As predicted, the Goblin King's attack after entering Phase Two was not only faster, but also hit harder. So much, in fact, that Ram was having trouble parrying the attacks now.
Even though she's avoiding direct hits, every time she parried an attack, or dodged too close to home, her HP dropped by a visible chunk.
"Alright, Switch!"
Due to this, Miyabi finally had her turn attracting the boss's attention while letting Ram recover her lost HP.
Of course, right now, she was nothing but a "paper cannon."
It's not like she could tank the boss's hits.
Her control was great, dodging all the attacks coming at her despite her low AGI stat. However, even that has a limit.
"Ugh...!"
She couldn't maintain a perfect streak like Ram, an Android. After a small mistake in judging the trajectory, Miyabi ended up catching a horizontal slash square to the chest.
A solid hit, dead center!
Due to the Goblin King's boss-level strength, she shot toward the cavern wall, crashing into it and raising a large cloud of dust.
"FleetingCloud!" I roared in worry, turning to my android and issuing acommand. "Ram! Distract the boss for now!"
"Yes, Master."
Ram hadn't fully recovered yet, but her HP was now on the green side. She shouldn't be in danger so soon after recovering that much.
As for Miyabi, I could see her current status in my view, so I could tell she was still alive. However, the attack had taken 95% of her HP—almost a one-hit kill. She was in a critical state, her HP bar a deep, dark red.
[MoeLover: NOoooOOO!!! 😰]
[NoLifeKing: Did she die? Her HP is still dropping...💀]
[Granger: She got smashed so fast I couldn't even see the bounce! Boobies...!]
Even the chat was in a panic after seeing Miyabi fly off faster than a speeding bullet. Thankfully, she stood up from the dust cloud the next moment, "blood" effects dripping from the corner of her lips and nose.
"That was close...! If I didn't block with my sword at the last moment, I would've died...!" She gasped.
Of course, it was obvious what happened to the sword that saved her—its durability had instantly bottomed out, and the weapon disintegrated into dust right before her eyes.
Her sword had basically offered itself as a sacrifice to keep her alive.
"You can move, right? Get behind me and recover for now!"
Right now, we had no potions. The flag's 20% recovery per 10 seconds was our only lifeline. But we couldn't drag it out either, as Ram wouldn't be able to handle the boss by herself.
Even now, she was fully on the defensive, unable to even land a hit.
The only silver lining was that the Tutorial Boss, the Goblin King, couldn't regenerate—so we could take our time whittling down its HP.
"...As expected, it's going down either way."
Staring at Ram's HP, even within the flag's recovery radius, the damage she was receiving outpaced the 20% per 10 seconds regen. After 30 seconds of fighting, her HP had already dropped to the yellow zone—below 50%. Another minute, and her chances of dying would skyrocket.
'I'm not even sure if she can respawn. I can't risk it!'
It was a blessing in disguise that she hadn't made any control errors like Miyabi did. That said, it didn't mean she was immune to them either.
The Goblin King's giant sword came slashing diagonally downward, and Ram angled her shield to meet it perfectly. It should have just grazed the shield, dealing minimal damage, before getting deflected—but then...
"Ram!"
For some reason, the Goblin King's sword adjusted its trajectory. Barely—so slight it wasn't obvious at a glance. But the closer it got, the more apparent it became.
Ram noticed a beat too late. She tried to correct her guard, but couldn't fully realign in time. The strike caught the center of her shield—and split it clean in half.
Along with the shield, her entire left arm went with it. Her HP cratered below 25%, plunging into the red.
A flood of thoughts hit me all at once.
Worry for Ram's safety. The cost of repairs. The mystery of the Goblin King pulling off moves it shouldn't be capable of. Those and more, all at the same time.
But one thing was clear.
"Get back!" I shouted.
"Yes, Master!"
Without hesitation, Ram leaped backward, slipping a follow-up swing in the same motion. She turned and covered the remaining distance at a sprint, stopping right beside Miyabi—about three meters behind me.
"No!" I said quickly, glancing back. "Stay further away and spread out—stay within the flag's range, but don't cluster!"
The situation was simple and grim.
Ram was out of commission and need time to recover. Miyabi couldn't solo the boss as her control wasn't perfect. Until they both recovered, I had to hold the line myself!
"All I've got is a small knife and a flag I can't let go of..."
On paper, this was already a dead end.
But it wasn't my first time fighting at a disadvantage.
My lips curled into a confident smile as I raised my knife, leveling it straight at the Goblin King.
"Alright, you big oaf. I'll be your opponent!"
My HP, MP, and SP were untouched. Perfect condition.
Not being able to move? Having to hold my ground while the girls recovered? That wouldn't even count as a handicap.
"GRAAAH!"
As if angered by the taunt, the Goblin King lunged forward, sword raised high—dragging a line across the ceiling—before swinging straight down.
A stupidly powerful attack. Linear, telegraphed, and embarrassingly easy to dodge.
Except, as I said, dodging wasn't an option. Letting go of the flag would reset the regeneration timer, and those lost seconds could be the difference between a comeback and a full party wipe.
"COME AT ME!"
I held my ground, grip tight on the small dagger.
The Goblin King's sword, taller than I was, came down at a speed no normal person could dodge. I stayed calm. I lowered the dagger to my right side, held in a reverse grip, then swung it with full force, targeting a single point—the center of the blade's mass.
CROSS PARRY!
As the dagger's tip caught the side of the blade, the green notification window flared. This time, it said something entirely different from before. It wasn't a "Perfect Parry" but rather, a "Cross Parry!"
The parry registered, and the giant sword was wrenched aside, slamming into the cave floor about a meter to my left. Rock chips sprayed outward—the few that caught me shaved off a sliver of HP, but nothing worth noting.
That was just the opening act.
"GRAAAAH!"
All of the boss's aggro snapped onto me completely. Good—that meant Miyabi and Ram were off its radar. Less good—every attack from here was mine to handle alone.
"Shi—WhiteGod...!"
Miyabi's worried voice reached me from behind, but I didn't have the tome or luxury of looking back.
"Don't worry, just wait until you're both above 80%!" I called out, giving a thumbs up. "After that, hit it with everything you've got!"
Right.
Even if I parried every attack perfectly, I couldn't deal damage. Actually finishing the boss still depended entirely on Miyabi and Ram.
All I was doing right now was buying them time.
The Goblin King kept swinging its ridiculously large sword. Again, and again, and again. Each time, I met it with the dagger—sparks flying, green windows popping. One attack every three to five seconds, consistent enough that I could time every parry cleanly.
And then it happened again.
With a grin that didn't belong on a tutorial boss, the Goblin King roared and swung—a downward diagonal aimed at splitting me in half. I moved to intercept, but about a meter out, the sword's trajectory shifted by roughly a centimeter.
So minor that it was nearly invisible.
But there's no way I'd miss it.
"Cheeky bastard...!"
I adjusted my parry mid-motion and landed it cleanly, sending the sword veering away once more.
"I saw that trick once already. There's no way I'd miss."
The Goblin King stared at me with wide eyes, visibly in shock. It hadn't expected me to catch that one, for sure.
With its attack parried, its body stiffened. The stagger duration scaled with the force of the blocked hit. This one would hold it for about five seconds. More than enough time.
"IAI SLASH!"
"Haaap!"
Both girls came in at once. Miyabi at full HP—holding a Goblin Sword as replacement weapon—and Ram at 80% HP with her left hand still missing.
Miyabi's Iai drove straight into the boss's right eye—a clean critical, breaking four hundred damage. Ram followed it up with a precise stab to the other eye, landing over three hundred on her end.
"GRAAAAAGH!"
The HP bar above the Goblin King's head dropped sharply as it cried in pain.
"Get back!" I barked.
I didn't want either of them getting greedy and fishing for a second hit. The stagger was almost up, and more importantly—
"Its HP just crossed below 25%! Fall back behind me!"
It's now entering Phase Three.
More stat increases, higher speed, and heavier hits. And on top of that, seeing its skin turn from green to a deep, bloody shade of red...
"It's going berserk!" I shouted.
We're almost there.
Just a little more...!