"Tch... pain in the ass."
Data on the two-headed dragon flashed through Leon's mind at high speed.
Everything else was manageable. It was just a water dragon. Melee brute-force fighters might have a harder time, since the bare minimum requirement to even challenge it was the ability to create footholds on the water's surface.
Only with that foundation could you formally begin a fight against Amphisbaena.
If you couldn't even manage that and still wanted to challenge the two-headed dragon? Sorry, you didn't even qualify.
By comparison, Leon, a mage who could use magic as his basic attack, had it much easier. For him, the difficulty of subjugating the two-headed dragon was honestly not that bad. Who else could use magic like a machine gun?
Of course, all of that assumed... there was no Crimson Mist, the bane of every mage's existence.
Damn it, I have to take out the right head first. Otherwise my damage output takes a massive hit. And if this thing is as crafty as the Moss Giant and just hunkers down inside its Crimson Mist, I'm screwed.
Shit. This is tricky.
His mind raced, but his hands never stopped.
He ran, constantly adjusting his position relative to Jeanne and Rose, covering the two elven juniors while hunting for the perfect firing angle to keep up his magical bombardment on the two-headed dragon.
At the same time, he kept his eyes and ears on everything, leveraging his mid-to-rear position's superior field of view to monitor the party's status and the flow of battle, feeding timely callouts to Jeanne as commander.
Amphisbaena reared both grotesque dragon heads high, its clenched jaws trembling slightly. Wisps of pale blue sparks were already leaking from between the left head's fangs.
Jeanne's eyes sharpened.
This was their first time running this boss, but with her wealth of combat experience, how could she not recognize it? That posture was the windup for a big attack.
"Heads up! Breath attack incoming, it's the left head's Azure Flame! Stop attacking, don't fall back, dodge to the sides with everything you've got!"
She instantly judged that the breath's attack pattern was most likely a fan-shaped shockwave, and gave the correct order without hesitation.
Laurier and Aura, whose instincts had been screaming at them to retreat straight back, broke into a cold sweat and immediately bolted sideways per Jeanne's command.
Leon, positioned at center-mid ahead of them, relaxed once he saw the two hadn't been dumb enough to backpedal. He flashed a wicked grin at the two-headed dragon.
Azure Flame, huh. Fire-attribute attack. I wonder if my Ice Armor, boosted by my maxed-out Endurance and Magic stats, could cancel it out...
The thought crossed his mind, but he followed his gut and ran anyway.
Even if he could tank the dragon breath, he wasn't going to. Why ask for punishment?
The instant everyone had cleared a safe distance from the breath's center line, the next second, a savage, searing torrent of blue dragon breath erupted from Amphisbaena's left head.
In a flash, the entire water surface and embankment were swallowed by a sea of azure fire, the extreme heat warping the very air.
While the two-headed dragon was locked in its post-breath recovery, Jeanne seized the opening.
"All-out attack!"
Rose's eyes sharpened. She held her one-handed sword vertically before her, posture ramrod straight, and clicked the heels of her silver high-heeled combat boots together. Her expression solemn and reverent, she chanted her second magic's prayer:
"O Gold!"
A golden halo burst outward with her at its center, then settled beneath everyone's feet.
"Golden Oath!"
Full-party amplification aura, activated!
And that wasn't all.
Devout Hands, activated!
The synergy between her magic and skill sent the entire party's offense and defense skyrocketing.
After Rose made her move, the others weren't idle either.
Aura had already finished preparing her magic using Concurrent Chanting while they'd been on the move, sitting in standby. On Jeanne's command, she unleashed her second magic for the very first time.
The cup of feasting brims full, the rite of rapture begins...
In the name of the feast, I grant thee the power of frenzied dance!
Pain forgotten, fear dissolved, only the will to fight burns eternal...
This is my... Rite of the Bacchanal Frenzy!
An enormous emerald magic circle erupted outward with Aura at its center.
Countless flowers and plants bloomed in a riot of color, lush and vibrant, releasing the fragrance of mystic wine.
Red and green phosphorescence intertwined, lighting up the entire embankment.
The soft glow of the blooming feast naturally enveloped Leon's group as well, and even Alise and the others who'd pulled out of the fight were covered by Aura's amplification field.
"This is... I can feel the power surging!"
"It's... so strong. What kind of magic is this?"
Lyra clenched her fist hard, eyes wide with disbelief. She stared at the elven girl in the distance with her arms spread wide, maintaining the magic field, and said with her scalp tingling:
"Ultra-wide-area all-stat amplification magic? What kind of broken nonsense is that?"
"Hey, hey, hey, Kaguya. Your man's party members are all ridiculously busted, huh? With what you bring to the table, you're not gonna end up as the side piece when you join them, are you?"
"Shut up!"
...
Rite of the Bacchanal Frenzy: places all allies within range into a "Frenzy" state, boosting all Basic Abilities, increasing attack power and attack speed, removing fear, numbing pain.
Wide-area amplification magic.
...
After both team-wide amplification spells were active, golden and emerald halos stacked beneath everyone's feet, their stats amplified again and again.
Leon felt the surge of power within him and smirked.
Pre-boss buff phase, huh? Team buffs are up. Now for personal buffs.
As the words left his mouth, one magic name after another rang out across the embankment.
"Rage!"
"Hurricane's Aria!"
"Barri!"
"Pure White Kite Shield!"
"Vanquish!"
"Holy Sword!"
Rose, Kureha, and Laurier each activated their personal magic and skills without wasting a beat, maxing out their combat states.
Having watched them move, Leon turned his gaze to Persephone.
Feeling his eyes on her, the beautiful superior pushed up her glasses and let a small smile curl at the corner of her lips.
Desolation, abundance, life, death...
Spring, summer, autumn, winter, the cycle of four seasons...
Breath of desolation, all things fall silent...
Life drained, flesh to dust, only death is eternal!
In the name of withering, I grant thee everlasting silence...
This is... Desolation and Withering!
...!
The world went silent.
Persephone's magic didn't have the eye-catching spectacle of Aura's or Rose's. Instead... it carried a feeling of deep, visceral dread.
The moment she successfully cast the spell, the entire space turned into a washed-out grayscale, like old black-and-white film.
Click.
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