-286- Ideal and Desire

"Gu!"

The melodious cry of the rainbow butterfly seemed to replace all other noises, becoming the sole sound in the boss room, reaching the ears of everyone present.

Under Rozen's continuous instructions, the rainbow butterfly successively employed the special skills "Paralysis Powder" and "Blinding Powder," scattering both yellow and black phosphorescent powder. As a result, the Floor Guardian Boss experienced paralysis and blindness several times, either falling to the ground or losing its vision completely, enduring the onslaught of sword skill attacks from the closed beta player team.

"Roar—!"

The Kobold Lord Illfang could only emit a furious roar, passively enduring the players' attacks and Rainbow Butterfly's skills.

As for its HP, it was significantly reduced.

Witnessing this scene, the closed beta players were excited, attacking with even more fervor. On the other hand, the regular players widened their eyes, looking bewildered.

"That... Is that familiar really this strong!?"

"They're actually toying with the Floor Guardian Boss as if it's nothing...?"

"This is way too unfair...!?"

One after another, the regular players were in turmoil.

At this moment, these regular players recalled a statement Argo made during a strategy meeting yesterday.

"The person who led these players to conquer all the way to the 10th floor is none other than the owner of the unique familiar from the closed beta, 'Rozen.' A familiar capable of causing negative status effects like paralysis, blindness, poison on the Floor Guardian Boss, along with superior command skills, allowing them to clear each floor without casualties."

Only now did the regular players truly understand the meaning behind Argo's words.

Having a familiar that could repeatedly paralyze and blind the Floor Guardian Boss, making it a living target for players, it's no wonder Rozen could lead the closed beta players all the way to the 10th floor and clear every level without casualties.

Now, the regular players' gazes towards Rozen changed, and their gazes towards the rainbow butterfly changed as well.

Of course, these players had no idea that achieving this wasn't an easy task.

Not to mention anything else, even though Rainbow Butterfly possessed various special abilities, the key was how to utilize these abilities effectively. At this moment, Rainbow Butterfly had repeatedly paralyzed and blinded the Floor Guardian Boss. However, both these skills had cooldown times, preventing continuous usage. Furthermore, Rainbow Butterfly's HP was quite low. It would be instantly killed if it made a mistake while flying above the Floor Guardian Boss.

The reason Rozen could firmly control the Floor Guardian Boss was due to Rainbow Butterfly's rare abilities on one side, and also because Rozen understood how to give instructions to a game familiar with a relatively low comprehension ability. Rozen also knew how to train Rainbow Butterfly and improve its skill proficiency.

Otherwise, if the familiar didn't follow instructions or wasn't trained adequately, even if negative status skills could take effect, the risk of letting Rainbow Butterfly with low HP directly fly above the highly resistant Floor Guardian Boss would be extremely dangerous.

However, these challenges were nothing for Rozen. He continued to issue instructions using straightforward language, each seemingly simple command precisely balancing on the edge of Rainbow Butterfly's AI comprehension program. This allowed Rainbow Butterfly to execute each command accurately, utilizing its extraordinary speed to evade Illfang's attacks.

Once the skill cooldown was over, it immediately rushed forward, sprinkling large amounts of phosphorescent powder, inflicting negative status on Illfang.

In other words, in this moment, Rainbow Butterfly took on all of the Floor Guardian Boss's attention, using evasion and skill utilization as its main means. It danced around with the boss, controlling its actions, allowing players to safely output damage.

As a result, the Kobold Lord Illfang's HP gradually approached the red zone amid its furious roars.

Seeing this, the closed beta player team grew more excited, while the regular player team was left stunned. Only Diabel became more anxious.

(If this continues...!?)

Diabel's grip on his weapon began to sweat.

If things continued like this, the Floor Guardian Boss would be directly defeated by the closed beta player team, and Diabel's ambition would fail as well.

This prompted Diabel to speak to Rozen.

"Rozen-kun, is it possible to switch and let the closed beta players take over now?"

Anxiety, even unbeknownst to himself, crept into Diabel's tone.

Yet, Rozen seemed not to notice and continued giving instructions to Rainbow Butterfly while responding to Diabel with ease.

"With Saihou controlling the boss and everyone's HP still in the safe zone, there's no need to switch, right?"

Upon hearing this, Diabel appeared even more agitated.

"But...but!?"

Diabel's words hadn't even fully formed before Rozen interrupted.

"There's no 'but.' We'll win soon enough."

Rozen looked at Diabel, his tone oddly indifferent.

"This way, the players imprisoned in this world will have hope. Isn't that what you've always wanted to see?"

Hearing Rozen's words, Diabel's expression faltered, and he struggled even more in his heart.

On one side was his idealistic vision.

On the other side was his personal desire.

Facing this crucial decision, Diabel was torn between two conflicting emotions.

"Roar!"

At this moment, the Kobold Lord also let out a pained groan as if it were near death.

Diabel's expression shook, and he quickly looked up to see what was happening.

There, he witnessed that due to the closed beta player team's frenzied output, the Kobold Lord's last HP bar had finally entered the red zone.

This scene pushed Diabel into an irrevocable path.

(No! I can't hesitate anymore!)

Diabel gritted his teeth, making a determined decision.

(I'm sorry! Everyone!)

With his resolution made, Diabel shouted to everyone in front of him.

"Careful! The boss's attack pattern is changing!"

After speaking, Diabel abandoned everyone and dashed towards the Floor Guardian Boss.

"Diabel!"

Kibaou was the first to react, letting out an exclamation.

"Mr. Diabel!"

The regular players present started calling out as well.

In the eyes of these players, Diabel seemed to be stepping forward to shield everyone from the boss's changing attack pattern, right?

After all, a Floor Guardian Boss that changed its attack pattern during its enraged state would undoubtedly unleash terrifying attacks. Players wouldn't be able to adapt to its new pattern instantly, making this the most dangerous phase for the raiding team.

But who could have anticipated?

The Floor Guardian Boss during this phase seemed terrifying, yet it was actually easier to deal with than before.

(Curved-blade skills at the initial stage have a linear range. If you carefully observe the trajectory when the skill activates, you can easily dodge it even while staying close to the boss!)

Thus, Diabel was confident that he would be fine and could take advantage of the situation to defeat the Floor Guardian Boss.

This version of Diabel, however, remained oblivious to the pitiful gaze that Rozen cast from behind.

Meanwhile...

"Roar!"

Illfang also let out a roar, discarding the bone axe and weapon in its hands, unsheathing a large katana from its back.

However, that wasn't a Curved Blade; it was a large nodachi.