"Scales, cover its eyes!" Raising my arm, the dragon scales wrapped around the minotaur's head.
"Strike its knees now!" I commanded.
The adventurers struck the Minotaur's knee, their attacks only managing to form barely visible cuts. Alleus and I lunged to cut the tendons of its foot. But before we could, the Minotaur swung its arms around.
Raising her short sword, Alleus went into a stance that would let her deflect attacks much more easily.
"Scales, transfer onto Alleus!"
Attempting to deflect a punch from the Minotaur, she was instead sent launching several feet into the air. Luckily, it seemed that the Dragon Scales Armor had lessened the impact of the blow. Not so luckily, I no longer had anything that would effectively protect me.
"Ahhh!" Looking toward the direction of the scream, one of the close combatants had been ripped in half, desperately trying to pull her organs back together.
Shit. One mistake and it would be the end of us.
"We need to steal its weapon before it's drawn!" But the combatants were visibly wary of approaching.
We needed as many people as possible if we were going to take this thing down, or at least until Incus finished fighting the other Minotaur.
The attacks of the rangers weren't working. The arrows bounced off its thick skin.
"Check status."
==[Status Window]==
「Information」
[Name: Minotaur Lieutenant #3]
[Class: Tank]
[Equipment]
◈ Torn cloth (brown)
[Weapons]
◈ Great bone sword
[Description]
「Attributes」
[Physical | lvl: 8]
[Stamina | lvl: 5]
Intelligence | Lv l: 1.5]
[Mana | lv l: 6]
「Skills」
[Advanced Great Sword Technique]
=========
This wasn't good. That beast was three times stronger than I was, and if a strike from Alleus—the strongest one here—barely did anything, then this battle was really not in our favor.
Walking back, the Dragon Scales Armor began to reform around me.
"Are you good?"
"I'm fine, partner. Have you figured out a way for us to win?"
Shaking my head, I grit my teeth.
"We'll have to freestyle this battle."
Turning to the rangers, I commanded:
"Aim for its armpits, eyes, and shoulders."
"W-what?" A middle-aged archer stumbled with a confused look.
"Understood." The florist put her sling away and pulled out a retractable crossbow from under her dress, which was attached around her lower leg.
"Let's go." I pointed my Fire Hero's Sword at the Minotaur, which had steam boiling from its mouth.
Running forward, I bent down and swung upward.
"ExcaliBurn! "An arc of fire launched at its chin.
"Jump left!" Alleus spat.
Listening to her instructions, I narrowly avoided a downward smash that crushed the hard stone ground. Alleus must have used the Truthseeker's Eye to foresee the attack.
Pulling out a small mana potion from my pouch's vial holders, I quickly gulped it down.
Thrusting my sword at the Minotaur's thighs, I was met with ruthless devastation as the sword barely nicked the damned beast.
"Jump back!"
Dodging a swipe from the Minotaur that must have been meant to strangle me, Alleus began shouting a chain of commands.
"Dodge left! Duck down! Jump forward!"
Barely moving out of the way, I slashed at the Minotaur at the same time, my sword dancing in the air.
Not only that, but as the Minotaur attacked, the florist ranger shot at its armpits when the beast's arm was raised, shot at its eyes during the brief moments it wasn't attacking, and shot at its shoulders after each attack was done.
She did everything I had hoped for without any in-depth instructions. She must have been heavily experienced, unlike the other ranger who couldn't even properly pull back his bow.
Pulling three small mana potions and gripping them between my fingers, I swung my sword.
"ExcaliBurn! ExcaliBurn! ExcaliBurn! " Between the intervals of the attacks, I uncorked a potion and drank it before firing again.
The Minotaur growled.
It seemed that the rapid firing of attacks did some damage, but since the Fire Hero's Sword scaled with the amount of mana one had, it didn't do much.
This was a fact I learned when I used the Fire Hero's Sword while Incus was practicing her aim with the hero swords.
My arc of flame was significantly smaller than Incus's, and it was less potent. She completely eviscerated her target, while mine still stood.
I didn't want to use my last potion just in case, but it looked like I might have to.
"Ring, switch with me. Don't push yourself too much."
Stepping back, I slumped to the ground. All of the fatigue began to settle in.
Looking at the ranger, I whispered:
"Check status."
====[Status Window]====
「Information」
[Name: Lieur]
[Class: Ranger]
[Equipment]
◈ Flowerkeeper dress
◈ Magic quiver bracelet (88/100)
[Stores arrows in a magical storage]
[Weapons]
◈ Short bow
◈ Foldable crossbow
◈ Shepherd's slingshot
◈ Throwing daggers (7)
[Description]
「Attributes」
[Physical | lvl: 3]
[Stamina | lvl: 4]
Intelligence | Lv l: 3.5]
[Mana | lv l: 3]
「Skills」
[Advanced Archery Technique]
[Adept Slinging Technique]
[Adept Throwing Technique]
[Advanced Eagle Eye]
[Adept Mana Shot]
[Basic Mana Sense]
[Advanced Enhanced Accuracy]
========
Focusing on her description, I began to read:
==[Description]==
A battle-hardened adventurer whose skin became tan. Once she achieved her dream of saving enough money to buy a flower shop, she retired.
========
I see. So that was her story. Her stats were also pretty high.
Looking more carefully at her, she was surprisingly good-looking. Her pale blue eyes were complemented by her messy home-styled hair.
"Something on my face?"
Catching me off guard, I shook my head.
"No, you're just very admirable."
With a smirk, she pulled arrows from her bracelet and continued to fire.
I needed to recruit her, but now wasn't the time. We just had to finish this first.
Standing up, I stretched my neck.
"Alright, rest's over. Alleus, switch with me!"
In the next moment, she disappeared and slumped to the ground.
"Haaaa… that guy's a tough nut to crack. All of my attacks won't even graze him. So much different from the red demons. At least their flesh was easily sliceable." Pulling out her flask, she began gulping down water.
"Lieur, you must have fought something similar to this before. So think of a plan for us to use." Of course, there was no way she could recall any memories of fighting such a monster, despite her description of being heavily experienced.
This was just a seed I was planting so that I could recruit her.
"Wait, how do you know my name?" She asked, her tone filled with a hint of fear.
With a smile on my face, I lunged at the Minotaur.
The author published the chapter and immediately started writing again.