[Boss Monster: ]

As Circe quietly activated the magic scrolls, she and Zeke exchanged an understanding glance. She nudged her chin towards the opposite direction, and Zeke responded with a short nod before creeping over to the other side. Replacing the rest of the magic scrolls with a dagger, she took a deep breath and stepped out from the bushes’ shadows.

[The Boss Monster is alerted to your presence.]

Rokan the werewolf’s cold gaze met with Circe’s as she boldly revealed her position to the enemy. Unlike the Moonglow Wolves, Rokan remained calm as it watched her with clear vigilance, its head slightly crooked, as if closely studying her demeanor.

[ is growing around you.]

[‘Ruelle Peregrine’ has shaken off the ]

“My second boss fight in this world…” Taking her first step to the side, the wolf mirrored her movements, and soon they found themselves carefully circling around each other, their gazes unblinking. ‘Alpha Wolves…are both strong and fast, if I get hit even once…I might—no, I’ll die.’

If they’d had to fight any other bosses, their lack of night vision would certainly make the battle too risky to attempt, however, the Moonglow Wolf species all have the trait of glowing when under the moon, and turn nearly invisible when the sun rises. With Rokan constantly revealing its position, Circe didn’t have to worry about losing sight of her opponent.

Circling around the boss didn’t just allow her to observe its behavior, but she’d been silently luring the wolf into that one perfect spot, and when a prominent light shined from the shadows behind Rokan, she instantly leaped forward, her sword arching through the air.

Rokan swiftly reacted to the sudden attack, its claws extending into ten fierce daggers of its own as it prepared to parry. But an unknown force struck hard against its back, causing it to lose balance and stumble forward.

Now unable to block, Circe's sword connected with Rokan’s shoulder, though she couldn’t dig any deeper into the wound. Unexpectedly, the wolf regained its footing almost instantly, forcing her to retreat as a frown crept up her face. “…It’s tough, my strength isn’t enough to cut it?”

As Circe took a step forward, a thunderous explosion erupted from within the woods, and soon a large figure flew out from the shadows, landing against the ground with enough force to draw spiderwebs into the soil. Rokan’s once shimmering fur now had patches of burnt marks visible all over its body, and as it slowly staggered to its feet, Zeke emerged from the darkness with a fireball floating above his free hand.

Not letting Rokan recover, Zeke shot the sphere of flames at the boss, following it up with a magic missile from the Sapphire Staff. Two spells intertwined like a dance of ice and fire, hitting their mark with the same booming outburst as before.

Zeke looked at Circe, noticing her widened eyes and mouth slightly agape. “What?”

“…I didn’t know you could do that.” She turned back towards the fallen wolf briefly, seeing that parts of its fur had gotten burnt to the point it revealed its charred, reddish skin beneath.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

[The Boss Monster is inflicted with ]

“I noticed that magic missiles reacted well to fire back when we fought Arachne, so I wrote some fireball spells just for this combo.” Zeke explained as a magic scroll appeared in his free hand, soon replaced by a fireball as he activated it. Though instead of attacking, a sudden look of surprise dawned on his face. “…Uh, Circe, is it supposed to do that?”

When Circe snapped her attention back to Rokan, her eyes turned round, noticing the health points bar above its head. “Yes, but it’s not a good thing.”

Rokan soon rose to its feet, before suddenly letting loose a deafening howl to the night sky above, its echoing voice forced them both to block their ears from the sheer volume. As if responding to its call, a gentle beam of light fell upon Rokan, and the markings on its face and body emitted a soft, green glow. All they could do was watch in horror as its cut wound mended to a close, leaving only the burnt marks that persisted.

[The Boss Monster has reached the required threshold.]

[The Boss Monster has activated ]

80%>

“Get ready,” Circe swallowed down an invisible lump, holding out her sword in a defensive stance as she reactivated the magic scrolls once more. Summoning her dagger back into her left hand, she fixed her eyes on the wolf, as if afraid one blink would cause her to lose sight of her opponent. “This is its second phase.”

[ has increased the Boss Monster ’s speed, sacrificing its defense.]

Rokan coldly stared at the two of them, letting its limbs fall defenselessly to its side, and when they least expected, it disappeared in a green blur. Circe’s gaze traced Rokan’s movements the best she could, finding herself moving on pure instinct as she dashed towards Zeke.

Just as she’d predicted, her sword met with the giant cleavers of the wolf monster, if she’d been any later, those claws would’ve shred through his body. “Zeke! One good shot, okay!?”

“If you can give me the right angle!” Thinking quickly, he scrambled out of the way and allowed more room for Circe to move. He kept his distance as far away from the close combatants as he could, his fireball and Sapphire Staff ready to shoot the moment an opportunity arose.

Rokan growled as it swatted her away once more, but unlike before, Circe immediately went back in for an attack, not wanting to leave any room for it to target the mage this time. Their blades clashed, and she instantly felt the difference in their strength. “I knew it, holding a sword with one hand is a bit much.” With that thought, Circe made use of her dagger to the fullest, hurling it towards Rokan as she let herself get pushed back.

But the wolf’s speedy claws stopped the dagger dead in its tracks. As it threw the weapon to the side, it rushed forward, disappearing into an afterimage once more. Circe held her sword up in anticipation for a frontal strike, but her eyes caught the sight of dust whisking right past her. “Is it aiming for my back?”

At that moment, she felt her limbs froze, unable to turn around as her mind commanded. Chilling cold ran down her back, like a looming, unforgetting presence that she simply couldn’t ignore. “I can’t…move…” As she watched her hands shake uncontrollably, only the thought of death crossed her mind.

[Boss Monster has activated ]

‘BOOM!’

Never had Circe been happier to hear the sounds of explosions. That familiar sound of her trusty friend’s attack landing a direct hit on his target snapped her out of her trance as she turned to face Rokan, who now knelt several meters away from where it once stood, red eyes glaring daggers at the person behind her.

“…Sorry, it dodged.” Zeke spoke calmly as he summoned another paper from the inventory, turning it into a fireball. “After this one, I only have one more left.”

Circe didn’t turn around, but she could feel her lips curling upwards into a smile. Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, she held out her sword, this time her stance radiated pure killing intent. “You won’t have to use it, then.”

[‘Ruelle Peregrine’ has shaken off the ]

With that, Circe rushed towards Rokan once more, and it responded with a slash of its claws, sending streaks of green energy towards her. She rolled over to the side, dodging the attacks, and continued running until she got within range to deliver a strike of her own.

AGI: 28 (+10)>

Rokan faced Circe’s strike with its claws, however, the sword passed through them like a hot knife through butter, and as the wolf’s eyes widened, her blade made a deep slash in its neck.

[Critical Hit!]

34%>

Now with the window of opportunity, Zeke let the fireball and magic missile fly straight towards the disoriented wolf as Circe dashed back. The attacks combined and crashed into one last massive explosion.

[Killed the ]

[Equal contribution to battle…EXP has been distributed.]

[‘Silas Salvador’ has leveled up! LVL: 11]

[‘Ruelle Peregrine’ has leveled up! LVL: 13]

[ cleared!]