The [Wolf King Byron] growled at us, pacing a circle around us.

“A [Boss], huh… I didn’t think I’d have to face one so soon.”

This world was divided into many different sections known as [Areas]. Among these [Areas], a vast majority were monster-infested zones, with specific [Areas] being home to specific types of monsters. The rest of the [Areas] that were not monster-infested were known as [Safe Spaces], and were commonly used as locations for cities. The city of Kronshire, for example, was considered an [Area] by itself. It was possible to turn a part of a monster-filled [Area] into a [Safe Space], but it required the use of a large-scale [Ritual Magic] that involved a large number of mages and a lot of preparation.

Anyway, every [Area] that wasn’t a [Safe Space] had a specific monster within it referred to as the [Boss]. The [Boss] was far more powerful than regular monsters, with stats that were higher than usual for its level. Additionally, [Bosses] tended to have unique [Skill] compositions, causing them to be extremely dangerous to fight without thorough preparation beforehand. As an added quirk, unlike normal monsters that bred and gave birth normally as with other living creatures, [Bosses] had bodies formed with magic. They were unable to reproduce, but they would respawn after some time if they died. Nobody quite understood how it worked, but some scholars had theorised that [Bosses] were entities created by the [Area] as a sort of security system. The mana that went into creating them seemed to come from the [Area] itself.

Incidentally, I only knew all of this because of the amazingly detailed [Kyoko Note] that contained information about the world along with cute illustrations of cats.

Anyway, despite the existence of these abnormal enemies, people continued to venture safely within territories. That was because each [Boss] had its own sub-territory within its presiding [Area]. They would not leave these sub-territories, so one would not have to fear encountering a [Boss] if one kept out of their territory.

Unfortunately, while grinding, we had accidentally crossed over into the sub-territory of the [Wolf King Byron], leading to the current precarious situation.

Kyoko raised her hand in the direction of the Wolf King and activated the Level 5 Fire Attack Magic, [Inferno Barrage]. Twenty fireballs appeared behind her and launched themselves at the Wolf King. The Wolf King simply stood there and received them all head-on. As we waited for the dust to clear, the Wolf King suddenly leaped out of the explosion toward us, claws extended.

“-! [Haste]! [Accel Bang]!”

I frantically sped myself up and used [Accel Bang] with all three points set to the side of the Wolf King. In a flash, I found myself slamming into the Wolf King, and it was sent flying by the impact. The shock jarred my arm, taking off a chunk of my HP. I focused on the Wolf King and confirmed its status. It had lost 300 of its 16000 HP. There was no way my attacks were going to bring this thing down.

“Kyoko! Take the front!”

Kyoko nodded and took up an unarmed fighting stance. Her body shined blue as she activated [Mana Conversion] - a skill that swapped her Magic and Strength stats. With that, her usually magic-specialised stats became stats that were specialised for physical attacks. That, coupled with her high Agility, meant that as long as she stayed in the [Mana Conversion] state, she was more than a match for any melee expert at or even above her level. The downside, of course, was that her Magic stat became pitiful, rendering her magic attacks useless. But in our situation, she would do more damage with her [Mana Conversion] stats than I would with my lower levelled, defensively-oriented stats, so it made more sense to have her be the main damager. I casted [Haste] on her, maintaining the buff on both of us. Then I turned my attention to the Wolf King.

“[Stop]! [Slow]!”

A red indicator flashed in my vision, indicating that [Stop] had been resisted. Thankfully, [Slow] was working normally. The Wolf King’s movements became sluggish – though it was still faster than a human.

“Kyoko, go!”

Kyoko nodded, then disappeared. She reappeared next to the Wolf King and struck it hard with an uppercut. She then jumped up into the air and slammed the Wolf King back down with a hammer blow. I confirmed the target’s HP. That combo had done 2200 damage – the Wolf King had 13500 HP left. A few more of those combos and we would win, but the problem with this combo was that it left Kyoko in the air, defenceless. The Wolf King turned its fangs toward Kyoko and crouched down, preparing to jump.

“Not on my watch! [War Cry]!”

For the first time, I activated a skill from my [Shieldmaiden] tree of magic. A white aura surrounded me, causing the Wolf King’s head to turn toward me sharply. [War Cry] was a skill that forced enemies to target me. In this way, I could draw aggro away from Kyoko. The Wolf King’s hind legs kicked off the ground to change its orientation such that it faced me, then it leapt.

“[Holy Shield]!”

A large illusory kite shield made of light appeared in front of me, protecting me from the Wolf King’s charge. The shield was nothing more than an illusion, with no substance, but the magic had the effect of cutting all damage I took by 25%. The Wolf King leapt towards me, jaws open, but I blocked its charge with my gauntleted arm. A sharp pain tore through my arm as it bit down hard and latched on to me, reducing my HP by 30%, but I endured it and swung it away, in the direction of Kyoko, who had safely landed on the ground and had taken up another stance. As it flew, I activated my next skill.

“[Bless Weapon!]”

The drain on my HP indicator from earlier had alerted me to the Wolf King’s damage type – it was an Evil-aligned creature. That being the case, it should be weak to Holy attribute damage. I targeted Kyoko’s hands, feet, and knees with my skill, causing them to be coated in white light. Just before the Wolf King slammed into Kyoko, she activated her Level 6 Bruiser Art [Dancing Bloom].

First, she stopped the Wolf King’s flight with a single, powerful punch. Then she began moving in a circle around it while raining down innumerable attacks on it from all angles, striking unrelentingly with a furious assault. Finally, she jumped up and struck it with an axe kick to finish it off.

Or rather, she was going to.

At the moment she jumped up, the Wolf King immediately raised its jaw, a mass of black-coloured light coalescing within it, pointed in Kyoko’s direction.

Fortunately, I had expected something like this. After all, bosses in games tend to have some super-powerful trigger attack when close to death. The moment I saw it acting unusual, I released the skill I had been preparing.

“[Divine Scream]!”

An illusory pair of white, feathered wings made from light appeared on my back as a strange sound emitted from my mouth. The Wolf King flinched and closed its maw. Kyoko’s axe kick connected, smashing the Wolf King into the floor. This time, rather than waiting for the dust to clear naturally, Kyoko forcibly cleared it by flipping into a handstand and revolving rapidly while generating a draft from the fast movement of her fan-like spread legs.

…Spinning B*rd Kick? Are you Ch*n Li?

Ignoring Kyoko’s physics-defying manoeuvre, I quickly confirmed the status of the [Wolf King Byron]. Its HP had dropped to 0. As I watched, it glowed and dissipated into mana particles, spreading out through the [Area]. Various notifications appeared on my screen.

---

Title [Protector] acquired.

Title [Wolf King Slayer] acquired.

Title [Conqueror of Wolf King’s Plain] acquired.

Title [Challenger] acquired.

Level Up! [Valkyrie] Level 12 attained.

Level Up! [Valkyrie] Level 13 attained.

… … …

Level Up! [Valkyrie] Level 17 attained.

Level Up! [Gachamancer] Level 8 attained.

Level Up! [Gachamancer] Level 9 attained.

Level Up! [Gachamancer] Level 10 attained.

Level Up! [Gachamancer] Level 11 attained.