Chapter 170
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Race: Thunder Triceratops Lv49
Job: Lord of the Wilderness Lv9
Skill: 【Great Strength】
【Fangs】
【Thunder Horn】
【Shield Arts】
【Vitality Enhancement】
【Strength Enhancement】
【Defense Enhancement】
【Mental Enhancement】
【Thunder Magic】
【Charge】
【Toughness】
【Dull Sense】
【Roar】
【Intimidation】
【Thunder Scales】
【Thunder Attribute Resistance】
【Dragon Factor】
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The boss of the 'Fearsome Beast Wilderness' is apparently the Thunder Triceratops. Its green-tinged golden scales, magnificent three horns, and purple lightning crackling across its entire body were particularly striking. True to form, it also seemed to be carnivorous, drooling profusely as it looked at Eiji and Wool.
More than anything, we needed to be wary of 【Dragon Factor】. It was a trump card that activated when the boss was driven to the brink of death. A player couldn't use it lightly, considering what happened afterward, but our opponent was the boss of a Random Dungeon. It would surely use it without hesitation.
"Its Skill build is tank-type. As you can see, it has resistance to the thunder attribute. As for its offensive capabilities, watch out for its horns."
"Understood!"
At the same time as he answered, Eiji stepped forward. But someone called for a halt.
"I'm sorry. Could I be a little selfish?"
"What is it, Kanna?"
"I want my husband and me to try taking it on by ourselves."
Apparently, they wanted to defeat it as a duo. With their coordination and skill, it would be easy enough, but why had they suddenly decided to say something like that?
"When Jigorou-kun let us have a spar with him the other day, it really made us realize how inexperienced we still are. We thought we'd like to improve our skills a little."
"Would that be all right?"
Everyone besides the two of them looked at one another. Normally, leaving a boss battle to only two people would be absurd. Since we were challenging the boss as a party, the game's mechanics would distribute rewards to everyone. Wouldn't that make the remaining players look as though they were simply leeching?
To begin with, boss monsters had all their stats set high by special modifiers. Even if there were a monster of the same level and species in another field, the boss would be more than a cut above it. So even if we had the advantage in level, we should assume that our stats were evenly matched.
But the two of them were asking us to leave it to them despite understanding the risks. It would be easier for me, and besides, without those two, we wouldn't even have been able to enter this dungeon. In that case, I thought it was fine to indulge them a little. All that remained was to hear what the others thought.
"I don't mind... What about everyone else?"
"Ah, I'm fine with it. In fact, I'd get more fired up watching a triceratops fight from a distance."
"Me too! It's sparking and kind of scary..."
"I don't mind either way~"
Eiji, who loved dinosaurs, apparently didn't care whether he fought it himself. Shifune had to fight with her own fangs and blade-like legs, so she apparently didn't want to get close to the Thunder Triceratops, which was constantly wreathed in lightning. Wool was... the usual.
"That's what they say. I'll give you one piece of advice: once you drive it to the brink of death, it becomes extremely strong. If you look like you're about to die, we'll help you, so go wild."
"Thank you. ...Let's go, darling!"
"Let's do our best."
"Bwooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
As Kanna and Raga charged forward, the Thunder Triceratops, which had grown impatient, began its own charge. A desperate battle between cavalry and dinosaur was about to begin.
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As they raced forward without slowing down at all, Kanna and Raga stared at the three horns approaching them head-on. An ordinary person would have been terrified, but the two of them couldn't help grinning.
"Hehehe! Now!"
"Yeah, I know."
When they reached the distance at which the horns were just about to stab them, Raga changed course toward the front right. As he dodged the horns, Kanna, who had raised her Fangtian Ji while mounted, swung it down with all her might from the left.
"Oh? It's hard, and it tingles a little."
She had attempted to cut off the Thunder Triceratops's head, but the blade only left a shallow wound as it scraped across the scales with a harsh grinding sound. The unexpected resistance left Kanna dissatisfied as she reset her stance. She had expected the blade to reach the flesh at the very least, but it had been stopped.
Kanna had also taken thunder-attribute damage. She frowned at the unpleasant tingling sensation. 【Thunder Scales】 was a Skill that dealt damage to anyone who touched it, whether directly or indirectly. It could also inflict paralysis at a low probability, but it had no effect on Kanna, who possessed 【Status Ailment Immunity】.
"Take it easy. You know bosses aren't opponents you can defeat that easily, don't you? Besides, you weren't using a Martial Skill."
"That's true."
Having regained her good mood, Kanna raised her Fangtian Ji again. In her line of sight was the Thunder Triceratops, which had pulled its horn free from the Stone Shield Izam had cast and turned to face them. It probably intended to kill the eager Kanna and Raga before Izam and the others, who showed no intention of attacking for now.
"Yeah, its aggro is on us."
"That's exactly what I want!"
As soon as she said it, Kanna kicked Raga in the belly. In response, Raga charged forward. At the instant they crossed paths with the beast, Kanna unleashed a thrusting Martial Skill.
"Swift Thrust!"
"Bwoooooooh!!"
Blade and horn collided, canceling out each other's attacks. Kanna had used a Martial Skill, but apparently the Thunder Triceratops had done the same.
Its attack had been deflected just as before, but Kanna was smiling instead. The reason was that she had felt a definite impact.
"Bwoah!?"
"Hehe. It seems your horn can't stand up to this True-Steel Fangtian Ji."
The horn of the Thunder Triceratops, which had clashed with Kanna, now bore a large wound. It seemed that she had won the clash between their weapons.
"Bwoooooooooooh!"
"It doesn't look like it's going to back down, does it?"
"Nor will we."
Perhaps because its prized horn had been damaged, the Thunder Triceratops flew into a rage and charged again. This time, it was clear that it intended to fight them as enemies rather than acting out of hunger.
"Now! Mighty Blade Slash!"
"Bwooh!"
The third clash. Kanna's slash scraped away the surface of the Thunder Triceratops's developed, shield-like head. However, the impact that came back at her was greater than expected, causing her posture on horseback to falter slightly.
"Whoa, are you all right?"
"Yes. Thank you."
Raga, acting as her mount, covered for her, so she did not expose a fatal opening. Their perfect coordination almost seemed to embody the phrase 'horse and rider as one.'
"That impact was greater than I expected. What is going on?"
"I think it was a combination of 【Shield Arts】 and 【Charge】."
Raga had formed that hypothesis based on the results of 【Appraisal】, and it was correct. The attack made with 【Shield Arts】 had been augmented by the power of 【Charge】.
"How clever."
"As expected of a boss. But I think we can win."
"Of course we can."
While exchanging light banter, the two of them built up speed and launched their fourth charge. The Thunder Triceratops lowered its head and charged as well. It looked as though they would simply scrape away at each other as they had before.
"Now!"
"Here we go!"
"Bwo!?"
Just before the fourth collision, the two of them made their move. Raga changed course toward the front left, then drifted on the spot and reversed direction. He spun around nearly 270 degrees.
That spin made it possible to attack the Thunder Triceratops from the side. Kanna was not about to let such an opportunity pass. She put the momentum of the spin behind her thrust and slammed it straight into the Thunder Triceratops's right eye, of all places.
"Buh!? Bwoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?"
Kanna's Fangtian Ji gouged deeply into the eyeball and crushed it. Perhaps because of the pain, the Thunder Triceratops let out a scream. It was an ugly spectacle unbecoming of a dungeon boss, but Izam and the others watching the fight actually felt sorry for it.
"I'm not letting it get away!"
"Of course not!"
The two of them had no intention of holding back just because the spectators felt sorry for the beast. If anything, their assault intensified. Raga began running alongside the Thunder Triceratops as he thrust, while Kanna twisted the blade even deeper.
Damage to the Thunder Triceratops's eyeball, one of the vital points of any living creature, and the area behind it was draining its health bar at a terrifying rate. The Thunder Triceratops ran in an attempt to escape the blade that tormented it as though it were being tortured, but it could not get away at all. It could not escape Raga's skillful footwork, no matter how much it zigzagged or varied its speed.
Realizing that its life was in danger if things continued, the Thunder Triceratops abruptly stopped and thrashed about wildly. It finally managed to put some distance between itself and Raga. However, the action accomplished very little.
"It stopped, didn't it?"
"Stopping with that huge body probably puts it in a fatal position, doesn't it?"
A horse was a considerably large animal compared to a human. Raga was also quite large. However, the Thunder Triceratops was about three times as long as a horse, so it had absolutely no maneuverability. Its massive body also gave it considerable weight, meaning it took time to accelerate. As a result, it was slow to respond to attacks from behind and had difficulty putting distance between itself and an enemy immediately.
Having seen through that weakness, the two attacked it eagerly. They were thorough enough to target its right side, where its eye had been destroyed. Kanna also took damage from 【Thunder Scales】, but the Thunder Triceratops became covered in wounds even faster. Raga had also begun using magic, making the outcome of the battle seem decided.
"Rrrrrr... Bwooooooooooooooooooh!"
"It looks like it activated. What was it called again?"
"【Dragon Factor】."
However, the Thunder Triceratops possessed 【Dragon Factor】. Its stats rose, and the lightning bursting from its horns and scales grew more intense. Using its enhanced stats to forcibly break away from Raga, the Thunder Triceratops made a U-turn and charged again. This time, it intended to crush them head-on with sheer strength.
"Then let's use our ultimate skills too."
"So we're taking it head-on? All right, then. 'Warhorse Pride.'"
To counter the Thunder Triceratops, the two of them also used their trump-card ultimate skills. First, Raga activated an ultimate skill called 'Warhorse Pride,' which enhanced himself and the person riding him. It strengthened not only himself but also Kanna, making it an ultimate skill truly befitting a mount.
"I'm charging in!"
"Whenever you're ready!"
In response, Kanna raised her Fangtian Ji and began spinning it overhead. She was not showing off; this was the charge-up time before she could use her ultimate skill.
The distance between the two sides closed in an instant, and the Thunder Triceratops's horns began glowing as they released lightning more violently than ever. Seeing that, Kanna curled up the corners of her mouth as though her usual gentle demeanor had been a lie.
"I'll knock those precious horns of yours clean off. 'Great Wheel: Dragon-Scale Pierce!'"
'Great Wheel: Armor Pierce' was an ultimate skill of 【Halberd Arts】 whose power increased with the number of times the weapon was rotated. The user was left wide open while spinning it around, and the power dropped dramatically if the rotation was interrupted. Furthermore, it prevented the user from running, so players considered it a useless ultimate skill.
However, for Kanna, who had a way to move while spinning, it was the strongest ultimate skill. With enough rotations, it could even pierce a dragon's scales. The skill easily shattered the Thunder Triceratops's horns, then pierced its brow and drove the blade all the way into its brain, up to the base.
"B... bwoah..."
"I wonder if I've improved at all."
No matter how much it could use 【Dragon Factor】, a massive injury to the head would kill a player or monster instantly all the same. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the Thunder Triceratops collapsed.