The ninety-ninth floor. We’re ready for a long fight with cerberus, but we’re not going for a long fight right off the start.
Experience tells me that if we can finish it quickly, it’s no big deal. That’s why the moment we go in, we split into two groups.
First, me, the beast king, Rurika, and Sera charge forward. I use magic while running, making use of Parallel Thinking to cast defensive spells on the other three, and after I’m done with that, I switch over to offensive spells.
Hikari stands in place and uses Projectile Slash. Figel also shoots from his bow, and chants magic. It’s kind of his assigned role.
Kaina stands there to defend, while Chris and Nene chant offensive spells, and Mia support magic.
The back row is also slowly moving forward.
While we trained, we understood once again that it’s important to restrict our enemy’s range of movement while fighting. If the enemy is clumped together, a single shot of area of effect magic can deal damage to several summoned monsters.
Cerberus starts by casting Hellfire, Hellwall, and summoning monsters, but I block Hellfire, Chris erases Hellwall with spirit magic, and the beast king and the others in front start taking out the summoned monsters.
Meanwhile, Hikari and Figel attack the boss, and work towards not letting it do anything.
Unlike the other bosses, cerberus has three heads, so they can’t break through with long range attacks alone.
But we already knew that, so the point is just to keep it busy.
We’re also closing in to take out its legs. Cerberus’ heads have strong attacks, but its mobility is no joke either. If it moves all over the place, it’s hard to keep it still or hit it.
Our preemptive attack at the start worked exactly as we planned.
The beast king swiftly gets close and delivers blows, Sera swings her axes, and Rurika casts Gale after getting close to unleash precise attacks.
I attack with my sword while using magic, and since it’s not attacking, that’s a big burden off our defense.
But still, cerberus shows intense resistance.
When summoned monsters see they’re at a disadvantage, they cast Hellfire on themselves, turning their bodies into balls of fire.
We can’t touch them in that state, we have to either use magic to put out the fire, or I can stop them. But if we touch them directly, we’ll catch fire too.
Despite their resistance to fire, they don’t survive long when they set themselves on fire like that.
“Tch , that attack’s trouble.”
The beast king smacks his lips, but our opponents are also desperate to take us down.
The boss uses this window to summon more monsters, and we can’t stop it. But still, we take them down steadily, and move in to reduce their area of activity.
The boss is gradually being cornered, and its fighting style is getting simpler too. Its mobility has been taken away, and it can’t use Hellwall. It’s a threatening spell that’s good for offense and defense, but it’s bad for the caster if used in a narrow area.
I’ve actually seen one touch a Hellwall and burn to death.
“Sora, one’s over there!”
Says the beast king, and I pull back the sword I just swung, to hold up my shield.
The cerberus at my feet turns to dust and disappears, but my mind is already on the next one.
It’s going for a tackle, but it can only muster up half the power because it can’t get a good running start. Actually, less than half.
Once I block it, two arrows fly past my shoulder and hit it with the usual precision.
It screams, and the remaining two heads fly into a fit of rage, but we’re not done.
First, Rurika uses Gale to cut at it from a blind spot, and while its attention is there, Sera attacks a head from above.
The swing that has extra power from her coming down catches it by surprise, and the head is cut.
That’s another one down, and… The beast king just took down another one, so there are four left.
These four are being kept in a corner of the room by Chris and Nene, who are attacking with magic in waves.
“Once the magic is gone, let’s attack. Sora, grab the attention of the boss. Figel and Hikari, support from a distance. Rurika and Sera, don’t force yourselves to take them down.”
They attack once the magic is gone, but unfortunately, don’t take out any of them. They’re cornered, but that also hinders our movements. But we know that, and the most important thing is to not let them summon more.
What matters is the next attack, and Chris, Nene, and Figel are done chanting magic.
We didn’t take them out, but we did wound them, and more importantly, kept them there.
The magic is fired, and it engulfs the trapped cerberus.
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
Thanks for the treat.