I stared ahead at the boss room where the Goblin General would be waiting inside for the challengers of this dungeon.
"Umm… Is Miss Aster sure about this? I'm a little worried now… Maybe we shouldn't do this after all…" Jerry asked.
I rolled my eyes at him, "First you ask if I would help you and now that I agreed, you're trying to dissuade me. Can you make up your mind?"
"Well… That is before I knew you were actually ten years old, Miss Aster…"
"I'm already questioning why your parents are willing to give you this challenge since it basically looks like suicide. Did they actually want to get rid of you?"
He shook his head, "My parents thought that I would… Well… Give up…"
I turned my gaze to the larger man walking beside him, "Sir Varry, how confident are you that our group can win this fight without me?"
"I would say we would definitely be slaughtered."
"And the chances if I was added in?"
"Honestly, I would say fifty percent."
My eyebrows raised in surprise, "Eh? Really?"
I mean, I was expecting it to increase but seriously? A leap from zero to fifty with just me? You don't even know my full strength though?
Varry nodded, "If Miss Aster is able to paralyse or even just slow down the Goblin General and keep it from using its skills to summon more goblins, we do stand a chance. The boss's strength comes from its underlings and if we can neuter that, we can beat it even if these numbers."
He then shifted his gaze to Jerry, "If we are to pull back now, we have a hundred percent chance of survival. But the chance of leader having to marry that… Thing… Is also a hundred percent."
Wow… He called her a 'thing', that's pretty harsh… Though I don't disagree with him.
Well, it's a fifty percent chance of dying and a fifty percent chance of freedom if we choose to proceed while it's a hundred percent chance of a miserable life if we are to back off. As a gacha player, you can't get better odds than this.
Heck, I would even take it if it's a two percent roll you know?
"Umm… Is Miss Aster really fine with this?" Jerry asked again.
I crossed my arms, "Make up your mind. If you want me to help you, I'll help. If you're too scared, then we walk away right now. Of course, I expect to be paid well for both being led to this and also helping you with your problem either way. And if you do walk away, I want compensation for having my time wasted."
I'll admit that he's at least a decent enough of a Mahun to be considerate of me but seriously, you've asked me this at least two dozen times while we've been walking here already.
He looked at the boss room, then back to me, then at the boos room again, then back to me.
He repeated that motion three more times before sighing, "Miss Aster… Please help me."
I nodded, "Lead the way."
Our party stepped into the boss room and the fog wall appeared behind us, there's no backing out now.
A goblin with a comparable size to a grown male Mahun appeared and glared at us, hefting the large double bladed axe while wearing what looks like lamellar armour.
[Name: Goblin General
Stats:
50 Strength
20 Dexterity
40 Endurance
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80 Magic
Skills:
Leadership (Tier 1), Martial Skill-(Axe Proficiency (Tier 1))
Magic Skills:
Kalomancy (Tier 2), Mana Management (Tier 2)]
Ah, so it's relying on that Kalomancy to summon its brethren. I'm guessing that leadership skill is also what increases the stats of the goblins he summons.
In the background, a distorted voice started to sing before it was drowned out by the beating of drums and what I assume to be an electric bass strumming as well. Huh… Why did I suddenly get assigned with a CodenameZ? Funny name.
Putting that aside, I immediately chanted out the incantation required to cast [Static Bolt], launching the supposedly paralysing attack against the boss monster.
Our three melee fighters were already rushing ahead while our ranger also started firing off his arrows, all of us settling into our roles easily.
My spell hit the goblin right in the chest, the monster grunting in pain even as electrical sparks ran along the surface of its skin.
However, unlike the other times where the monsters were stuck in place and unable to move, the goblin managed to lift its head slowly and glare at me with eyes full of rage.
"The Boss can resist the paralysis!" I warned, prompting the three melee fighters to redouble their efforts in rushing towards the boss.
Jerry swung his sword at the goblin's head but his attack was blocked by the shaft of the goblin's axe.
However, that was only a diversion as Vick and Varry flanked the goblin's sides and delivered powerful blows to the boss's knees.
An arrow was shot out from Vom and struck the goblin in the chest, causing it to topple over onto the ground.
I was just about to think that we could beat the boss like this when the boss let out a loud roar that blasted the three melee fighters back.
Six rings of light then appeared around the boss with a goblin being summoned in each one, all of them wielding a weapon of some sort.
[Name: Goblin Soldier
Stats:
30 Strength
30 Dexterity
30 Endurance
10 Magic
Skills:
Martial Skill-(Sword Proficiency (Tier 1))]
The Goblin General jumped back to his feet and let out another roar that seemed to have caused the goblin soldiers to glow slightly.
[Name: Goblin Soldier
Stats:
40 Strength
40 Dexterity
40 Endurance
10 Magic
Skills:
Martial Skill-(Sword Proficiency (Tier 1))]
A plus ten to their physical stats? Is that due to the leadership skill? Why don't I see Varry or even Jerry using that? Is it because it's only specific to monsters?
"Ok, looks like we still met the worst case scenario… Miss Aster, Vom! Focus firing on the boss! We'll deal with the soldiers!" Jerry ordered, rushing forward to clash with the summoned goblins.
It was a little worrying to see Jerry fighting against the Goblin Soldiers, but it seems like he was still able to keep up and hold his own against the goblins despite that.
I'm guessing that his equipment must be enchanted in some way that increases his abilities too.
Trusting that they could handle the Goblin Soldiers, Vom and I started concentrating our fire at the Goblin General while the other three held him and the other goblins back.
I alternated between my [Static Bolt] and my [Spark Strike] to wear it down while taking note of the melee on the side.
Unfortunately, despite their assurance, they were still slowly being pushed back by the soldiers.
It seems like the Goblin General is also able to coordinate the goblins to fight better, which is clear to see since even now none of the goblin soldiers have suffered a single casualty.
That was when I thought of an idea.
I first casted the next [Spark Strike] at one of the Goblin Soldiers instead, catching him by surprise and causing the monster to stumble back into his comrades.
I then fired off a [Static Bolt] that made another one leap back to avoid it, essentially stopping their advance for just a moment.
Taking advantage of that lull, I shouted, "Everyone cover your eyes!"
Not waiting to see if they did, I started my chant quickly, "The flash of lumination shall blind my enemies! [Light Flash]!"
A bright flash of light appeared in front of the goblins that immediately robbed them of their vision before the light sputtered out.
Thankfully, Jerry and his group listened to my command and were unaffected by distraction, allowing them to quickly dispatch four of the goblins in quick succession with Varry crushing two goblins with his mace.
Vom must have also realised what I was trying to do since he joined in and shot one of the Goblin Soldiers in between the eyes as well.
The last one barely managed to recover from being blinded before a mace wielding Varry smashed its skull in.
"The General can still summon more! Stun it before it does!" Vom warned me, shooting another arrow at the boss.
I guess if it could only summon six then it wouldn't be a raid boss.
I quickly shot out another [Static Bolt] that served to slow it down but it seemed like it was ready for it and rolled away to dodge it.
Already, circles of light were appearing around it and I felt that it would be especially annoying if we had to deal with the Goblin Soldiers again.
Deciding I didn't want to waste time dealing with mobs again, I silently used [Body Current] to reinforce my legs to cross the entire distance between myself and the boss in one leap. As I reached within arm's length of it, I casted [Lightning Clad] to encase my fist in electricity for extra damage and [Static Shock] to paralyse it.
My fist met with the Goblin General's head and…
The goblin's head exploded.
…
All of us watched as the headless corpse wobbled unsteadily for a moment before crashing onto the ground, the summoning circles disappearing completely.
Umm… Yay?