The scene unfolded with Stelle relentlessly swinging her baseball bat at Lumina, but every strike was effortlessly blocked by Lumina's vibrant emerald shield.
March 7th's arrows fared no better. Except for one near miss that almost struck Stelle's rear, all her shots clattered harmlessly against Lumina's shield, just like Stelle's bat.
Even Welt's conjured black hole, when slammed into Lumina's shield, merely rippled the barrier, utterly failing to inflict any damage.
"Sister Lumina, why don't you take off that turtle shell for once!" March 7th exclaimed, realizing their current strategy was futile. She switched to her trademark verbal barrage, hoping to goad Lumina into dropping her defensive barrier.
"Sure thing♪"
Lumina's response surprised March 7th. After hearing her words, Lumina gave March a gentle smile and deactivated her protective shield.
"Huh?" March 7th stared in disbelief as Lumina actually removed her "turtle shell."
But the Galactic Baseballer was far more ruthless. Seeing Lumina lower her guard, she swung her bat without hesitation, aiming a ferocious blow at Lumina.
Lumina glanced at her with amusement, raised her staff, and effortlessly deflected the strike.
After knocking the bat aside, a green light emanated from her body as she floated into the air. Pointing her staff at the group, she chuckled, "Since you won't let me defend, I guess it's time for me to attack!"
As Lumina finished speaking, the player's screen shattered once more, plunging them back into battle...
"March 7th, you've really done it now..." Little Bear muttered, watching Lumina on the screen. She was radiating a green glow, floating in the air, and wielding her staff with an aura of overwhelming power.
[Yay! Lumina's getting serious! We're doomed!]
[Sorry, my wife has a bit of a sharp tongue. I'll make sure to discipline her properly tonight. (Laughing)]
[Go ahead, go ahead. I'll just take Lumina home with me. (Smirking)]
"How the hell are we supposed to beat this second phase?" Little Bear ignored the comment section, his entire focus now on the battle.
[Break Lumina's weaknesses to deal damage.]
He glanced at the in-game tip, then at Lumina's name, only to find that all seven of her weaknesses had vanished without a trace. He froze, dumbfounded.
"Wait a minute, sis... you're not leaving me a single weakness?!"
"How are we supposed to fight this? She doesn't take damage unless we break her weaknesses, but she doesn't have any left!"
"Are you seriously buffing her or something?"
Little Bear remembered that Lumina's basic attacks could ignore weaknesses to inflict toughness damage.
But the problem was... she hadn't even attacked yet!
His confusion vanished as a notification appeared at the top center of the screen, explaining everything.
[Boss Lumina's speed is fixed at 50. When she is hit by an attack of any elemental type, she gains a corresponding elemental weakness.]
[When it's Boss Lumina's turn, she will unleash different tiers of attacks on our team based on the number of weaknesses she currently has.]
"Hmm... Is it better to give her more weaknesses, or fewer?" Little Bear muttered, hesitant to act rashly. "What if I stack four weaknesses on Lumina, and she wipes out my entire team with a single slap?"
Little Bear's team consisted of Seele, Bronya, Bailu, and Tingyun, capable of inflicting a maximum of three weaknesses.
[Just inflict two or three. How strong can a story boss really be?]
[If Lumina were in the Forgotten Hall or the Simulated Universe, I might be worried. But in the story? I can only chuckle.]
[A weak story boss isn't necessarily truly weak. But a strong story boss? That's definitely strong... I have a feeling that when Lumina appears in the Forgotten Hall, she'll beat us so badly we'll question our entire existence.]
"Let's go with two weaknesses," Little Bear decided after a moment's contemplation. He controlled Seele and Bailu to attack Lumina, inflicting two elemental weaknesses.
After applying the weaknesses, Little Bear ceased his attacks, awaiting Boss Lumina's turn.
When it was Boss Lumina's turn, the two weaknesses above her health bar vanished. A green aura emanated from her body, accompanied by a surge of buffs:
[Maximum HP increased, Damage increased, Resistance increased, Defense increased...]
"Oh crap, I'm screwed!" Little Bear exclaimed. Seeing the cascade of positive buffs enveloping Lumina, he knew he was doomed.
[Life Pact]
The skill name appeared at the top of the screen, followed by Lumina's stunning visage dominating the entire display.
Her staff pulsed with radiant light, enveloping all four of Little Bear's characters.
As the light faded, each character's health bar had been halved, and a glowing green mark materialized on their bodies.
[All allied characters have been afflicted with Life Pact. During her next action, Boss Lumina will cast Withered Hour on all units marked with Life Pact.]
[Remove Life Pact from your characters immediately!]
A system alert flashed at the top of the screen.
Instead of panicking, Little Bear calmly opened the status panel to examine the Life Pact debuff:
[Life Pact]
Units afflicted with the Life Pact suffer 100% increased damage and receive 70% reduced healing.
The Life Pact can be removed by restoring a unit's HP to its maximum.
"How am I supposed to heal this with Bailu...?" Little Bear wondered, finally understanding the implications of the Life Pact.
This scenario clearly wasn't designed for players to win.
Just as Little Bear had feared, even though Boss Lumina's speed was only 50, allowing Bailu two turns per round, the 60% healing reduction made it impossible to fully heal all four characters.
However, through Little Bear's exceptional skill and a stroke of luck, he managed to fully heal Seele alone, removing the Life Pact from her.
[Withered Hour]
When Lumina's turn arrived, a brief skill animation played. Her stunning figure filled the screen as she raised her staff and gently tapped a character afflicted with the Life Pact. The affected unit instantly went dark and collapsed.
"Huh? That's not an instant-kill skill."
Although three characters had fallen, Little Bear realized the skill dealt damage rather than being a one-shot kill.
"If it's not instant death, maybe Fire MC and Gepard can tank it?"
Little Bear muttered to himself, lost in thought.
That 70% healing reduction is ridiculous...
Unless Luocha shows up, no healer currently available could possibly keep anyone alive...
["Tank it? You'll take double damage! Even the Amber Lord couldn't save you. (Laughing and facepalming)"]
["Where does the streamer get his confidence? One Withered Hour deals over 10,000 damage... He'd owe ten lives! And this is just level 60 Lumina..."]
["You're right, but she's my waifu. I forgot the beginning and the end..."]
["Looking for a traffic light? (Laughing)"]
["I just thought of a doujin plot: Red Light single-handedly defeating Lumina. (Evil grin)"]
"Who says you can't tank it?" Little Bear retorted, glancing at the comment section. "The Fire MC can easily handle it!"
Just pop a shield, max out damage reduction, and Lumina's Withered Hour goes from 10,000 to 100... Just a scratch.
Of course, theoretical calculations meant nothing until tested in practice.
Without dwelling further, Little Bear refocused on the screen.
As Lumina unleashed her Withered Hour, the game screen went dark once more, transitioning into another cutscene...