I'll Take the Last At-Bat (2)

"...You're telling me a method like that actually exists?"

"It does. Only a theory of mine, of course."

At my explanation, color washed over every face in the party. All sorts of feelings were tangled up in those expressions, but most of it was astonishment and fascination, with only the faintest thread of disbelief woven in.

"Don't worry. My reads tend to be right."

I said it that way, but there was no way this one could miss. This was a Minotaur strategy I had carried back from the actual future. If they asked how I knew, it would only be a headache, so I had brushed it off with a vague figured it'd probably go like this.

A peculiar look passed between the party members, but no one objected, and no one showed any sign of pushing back.

Only natural, really.

They couldn't produce a plan more reasonable than the one I had laid out, and having come this far, there was no reason not to fight the boss. From their point of view, even reaching somewhere around the tenth room would already have been a gain—and they had stumbled all the way to the boss room without ever meaning to.

"...All right! Let's do it!"

"I'm fine with it too. Somehow, when it's you saying so, Jaeha, I just find myself believing it."

"I've committed everything you explained to memory."

Swordsman, mage, and supporter nodded one after another.

"This is gonna be fun! I'm in."

Last of all, Taeya curled the corner of his mouth up and cast his vote. Judging ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by the muttering I had caught along the way—viewer count's gonna explode, today's stream is all-time—he genuinely didn't have a single complaint.

"All right, then. We're starting."

We had rested well enough, and our stamina was fully recovered. One last review of the plan, and then—

Kreeeak!

We opened the door into the chamber where the boss waited.

The moment we stepped inside, I felt my body growing sluggish, little by little.

A boss room that slapped a debuff on you the moment you walked in. Sure enough, it lived up to its name as the dungeon every player, with one voice, cursed as filthy.

"Wait just a moment, please."

The supporter halted us as we started forward, then activated a blessing.

Warm light wrapped my whole body. The debuff lifted, and I felt light on my feet again.

Breath of the Goddess, of all things.

A high-level skill for a first-advancement supporter. Quietly impressed, I took one more step forward.

Fwoosh!

Blue flame bloomed across every torch fixed to the walls at once, and the view snapped wide open. What lay before us was a vast round space that called a coliseum to mind—yet every inch of it was old and eaten with rust, the very picture of an enormous underground prison. And at its center, head hung low, bound in chains—

"Grrrrrr...!"

A monster, half man and half bull. Fur washed in a faint bluish sheen, massive horns, and a steel breastplate sheathing that huge body.

"Gulp...!"

"Th-that's...!"

"Yes."

That monster was the infamous boss of the Underground Prison.

"Whoo! You all seeing this? Bet there aren't many streamers who've ever gone live on a Minotaur!"

Taeya called out to his viewers, voice thick with feeling. I gave the whole party the signal to ready their attacks.

"Get ready. Here it comes."

"Grrrr..."

Slowly, the Minotaur's head began to rise.

BOOM!

With the alert, the thing snapped its own chains by sheer strength and took its halberd in hand.

There it is at last.

The buff that made the Minotaur an unbreakable wall of iron. The instant the boss fight began, it was granted a defense-boosting buff called Armor—at a staggering level 10. Thanks to that obscene defense, it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠boasted a durability that ordinary attacks couldn't so much as scratch.

"Operation starts now."

I locked both hands tight around the club.

Boom!

I condensed mana into my knees, kicked off, and leapt straight into the thing's face in a single bound.

"Graaah!"

"Looking at you's got me craving beef, pal."

The Minotaur had a habit of striking whichever enemy was closest first. Gripping the halberd with everything it had, it swung in a straight, stubborn line, fully meaning to split me in two. Obviously, I had no intention of taking that. A half-step to the side just before the halberd reached the crown of my head, and I spun clear of it—then, immediately, the clubbing.

Whack!

I had put a fair amount of strength into that swing.

Didn't even leave a mark. Not a mark.

If anything, being touched seemed to infuriate it. Killing intent dripped from both its eyes.

"Don't get so mad. You'll ruin the meat."

"Graaaaaah—!"

Whether it had somehow understood human speech or not, the Minotaur launched into a genuine beating. The axe-blade grazed my body by a hair's breadth. And while the thing was dead set on catching me—

"Over here!"

Three daggers came flying in from the flank, struck armor and horn, and clattered away.

Tuk—

The Minotaur, which had been driving its halberd like a mad colt, froze mid-motion and turned its head toward Taeya, the one who had thrown them.

"Ha... haha... okay, this is kinda creepy..."

The Minotaur attacked whoever stood in front of it first, but there were a few exceptions. One of them was the charge pattern.

Prod a Minotaur from a distance while it's already mid-assault, and...

It switches its target to that person.

"Grrrr...! Graaaaaah—!"

And starts charging like something unhinged. The Minotaur lowered its enormous horns at Taeya and broke into a gallop.

"Don't freeze—dodge! It can only go straight anyway!"

"Waaaaah!"

Taeya hurled himself down and rolled across the floor.

Krrung!

The Minotaur, meanwhile, slammed its body straight into the wall. The whole chamber shuddered as if an earthquake had hit, and the roar hammered at my ears.

"Kyaah!"

The mage lost balance and nearly went down.

First collision—success!

Dodge with the right timing during a charge, the way we just had, and the Minotaur can't bleed off its speed. It plants itself into the wall. The impact shakes the entire room, and then—

Drip, drip, drip!

Contaminated rust-water fell from the ceiling. A toxic concentrate of filth from the sewer rats that infest the Underground Prison, mixed with the rotten fluids of ghouls. Liquid so putrid that a single drop inflicts the Corrosion debuff on contact.

"Don't let a single drop hit you!"

I wove between the falling rust-water with practiced ease and slipped clear. The swordsman and the mage lacked mobility, so the supporter spread a barrier and kept the rust-water off them. That left exactly one creature exposed to it: the Minotaur.

Hisssss!

Rust-water poured over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the steel armor with an ominous sound. Even so, there still wasn't much of a change.

"Straight into the next one!"

"Yes!"

"You got it!"

The swordsman swung at the Minotaur, which had only just worked its horns free. Naturally it rang out with a clang! and bounced off, and the beast swept its halberd toward the enemy closest to it.

"Graaaaaah!"

Timed to that exact moment, an arrow of mana shot toward the back of its head.

The mage pulled aggro.

"Grr?!"

Once again, the Minotaur set itself for the charge pattern. It halted the arm mid-swing, lowered its head, and kicked off the ground.

"Supporter!"

"Understood."

At my order, the supporter cast a blessing on the mage.

"Hnn... kyaah!"

Thanks to it, even the mage—short on raw physical stats—could slip out of the charge's path at just the right moment.

Kwaaang!

Once more the Minotaur drove its body into the wall, and rust-water came pouring down.

Hisssss!

It sheeted over the thing's huge armor. Little by little the share of blackish brown grew, and the gleam of that shield began to cloud.

At last, Corrosion had taken hold. I clenched both fists and cheered inwardly.

To slam the Minotaur into the wall, you have no choice but to dodge at the last instant—when it's as close as it can get.

Naturally, no sane player wants to take that body check head-on, so the normal move is to already be clear of the charge lane ahead of time. And even if you do happen to send the Minotaur into a wall, the falling rust-water slaps a debuff on you the moment it hits, so everyone shies away from the trick.

But this rust-water affects the Minotaur, too.

More precisely: make it take the rust-water two or three times in a row, and Corrosion lands on the beast itself. That is how you punch through that damned armor.

"Next one's me again."

I looked at the mug of the thing as it yanked its horns out of the wall, and grinned.

"Ever think about being the mascot down in Gonjiam? Their ox-head soup there is seriously good."

"Kyaaaaaaah—!"

I slipped the whipping halberd. Daggers came flying. And then—

Boom!

The thing crashed into the wall, and rust-water poured.

"Hrrraaap!"

The swordsman swung and drew its targeting. The mage struck from range and baited another charge, and then—

Boom!

We crashed it into the wall again and brought the rust-water down. Keep repeating that, and—

You can push the Corrosion debuff all the way to 5.

"Grrrr...! Grrk!"

The armor that had been flashing bright turned a sickly yellow and ground out a grotesque scrape, like fittings off a shipwreck left on the seafloor for centuries.

"Th-the armor...!"

"It really corroded!"

"Whoa..."

The party gaped in open admiration, as if they hadn't truly believed it would land. But the thing's buff was still intact.

"Hey. Bull-face."

I gathered my mana and stepped out in front of it.

"Come on."

"Grrrrrr!"

The Minotaur radiated fighting spirit and rushed me—a great sweeping strike, hands low on the haft.

"Look out...!"

I lightly ignored the warning from behind. Instead I dug inside the swing and set my grip hard on the club.

"One— two—!"

I spread my stance wide, dropped low to slip the halberd, and drove straight in.

"Three!"

Like a batter stroking a clean single, I swung the club!

Kang! Krrrk-krkk...!

From the point where the club landed dead-on, a great crack spiderwebbed outward.

And then the thing's armor broke apart completely, shattered to pieces. Unlike moments ago, when it wouldn't take a scratch, now it crumbled as easily as a butter cookie.

"Hah!"

A thrilling jolt ran out to my fingertips. Even a walk-off grand slam wouldn't hit harder than this.

"Waaaaaah!"

"I-it actually broke?!"

"This is huge! Everyone, it's real! The armor actually shattered! Whoa! Chat's flying!"

"Whoa..."

A rare sight, and the party's reactions were well worth watching.

"Graaaah!"

Stripped of its armor, the thing opened the distance in an instant.

"What? Feeling chicken now that the armor's gone?"

"Grr...! Grrrrrr!"

"Now we're finally gonna get some satisfying hits in."

I planted a foot on the armor fragments scattered across the floor and, for all to see, curled the corner of my mouth up.

Frenzy, risen to 5. The Minotaur's muscles swelled another size, and its presence turned rougher still.

Doesn't matter.

Because now, at last, our attacks would land.

Heh.

I spared it a small sneer, then called back to the party waiting behind me.

"Let's get started. Bull hunt."

The real boss takedown had begun.