Alexia

My first assumption about this little hidden boss of sorts was that it would be impossible to defeat. That we would have to focus entirely on the heart, breaking it while avoiding the boss entirely. Something that I assumed wouldn’t be too difficult thanks to teleportation.

I assumed wrong.

And I quickly realize that the moment the lupin parasite chomps down on my arm and slams into me. Sending me flying so fast that I break the sound barrier until I slam into the wall and cough out so much blood that it covers my chest as I slide down the crater I made in the wall towards the floor.

While missing my arm entirely.

At the same time, I feel more ribs broken than I would care to count.

I let out a groan as I quickly revert the damage, spending a massive chunk of soul to do so. So much that it takes away an entire ten percent of my total soul capacity.

“Mommy!!!” Luna practically shrieks, having returned to her humanoid form as she appears next to me, helping me to my feet until I raise a hand.

“Alright healed,” I mutter, feeling both mentally and physically exhausted by that one singular attack. “But this… might prove troublesome.”

Luna nods her head as the two of us focus on the parasitical wolf that’s currently prowling its way around the heart towards us.

I drastically underestimated this monster.

And judging by the fact that it ate my damned arm and sent me flying with a tackle, its physical attacks must have magical effects as well. A sight that is made more obvious by the ominous black energy leaking out of its mouth as it chews. Albeit with what looks like a frown on its face.

Then it just spits my arm out, which is rather disturbing to see. Considering that it’s both my arm and it’s quite literally just glitching on the ground.

Guess I don’t taste good.

The lupin parasite snarls a little as it continues slowly prowling towards us. And in the time it’s taking to get here – which is quite a bit longer than I’d expect judging by how fast it moved before, likely meaning it’s ‘playing with its food’ – I come up with a new plan for us winning.

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‘Luna, keep attacking the heart,’ I tell her through our bond while frowning at the wolf and slowly beginning to circle around it in the opposite direction. ‘Do not stop attacking the heart no matter what happens to me. This is of the utmost importance. I’ll keep the thing distracted while you take out the heart.’

I can feel her distaste regarding this plan, but I can also tell by her nodding of her head that she will go along with it anyways.

And so, I teleport to the other side of the chamber while Luna teleports right up to the heart and begins to attack it.

Only for the lupin parasite to ignore me and charge straight at Luna instead, clearly defending the heart.

Luna manages to teleport away, albeit only barely. And only after getting grazed by the wolf, having part of her wing torn off in the process.

Fortunately, I’m not the only one with a self-restorative skill. So she heals right away.

I frown before teleporting forwards and attacking the wolf with my polearm. But my polearm quite literally just pings off of its fur, not so much as even scratching it.

Then the wolf swipes its paw at me faster than I can see, sending me flying across the chamber again.

‘The heart!’ I shout at Luna through our bond, making her teleport up to the heart and begin attacking it again as the wolf begins charging towards me.

After she does a certain amount of damage to it, though, the wolf slows to a stop and turns around, its eyes narrowing a little.

That’s it.

It really is the guardian of the black heart.

The thing doesn’t care about anything else. Just protecting the heart.

Before anything else, I revert my injuries again. Draining away another large portion of my soul and making me grimace in the process.

We’re gonna have to be extra careful in this battle if we don’t want to end up dying.

I grit my teeth before teleporting straight up to the wolf and slashing at it with my polearm again. Then teleporting away almost instantly, only barely getting grazed in the process when it turns around and slashes at me again.

Good. It hurts, but it’s not enough to kill or cripple me.

And the wolf’s attention is back on me as well.

Not for long, though, as its attention quickly returns to Luna when she gets several more hits in on the heart.

So I immediately teleport back to it, using magic to attack this time with a Quantum Bolt instead of my polearm. Staying far enough away so that I’m not in the range of its paw.

The lupin parasite reacts faster than I can process, tackling me again and sending me flying straight into the wall of the chamber while coughing out more reddish-purple, glitchy blood.

“Fucking hell, that hurt…” I mutter, only for my eyes to widen at the exclamation.

Huh.

My eyes narrow again at the wolf the moment it rushes straight at Luna, only barely missing her when she teleports over to me.

I glance at the black heart that’s currently leaking black blood by the gallons, then at the overpowered Tier 5 monster. Finally I turn to look at Luna as she pants herself, currently in her bat form.

This is going to be a difficult fight.

I return my attention to the wolf as it starts prowling around the heart again, not directly charging towards us.

At least its focus is the heart and not killing us. Because I get the feeling it wouldn’t be that difficult to do that if it were dead set on killing us and not protecting the heart.

I watch it for a few more seconds before getting up again, having already reverted my wounds.

“Let’s see who’s stronger, doggie,” I mutter, the faintest hint of a smirk stretching across my face for some reason.