Miss Ais, had sent a large group of Minotaurs scattering in fear.
[So monsters can get scared and run away, huh?]
Tiona had thought at the time.
...
Once, they were very lucky. While on a routine adventure in the Dungeon with her sister, they ran into a respawn of the 17th Floor's [Monster Rex Goliath].
The giant's fists were nothing special.
Tiona remembered taking a punch. It hurt, sure, but that was about it.
Right.
The creature before her didn't actually have an attack power as strong as the Monster Rex.
After all, that was a giant over seven meters tall.
But in terms of attack frequency, the difference was also immense!!
Small wounds began to appear all over Tiona's body. They weren't fatal, but the stinging pain was a constant reminder that if she continued, she would eventually run out of stamina.
When that time came, with just one careless mistake, her body would be easily "severed" by her opponent.
Damn it!
To this, the Amazon girl's answer was to counterattack with her fists!!
The girl's small fist slammed squarely into the long snout between the Meat Cup Princess's canine eyes, even causing its frenzied assault to pause for a moment.
It seemed not to understand why the girl before it would risk further injury just to land a punch.
But this was Tiona's way of fighting!
As the wounds on her body increased, wisps of blood-red aura coiled around the charming girl's form. Even her normally sparkling, cute navy-blue eyes had now turned a deep crimson.
Humans could create weapons with wisdom, but they could also ignite their emotions to become frenzied "beasts."
The girl who had been defending and dodging moments ago now began her counterattack. Under a barrage of punches, she even made the Meat Cup Princess almost subconsciously start dodging and blocking her attacks.
[Berserk Fury].
This was Tiona's skill, its effect simple and clear: it increased her attack power based on the amount of damage she had sustained.
The girl's fists were shrouded in a blood-red mist.
The constant pummelling and striking could even cause the boss's body to bend and dent to a certain degree.
The damage had broken through the threshold!
Isagi's earlier guess was correct: the Meat Cup Princess's body had a special damage reduction trait that made the damage from multiple, consecutive hits substantially greater than that from a single, powerful blow.
But all "traits" and mechanics have a moment when they can be shattered by pure power.
What's more.
Tiona's 'ora ora ora' rush right now wasn't slow either.
For a brief moment, Isagi even felt as if the Amazon girl's barrage of punches was being performed by a Stand behind her.
Is that you, Star Platinum?!
Large flakes of tender pink flesh flew off like drifting snow. In her injured state, the Amazon girl was actually suppressing the boss single-handedly?!
But clearly, this couldn't last.
It was even a kind of final, desperate burst of energy, because the stronger Tiona's fighting power was now, the more it indicated the severity of her injuries!
So.
Isagi and Lefiya also moved quickly.
They had to disable the Meat Cup Princess's legs as soon as possible, otherwise, in the current situation, even if he threw the Healing Gourd to Tiona, she wouldn't have time to drink it.
He didn't engage in close combat again.
Isagi simply took out his greatbow once more, then stood with Lefiya and aimed at the boss's slender legs not far away.
Then.
Combat Skill, [Starlight Stream]!
But not charged, an instant shot!!
Instantly filling it with magic power and instantly releasing it resulted in a thumb-sized beam of light flashing past, striking the Meat Cup Princess's long leg. But because of its "trait," it couldn't penetrate, only knocking off a few flakes of pink flesh.
The damage wasn't high, but it was fast!
And he could use it continuously. As long as he kept replenishing his magic power, he could fire it instantly an unlimited number of times.
Soon.
Isagi had really turned the "laser cannon" into a "machine gun"!
The crimson-gold light sizzled like a downpour, continuously scorching the Meat Cup Princess's legs, sending flesh and flakes flying with each hit.
Not only that!
Isagi also used his other combat skill, [Glimmer Echo]!
The charged version of [Starlight Stream] couldn't be used with this echo skill because the entire charging process took ten to thirty seconds, far exceeding the one-second limit for the "echo."
However.
The instant-shot [Starlight Stream] could be repeated by the "echo," and not just once.
Within one second, as long as he could replenish his magic power fast enough, however many thin lasers he fired, the phantom that reappeared behind him made of glimmering light could also fire the same number of beams!!
"Holy shit!"
It was like discovering a new continent!
With this familiar memory, Isagi felt like he remembered something, suddenly getting the illusion that he had broken a taboo!!
This is...
And as if inspired by the young man.
Lefiya, beside him, for her part, gave up on using wide-area magic with long chants and high magic costs.
She chose to fire her [Arcs Ray] with the shortest time and least amount of magic!
Even.
For a tiny moment.
The elf girl regretted not learning Filvis's other ultra-short-chant attack magic.
That lightning magic, named [Dio Thyrsus], although limited in damage and destructive power, was sufficiently swift and could also apply a paralysis effect.
Lefiya had previously thought that since she already had single-target and wide-area annihilation magic, there was no need to learn that one.
So Filvis didn't mention it, and she didn't ask.
But now it seemed that if she knew an ultra-short-chant attack spell, she could have been much more helpful in this battle!
She deeply reflected on her mistaken perception!!!
Lefiya decided that after this adventure, when she resumed learning [Concurrent Chanting] from Filvis, she would definitely learn new magic from her as well!!
She must fully utilize her strengths and learn as many different spells as possible to handle completely different battles.
[Every magic has its use.]
[There is no useless magic in the world, only useless mages.]
Through practice, Lefiya understood just how profound and important these two sentences left by the sages of the Elven race were!
The pure white arrow of light had a much lower frequency than the laser rain fired by the young man, but the elf girl was already giving it her all. This boss was just a bad matchup for her.
And so.
Under the combined efforts of the young man and the girl.
The Meat Cup Princess's long legs also quietly shattered. In an instant, the boss, having lost its support, collapsed to the ground, even causing Tiona, still in the middle of her 'ora ora ora' rush, to pause in surprise.
She wondered why the enemy in front of her had suddenly fallen.
"Tiona, fall back!"
Isagi's voice from not far away brought the Amazon girl back to her senses.
After all, she wasn't like her sister, an idiot who was hard to pull back after going berserk from anger!
So.
Quickly realizing she had completed her task!
Tiona swiftly retreated and then saw Isagi throw something over.
It was the gourd!
Containing the "potion" that could heal her injuries!!
This was also something the young man had mentioned before.
Tiona took several large gulps without hesitation.
So refreshing!
And her wounds were healing so fast they were visible to the naked eye, even giving her the illusion that she had returned to her "peak state."
This is incredible, isn't it?!
It's practically on par with what the [Saintess of the Battlefield] from the Dian Cecht Familia concocts.
So—
Wait, did I just drink several million Valis of Isagi's money?!
(A panacea created through the [Mystery] development ability, capable of healing all wounds and abnormal statuses except for severed limbs. Market price: 500,000 Valis per bottle.)
Tiona was suddenly at a loss.
After all, even for a Level 3 adventurer like her, several million Valis was still a huge sum of money.
What should she do?
If it comes to it, then she'll just have to...
Meanwhile, watching the Amazon girl, who had been covered in blood and wounds, completely regain her vitality after drinking from the Healing Gourd.
Lefiya let out a sigh of relief.
Then a thought struck her!
Wasn't that just now an indirect kiss?!
Recalling how Tiona had unceremoniously put the gourd's spout in her mouth and gulped it down, the elf girl instantly turned beet red!
Mainly because.
She remembered that she had also drunk from Isagi's Healing Gourd before.
Not much, but she definitely had.
Ngh!!
The elf girl's pretty face instantly heated up, and even her breathing became incredibly rapid.
Completely oblivious to the two girls' thoughts at that moment.
Isagi's attention was still on the fallen Meat Cup Princess.
Contrary to what he imagined—that even after losing its legs, the beast, with only its torso, arms, and head remaining, would attack even more ferociously.
The truth was.
After collapsing, the creature just lay there motionless, letting out whimpering sounds.
It seemed there really wasn't a new phase.
Or perhaps it was because the limitations he and the girls had imposed on the Meat Cup Princess earlier had weakened it.
Isagi signaled for Tiona to come over to him and Lefiya. Then, he continued to attack the creature's head from a distance with the elf girl.
Flesh flew again.
But the Meat Cup Princess no longer reacted at all, until a short while later—probably because the continuous 'ora ora ora' on its head had caused相當 severe damage.
The canine head suddenly exploded, but it wasn't gruesome. Instead, just like before, it was as if beautiful, fluttering butterflies were falling.
Only this time, a Magic Stone of extremely high purity dropped out from within, causing the rest of its body to turn to ash and disappear.
In the end.
On the clean ground, besides the Magic Stone that was dazzlingly bright under the pale green fluorescent light, there was also a bright red heart.
[Hope of Flesh and Blood: A heart condensed with pure 'dark' magic power, which has already stopped beating.
Because they are different from one another, the 'darkness' that monsters perceive is also completely different.
The warmth of flesh and blood is innate, but what comes next? The dim-witted Kobolds have merely found the starting point, yet the path to kingship could never be so simple.]
"This looks like a magic item, too."
Just like the [Relic of the War Shadow Saintess] they had obtained after defeating the Goblin Knight and Saintess in the small dark room before.
Lefiya could feel the magic power contained within the item.
"Perhaps it can be made into a magic wand, or an accessory that aids in casting spells. Just like the silver hairpin the elf girl is currently using to tie her hair."
It could, to a certain extent, prevent a series of abnormal effects like "Paralysis," "Stun," and "Flash," and there were also various capes, bracers, and other items that increased resistance to corresponding magic or boosted defense.
Anyway.
Since it was related to magic power, he decided to put it away for now.
Besides that, Isagi was surprised to find that after the Meat Cup Princess perished, it had left behind a ball of essence in mid-air—something only he could see.
He switched to the "Retracing the Journey to the West" Character Card and collected it in his gourd.
The previous [Veteran General Gmorrs] hadn't dropped an essence, so he was pleased that one appeared here.
"By the way, where did Akshi go?!"
Isagi suddenly remembered the little golden-armored Goblin.
That fellow.
He had disappeared after the Meat Cup Princess changed phases. He and the girls hadn't had time to pay attention to it and didn't know where it had scurried off to.
Soon enough, the little Goblin's voice came from a corner by the cliff wall.
"Eh?! We won?! You guys actually... Ah... Ancestors of Deminix above, it is all thanks to your protection that we have achieved a victory worthy of a king.
"What an honor!"
"Akshi Deminix and the adventurers it recruited! Have defeated a once-conquered king!!"
Isagi: "..."
Tiona: "..."
Lefiya: "..."
___
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