Malfunction

After finding out that the number of players required to enter the boss area was four, Noah asked Hiro, Liberty, and Jacob to disband their party and join him as he wanted to be the party leader.

Of course, Hiro disagreed.

As a veteran gamer, Hiro understood how important the position of party leader was.

"I already have three in my party, so I can just look for another player to enter my party. As for you, good luck looking for three more."

Hiro's last sentence successfully affected Noah's stubbornness. In the end, he finally relented and sent Hiro a request to join his party.

[Noah joined the party.]

Hiro sighed in relief. He managed to save time and didn't have to wait for another player to come.

A moment after, Hiro approached the mouth of the cave near him again and touched the invisible barrier that prevented them from entering the dungeon boss area with his right hand.

Ding!

[You have entered the boss area.]

The four of them walked toward the cave. As they stepped into the cave, they quickly found that Noah could release flames onto his palms using a skill called [Fire Torch]. This made him very useful as a human torch, so he walked next to Hiro at the forefront.

This cave was akin to a narrow hall, barely enough for two people to walk side-by-side.

"Let me get the boss loot, NightFall!" Noah hissed, repeating the same words for the nth time.

"Try to take it from me if you can."

Liberty and Jacob only walked in silence. Several times along the way, the two looked at each other with confusion witnessing the tension between Hiro and Noah.

Upon finally arriving at the end of the hall, the four stumbled upon a large, spacious room. At the same time, the torches in the spacious room lit up one by one, as if celebrating their arrival. And suddenly…

BANG!

The ground they were standing on heavily shook as something enormous fell from above, causing the hall they just walked in to immediately crumble.

Hiro and the others hurriedly ran from the hall and toward the spacious room in front of them to save themselves.

"Damn it!"

"Hiro, look!"

Ding!

[You have unlocked a New monster information.]

[Boss: Minorous the Guardian (Level Undefined)]

[Race: Beast]

The monster stood with its two large and muscular legs. Its head was akin to a bull with a pair of large horns on the sides of its head. The 5-meter-tall monster exhaled hot vapor and held a giant axe in its right hand.

Liberty and Jacob reflexively hid behind Hiro, while Hiro took out his sword in preparation. Next to Hiro, Noah took out his mystic tome and opened it right to the middle pages. The Tome flew low in front of him, with black and white light emitted from its two sides.

"Here I come, cow!"

Hiro swiftly dashed forward upon activating the combo skill on his greatsword.

Clank!!

He landed his first strike on the Minorous. However, the giant axe successfully parried his strike and instantly canceled his combo skill.

Hiro immediately jumped using the monster's thick hand as a support, intending to kick it and simultaneously create some distance. The push from his two legs only managed to move Minorous's legs by about 30 centimeters. And…

BOOM!

Blazing flames suddenly appeared from Noah's clenched right palm, causing it to seem as if he had a flaming hot fist.

"Leave it to me, Newbie!"

Noah punched the empty air in front of him, shooting the fire on his fist toward Minorous like a fireball and right at his furiously growling face.

[Firebolt]

BOOM!

Nothing happened. The boss swung its giant axe toward the Firebolt, quickly extinguishing it into hot air as if the axe could neutralize magic.

"Damn it!"

"Newbie, huh?" Hiro annoyedly muttered.

"Tch. Oi, knight! Do something! Pull the monster's aggro!" Noah shouted, suddenly taking command.

"Eh? Me?" Jacob couldn't believe that he had to get involved in the battle against the boss that had been causing him to tremble since a while ago.

"Use your Provoke skill and run. Take it easy, I won't let the boss catch you," Hiro explained, agreeing with Noah's idea.

He had also thought about it. Because of how difficult Minorous's weapon made things, he agreed that the boss had to be distracted.

Jacob had no other choice now. He trusted Hiro and walked toward the boss monster with slightly trembling legs. Meanwhile, Minorous was only silently standing in place while growling and breathing out hot air.

"Good cow, please forgive me, Buddy."

[Provoke]

Jacob's body suddenly emitted a thin wave of air that spread to touch anything in a radius of three meters, including Minorous's body.

The moment the thin wave of air touched the monster's body, its two eyes suddenly glowed red.

GROWL!

Upon seeing Minorous furiously dash toward him, Jacob immediately ran following Hiro's instructions.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

"Bro, hurry up and do something! I don't want to die young!"

Hiro kept his word. During the time Minorous was chasing after Jacob, Hiro constantly attacked the monster's back with his greatsword.

Whoosh!

Splat! [2x Hit Combo]

Splat!! [3x Critical Hit Combo]

[Sword Combo has stopped.]

Attacking a constantly moving target was not an easy feat for a melee duelist-type job class like him. It seemed that he had to change his attack strategy.

However, before he could find a solution, a giant fireball shot past him and powerfully hit Minorous's back, creating a great explosion and hot vapor as a result.

BOOM!!

[Great Fireball]

[Health -3,500]

Noah proudly smiled seeing the damage he inflicted on the dungeon boss. However, his smile quickly vanished when Minorous with its burned back turned and switched targets.

GROWL!

"Stop it, you useless knight!"

Clank!

Hiro dashed to stop Minorous's charge before it reached the mage. His greatsword successfully withstand Minorous's body, angering the monster even more.

"Libe, Jacob, attack it from behind! I'll keep it busy."

Liberty had taken out a new weapon. This time, it was a shortbow complete with green metallic arrows. She was adjusting her aim toward the burn scar on Minorous's back. Jacob, who had gotten a bit of courage, had unsheathed his sword and was charging to attack.

Clank!

Splat!

[Rain of Arrows]

The arrow shot from Liberty's shortbow suddenly multiplied into more than 10 arrows and pierced the monster's back.

Minorous looked like a hedgehog now.

[Health -750] [Health -750] [Health -750] [Health -750] [Health -750]

"Good work, Libe."

But suddenly…

Minorous fiercely roared and strangely moved its back muscles, causing the arrows stuck on its back to shoot toward every direction.

Splat!

"Jacob!" Liberty exclaimed when she saw Jacob getting pierced by seven arrows at once and falling.

Hiro quickly checked Jacob's remaining HP. Only 3% was left.

"Bring him away, Libe!"

Liberty panickedly ran toward Jacob and pulled him back. Meanwhile, Hiro pulled his attention back to Minorous in front of him.

Because there were no more attacks at its back, Minorous went berserk once more. Hiro had to strike and parry the bothersome giant axe.

Hiro was at an advantage because of his slender body. He could jump and dodge easily as well as attack from unexpected directions. In contrast, although Minorous's attacks were heavy, they were very slow.

"Get out of the way, Newbie!"

[Fireseal]

"Argh!"

Out of nowhere, Hiro's foot got burned upon landing. The moment he hurriedly jumped away, a circle of raging fire suddenly surrounded Minorous, setting the boss monster ablaze.

ROARRR!

[Fireseal]

[Burns the enemy inside the sealed fire circle for 5 seconds.]

"I will show you how terrifying the power of this world's strongest mage is!"

[Health -1,250] [Miss] [Health -1,000] [Miss] [Health -1,150]

The fire magic spell inflicted damage five times in five seconds. Even so, two of the five damages dealt failed to penetrate the boss monster's tough physique.

Hiro swung his greatsword toward the boss again and managed to land a critical hit inflicting [Health -1,500]. However, he immediately felt as if his weapon was being repulsed.

The boss's body began to emit smoke.

Ding!

[The Boss is starting to charge.]

[Ultimate skill can be released at any moment.]

[Prepare yourself!]

ROARRR!

Their ears suddenly rang sharply as if the sound waves from the Minorous boss had pierced their ears, almost rupturing their eardrums.

All four of them lost their balance and unsteadily fell to the ground.

[Your HP is rapidly decreasing.]

[Health -1,000]

[Health -250] [Health -250] [Health -250] [Health -250]

'What the hell is going on here?'