The proper way to clear a dungeons like this was probably to learn which bosses would get stronger, and in which order. Then, the parties would simultaneously enter their boss fights and beat them at the same time.
He cursed the shitty developers in his heart. Did they really hate first-time clears so much? No, it was because of traps like these that first-time clears were so difficult.
“So, please hurry!”
After terminating the 「Message」 to Punitto Moe, Momonga shouted, “Finish it quick!”
“R!”
They replied in unison, and nobody asked for the reason why.
“Uwah, time to spend! Damn cash shop!”
“3000 yen! No more than 3000 yen! Those shitty developers must have done this to force people to use the cash shop!”
As Momonga heard Nishiki Enrai and Warrior Takemikazuchi shouting, he also heard Ulbert lament quietly, “I’ll have to use cash items too…”
Momonga could empathize with him. Right now, it would probably be best to make a minimal investment in cash items. They were in a team, after all, and it would not do to hold everyone else back.
Although he did not know what kind of cash item the frontliners had used, the boss’ health was dropping faster than before. Because of that, the boss used a new attack — it brought the freezing axe above its head.
“「Neptune Lightstorm」.”
The freezing vapors flowing from the axe formed a sphere of bluish-white energy over the boss’ head.
This must be some sort of super move. With that in mind, Momonga immediately ran over to Yamaiko’s side. Lasers sprayed in all directions from the blue-white orb. Although most of the beams seemed to fly at random, some of them seemed to follow a specific pattern. Of course, it was impossible to tell what that pattern was on the first encounter.
Momonga was hit by a bolt of light, but he was unscathed. As expected, that attack was a cold-elemental one. Since he was immune to it, he was not affected by its negative status effects or debuffs either. However—
“「Haste」.”
Momonga cast the spell on the frontliners.
The three vanguards were under a Slow debuff, which should have been because they were struck by the lasers. That being the case, he could counter it with the appropriate, opposed magic. At this level, one could negate a lot of elemental attacks and debuffs with innate elements or resistances, but it was impossible to eliminate all flaws in a character. The problem then became where a player allowed themselves to be weak.
In all likelihood, the frontliners left themselves vulnerable to Slow effects because they trusted in Momonga to help dispel them. Momonga in turn, promptly tended to them. This was the true meaning of teamwork.
Just as they thought they were through it, the boss began another round of attacks.
The shrinking interval between the usage of skills was a sign that the boss was picking up the pace.
“「Venus Monsoon」.”
Heavy clouds appeared above the boss’ head, blanketing the battlefield. The boss raised its corrosive club. It would seem it was going to call down acid rain.
“「Shark Cyclone」.”
A gigantic hurricane whirled into existence as Momonga cast his spell, but it did not disperse the gathering clouds overhead.
“Shit!”
Momonga muttered “Shitty developers” over and over again, until it became a sort of mantra.
If the boss used a spell which players had access to, he would probably be able to counter it in some way. However, if it was a skill, all he could do was guess.
This time, his guess was off.
He should have used a defensive spell instead, but it was too late. This was not the sort of opponent that would give him the luxury of a second move.
A torrential rainstorm filled everyone’s vision. It made them think of the acid rain in the real world. However, since this was a game, the rain vanished immediately. The puddles left behind on the ground did not inflict any DOTs (damage over time effects).
This was a surprisingly mild attack. Since he had acid resistance, he had not taken much damage. Of course, his equipment durability had decreased, but that was not a big problem. This might have been the sort of attack which would have extra effects if the Slow debuff remained on them.
Yamaiko ran over to him, and the moment he touched her, a text box with the words 「Greater Lethal」 appeared. This was a spell which caused damage with negative energy, but it had the opposite effect on Momonga.
Momonga also had the ability to infuse negative energy by touch, but it could not heal the undead. Apparently it could heal undead by touch during the first week of the game, but it was immediately patched out. The ray of hope which shone down on undead magic casters was snuffed out, as though it had been nothing but a dream.
“Thanks!”
“You’re welcome.”
Yamaiko cast healing spells on the front liners, whose health had been reduced almost by half. Bukubukuchagama was still very energetic, so her spells were focused on the other two.
The boss raised its lightning lance.
Because its health was going down very fast, the delay between each attack was now very short. There were good and bad things about this, but since Bukubukuchagama kept quiet, it implied that it was fine.
Judging by the weapon the boss raised, it was most likely some sort of lightning-elemental attack. If that was the case—
“Yamaiko-san! Ulbert-san! Heading up!”
There was no time to wait for their responses. Momonga cast a 「Greater Teleportation」 spell. His destination was the sky. Just as the view in his eyes shifted from the teleport—
“「Jupiter Tempest」.”
— Streaks of blinding white lightning raced across the ground. A simple 「Fly」 spell would not have allowed them to make it up here in time.
Normally speaking, flying up was a bad move. However, Momonga had ascended because the boss’ previous attack descended from above. He guessed that there would not be two consecutive attacks which came down from the sky.
He was lucky.
“Going down.”
“Okay!”
They were of one mind. After all, there was a chance that the next attack would heavily damage anyone in the air. Of course, he was quite nervous about his descent, but his body was supported by the 「Fly」 spell as he returned to the ground. Once there, he did not forget to cancel the spell. The truth was, using 「Fly」 in combat was quite difficult, only a few people were capable of it.
Still, if one planned out a simple course and let the spell’s autopilot handle things, one could fight in the air. Landing, in particular, was an easy task.
When the boss swung its weapon, the shockwave it produced ripped through the area surrounding it. However, only Bukubukuchagama was hurt. Judging by their text boxes, the two attackers had used some sort of technique to withstand the damage and continue their attack.
As Momonga, Ulbert and Yamaiko descended, the boss raised all four of its weapons, and used some sort of skill.
“「Great Ore of Mercury」.”
It would seem the boss had buffed itself.
“So hard!”
That voice belonged to Warrior Takemikazuchi. His damage output had dropped to 1/10th of normal.
“Meteoric Turtle!” Bukubukuchagama shouted, naming a boss they had defeated in the past. Momonga immediately understood the meaning behind those words. The Meteoric Turtle had a move where it enhanced its defense, then took to the sky before crashing down again like the meteor it was named after, dealing a party-wiping amount of damage to everyone in the area.
The countermeasures to this move were: unbalance the boss and forcibly break its defensive stance, take to the skies and halve the damage taken, or to continuously use defensive spells or skills to endure the onslaught.