It's a bit ter than pnned. But at st, we have come for revenge, Pinocchio!
Standing at the entrance to the raid boss, the Umbra Lord of Marionettes, Pinocchio, I, along with Sanae, Hikari, Himeji, Mom, and stly Sindri, grouped together to discuss the pn one st time.
"Ok. You all know what to do, right?" I asked the team who all nodded simultaneously.
"Of course. It's—"
"Group up and hit it till it dies!" Mom interjected when Sindri was about to respond.
"Mom, that's not the pn." I said to her.
"It kind of is if you think about it." Sanae said otherwise.
"Oh come on, Akatsuki! Don't agree with her."
"Hehehe! My daughter-in-w knows who's right."
"She's not your daughter-in-w yet!"
"Keyword: 'yet'."
"Uggghhh..." I heaved a loud and exasperated sigh. "Forget it. You already know it anyway." I then turned to Sindri, Hikari and Himeji, asking them. "You girls know what to do, right?"
"Of course, sis!" Hikari responded confidently.
"Yes." Sindri replied calmly.
Meanwhile, Himeji nodded, feeling nervous which I couldn't bme her since she has probably the most important role in this battle, which is to keep the boss on her as much as she can for the first phase.
The pn itself is simple: Have the boss attack Himeji with Mom healing her, while Sanae, Hikari, Sindri and I deal damage to him without trying to turn his attention to us.
Sounds easy. Except for the fact that it isn't.
Standing before the doors to the boss whom Sanae and I once lost to, I took a deep breath in and out, feeling slightly anxious but overall ready to face the Umbra Lord of Marionettes again.
"Let's go."
"""RIGHT!!"""
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Notice!]
You are about to enter [Geppetto's Workshop].
An Umbra Lord resides beyond these doors.
Do you wish to proceed?
Min. participants: 1 pyer
Max. participants: 24 pyers
Recommended Level: ≥ 35
[Yes] / [No]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yes."
*Creeeeeaaakkk~* The doors opened. We stepped into the chapel. Descending the stairs into the darkness, Himeji let out a small scream the moment we stepped into the pool of blood that is the battlefield.
And then...
"Is someone there...?"
The boss's voice was heard. His dialogue before the battle pys out. Ending it with him revealing his disgusting form and screeching out loud.
"What the **** is that!?" I heard Sindri excimed.
And so, it begins.
"Come to Papa!"
"HimeHime, to the front!"
"Y-Yes!"
Opening with a full body charge towards us, I instructed Himeji to move into formation as she pced her great shield down and yelled.
"Fortress!"
The boss collided with Himeji's shield as the both of them got knocked back with Himeji being pushed back significantly less than the boss.
"Momma Heal!"
Mom then brandished her sceptre, using her skill to restore Himeji's HP.
But what the heck is a Momma Heal? That's just a regur Heal, ain't it?
Following that Heal, she proceeds to cast more of her skills on Himeji.
"Momma Bless! Momma Armament - Physical! Momma Holy Protection!"
Three buffs were applied unto Himeji as the boss was getting up.
Bless: A support skill that increases an ally's overall defensive stats for 180 seconds.
Armament - Physical: Another support skill that increases an ally's resistance to physical damage for 120 seconds.
And Holy Protection: A support skill that envelopes the targeted ally with a barrier, acting as a second yer of defense for them. Lasting forever until said ally is hit with an attack.
But expnations aside...
"Mom, what's with you saying Momma before every skill?"
"Hehe! It's Momma's signature method of casting skills."
"Sounds like a drag."
"Well Momma doesn't care. So stop talking about that and start attacking! The boss is coming again!"
Mom ended the conversation short as the boss unched its next attack, The Extending Nose Thrust, right at Himeji who stood her ground, ready.
"Haste."
"Acceleration."
"Let's go, Bane!"
I casted Haste, Hikari used Acceleration, and Sanae brought out Bane as we, the damage dealers, charged in as soon as the attack was unched, with Sindri being the only one who stayed in the rear, being an archer. Taking the first shot to damage the boss.
"Bow Booster. Bow Amplification. Lightning Arrow!"
The boss's HP dropped a bit. Meanwhile, we charged.
"High Wisdom. Magic Booster. Magic Amplification." As we advanced, I applied my buffs, drank a MP potion to restore my MP back to full and casted Multi-Mirror Make on myself right after that, along with Hex on the boss.
During which, Hikari and Sanae does the same.
"Bde Dance. Hone Bde. Acceleration. Enchant - Bze!"
"Rally. Boosted Wall. Boosted Arm. Cry of Rage. Summoner's Aura. Summoner's Might!"
"Skreeeeeee!!"
None of us intend on holding back. We pn to end the first phase as quickly as possible.
And so, matching my timing with Sindri who shot her second arrow, I stopped my charge now that the boss is in range and cast my spell along with my Mirror Make clones.
"Sacred Arrow: Seiryu!"
"""Multi-Aqua Laser!!"""
A significant drop was made to the boss's HP, as Sanae and Hikari followed up with their attacks on the boss.
"Bde Stance, Fourth Form: Serpent Flow Ssh!"
"Doryyaaaa!"
Hikari moved fluidly like a snake coiling around its prey as she sshed its entire body with consecutive cuts. Whereas Sanae simply threw a punch. A powerful punch. Both of their attacks causing the boss's HP to drop more.
And right as they have dealt damage, the boss screamed.
"Give me a hug!"
Knowing what comes next when he says that line, Hikari and Sanae immediately jump back as the boss's multiple hands begin to stretch out to grab them.
And while he was focused on them, I charged in with Sindri supporting me from the rear.
"Sacred Arrow: Suzaku!"
The Vermillion Bird flew and struck the boss directly, dealing a significantly lesser amount of than her Sacred Arrow: Seiryu. However, the effects of her Sacred Arrow: Suzaku was not over yet as the boss's HP continued to drop at a certain pace even when no one was attacking him.
I see. So Suzaku is a DoT skill. It would have been bad if I had gotten struck by it during our duel.
Following up after Sindri’s attack, I, and my Mirror-Make clones, jumped and proceeded to bst the boss with our signature move.
"""Multi-Explosion!"""
Kaboom! Massive explosions lit up the dark chapel in an instant as the boss took a big hit to his face, leaving his HP to reach the halfway mark so soon.
Meanwhile, upon nding back on the ground, I drank as many of my MP potions as my MP was completely drained from Multi-Aqua Laser and Multi-Explosion that me and my clones used together.
During that time, the boss screamed again.
"You're not getting awaaaayyyy!"
I knew what was coming, and his eyes were locked on me. So, I called out.
"Shield!"
"Yes!"
Due to the distance between Himeji and me, there was no way either of us could reach each other even if we were to physically run.
However, that is if we even need to run.
"Cover Ally!"
Using a new skill of hers which we bought from the skill shop just thirty minutes prior to the battle, Himeji immediately teleported to my side right as the boss extended his nose for his deadly nose thrust attack.
"Fortress!" She yelled, using another skill and stood her ground against the attack. Tanking a serious amount of damage in spite of how high her defense is supposed to be.
But fortunately, we have a healer.
"Momma Heal!"
Unfortunately, that healer is my mom.
But with the boss's attack guarded against, Hikari, Sanae, Sindri and I did not waste this window of opportunity and charged in to attack once more.
"Sacred Arrow: Byakko!"
"Iai Stance, Third Form: Lightning Bde!"
"Ora ora ora ora ora!"
The three damage dealing girls dished out their strongest attack, as I too do the same with my clones, aiming our staves at the big boss's body.
Sorry big boy. I know it's a short second time, but I don't really want to make this fight long.
So, I'm ending it.
"""Destroyer! And... Multi-Aqua Laser!!"""
There was no way to defend himself from this. Multiple barrage of jet stream water beams just kept drowning the boss with damage. In addition to that, the DoT damage from Sindri's Sacred Arrow: Suzaku has yet to dissipate. Making the boss's HP decrease at an arming rate until zero in the blink of an eye.
And just like that, the first phase was over with the boss's body dropping lifelessly on the ground like a puppet with its strings severed.
Which means that it's time for phase two.
*Crack!*
Like the first time Sanae and I had witnessed, the face of giant human centipede Pinocchio cracked open as the true Pinocchio, who is weirdly hot for some reason, revealed himself from the puppet.
"To feel the warmth of the air again..."
"To embrace the child I held dear once more..."
"To enact my revenge on that accursed fairy who did this to me...!"
"You will not stand in my WAAAYYYYY!!!"
With his monologue spoken, the flesh golem that were inactive under the water emerged and began to move.
"Raise... my puppets. And bring me their fresh materials!"
And thus, the second phase has begin. I casted Multi-Mirror Make on Bane.
"Just like we have pnned, I will leave them all to you!"
"""Got it!""" They replied, shifting their focus onto the flesh golems in the area while I approached the boss.
"Hello there, Pinocchio. I have a message from your daughter." I said to him, moving in closer before both him and I stared at each other face-to face with incredible animosity.
"Drop dead. That's what she said." I told him, feeling weirdly excited.
"I will skin you live!" was what he said in return.
"Try it then."
With a bloodied hand saw in his dominant hand, and Assault Charges in mine, we swung our weapons at each other, cshing fiercely as the start of my one-on-one battle with the boss began.
ChocoteLover030