Chapter 77 - Monitor Footage of Growth (2/2)

The Bolseyer, previously trying to drag Sova into the lava, now turned its little eyes around and charged in a straight line at Stephanie, influenced by the aggro her casting of <<Raise>> had generated. Its whiskers still clung to Sova’s leg, so he was dragged along, but at least he was no longer at risk of death from drowning in lava.

“Bittman! <<Combat Cry>> repeatedly, please!”

“<<Combat Cry>>,” Bittman shouted, immediately reacting to Stephanie’s cue.

“<<Summon — Giant Golem>>.”

Rook used a Large Earthen Magic Stone to form a gigantic rock statue in a bid to defend Stephanie.

But then the Bolseyer rammed at the Giant Golem as it was still forming, instantly neutralizing it and scattering rocks all over the place. Sova, seeing an opening, slashed at the Bolseyer’s whiskers with his long sword, causing it to wriggle in pain and loosen its whiskers’ grips.

Having escaped from his restraints and seeing that the Bolseyer had stopped moving, Sova proceeded to attack it again, aiming at its whiskers. The Bolseyer wriggled again, as if it hated taking a hit, especially there.

“Aha! I’mma cut these right off!”

Just as Sova was about to attack the Bolseyer’s newfound weakness again, it started bouncing around like a fish out of water. Sensing that his attack was working, Sova gave it another shot.

That moment, the Bolseyer used the recoil from its bouncing to leap high into the air.

“What the–“

…Was Sova’s last words before being squashed to death by the gigantic, serpentine body on its way down. The giant rock that had been the Giant Golem got blown from its resting place with the impact; it ricocheted and crashed into Rook, knocking him into the lava.

The smaller rocks bounced, too, hitting Stephanie and hurting her quite badly. Bittman has only suffered minor injuries so far, while the Tank lady held her abdomen in pain, still unable to put her equipment back on.

“<<Rai– <<Heal>>.”

In the past, she would have used <<Raise>> instantly to draw the Bolseyer to her, giving the Tanks the time to recover the uncollected equipment and get their positionings in order, as had been the old expected procedure. Now, however, Stephanie healed her own wounds first before casting <

> for the two Tanks.

“Bittman! Use <<Combat Cry>>! Drink a Blue Potion if you need to — just make it go after you!”

“Understood. <<Combat Cry>>.”

Bittman chugged down a vial of his Blue Potion, of the not-so-tasty brand, and then continuously unleashed <<Combat Cry>>. Stephanie dodged the Bolseyer’s attacks for about thirty seconds before the <<Combat Cry>> spam took effect, finally taking the Bolseyer’s attention off her.

“You two, avoid its attacks and use <<Combat Cry>> as many times as you can! I need the time to get everything back together!”

The Tank lady had yet to recover her equipment, so she faced the Bolseyer in only her flaxen clothes. She spent all of the mental energy she had before her previous death into using <<Combat Cry>>.

Then Stephanie cast <<Raise>> twice, making it just a few seconds past fifty after Sova and Rook had died. Light particles formed back into their living bodies; Stephanie held her aching head while sipping from a vial of Blue Potion.

Although aggro generated by <<Raise>> was the highest among the heal-and-support-generated type aggro, the final amount was also influenced by the aggro on the targets of the resurrection. As such, reviving an Attacker would result in not as much aggro being generated; thanks to that and the two Tanks’ efforts, Stephanie did not get targeted even after casting <<Raise>> twice.

Rook and Sova, likely having expected to come back to life in the Guild, were stunned to find themselves still in the chaos of the Dungeon.

“…Huh?”

“Rook! Your armor is over there! Quickly!”

“Y-yes, ma’am!!”

Rook hopped to his feet and went to retrieve his equipment, hurried on by Stephanie. Sova looked at Stephanie, and saw that she was having a hard time managing her aggro and deciding whether or not to heal the two Tanks now.

“…HAH!”

Then he shouted to psych himself up, donned his gear, and rushed toward the Bolseyer, covering for the Tanks as they were running short on breath.

In the following battle, however, the party failed to find an effective means of attacking the Bolseyer; after another half-hour or so, Ealdred Crow’s main party was wiped out.

The five of them in flaxen clothes, and also their Magic Bags, emerged from the Guild’s Black Gate as if they were spat out. They proceeded to withdraw their spare gear from the Guild’s storage and equip themselves, then sat down at one of the round tables, sighing in disappointment.

Then suddenly, Sova bowed his head.

“Sorry — I really mess up there. My attacks weren’t even getting through it.”

“No, no, I should be the one saying sorry. Didn’t think the Giant Golem would be such a bad idea…”

“The red slimy coat was quite a nuisance. It’s effective both for attack and defense, so I say we have to do something about it. From what I could see, the coat’s content is… refilled whenever the monster dives into the lava ring. It would be nice if we could prevent it from doing so, somehow.”

“…Right, it did dive into the lava for no apparent reason a few times. Hey, maybe I could try cooling it down with one of my Eidolons — that’ll be interesting.”

“…Its whiskers are clearly the weakness. I actually felt my cuts do something.”

“That, and the inside of its mouth. My <<Air Blades>> seemed to do damage that one time I used it,” Stephanie said and pondered things over further.

Meanwhile, the other party members looked at her. After a few moments, Stephanie realized that all eyes were on her, and was quite surprised.

“Y-yes? What is it?”

“Nothing, juuuuust thinking how amazing you are, you know. Like, when Sova and I died, I really thought it was all over — but then you managed to bring us back into the fight!”

“Th-thank you…”

“Stephanie, your decision-making and instructions were wonderful. It’s partly thanks to you that I didn’t falter.”

“…Hmph. I’ll admit that you did good — but don’t get carried away. You never know what’ll happen next time.”

“You’re awesome, Stephanie!”

Stephanie, bewildered by all the praise she was receiving, almost deflected them out of humility before stopping herself.

Instead, she said confidently, “Thank you very much. Come, everyone, let us continue our discussion.”

“Oh, Stephanie… How much you have grown…” Rook said, almost shedding a few tears.

“What do you think you are, her dad?” Sova calmly called out Rook’s overreaction.