Chapter 279: Unexpected Meeting with a Heroine
The field Boss was located inside a cave deep within the ancient forest. Shido didn’t know what kind of monster it was, but whatever it was, he was confident he could defeat it with ease.
He flew for about five minutes before spotting the cave’s entrance. Along the way, several flying bird-type monsters tried to ambush him, but they were swiftly cut down and scattered into fragments of light.
Upon landing in front of the cave entrance, Shido activated his <<Perception>> once again, allowing him to visualize the cave’s layout and the various monsters lurking inside.
However, Shido was surprised to discover that someone had already gone ahead of him and engaged the boss. He couldn’t help but wonder who would come all the way to such a secluded and hard-to-find place.
Still, Shido entered the cave and directly fly inside while activating <<Night Vision>>, a racial trait of the Imp race. As for how he was able to fly underground, that was also thanks to another Imp racial trait, <<Underground Flight>>, which allowed them to maintain flight even without sunlight or moonlight.
Underground monsters resembling golems appeared along Shido’s path, but whenever they tried to attack, it only took him one to three strikes to wipe out their HP completely.
Many might wonder why Shido’s attacks were so powerful, but the reason was simple. During his grinding sessions and while practicing how to dodge <<Post Motion>>, he had accidentally acquired two new skills, <<Penetration>> and <<Critical Strike>>.
As for what the two skills could do, <<Penetration>> greatly enhanced Shido’s ability to break through enemy defenses, allowing him to ignore armor and resistance. <<Critical Strike>>, on the other hand, significantly increased his chance of landing devastating blows that dealt massive bonus damage on impact.
These two new skills were absolute game-changers, so strong that they could even be considered unfair to other players, especially since both skill stats were already maxed at 1,000. But then again, who could really blame him for having such overwhelming power, given how strong he already was in real life?
His level and stats had already been restricted by the system to a certain extent when he first arrived in this world, yet even with those limits, his current strength still placed above all races.
Shido continued flying for a few more minutes, effortlessly clearing out the monsters that spawned within the cave, until he finally reached the area where the Field Boss resided.
The sounds of sparks, collisions, tremors, and shouting echoed from within the cave, clear signs that a fierce battle was underway. When Shido peeked inside to see what kind of boss it was and who was fighting, his eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t expected the one fighting to be a girl, and even more, he hadn’t expected to finally encounter one of the heroines after such a long time.
The girl had short pink hair and bright pink eyes. She wore a red-and-white dress paired with silver chest armor and sturdy boots. In her hands, she wielded a one-handed spiked mace and a small round shield.
Shido couldn’t help but smile as he watched her. She looked cheerful and full of energy, darting around the boss room with lively movements.
The girl’s name was Shinozaki Rika, also known in-game as Lisbeth. While it didn’t seem like she was in immediate danger, her HP bar on the side had already dropped to yellow, hovering around sixty percent, whereas the Field Boss’s HP was still in the green, sitting comfortably at about ninety-four percent.
Lisbeth was running around, kiting the boss while unleashing a sword skill whenever she found an opening. However, the <<Post Motion>> effect still left her vulnerable, causing her to take occasional hits that chipped away at her HP.
Still, as Shido watched, he couldn’t help but find her amusing, Lisbeth would shout a few scolding words at the boss, as if venting her frustration with each swing.
...
"Dammit! Why did a field boss suddenly appear here?"
Lisbeth darts around the boss, activating a sword skill, swinging her mace and barely avoiding a sweeping attack.
"Hey! Watch the face, stone-head! I don’t do hugs from oversized rocks!"
Dodging another powerful strike, Lisbeth quickly backed away and stomped her foot on the ground in frustration.
Originally, she had only come here to gather some rare materials for a new weapon she wanted to forge. She never expected that a Field Boss would suddenly drop from the cave ceiling and attack her out of nowhere.
"Ugh, I should’ve waited for Kirito and the others before coming here to gather materials." she muttered in exasperation.
Lisbeth let out a helpless grunt, realizing she’d gotten a little too excited about collecting materials. Kirito, Asuna, Silica, and the others were still offline, they had agreed to meet at seven in the evening, but it was only six.
Still, being the adventurous type, Lisbeth had decided to go ahead on her own since the area didn’t seem particularly dangerous. Who would’ve thought a Field Boss would actually be hiding on the cave’s ceiling?
As she grit her teeth in frustration at her own recklessness, the Field Boss suddenly launched an unexpected attack. Its massive, rocky arms extended forward, swinging with tremendous force straight toward her.
The sudden attack caught Lisbeth completely off guard, her mind still distracted by her thoughts. She had no time to dodge, the massive stone arm was already right in front of her. If it hit, it would definitely shave a huge chunk of her HP... or worse, shatter her into fragments of lights.
But it was already too late.
All Lisbeth could do was squeeze her eyes shut, bracing herself for the impact, as a single thought crossed her mind, ’Haaa... it would be great if someone could save me right now.’
As she braced herself for the inevitable impact, a sudden gust of wind swept past her, followed by a deafening crash that shook the entire cave.
Startled by the unexpected turn of events, Lisbeth slowly opened her eyes. The area was shrouded in dust, but through the haze, she could make out the massive Field Boss, its enormous body embedded deep into the cave wall while its HP was reduced to 60 percent.
"...What just happened?" The question echoed in her mind as she tried to make sense of how the boss had ended up buried in the wall.
But her questions were answered when the dust cleared, revealing the silhouette of a player with purple hair, dressed in black and purple garments, holding an ordinary sword in hand.
Seeing him, Lisbeth was stunned as she didn’t expect that someone would actually appear and save her. Just looking at his back, Lisbeth felt a sense of security that she would be safe and wouldn’t be able to get hurt as long as he was here.
Unexpectedly, her heart skipped a beat as she recalled how cool he had looked just moments ago. Lisbeth’s face reddened, and she felt her body grow hotter for some reason. But she was snapped out of her daze when the player suddenly asked, "Are you okay?"
Lisbeth was startled when that person spoke to her but she quickly nodded and said with a faint blush "U-Un, I’m okay."
The player nodded and said, "I see. Well, wait here for a while. This won’t take long."
"Huh? What are you-" Lisbeth was confused but her confusion became clear when she understood what Shido wanted to do.
"Huh? What are you—" Lisbeth was confused, but her confusion faded when she realized what Shido was trying to do.
"Don’t tell me... he’s going to solo the field boss?" Lisbeth couldn’t help but gulp at the thought. It was nearly impossible to take down a boss alone especially since this field boss was clearly a high level ones.
Yet, for some reason, as she looked at his back, Lisbeth couldn’t shake the feeling that he would win, no matter how hopeless the situation seemed. Placing a hand over her chest, she felt her heartbeat quicken. Her face flushed red as she muttered softly, "What’s wrong with me...?"
As uncertainty churned within her, the player appeared in front of the Field boss without a hint of fear, only a confident smile that made his figure like a immeasurable sword.
Of course that player was none other than Shido.
He made a move when he saw Lisbeth became careless and was caught off guard. Shido appeared before her and unleashed a regular sword skill, sending the field boss crashing into the wall, its massive body embedded with a deafening impact.
Yet, as he stood there in front of her, Shido remained oblivious to the huge impression he had made on Lisbeth, making her emotion swirl in uncertainty.
Standing in front of the Field boss, which had now recovered, Shido confidently stood still and draw his sword again from his back as he prepared to strike. As if provoked by his arrogant stance, the Field boss let out a furious roar that reverberated throughout the cave. The roar was immediately followed by a massive stone fist hurtling toward him.
"Be careful!"
Lisbeth screamed from the back as she saw the massive fist was about to Shido making her heart almost stop.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Another huge blast reverberated throughout the cave causing another cloud of dust to cover the area. However, just as Lisbeth was feeling worried, a figure leapt into the air, and she finally let out a relieved sigh.
Shido sprinted across the field boss’s massive arms, using them as a pathway before launching himself into the air. As he leapt, his sword shimmered with a deep purple glow, signaling the activation of his OSS.
Under Lisbeth’s shocked gaze, Shido unleashed a chain of strikes on the boss’s chest with deadly accuracy.
Stab
Slash
Cleave
Shido executed a nine-hit combo on the boss, simultaneously activating <<Penetration>> and <<Critical Strike>>, which tore through its defenses, depleting the Field boss’s HP dramatically.
For the tenth strike, he thrust his sword with full force, unleashing a massive explosion. At the very same moment, the boss’s HP gauge dropped to zero.
The boss’s eyes dimmed as its life slowly faded away.
Bam!
The Field boss shattered into countless fragments of light. As it perished, Shido’s sword also turned into glowing shards, having finally reached the limit of its durability.