Patches who gave up trying to fly instead wound up his tail to sting the one on his right. But the moment his stinger was about to impact the [Hammer].
Z*nitsu the lightning swordsman appeared and parried his stinger. Patches in annoyance opened his mouth to bite them only for a barrier to cover the other. Bullets and counterspells slammed his wings unceasingly whenever he tried to cast a spell.
Eventually, both [Hammers] leaped away from Patches as the manticore pitifully slammed into the ground. Battlestar 1 and 2 spared no time and quickly attacked him even when the dust cloud from his fall had yet to clear.
Rilu and the other [Sledge] led the assault as they slashed Patches across the neck. The [Chisels] continued to pepper the beast on his weak points. All of the manticore's attacks continued to get blocked by Battlestar 3.
Having a large body, the three stars kept assaulting patches nonstop. Hiro who watched the ruthless efficiency of the Battlestars trembled in fear. If it was him would he be able to fight all of them? It might be better to run.
But with the trap [Mirage Sphere] he would need to spend days hiding to have a shot of escaping. The Transmigrator silently watched Starfall butcher his manticore ally in silence.
Fear and unease entered his heart. But an alert message kicked them out just as fast.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt- Alert: Iron Will [D] Lvl 1 has suppressed the panic response of the host's autonomic nervous system -
'Right, If I run now, the next time they come for me even the girls might die. This ends today. Thank you for such a valuable gift Patches. I will not waste it.'
Hiro refocused only to see the R*y M*stang ripoff snap his fingers and burn the air inside Patches throat. However, even with the beatdown Patches endured, the manticore never stopped trying to counterattack.
The beast kept swiping his paws, attacking with his stinger, and casting spells with his wings even though nothing got through. Hiro saw that Patches HP dropped from 1,400,000 to just over 500,000.
Suddenly the crusader of star 3 failed to stop the monster's claw attack and slammed into the other devoted. The lightning swordsman also started to weaken from exhaustion.
Without star 3's defense, the other devoted started to incur heavy damage. Frank and the other [Forge] stopped attacking and transitioned to full support. Hiro smiled as he saw the tide of battle turning.
Right, this was the biggest challenge in boss battles in both games and anime. Due to most bosses being HP sponges. The biggest factor always came down to the player's ability to concentrate and kept up with the group.
The moment, someone starts to fail, the momentum of the battle shifts. Patches was by all accounts a last boss, and the golden chains served as the raid timer. The devoted needed to concentrate on fighting with both Patches and the clock.
Anyone who joined boss raids' however knows that in such instances any and all damage counts add up no matter how small. While their weapons allowed them to shave off HP. Their stats prevented them from overbearing displays of power like Gideon. However, without a robust enough mindset, it became incredibly easy to make a mistake. As if waiting for this moment, Patches suddenly started attacking wildly. He lunged at the [Forges], breaking the Battlestar formations apart.
They tried to reform their groups, but Patches' interruptions made it impossible. Rilu tried to take charge but the manticore focus on disrupting her Rhythm turning the devoted headless.
Frank lacked the battle sense to command such a powerful force. Due to a lack of guidance and trained leaders, mistakes and overlaps between the Battlestars began to manifest.
The [Hammer] of star 2 tried to tie Patches with wires, only for R*y mustang to burn them off by mistake. Frank who focused on healing got slammed to the ground by Patches' giant paw.
The [Anvil] of star 2 who was tasked with protecting him suddenly collapsed unable to fulfill his duties. With two [Anvil]s down and multiple others fainting due to exhaustion of calibers. The Battlestars except Rilu's all fell apart.
Fortunately for Starfall the Battlestars were not the only weapons present. "GIDEON!" at her call suddenly the Venator appeared with his sword raised in an overhead stance.
The scorpion tail who was in the middle of poisoning the [Chisel] of star 2 neglected its presence. Immediately slashing down, his blade chopped off the entire stinger.
Patches cried out in pain as his 5th limb separated from the rest of his body. The other devoted took this chance to wound him even further. Blood from the tail splattered all over Gideon coating the knight red.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAfter Patches shrugged off his attackers, he pounced onto Gideon like a truck and bit into the Venator's neck ignoring the rest of the devoted.
The Venator tried to pry him off and stabbed him repeatedly in the gut in a sustained counterattack. Patches' and Gideon remained intertwined which halved the attacks coming to the Manticore.
However, despite the dangerous situation Patches ignored the sword in his gut and had hundreds of magic circles light up all over his body. His tired voice then echoed inside Hiro's mind
'Mitsurugi, my friend. I have exhausted them as much as I can. You should be strong enough to take the humans now, this was the only plan I could think of where you survive. No matter how many of them I kill, Gideon remains the biggest problem. So long as the Venator joins them you will surely die.
'My [Mirage Sphere]'s is unique in that it persists even if I die. Its only rule is to prevent a target I cover in my blood from leaving it for three days. I pretended to fight all while waiting to drench Gideon in it.
'He seemed to have noticed something was off from the get-go, thus prior to me transforming he didn't interfere. It seems Rilu intentionally made him attack. As to why I do not know.
'Once I die, everyone but Gideon will be evicted from this place. The humans are barely hanging on to not fall into [Lost]. Powerful moves should no longer be possible for them. Please handle the rest on your own. I am sure you can do it. You are the Heavenly Sword after all.
'I'm glad be able to repay your kindness in this life my friend. Being able to meet you again made me incredibly happy. It was truly an honor to have been your friend even if it was only in another life.'
Hiro who heard the heartfelt words of the monster silently cried in sorrow. From beginning to end Patches treated him with nothing but genuine friendship. The manticore taught him, protected him and now intended to sacrifice himself for him.
Patches had no reason to defend the transmigrator but he did, how in the world can anyone remain stoic in front of such devotion?
If given the chance he vowed to make it up to the beast. Swallowing his sobs Hiro then choked out words to the first friend he made in this land.