Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 245
Defense Specialization and the Tower's 9th Floor 4
While the boss had an incredible amount of HP, all of its counter and area attacks could be dealt with. And without any decisive moves available to it, it was no surprise that it started to lose the advantage.
The effect of Sally's Sword Dance had also reached its height, and so the only thing left was for her to attack aggressively now.
"Just…thirty percent left!"
"'Hydra'!"
Maple's continued attacks and Sally's status effect including attacks finally poisoned the boss, and its HP decreased even faster.
Because of this, its HP bar went below 30%.
"I think it's going to change again. Be careful!"
"Yes!"
As the two of them braced themselves, two pairs of arms drooped out from under the original pair.
And then, comets enveloped in black fire started to rain down from the sky.
It was coming straight towards Maple and Sally.
"It's targeting us this time!"
"Leave the defenses to me!"
Maple moved the two great shields to over her head and blocked the large comets.
"Uh! What!?"
However, while the burning comets did shatter against her shields, the black fire spread out and covered Maple's body. It ignored Maple's defenses and started to damage her. She could feel the piercing pain.
And while Maple was able to recover through the effect of Throne of the Heavenly King and the use of potions, it was not the kind of attack she wanted to be hit by.
"So-sorry, Sally! This is an attack I can't get hit by!"
"Okay! Things are pretty bad here too!"
The only time that Sally was able to get close was when all four arms countered at the same time, and she could only use magic that wasn't as powerful.
"Phew! Larger bosses are so strong!"
Still, she looked for opportunities to slash with her daggers while dodging the attacks.
She could not afford to be hit.
It seemed that the comets would fall, regardless of any damage Sally was inflicting, and they all flew towards Maple. As it was all Maple could do to move out of the way, she was unable to maintain her position above Sally.
"It's…from below!"
Sally quickly escaped from the magic circle that appeared beneath her. Then she slashed at the boss as she moved behind it. And then, just as she was going to have the Power of the Star buff replenished, a mighty roar echoed around them. And the star-shaped platforms were enveloped in black fire.
"What! This is bad…"
"Syrup, 'Mother Nature'!"
The voice echoed from far away. And then a huge vine stretched towards Sally.
Sally immediately understood Maple's intention, and so she dodged the arm that attacked her from behind and then ran up the vine to where Maple was waiting.
"Thank you. You saved me!"
"Ehehe. You're welcome!"
Due to Sally's HP, she could not take damage while recasting the Power of the Star buff.
In order to return to Maple, her status would have had to drop to nearly 0 as she made enough footholds in the air.
"You better use Heavy Body like that too, okay?"
"It only happened to go well this time because I was looking at you."
"Well, I'll be counting on you until the platforms return."
"Of course! Alright, it would be nice if you can use Heal."
"Got it. I only ever use it in times like these, anyway."
As long as Sally was within the effect of Dedicated Affection, and Maple was in good shape, then she was safe.
And so they waited for a while on top of Syrup. Eventually, the platforms returned to normal.
"I'll help you again if it starts shouting, so you can focus on attacking! I can't use Machine God or Hydra anymore."
"Leave it to me. It was ridiculous that you were able to attack at all."
The light enveloped Sally as she landed on a platform. Then she turned to the boss.
"We still have to go to the 10th floor. I want to beat this guy in one try!"
This was not the kind of opponent she wanted to fight multiple times. And so Sally kicked off of the platform and flew through the air. As Maple was right above her, she would be able to deal damage without worrying about the enemy's attacks.
This meant she could use skills that involved attacks in quick succession, without having to stop and avoid counter attacks.
"Doing it like this deals more damage!"
The boss was huge and its body moved slowly, so it was not able to avoid the rapid attacks of her two daggers.
And since they did not depend on the platforms, any change in movement patterns was not a big deal.
"'Triple Slash'!"
"'Oozing Chaos'!"
Finally, they attacked together, and the boss's HP went down to 0. And then, the boss's body turned white, and it disappeared in an explosion of light.
Maple lowered Syrup so that Sally could get on.
"Now it's just the 10th floor that is left!"
"Good work. Should we end things for the day?"
"Yeah. I heard it's really strong… So I'd like to recover my skills."
"That's true. Alright, we'll do that so we can beat it in one try!"
"Yes! Let's do that!"
And so the two decided to head to the final battle once they were in perfect condition.