[Fierce battle, ‘Sorcerer King Vortigern’!]
On the other side of the large door that the five of us opened.
There was a majestic throne room.
As we entered the room, someone called out to us.
[–Well done making it here, Warriors from afar. Rejoice, for you are now standing before the Vile King Vortigern and he welcomes you~] Said a girl puppet in a jester outfit standing in the center of the room, bowing politely to us.
…Oh, that reminded me, kings had jesters in their courts in the Middle Ages.
They were said to be allowed to make fun of their kings and served to convey criticisms against the king from the people and complaints that other vassals found difficult to speak out with a mix of jokes.
The jester puppet pointed to the back of the room, her joints click-clacking.
[The king is incarnate of vile itself! Old as he is, he still loves to pull pranks. Worse, he used his own people as his experimental subjects with neither remorse nor hesitation! Look where that has landed him, he was chased out of his own kingdom and ended up taking refuge in this remote island!
[The man himself is right over… wait, you don’t need me to show you, right?]
“Uh-huh, I can tell at first glance.”
I turned my gaze toward the throne.
A strange man with various monster parts sewn onto his body was sitting there.
[Kuhahahaha, I welcome you! I am Vortigern, a seeker of the peak of magic and–]
“Didn’t ask!”
I wasn’t under any obligation to listen to you, either!
I summoned a number of swords with the ‘Arms Barrier’ skill and fired them at Vortigern.
At almost the same time, Alice, standing behind me, chanted “Dark Spell: ‘Darkness Breaker’, x128” and sent black lasers at him.
Countless explosions went off, and Vortigern’s figure disappeared in the resulting smoke.
That should be an insta-kill for an average boss, but…
[–Kekeke, what a vain attempt! That barely tickled my ultimate body!]
“What?!”
Vortigern rushed toward us, blowing the smoke away.
There wasn’t even a single scratch on his body. I knew he wouldn’t go down with just that given that he was a hidden boss, but to think he was completely unscathed… the guy sure was tough…!
[My body is the essence of magic itself. It is impervious to all manners of attack, and above all–!]
The Sorcerer King stomped hard on the ground.
His cheetah-like right calf swelled many times bigger, and his elephant-like left foot crushed the ground, creating a deep hole.
[–It may exert destructive force and agility beyond the capability and even imagination of ordinary humans like you!]
In the next moment, Vortigern instantly appeared right in front of us.
His gorilla-like right arm smashed Yario away, and his left arm, which was basically innumerable tentacles, blew Merlin away.
“–! Shit–!”
At the same time as the two were sent flying, I summoned my shields.
I might be able to endure his attack with my grit skill, ‘Tenacity’, but behind me was Alice, whose HP was limited to 1 point just like me but had no grit skill.
She specialized in massive attacks, and if she took so much as a single hit, she’d be totally out.
[There cannot be any other sorcerer than me! Little girl, you must die!]
Ignoring the shields I had summoned, Vortigern disappeared right before my eyes.
In a blink, he suddenly appeared behind Alice. By the time I noticed, the Sorcerer King was already swinging his monstrous fist at her.
“Eek?!”
A short scream escaped from Alice’s mouth. In-game it might be, was the fear of getting hit by that kind of grotesque-looking giant overwhelming her? Her body froze, sealing her fate of dying in a second.
[Dieeeeeeeee!]
Vortigern’s mighty fist descended. There was nothing I could do but watch, and I thought that Alice would vanish from dying, but…
“Ououououououuuuuuuuuu!”
[Wha?!]
Along with the strange cry, Alice disappeared in a flash.
When I turned my gaze toward the source of the cry, I found Crutteruo clinging to the wall with Alice on her back…!
“Ou—ah, crap, I ended up releasing those strange cries out of habit because the situation is dire… you okay?”
“Y-yes, thank you, Crutteruo-san! You really saved me there, Crutteruo-san!”
“Stop! Why are you repeating that name?! I’ve been meaning to change it!”
A grateful Alice and Cruttelluo made a fuss. Of course, I didn’t forget to praise her “Good job, Crutteruo!” to which she replied with “Shaddap!”. What a funny girl.
[Tch, that strange woman saved her?! No matter, this time for sure…]
Vortigern tried to stomp on the ground again.
But just then…
“Hey, don’t forget us! Activate spear art, ‘Shadow Thrust’!”
“Why, that’s very rude of you! Here’s a small punishment that will send a tingle up your spine, ‘Thunder Enchant: Suicide Bolt’~☆”
Yario and Merlin, the plain-flashy duo who had been blown away, made a comeback and attacked Vortigern. Although they looked beat up, their fighting spirit was still ablaze.
Yario’s spear pierced Vortigern’s shadow. As a result, his movements were restricted, and furthermore, Merlin’s lightning-based blow made the Sorcerer King’s body paralyzed.
Still no scratch on his body, but it seemed debuff and status ailments worked on it.
[Grrr, you imbeciles!!!]
“Ohh, super good job, you two!”
They really were dependable. With them by my side, I didn’t think I’d lose no matter how strong the opponent was.
“Alright, let’s take down this guy, together!”
[Yeah!]
Yario readied his spear, and Merlin his sword. Crutteruo took a closer position at high speed, and Alice and I summoned deadly weapons and manifested magic formations.
The fighting spirit in my chest peaked. After completing our preparations, we began our counteroffensive against Vortigern!
