Vol. 10 - Chapter 518 - Two-As-One---Twin Boss Appears!
Soon, we had arrived at the depth of the 20th floor, the stopping point we had decided for today.
"Well, we're finally here. Time to have a showdown with the field boss!"
"It's another Bull-Orc huh, but two?"
There, in the spacious field spread before the entrance to the 21st floor, stood two Bull-Orc as Sierra mentioned.
One of them had huge swords in both of its hands—a twin sword user. It was also donning armour, and gave off the same commander level enemy vibe like the «General» we had before. And, obviously, it was a melee attacker.
On the other hand, the second boss had been carrying a crossbow in its hand, and once could see two long spears on its back. It was a long-range attacker, while also having the skills to act as a mid-range attacker.
Yet, they had only one HP bar. They're the so-called joint bosses.
"It's a joint boss—«Twin Bull-Orc». They share the HP, so damage to anyone will count as damage to the whole. But, they also shared the aggro, which made them a nuisance so be careful about this."
"Share the aggro? You mean, if I brought one boss's attention, the other would automatically follow?"
"Sharp, and yes, this is their schtick. They're not two bosses, but more like buy one get one free package. So obviously, the divide and conquer tactic is out of the window this time, and there's no avoiding the two bosses' rush."
"I see. Certainly a tough opponent. Just to be expected from the highest hurdle dungeon."
"Can you take it, Sierra?"
"No sword can cut down the defence of my Aegis of Virtue. Leave it to me."
"Nice spirit, we're counting on you!"
"Then here I go! —«Quad Aegis of Virtue»!"
Sierra rushed forward with a yell.
The four small shields of Sierra gave off a pale glow and hovered in the cardinal directions with her at their centre.
Watching her from a distance, Ester also tightened her hold on her spear, preparing to jump ahead at any given moment. Her Azure Cogwheel followed the same pattern.
"Two bosses huh... What if I engage with the rear guard boss?"
"You can, but be careful of the retaliation. The rearguard boss can target its attacker even without the aggro."
The target would obviously be on Sierra, but due to the role each bosses take—the vanguard a.k.a 'Front-Bull,' and rearguard a.ka. the 'Back-Bull'—it allows the rearguard to switch targets from assisting the Front-Bull to targeting its attackers.
But, we also couldn't have rearguard act as it pleases, or it would simply hinder our movements. So, the tactic was to have Ester or Karua target it and seal its movements.
The sound of arrows striking against the shields echoed.
"You thought projectiles would ever work against me, eh? —«Shield Force»!"
Kuh, so cool! Sierra pulled in the aggro of boss as she uttered heroic lines. I mean, of course. There's no way the boss could escape her grasp!
"And—it's my turn now! «Overdrive»!"
"Hn! «Burst»!"
The instant Sierra pulled in the aggro of the boss, Ester and Karua worked off their legs and dashed away with a lightning speed.
Their target was of course Back-Bull. The main priority was to stop it from supporting the Front-Bull, and the second priority was to focus fire on it. As a rearguard, its defence was weak, so it was best we took down the weak link first.
"Support incoming! «Blessing of Guardian Dog»! «Divine Protection»! «Swift Blessing»!"
"Alright, I am following as well! «Sword Attribute - Lightning»! «Sonic Sword»!"
As Lana buffed the party members, I stepped forward. My target was the vanguard 'Front-Bull.'
"Mooooo!!"
Front-Bull made a thrusting motion with the sword in its right hand as it yelled. I confirmed the skill activation effect. It must be 'A Fiend's Sword Stab'! It had a piercing effect, and could deal great damage to even the armoured opponent.
"—«Iron Wall»!"
Sierra, however, tanked that attack with her «White Fang Kite Shield». The shield's skill—«Pierce Resist LV5», «Shock Absorption LV7» easily trivialised the force of Front-Bull's attack.
"Mooooo!!"
As if saying 'now try to handle this!' Front-Bull raised its huge sword over its head and pursued a relentless strike by virtue of skill «An Orc's Rampage»! But, this wasn't the end as an enchanted arrow was shot in the direction of Sierra by Back-Bull. It was a synchro attack combo due to their two-as-one nature.
Yet, Sierra displayed why she was our strongest shield.
Sierra repeated the «Iron Skill»—a skill that bolstered defence in exchange for temporarily taking away mobility, and held her ground against the tempestuous strikes of Front-Bull. Meanwhile, she also guided her small shields in the air to deflect the incoming arrow.
She had overcome the demerit that had come with the skill «Iron Wall», Immobility, using the autonomous shields. Just what you would expect from an advanced job!
Neither sword, nor arrow could deter Sierra.
"Enough of you, now behold our tempest! «Turn Drive»! And «Raging Spear War Dance»!"
"Same. «Force Sonic»! «Scale Break»!"
"Moooo!"
On the other hand, Ester and Karua unleashed their onslaught at the Back-Bull.
Having just used the crossbow and skill, Back-Bull movements fell apart slightly and met with the attack on unguarded stance. However, Back-Bull soon regained its bearing and retaliated with the two spears on its back. With a spear in each hand, it lunged at Ester and Karua, following with consecutive thrusts. This was «Fiend's Stab».
"Kuh, it's quite sharp. «Full Drive»!"
"Hn, «Dash»!"
It was a strong move, alas his opponent was master of speed—Ester and Karua. They swiftly evaded the incoming strikes, and the attack of Back-Bull all ended in naught.
"It really did come to attack us, ignoring the aggro. Fortunately, we knew that beforehand, or we might have been nearly done for."
"Hn, it's strong."
While one fends off Sierra, the other targets the rest of the members. This was the troublesome aspect of 'Twins.'
But, this was also why it was the correct tactic. It was better this way, to turn the attention of Back-Bull than letting it assist Front-Bull. This way, when it counterattack, it would have to stop focusing on Front-Bull—and that's where our true plan begins. Our target all along was Front-Bull.
"Now! —«Brave Slash»!!"
"Mooooiii!?"
Front-Bull was making a desperate attempt to break the defence of Sierra, and aiming for the opening, I moved to its flank and activated my unique skill.
Front-Bull was barely left any move to counterattack at my sudden approach. It had an AoE attack, and could have shook me off with that, but this was why I chose this timing. Its entire attention was on Sierra which made for a perfect opening.
"Haaaa! «Holy Sword»! «Lightning Banisher»! «Lightning Slash»! «Quick Strike»!"
"Mooo!?"
It was a flawless combo that easily slipped past the defence of Front-Bull, dealing huge damage.
In a hurried move, Front-Bull spread its hand with swords clutched in them, resembling the propeller of a helicopter, and started spinning—«Tempestuous Giant». It was an AoE attack, and even a single touch could deal heavy damage!
But too bad, I had long anticipated this move. I backstabbed to get out of the attack range, and turned the tip of my Firmament Sword toward the Front-Bull way.
"It's a great skill. It deals uniform damage to everyone, and has a wide range of action which discourages anyone from mounting an attack from close range, or mid-range. Albeit, it has no way to counter from long range. —Get Blasted, «Thunderbolt»!"
A huge thunder arrow shot from the tip of my firmament sword.
It was fourth order tree skill; a single target spell with thunder attribute. As long as the attack connects, it's bound to deal tremendous damage.
"Mooo-Mooooo!?"
A direct hit. Plus, thanks to my earlier chain attack, it pushed Front-Bull into critical down status.
This was our chance—or well, it would have been. Alas, the situation turns kinda complicated when the opponent is Front-Bull.
I swiftly stopped Ester and Karua who were about to launch their offensive at it.
"Stay on your spot, Ester, Karua!"
"Moooo!!|
The same instant, Back-Bull looked nowhere and made for a mad dash toward the Front-Bull.
"Ahh!? The boss is reacting to the down status?!"
Ester let out a surprised squeal at the Back-Bull's sudden action. The long-awaited opportunity was trampled under the dash of Back-Bull as it took a defensive stance in front of Front-Bull.
"Situation could have turned dicey."
"Thank you, Zephyr-dono."
It would have been a fierce counterattack from Back-Bull had we all lunged for an all-out attack. This had been why I stopped them from attacking.
"Wait for my signal!"
I further asked them to stay put, which had everyone surprised a bit. They probably had thought it was the chance to deal with Back-Bull since its current priority right now was to defend Front-Bull at any cost. They're not wrong per se, but we would be missing out on an interesting situation if we take actions now. And I didn't want to miss that.
"Mooo!"
"Mooooo....."
Ascertaining that no follow up attack was coming, Back-Bull turned to lend Front-Bull a helping hand.
By grabbing onto that hand, Front-Bull would recover from its down state—or so, but not in my watch!
"I was just waiting for this! «Lightning Slash»!!"
Thud! Of course, since Back-Bull had turned to give a helping hand, it left its back wide open. I promptly jumped at the back and slashed it with my lightning sword. Back-Bull stumbled forward and—
"Mooo!?"
"Moooo!?"
It was like a person was helping out a drowning person by pulling them up when someone kicked them from behind, also pushing them into water.
And so, the good friends they're, Front-Bull and Back-Bull fell into down status together.
"It's our chance! Open fire—!!"
This was the correct way to put «Twin Bull-Orc» onto down immobilisation state.