How had a BOSS suddenly appeared?
Isagi didn't understand it, and neither did the girls, but there was no time to ponder such a thing,
because their opponent had already arrived!
"Clang!"
Along with the immense force transmitted into his hands, a black longsword appeared before Isagi's eyes—across its slender blade flickered a multicolored radiance, dazzling as a gemstone, enough to dizzy the mind.
The [Moonlight Greatsword] in his hands collided with his opponent's longsword.
The crystalline moonlight and the brilliant drifting fireflies intertwined, striking out searing sparks.
By the light of the Magic Stone lantern at Isagi's waist, the first thing Isagi saw appearing behind the longsword was a deep-crimson gemstone glow, and immediately after, a calm face covered in scars.
His opponent had deep-blue skin, and its pair of eyes, just like the rhombus-shaped gem set in its forehead, gave off a deep-crimson luster.
Beneath the dust-covered hood were ordinary features.
Its face was expressionless.
But the madness and bloodlust in its eyes seemed about to brim over, and the two hands gripping the blade were covered in cyan scales—a dragon.
Isagi sensed the aura of a "dragon-type monster," an existence distinct from ordinary monsters, something close to a "higher being."
[Dragonman].
Or rather, a [Lamia].
Isagi was quite familiar with it, because among the Xenos there was a girl who was exactly this type of monster. Especially—
At this moment, out of the corner of his eye, Isagi could clearly see that beneath that dark cloak was a long serpent's tail, likewise covered in cyan scales—that was this creature's lower half.
Quite often, adventurers who first came down to the lower levels would regard the [Dragonman] before them as some kind of half-human, half-serpent monster.
In terms of appearance, that was indeed the case.
Its name, Lamia, also referred to a monster from legend that would suck the blood of children.
But in fact, this kind of monster was rather rare in the Dungeon, and it carried the bloodline of "dragons"; most importantly, it possessed a considerable degree of magical talent, and once it went berserk, it would become an exceedingly troublesome foe...
"!@￥#@%%!@!"
The monster muttered something rapidly under its breath, utterly impossible to make out, but it was obvious—it was chanting a spell!
The gathering of its magic power was faster than anyone could imagine.
Even—
Even Ais, who suddenly appeared behind it and ran her longsword straight through its mouth, was unable to stop it.
Did this thing not feel pain?
"1@￥#@!!!"
Among the vines where everyone had stopped, countless tiny gray mushrooms began to grow madly, swelling, and then bursting!
Scorching pus, together with a deadly poisonous mist, sprayed out.
In the blink of an eye, this pus and mist completely covered the hill formed by the swelling vines!!
Stinging pain, dizziness, nausea, weakness—
All sorts of [Abnormal Statuses] swept over them all at once, and inexplicably, it gave Isagi a familiar feeling—the same sensation he had once experienced from Alfia's innate skill [Talent and Misfortune Recompense].
The girls swiftly retreated.
Under the cover of Tiona and Ryuu-senpai, Lefiya, Haruhime, and Miss Heith quickly left this "hill" shrouded in poisonous mist, opening up distance from himself, Ais, and the BOSS.
And at the same time.
Everyone took out antidotes from the little pouches at their waists and drank them down.
The antidotes Airmid had personally prepared remained effective even against the curses and toxins produced by the monsters of at least Lv.6 or Lv.7 conjured up by the filthy Spirit lurking in the deep levels.
Isagi and Ais quickly took turns, covering for each other as they drank down the antidotes.
An icy, refreshing coolness swiftly purged the toxins that had just built up in their bodies; all the discomfort quickly vanished, and they even developed antibodies, so that now Isagi and Ais could remain in this poisonous mist without any trouble.
But they couldn't stay long.
Once the potion's duration ended, they would still be poisoned.
And so.
After Ryuu-senpai, Lefiya, and the others had successfully retreated, Isagi and Ais exchanged a glance, then simultaneously used their ability to fly to rapidly ascend, instantly leaving behind the poisonous mist slowly spreading below.
But their opponent reacted quickly too.
"Sword Saint" Zarkado—the BOSS's name basically laid bare its abilities, and almost in a daze, Isagi once again saw that gem-bright blade rising from below, coming before his eyes once more.
[Rising Dragon]!
It was an utterly unremarkable move, yet unbelievably fast.
For the first time in a while, intense, sharp pain shot through both his hands—it was [Wolf's Feast] forcibly seizing control of his hands to defend against that lightning-fast slash.
However, the blade was not blocked.
Instead, it slid along his own blade like a loach, then immediately spun around, like a perfect golden bicycle kick, like a full moon blossoming in midair.
And just like that, it went straight for Ais, who was now positioned behind the monster.
"!"
The girl was completely caught off guard, but fortunately Isagi reacted in time, delivering a horizontal sweep straight at the monster's waist and kicking it flying.
"Focus."
The BOSS was very fast—even he himself had some trouble reacting, and for Ais and the others it would only be more difficult.
Of course, Isagi and his group naturally had ways to deal with this sort of foe.
In just a single exchange.
Everyone had already gotten a rough grasp of this BOSS's "general profile."
Humanoid.
Possessing extremely superb weapon skills, with formidable close-combat ability.
Capable of using magic—area-of-effect "Abnormal Statuses"—though fortunately it spread slowly enough that it could be dodged.
And also—
[Can Fly].
A few seconds after being kicked away, the BOSS came back with a fierce wind to the face, and Isagi once again blocked it with the greatsword in his hands.
The pair of dragon wings that jutted out from behind its cloak were beating in midair, and even as it wielded its longsword to fight him, this creature could somehow still use that long serpent tail to attack Ais.
If only the tail had had a blade too, Isagi seriously suspected this thing would have been using a "four-sword style" in some sense.
Facing such a high-speed enemy.
Ryuu-senpai, Tiona, and the others in the squad couldn't come over to help surround and attack it together; they had to stay as midfielders, ready at all times to intercept the opponent, to prevent it from suddenly breaking away and then launching an attack toward Lefiya and the others.
Under these circumstances,
both Isagi and Ais had somewhat fallen into a stalemate with their opponent.
But soon, support from their comrades arrived.
"[Uchide's Mallet]!"
First came Haruhime's level-up magic.
Directly boosting their stats was, of course, the most effective thing for Isagi and Ais, who were currently struggling a bit to keep up with their opponent.
Immediately after came Miss Heith's [Asa Gullveig]; once the Poisoned Milk Technique was activated, the magic shifted from continuous healing to continuous damage, landing on the BOSS and lowering a portion of its combat strength, more or less.
Last of all came Lefiya's magic.
[Arcs Ray].
The most basic, and also the most familiar, magic the elf girl possessed.
As she chanted.
Several streaks of pure-white light surged up into the sky.
They weren't meant to inflict any damage on the BOSS, but simply to serve as a light source, illuminating everything around them as bright as day.
And under this pure-white curtain, the monster's figure became perfectly clear.
"Got you."
Lefiya murmured to herself.
She controlled those streaks of light to keep spinning and weaving through the air, continuously providing illumination, while at the same time beginning to prepare her next spell.
____
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