The other method was to send out a single boss, generated with different data from the player characters. This sort of boss typically had abilities which would give a lot of trouble to parties which encountered them for the first time, and it could use those abilities continuously
Judging by the look of the boss, it was highly likely that it fell into the latter category.
“Oh foolish ones who challenged us last, know the might of those who become stronger with every layer of binding removed from us.”
“…There wasn’t any foreshadowing about bindings before this. Here we come!”
Bukubukuchagama leapt forth. She circled around the boss, moving in order not to let the boss’ first strike hit anyone but herself.
The boss thrust its flaming sword, and a dark red circle formed around Bukubukuchagama’s feet, indicating that she was the target of its attack. From the way the circle moved with her, it would seem this was an undodgeable move.
“「Solar Flare」.”
Those words floated in the air as it activated a unique boss skill, which did not exist as a spell which players could access. A burst of fire erupted, centered on Bukubukuchagama.
Bosses with multiple unique skills were very hard to deal with. This was because there was no way of knowing what type of attack or magic would be effective. There was no time to feel the boss out by trial and error either, all they could do now was use all the tricks they had learned during their time as gamers.
Judging by Bukubukuchagama’s HP bar, she had not been badly hurt. However, that was because being attacked was her objective. Having eschewed offensive power, Bukubukuchagama instead boasted immense resistance to all sorts of elemental attacks.
Even so, if the boss focused its fire on her, she might end up being pounded to death. Of course, normal monsters could not do that, but it was certainly possible for bosses, who were designed as solo combat units. After all, they were special beings which were unlike a normal enemy. As such, even light wounds could not be overlooked.
Thus, Yamaiko promptly cast her healing spell.
The boss began pursuing Bukubukuchagama, while Momonga approached from the opposite side of the boss. It swung at Bukubukuchagama with its gigantic sword, but she deftly blocked it with her shields.
A top-class player could not only deflect a boss’ attacks without harm, but even respond with a counterattack of their own. However, Bukubukuchagama could not do that. Within Ainz Ooal Gown, the only person who could was Touch Me. He was a super-tier player who could serve as a tank even though he was an attacker.
The two frontliners advanced. Like a rubber band stretched to its limit, they snapped forth, reaching the boss in an instant.
“「Shadowbind」[8], 「Hobble」[9].”
“「Razor Edge」[10], 「Rasetsu」[11].”
As the textboxes popped up above their heads, several black blades flew through the air. Those were attacks which lowered evasion and movement speed, and now that the boss was presumably weakened, the physical attacker Warrior Takemikazuchi slashed wildly at the boss.
Multiple slashes appeared on the boss’ body, and Momonga saw the boss’ HP bar waver, thanks to his ‘Life Essence’ spell. It had taken less damage than expected, and it was this, more than anything it said, which made them think that this was really a raid boss.
“「Arm Slice」[12], 「Headshot」[13].”
“「Rasetsu」[14], 「Slash-All」[15].”
More words popped up above their heads, and their chained attacks mauled the boss’ body.
They could still chat while fighting mooks, but against a boss they had no time to banter. However, their teamwork would break down if they did not indicate what they were doing, so they used macros[16] to create those text boxes.
The acid-wreathed club swung at Nishiki Enrai. Thanks to the debuffs he had inflicted, the boss’ hate for him had gone up beyond Bukubukuchagama’s ability to manage.
Although the blow should have struck home, no damage numbers appeared. He must have used some sort of ninja skill.
“Watch your hate! Stop attacking!”
“R[17]!”
“R!”
Bukubukuchagama used the shield on her left hand to protect herself, while she attacked continuously with the one on the right.
The text boxes above her read 「Shield Attack」, 「Shield Stun」 and 「Mega Impact」. This was also known as the Hate Combo, which built hate towards her quickly.
After that was 「Knight’s Challenge」. Normally, hate increased along with damage done, but Bukubukuchagama did very little damage. As a result, she could not generate hate quickly, which was why she compensated with a skill that built hate twice as fast as normal.
The boss once more targeted Bukubukuchagama, and began attacking.
The two frontliners matched their movements and attacked, while Ulbert and Momonga cast their spells.
“「Boosted Magic — Magic Arrow」!”
“「Penetrate Magic — Slow」!”
Ulbert’s first-tier spell, which had been temporarily boosted in tier, streaked toward the boss, leaving a white trail in its wake.
Doing too much damage made hate management difficult, and it would be hard to control the flow of the battle. In order not to build too much hate, he decided to use a weak spell.
As usual, Momonga was casting debuffs. Breaking through the enemy’s resistances was difficult, but if the debuffs managed to connect, it would greatly help his team.
The battle was progressing smoothly. The vanguards suppressed the boss while the rear guards whittled it down. It felt like they were off to a good start, though they did not let it go to their heads. Just as Momonga was thinking that, a 「Message」 notification appeared in his line of sight.
Don’t you know I’m fighting a boss, Momonga grumbled as he tapped the notification and took the 「Message」.
“Sorry to bother you in the middle of combat, Momonga-san.”
It was Punitto Moe’s voice.
“Ah well, it happens. I’ll talk to you in a while—”
“How much longer?!”
How should I know? Although Momonga wanted to tell him not to disrupt his concentration, he could sense a growing anxiety in Punitto Moe’s voice.
Momonga had already cast a 7th-tier spell, 「Focus Magic」, on Ulbert. While this buff would end after the next spell Ulbert cast, that spell would do over twice the normal amount of DPS. Plus, only Ulbert’s hate would go up, so Bukubuchagama would have an easier time managing hate.
Because of this, Momonga had a little bit of breathing room. While he kept an eye on the boss’ movements, he replied to Punitto Moe.
“It should be a fair bit, we haven’t even brought him down to 75 % health.”
Normal parties would take roughly 10 to 15 minutes to defeat a boss. Not even a quarter of that had passed so far.
“Could you hurry it up a little? Three teams have already beaten their bosses and moved on to the sixth floor—”
Momonga did not congratulate Punitto Moe because he had a bad feeling about what came next.
“They ran into a constantly-respawning horde of monsters and are currently fighting. They might have to fight until everyone wins and reaches the 6th floor.”
What the hell is this?!
Momonga resisted the urge to exclaim out loud. This was a dire situation for the teleported parties. Being forced to fight even more monsters after expending their MP and limited-use skills against the bosses was an arduous task.
16
Macros are miniature programs that execute a series of actions linked to a single button press, they’re used in games to communicate information quickly.