The Armor Breaks

Minji was extremely wronged. "In the end, it was because of Saintess Nice that we couldn't clear it? lol"

"Whoa whoa, saying that will make her sulk."

"lololololol really fucking funny."

It wasn't the kind of thing that would end with mild annoyance. It was the kind of injustice that cut deep, the kind that made her want to scream at the sky. Why? Why was this her fault? She had just been greedy for the first clear. She had only been having fun with the raid and giving it her all. Even when her body ached and her energy was drained, she had still pushed through. How could anyone say the raid wasn't progressing because of her?

"No... I'm seriously wronged here."

Contrary to Minji's complaints, no one in the raid party blamed her. Any reasonable person would never accuse the ace who had carried them flawlessly until now with something like, "You stayed alive too long and that's why we couldn't break the gimmick!"

But the world is wide, and there are all kinds of people in it.

People who lacked common sense existed everywhere, it seemed.

Or perhaps they knew it was unreasonable and were deliberately trying to annoy her.

Minji was, in a way, a rare breed of attention seeker. Being a streamer required a certain level of that trait to begin with. With that personality, she had secretly been hoping for something during the Bolekia tries. It was the classic attention-seeker's craving for recognition.

She wanted people to say things like, "Whoa, Saintess Nice is insane," "We couldn't have first-cleared without her," or "Who called her a one-trick pony? Look at her carry." She wanted to be acknowledged as a skilled player, not just some troll who stirred up drama in the community.

Trolling was fun, and watching people freak out at the sight of her five-letter nickname was hilarious, but even Minji occasionally wanted to be recognized for her actual skill.

Because of that, she had been having a very satisfying few days. The Bolekia raid had been incredibly fun, and the viewers had constantly fed her need for validation. After ending stream, the community was filled with nothing but talk about her, and not the usual insults, but genuine awe and respect.

For Minji, it felt like her brain was melting from happiness. "Wow, I'm literally just doing what I love and people are donating and praising me. Is it okay to live like this?" Even with her headache and feverish body, she couldn't stop smiling.

But the world never went the way anyone expected.

"This... this was really designed to be impossible, right? No, it wasn't even that hard..."

"No, it really wasn't that difficult... You just watch the boss's tells and react... It seriously wasn't that bad..."

Minji had unintentionally trolled the raid party by going beyond the game design, but technically it wasn't her fault. Without her, they wouldn't have even reached this point so quickly.

They could treat it as a minor incident and just focus on the final push. Well...

The viewers, eager to tease her, started piling on now that they had an opening.

Saintess Nice didn't really care about chat reactions, so she only got mildly annoyed for a moment. Anyway, after memorizing all the patterns, they began a fresh attempt.

Ting—

They had reached the point where no one needed to explain patterns anymore. Everyone simply did their job.

After hammering away for days, this section felt like they could do it with their eyes closed. The Nice Squad continued their attempt in that trance-like state.

As their proficiency grew, their damage windows became more precise. Reaching the 100-line mark didn't take long.

From the 100-line onward, the real raid could be said to have begun.

"Ah, my hand keeps going to Guard out of habit. Gotta be careful."

Shhhk—

The Nice Squad now faced the empowered Bolekia's sword strikes that Saintess Nice had been blocking until now. The fast, wide-ranging sword auras and slashes made it hard to even dodge, let alone deal damage, but survival was the goal anyway.

Dodge, dodge again, keep focusing on dodging—

The part-break gimmick appeared. If they successfully guarded the attack—

Ting—

Bolekia entered a groggy state, giving them a long damage window. At the same ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time, a debuff increased the damage taken by 10%.

So there was no need to obsess over damage. Focusing on survival alone would guarantee a safe, solid damage window during the part break.

Dodge, break the part, burn damage, then dodge again. It looked simple, but Bolekia's patterns were vicious. Most parties were stuck on this exact sequence, and even the Nice Squad could wipe instantly with one small mistake. That showed just how focused they were right now.

"Hup."

Ting—

Starting with the left arm, they began systematically destroying the armor on both legs, torso, and lower body.

Only the helmet remained. The final part-break notification appeared. If they guarded successfully and burned damage during the groggy state, they could bring the boss to zero health.

Eder, the raid leader, tried to settle the atmosphere for the final burn—

Ting—

"Eh?"

The moment Minji succeeded in guarding, the screen went dark and began showing Bolekia clutching her helmet.

Any Ias player would recognize this. A long cutscene during a boss fight meant a phase transition.

Crack—

The white armor had already faded from battle. Cracks ran everywhere, and many parts were broken, leaving it little more than rags. It no longer looked capable of functioning as armor.

Bolekia seemed to agree. She grabbed the chest armor with her left hand—

Crack—

—and tore it off, throwing it away. The full body of the figure inside the armor, something every player had been curious about, was finally revealed.

"Whoa, her chest is huge."

Contrary to expectations, everyone was flustered by the prominent feature.

"But... she really is a girl."

"No, I did claim it. But honestly, I didn't actually think she was a girl. I was just trying to pull aggro."

Bolekia slowly began removing her armor piece by piece.

Inside the bulky armor was a healthy, feminine figure that no one had expected. Whether it was a cliché or a twist was debatable. Either way, Bolekia's gender had finally been revealed.

But still.

"Why isn't she taking off the helmet? That's the most important part."

They were most curious about her face, so why was she removing everything except the helmet? Was she saving it for last? Well, the highlight should come at the end anyway.

However, Bolekia seemed to mock their expectations.

Still wearing the half-destroyed helmet, she entered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the final battle.

"Eh?"

The cutscene ended with a sense of disappointment since no face was shown. The hidden phase of the third gate Bolekia, Shadow Bolekia, appeared.

True to the name "Shadow," she no longer radiated golden light. Instead, she emitted a rippling dark-blue aura. The one saving grace for the Nice Squad was that she only had 15 health bars left. This really was the final phase.

With only the final phase remaining, the Nice Squad began what might be their last attempt.