[Surprising True Identity!]
–How long had it been? Our battle against Sorcerer King Vortigern was still going hot.
I mean, the damn hidden boss just wouldn’t take any damage…!
Although status effects worked on it, they lasted less than a minute, and he even gained resistance to them after the fact.
“Hey, Merlin. Isn’t there something off here…?” I asked Merlin in the midst of the fierce battle.
He seemed to be feeling the same. He glared at Vortigern while wiping his sweat. “Yes, I’m guessing he’s a gimmick boss. One that takes no damage before some conditions are cleared.”
[Just die already–!] Vortigern attacked without mercy.
We dodged by jumping away, continuing our discussion.
“…When it comes to gimmick bosses, a trick that can break their invincibility is usually placed somewhere along the way to the boss room, but…”
“Ahaha… but the door is closed, so we can’t backtrack and look for it…! We’re checkmated, I guess?”
“Hell no! I didn’t come all the way here just to let that asshole kill me, dammit!”
I racked my brains while dodging Vortigern’s attacks.
For starters, the fact that the room was closed. It might make it seem like all hope was lost, but it was still too early to jump to that conclusion. The ‘trick’ might be somewhere in the room.
Besides, there were other ways to beat invincible bosses besides using special tricks.
“…Isn’t there a possibility that only certain kind of attacks works on it? You know, like how grilled the Pope to smithereens.”
“Oh, we certainly can’t rule that out. There are other possibilities too. For instance, he would take damage only after a certain amount of time has passed or he only takes damage when hit at certain parts of his body.”
“I see…!”
I tried to look back at everything that had been going on from the start of the fight.
First off, whether only certain attacks were effective. –This was negative, safe to say.
The five of us had used various kinds of attacks. My weapons with various elements, especially.
Still, none of them were effective against Vortigern. If that was anything to go by, it was safe to assume that he wasn’t weak to specific weapons or elements.
As for Merlin’s theories: ‘he would take damage only after a certain amount of time has passed’ or ‘he only takes damage when hit at certain parts of his body’… I didn’t think they were it, either.
“I mean, it’s been a while since the battle began, and Alice would bombard him with her lasers whenever she found an opening. She should have hit every inch of his body by now.”
Just then, black lasers poured down. When I looked over, I found Alice on the back of Crutteruo, who was clinging to the ceiling, aiming countless magic formations at Vortigern.
Why was Crutteruo piggybacking Alice, you asked? Well, it was thanks to the idea of yours truly.
Crutteruo was quick on her feet but lacked attack power while Alice boasted overwhelming attack power but lacked mobility. Working together, they could make the strongest mobile artillery.
Crutteruo could run on walls and ceilings, so Alice became even scarier than when I had been piggybacking her.
“Alice, is there a certain part of his body that hurts him when you hit it?”
“There’s none, Yuri-san! This guy is just strange!”
I’m about to run out of mana, too—Alice-san cried, teary-eyed.
I got where she was coming from since I specialized in one stat just like her. It just brought tears to your eyes when your only strong point didn’t work.
“Anyway, I think I know what I’ve gotta do now. Since the three theories are a bust, the answer gotta be…!”
I activated the ‘Arms Barrier’ skill and fired the weapons that Pontaro and gang were possessing at different parts of the room.
Right then, Vortigern’s eyes widened.
[Wh-, stooop!!!]
The Sorcerer King reacted like never before. It charged my way at full speed, but it was too late!
“Activate art, ‘Raging Dragon Strike’!”
[Kishashaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]
Pontaro and gang turned into demonic dragons!
When one of them attacked the vacant throne, there was a scream [Oh no!]
At the same time, Vortigern collapsed on the spot. Like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
“…I see, so that’s what’s going on.”
Vortigern whom we had been fighting was nothing but a puppet all along. The real Vortigern had been watching us from somewhere, taking delight in our struggle.
His invisibility canceled, he emerged from the cloud of dust.
While his joints made click-clacking sounds.
“A king who loves pranks, you really live up to your reputation. I never imagined that’s your real body…”
[–Kihihihi, well done seeing through my prank!]
His cheerful smile went well with his jester makeup.
Yeah. The real Sorcerer King Vortigern was the girl puppet who had welcomed us…!
