Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu

As they had passed the last checkpoint, the four of them headed towards the top without resting .

“So what did you think? Wasn’t Hinata amazing?”

“Yes! It was incredible!”

“Um, uhh, I wasn’t...”

“In fact, Hinata is really the stronger one out of us!”

“You’re strong too, Velvet . But I’ve never seen anyone like Hinata before . ”

You could not jump within range of Hinata without a good plan . Her attacks were harder to avoid than Velvet’s lightning, and once you got hit, you would be subject to a chain of attacks that might prevent you from moving for a long time . It was very dangerous .

“Me and Hinata are unbeatable when together!”

Velvet said with great confidence . Hinata looked a little embarrassed to be praised so much . However, the last battle had proved that this was no exaggeration .

“Well, Sally and I are also unbeatable when together!”

“That’s great!”

“Since you said it so clearly, we’ll have to live up to that expectation . ”

“Alright, let’s hurry up and get rid of this boss so I can see what Maple’s partner is capable of!”

“You really...are looking forward to it, huh?”

She was even more excited now that she had gotten a little preview . Velvet dashed up the slope as if she couldn’t wait a moment longer .

“Ah, but it will be the first time I’ve fought the boss in a group of four . So it might be stronger than we expect . ”

“It should be fine if all four of us do our best . If that’s not enough, the boss must be incredibly...”

Everyone present had their own strengths and they were among the strongest . It was clear that most bosses didn’t stand a chance against them .

“Hinata! I’m counting on you to deal with whatever it is we encounter!”

“Leave the defenses to me!”

“Ye-yes... Thank you...”

“The way that I deal damage is quite slow, so I suppose Maple and Velvet should be the main attackers?”

Sally also didn’t know how the boss would react to four challengers, so they would have to be flexible with how they would proceed . But as long as Hinata and Maple were there, they would be guaranteed some time to observe the boss and decide on their approach .

Regardless, the four of them had been able to arrive at the boss room without any real trouble, and so without hesitation, they opened the door and entered .

The top of the mountain caved in like a bowl, and it was surrounded by a wall of rock . It was like a giant colosseum . And in the center of this battle area, stood a stone statue that was twice as large as the earlier ones . It was holding a stone shield and spear and also wore armor .

“I’ve never seen it use a spear before! Hinata, give it all you got! ‘Second Coming of the Thunder God’!”

“Yes...!”

“Alright, me too! ‘Predator’!”

“Hmm . Let’s see what it does . ”

They all went into their battle stance but ensured that they remained within range of Maple’s Dedicated Affection . And like before, they slowly moved forward while cautious of the statue’s movements .

“Here it comes!”

After they were a certain distance from it, the statue began to move . It thrust its giant spear above its head . As the four of them waited, the stone statue bent its knees and then leapt high into the air .

“Woah! It jumped!”

“It’s going to come down and hit us!”

Even from far away, the spear was shining visibly, and they could see that it was trying to break their formation with its first powerful hit .

“But, in that case...”

“We got this!”

“Uhh, ‘Melting Wings’...!”

As Hinata activated the skill, the statue that was shooting towards them suddenly lost its momentum . And then it fell to the ground .

“‘Freezing Earth,’ ‘Chain of Stars,’ ‘Disaster Spread . ’”

And just like that, Hinata used her skills to bind the statue to the ground . And as always, she began to lower its defense abilities . That’s when Maple directed her guns at it, and Sally and Velvet covered themselves in fire and thunder as they ran .

“‘Electromagnetic Jump’!”

“‘Path of Water’!”

Sally swam through the water, Velvet left her lightning behind and leapt forward . They bridged the distance in an instant and slammed their attacks into it .

“‘Center of the Storm,’ ‘Rain of Thunder,’ ‘Field of Lightning’!”

Numerous bolts of lightning crashed around Velvet as she reached its feet . Mercilessly, they burned the stone statue and tore away chunks of its HP .

“‘Quintuple Slash’!”

The immense amount of damage made it target Velvet next . In that moment, Sally attacked it with her skill . As this did much more damage than her normal attacks, it was more than enough, even when Sword Dance had not buffed her completely .

“‘Commence Attack,’ ‘Oozing Chaos’!”

As she could not use Hydra here, Maple supported them with powerful ranged attack skills from behind . Even the stone shield was not enough to block everything, and damage effects sprouted all over its body .

‘Freezing Earth’ could only stop it from moving away . And so it was able to bend away from certain attacks and thrust its spear towards Velvet, who was currently dealing the most damage .

“‘Parry,’ ‘Heaviest Attack,’ ‘Chain Thunder Attack’!”

The spear hit and then bounced off of Velvet’s fist, missing her . Maple’s skill ensured that she was protected, and so Velvet used the opportunity to punch the stone statue right in the leg .

The electricity that erupted simultaneously caused an explosion of damage effects . The rain of thunder bolts continued to fall . In the meantime, Sally continued to unleash her attacks on the other side, and Maple continued her fire .

The boss took too much damage in a short amount of time, and yet, it was here that it was finally freed from Hinata’s shackles . And so it tried to escape the range of Velvet’s thunder .

“Me too! One more time!”

Maple made her weapons explode as she flew towards it . Then she rolled on the ground until she reached its feet, and activated a skill . It was a skill that both Maple and Hinata had .

“‘Freezing Earth’!”

As Maple shouted, the ground was covered in ice once again, and as the boss took a step back, it was bound to the ground .

“I’ll keep attacking!”

“I’ll shred it!”

This was their best chance . The boss had not been able to use the moment to escape, and so its fate would be no different than the checkpoint enemies .

“Ahh, it’s already over . ”

“It wasn’t even that hard . Good work, Maple . ”

“Yeah, you too . ”

“Uhh...after this...”

Now that the boss was dead, Velvet turned to Sally . Apparently, Sally hadn’t changed her mind about it either, and she nodded wordlessly . And so Velvet wasted no time in challenging her to a duel .

“You can do it, Sally!”

“I won’t lose . Never . ”

“That’s what I wanted to hear!”

“Velvet... I’ll be rooting for you . ”

“This will be so much more fun than that boss!”

And so Sally accepted the challenge, and the two teleported away .