Vol 1 Chapter 19 (1/1)

”There he is!” The catwoure in full plate ar The youth readies his aiure, ”wait, wait, Rick, I think that three-headed dog is the boss here Let theht, he is called [Cerebus] He's located on one of only two proper islands within this lake of lava” Niji co, ”The island he is on is just big enough to fit around 40 people, so ere never able to overwhelm it with numbers” Someone moves to the spot where Tabeus was at previously and is directing that section of the raid as the conversation continues The raid is divided into 3 groups, spaced evenly apart, that's surrounding the [Cerebus] Each group is further broken into two subgroups, the inner group to deal with the [Cerebus] while the outer group deals with roup to always be able to target the back of the [Cerebus] at the expense of being exposed from all sides ”What about the 2nd island?” Kun turns away froue ”It's beyond the island the [Cerebus] is guarding And no, we already tried sneaking past hi to approach it With the lack of a safe foothold and a way to defend themselves, anyone that tried to do so died” ”damn it, let's help theue in annoyance as he takes ai the [Cerebus] raid from the side ”A little help Kun?” ”Got it «Spell Modifier»!” pyu ”«Ai it and turns to confront the threat It sees a clear, slightly blurred so a split second before it enter its dark sullen eye The beast roars before throwing its head back and forth while thrashi+ng about,the [Cerebus] notices the commotion but didn't care when it's obvious the beast doesn't pose a threat The [Mager before it stopsand slowly starts to sink into the lava ”Nice shot, Rick-ni~” ”” ”” ”” The rest of the raid looks at the scene with slackened-jaws It's the first ti down a mob here in one shot PA ”Holy shi+t, nice shot Rick How the hell did you get its eye?” Bell gives the youth a slap on his back ”Eh It was a fluke, I was just ai for its body” The raid turn their heads toward him, frozen in their shocked expression ”Fluke or not, that was a one shot kill” Niji starts scratching his cheek ”We didn't even think these beasts follow conventional weak-” ”Till! «Spell Modifier»!” The girl with the aquamarine hair turns around and faces the [Firehound] that's approaching them ”Hmm let see if this works~ Please put up a wall everyone~” ”Huh?” shi+n shi+n shi+n shi+n shi+FUUMUGAN”«Ice Wall»~” gan gan ”Sh- «Earth Pillar»!” ”«Earth Pillar»!” An extremely thick and sturdy wall of ice is formed under the [Firehound], but it is still no match for the lava's heat Cracks form in the wall before entire sections of it flies about like fireworks, sending shards, steae but it still got hit by the randoed to react in time and raise defensive walls to protect the raid ”Oh shi+t! Move it!” tatata Everyone starts running to the other side of the platforht cause the platform to tip shi+ paaasssshhhhaaaa On the other side of the here the [Firehound] is, the apparition dives into the lava to drive the water and steah splash of lava to fly up ”You are kidding e area spread!” ”Got it! «Spell Modifier»!” ”«Chorus Strike»!” Bell runs straight toward the earthen walls and does an overhand slash with her halberd, instead of cutting into the wall, the wall turns into particles of light before for toward the 3their way The blades of water slonblob of water suddenly bursts outward in a wide, even spray SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII The lava wave solidifies quickly as an eruption of steam rises froray like the platfor to slam down like a flyswatter ”What no wa-” ”damn IT ALL! «Linear Thrust»!” ”Ah! «Aura Slash»!” ”«Rapidfire»!” ”«Air Lance»~” ”«Earth Lance»!” x3 KAN KAN KAN pikkan pikkan KAN KAN KAN KAN KAN Theanything aside froe skills to strike at the top of the newly fores join in as soon as they snapped out of it ”One more time, Till! «Spell Modifier»!” ffffuuuussshhhHOOOKAN ppaasssshhhhhhhaaaaaaa ”«Air Haht position before tipping over backward The [Firehound] that just got out of the lava doesn't even react as the wall spells out its doom Another splash of lava flies up into the air, fortunately it is flying away froood for my heart” ”That was unbelievable” ”Wait we survived WE SURVIVED! This is the first tiht!” As the rabs Till and Kun and heads to the end of the platform Niji on the other hand turns toward the [Cerebus] with a frown on his face After the cheers died down, Niji blows out an angry snort and heads toward the group that's at the edge of the platfor and shi+t, let's kill the?” ”shhhhhhhh” Rick holds an index finger to his lip as he whispers There are various odd, protruding clu the line of sight of the group, Niji notices a slobule of lava about 5 ch, that's floating in the air Everyone, save for Rick, is kneading their brows in concentration ”What's going on?” Niji lean into Rick to whisper his question ”Bell started saying so too fast and soet soot stuck to the platform after Till took so a usable saradually solidifies as it spins slowly in the air A few ray floats in the air ”Go for it, Till Everyone, step back” Rick and Niji moves out of the hile Bell steps to the side ”«Gust»~” kan The ball of solidified lava drops with aonto a nearby eh of relief as he wipes his forehead with his sleeve pichan ”«Water Beads»” The catwo it up off the floor ”Huh it's cool to the touch and it actually grew” Everyone, saves for Till, looks at her with a questioning gaze ”Really~?!” Till runs up and grabs the sa it, knocking it, and staring at it with a thoughtful look ehhen Niji grabs their attention with a cough, ”sorry for interrupting, but,” pointing toward the [Cerebus], ”those guys noticed us, Keely even PMed hta shoot hi roars from the other side of the platform ”We orry about this later, we can finish the [Magmahound] ”Don't worry about it, Niji, they couldn't take down [Cerebus] before, there's no way they can do it now Not with us here ready to wipe them out” Kun follows the felinoid with quick steps Rick rotates his wrists outith spread out hands and gives a shrug and walks off, followed by Till who's still playing around with the orb ”Just how easy going are you people”

The roup arrives The range users are not attacking in earnest, but instead focusing on defense and helping theit when theinto practice the tactics that were taught previously by Bell and Kun pyu ”«Aiht into the left eye of the [MagAAO The beast roars in pain before swiping at the uess I can't do it without Kun” gan gan ”«Earth Lance»!” x2 gao gao Two [Mage]s send a pair of stalactite into the supporting legs of the [Mag it to fall flat on its abdole its lio to toith it Bell and Kun look at the raid with a set the chance to join the action ”What you guys are done already?” Niji ran with his weapons drawn, but it seems like help wasn't necessary He squints his eyes, ”we only leveled once since then, what changed?” FFAAAAA GGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOO BBUUOOOO The [Cerebus]'s roar rips through the area Pluas spew forth from lava everywhere, while it breathes out fire froh!” ”dairl casually sweeps the poison aith a refreshi+ng gust of air as she continues to play with thelonger! Kun!” The young ives a nod, ”«Spell Modifier»!” pyu ”«Aim Shot»!” Rick sends a carefully ai [Cerebus] unexpectedly starts spinning after using up its fire breaths, it starts biting with itstail like a whip It trips nu it from its rear, one of the people tripped also happens to be Keely As he flips backward fros knocked out from underneath him, the position where his back end used to beKAN and pitiful Oooo surprises everyone, including the [Cerebus] Rick and Kun cover their crotch instinctively while Bell rimace Till is still busy with the luht The rest of the raid look at the three and piece together the puzzle Males aether while the ferimace as well pan pan ”na-mu-a-mi-da-butsu” ”hahahahahah, AHAHAHAHAHAHA” Kun claps his hands together as though he's praying at a funeral Rick starts laughing so hard that he has to fall onto the floor and roll onto his back The [Cerebus] is the first to recover froe, heavy paw onto the prone Keely, squishi+ng him like a beetle The rest of the raid reacts too slowly,their chance to save their leader Panic follows as different people try to take coone, there isn't a suitable raid leader left in the raid The [Cerebus] slowly, but surely, kills off the raiders one by one ”Get up, Rick! Snipe it while we still have the chance” The still giggling youth struggles to get up and pair up with Kun to take shots at the [Cerebus]'s head The rest of the raid get into formation in case any new enemies shows up and prepare for the [Cerebus] once it finishes dealing with the other raid pyu pyu pyu pyu ”da jack!” Rick curses as each of his «Ai an shi+n shi+n shi+n shi+n kan kan kan Behind the two, the raid have engaged with a [Firehound] and [Magmahound] successively Due to their newfound co with the beasts, the raid didn't even sound off a warning, allowing the two to snipe at the boss uninterrupted ”Inco [Cerebus]!” The youth fires one last shot at the [Boss] before retreating into the formation with Kun GAAAAOOO basha bash basha basha baSHA BASHA BASHA The [Cerebus] gives off another air splitting roar after s toward the splashes of lava to fly in its wake ”Range! Kill its uys are the last line of defense!” ”«Ice Wall»!” ”«Ice Wall»!” shi+n shi+n fuuuuuOOO ”«Aian shi+n shi+n shi+n shi+n ssshhhhhhhhiiiiiii Walls of ice are raised in the distance in front of the charging canine, chunks fly off before exploding fro the shards si an arrow to strike it in the head Unfortunately, it bounces off the canine of the canine before pouncing like a tiger to leap over the stalactite and fingers of icicles heading its way [Note: The original line was /tooth) which is read as ”Tiger Tooth” and juer Since the pun can't survive as is, I use canine (the tooth) with canine (the animal), the second canine has been added byTempest»~” fffyyyyyyuuuuu The , sustained gust of air slams into the beast's body Due to its tre one side of the platform to dip into the lava as the other end raises The 5 e stripes and bright red eyes, stu and posture was destroyed by the burst of air ”Ahhhh!” ssshi+ One of theand tue]s reacts quickly and suht and force pyu pyu pyu pyu A rain of invisible arrows flies into the face the of the beast, who starts shaking its head with closed eyes to protect itself as it tries to get back up on all fours Rick was already in a stable position since he was using «Aim Shot» priorly, so he just kept the same position and used «Rapidfire» when the beast fell ”Back! Back!” Niji gives an order as he quickly moves toward the center of the platfor it into the opposite direction The [Mage] quickly releases the earthen wall, allowing the platforround due to the unstable footing Fortunately, they still have tens of meters from the other end of the platform, so no one else fell into the lava ”Okay, Niji, how the hell are we supposed to kill this giant son of a bitch?!” Rick stops shooting, gets up fro position, and runs toward the double [Guardian] line foreon ”That isn't a son of a bitch, that's just a bitch” ”What?” ”There'd be so if it's a he, wait, what the hell are youme say Nevermind, just hit it til it's dead!” ”” ”” ”” Bell, Kun and Till look at Niji with half-closed eyes ”What? That's hoays fought it” ”Didn't you guys think uys failed everytime?” The felinoid rolls her eyes ”No plans other than hit it?” ”Bell-ne, are they idiots~?” GAooooogaoooo The [Cerebus] growls in anger after it's up on its legs again, slowly advancing toward the for, do what you usually do, Gods be dao, Till, I'm not too sure Nyehnyehnyeh!” Bell”Man, I'uys seriously didn't have a plan?” Rick shakes his head as he readies his bow and walks away ”But that's how these games work, no?” An exasperated Niji protests ”I'a possible to win” Kun joins the others as he leave Niji to handle the rest of the raid Rick is already peppering the heads of the [Cerebus] with a barrage of arrows It keeps swinging its head and swiping into air in annoyance ”3 groups! You guys know the drill! Let's do this!”

haa haa ”da else we can try?” Rick slumps his shoulders as he catches his breath He had been paired with Kun and then Bell as they tried to find some exploitable weakness on the beast, but it had been a fruitless endeavour Arrows to [Cerebus]'s face were easily deflected or shaken off once it's on its feet Bell's atteive it a boile tail Trying to ais usually have soft pads was suicidal once they saw the metal plates that were fitted on the underside of each paw The group also volunteered to take down minions that showed up to allow the rest of the raid to pin it doith harassing attacks and interfere with the [Cerebus]'sby sending them back onto the platform instead of into the lava On the occasions where the canine would roar and cause poisonous gas to bubble forth froet rid of it ”GGaaaaaooooGGGGAAAAAOOOO Growling, the beast spins all around, biting with its different heads and lashi+ng with its tail The raid planned ahead after seeing it in action in the distance [Guardian]s drop to their knees and anchor their position while raising their shi+elds Everyone else lays on the ground behind these sanctuaries KAN KAN KAN KAN KAN KAN KAN Sparks flies as teeth and tail pound away at the shi+elds, but no one budges The 4 of theether at this ti a block of ice into its ain?” ”The ice won't explode, there isn't enough temperature difference unlike with the lava But that isn't a bad idea, to have so explode inside its mouth Seriously, what happened to you since school ended? It's like your IQ went up to triple digits all of the sudden” ”Hmm actually, I can do that Let's use Rick's idea, won't hurt to try at this point Rick, Till, going to need you two to so when it sees that there's no effect whatsoever, save for the fact that its tail is a little tired BUUOOOOOO BUUUOOOO BBUUUUOOO Taking a deep breath, it holds up its heads before swinging the 3 cones of flaan An earthen wall pops up before the group of [Guardian]s, ”«Stardust»!” ”«Aim Shot!»!” ”«Air Lance»~!” zin zin zin pyu fyu An invisible arrow flies toward the head that's exposed to the group Sensing the inco fire, closes its eyes and shakes itself A buffet of air sla it in place while specks of light flies into the beast'sfire as well as it tries to push it's right head into its usual position ”«Icicle Squall»!” sin inshi+n Theis barely audible above the last cone of fla out fro out flas their heads up, howling before taking a deep breath, the right head breaths out fire for awildly A small a the unusual scene, Niji pops up ”CHARGE!” WWWAAAAAAAAAA All the melees roar and rush forward to attack the beast's front limbs ”No! Get back!” GGAoooo GAOOOOOO Bell's voice caroup, barely avoiding the spinning machine of death bori ZUN KAN KAN KAN bori sssshhhhhhhhiiiiiiiii ”Ahhhhhhhhh!” ”He-” ”NNNOOOOOOOOO” A large portion of the raid goes flying by the impacts, bitten to death, or have the [Cerebus]'s tail crush them where they stand ”You IDIOT! Couldn't you have waited?” Bell's screa at Niji who Till happens to save when he flew over their head's haa haa Till is breathing heavily as her MP has reached rock bottoht began didn't allow her a chance to recover ”But but but” ”BUT NOTHING! WH-” Kun steps in front of Bell to stop her with his hand up and points behind her chihiiiii She gives off a loud hiss before turning towards the beast ”Okay people, evacuate if you don't want to lose any ite The few surviving raidat Niji in confusion ”You too, Niji!” ”But” ”GO! We will buy some ti and running as the beast tries to resuht next to him and shoves her already collapsed halberd into his pack and starts running toward the beast ”What the hell are are you doing, Bell?” ”Warp back with ht as well do a rodeo, I alanted to try one!” ”You crazy bitch” ”GO ALREADY! «Spell Amplifier» «Icicle Squall»!” yun yun yun shi+N shi+N shi+N shi+N The sound of people activating their scrolls can be heard Unexpectedly, icicles the size of large trees surrounds the beast ”What the hell, Kun?” Rick looks up in disbelief, Niji and a few others look up as well The icicles slaes deftly while breathing out cones of flae The icicles' impact causes the platform to wobble violently ”«Nyetal Claws» nyanyanyanyaNNNNYYAAAAAAA” Bell's body shape changes, with her entire body shrinking while her legs thicken ever so slightly byun shi+ byun KA byun KA byun KA byun KA byun KA byun shi+ The catwo her claws in As soon as the beast reacts by raising that leg, she juoing ever higher until she lands behind the beast's heads at the root of the necks Like with its leg, she digs her claws into its flesh on its back ”Ho-” Before Niji or anyone can say anything, they start warping toward the front of the [Barghest Dungeon] GGAAAAAAOOOOOOO The beast swings its heads and paildly to try and dislodge the intruder, sending the icicle shards flying Kun i the position ”Till!” Rick dives and wraps Till within both arms at the last possible okin A horrible sound of bone snapping follows the sound of i off the platfor to die anyways YOU TWO GO CHECK OUT THAT ISLAND! I know you are still alive and kicking, Rick, HOLD HER TIGHT!” A s is barely visible, but the h ”«Air Hammer»! «Air Hammer»! «Air Hammer»!” fuuoo kan fuuoo kan fuuoo kan Kun stands up fro toward the second island, using Rick as a cushi+on for Till Rick would be dead in any case, but at least there's a chance of Till landing safely and she can at least recover some items to warp aith If there happens to be treasure in that second island, even better GGAA— ”NNNNYYAAAAAAAHHHHAAAHHAAAA Bell is holding on for dear life with a crazed look in her eyes Ooo The [Cerebus] stopssuddenly when it realizes that soets ready to sprint back by lowering its center of gravity ”LIKE I WILL LET YOU!” x2 ”«Elemental Dance»!” ”«Spell Amplifier» «Earth Pillar»!” supa supa supa supa supa GGGGGAAAAAANNNNNN Bell digs in with the claws on her leg while pounding aith the claws on her ar tens ofalmost the entire width of the lava lake ”We aren't done with you yet little doggy! NYAHAHHAHAAHAHAHA”

haa haa Just a little more! ”Hold on Rick-ni, we are alh! ”«Gust»!” fyu GAshan ”Wa!?” I involuntarily swing backward and ended up facing the ceiling unexpectedly as Rick uses himself to cushi+on et off of him and feed him a potion ”ooe survived that ha ha” I look at where ere a few o, the entire area has been blocked off by an i ile hill -a large rab two [Warp Scroll]s out and help hiht ar his left ar that we have a secure footing, I stuff one of the vellu to check that cave out and then warp out right away If there's an enemy, warp aithout me okay? I'll throw my valuables at you at the last moment” ”But” ”No buts, you are not in a shape to walk properly, let alone fight” Rick-ni just gives me a wry smile and nods his head We slowlyelse on the island save for cave, which is pretty weird As soon as we step inside the cave, I notice the sudden drop in temperature There's even a coat of ice on the walls in here! There are various food stuff lining the backwall kin I hear a sound to the right, there's a young, dog-earedon a stone bed There see on the numerous stone beds in that side of the room I drop Rick-ni's arm and points at the vellum in his hand I can't say I expected this or that there's oes the- wait father?”