That was way too fucking close!

Lucky I managed to use Moon Waltz at the opportune moment, or else I would’ve died from that maw. Although I was acting smug and superior to the Grass Wolf Alpha, it really was a close call.

Rather, if not for my muscle memory, the "Moon Waltz" skill definitely wouldn’t have activated either.

If asked to do it again, I’m not really sure I could pull it off as cleanly.

After all, muscle memory was one thing, reflex another, and my current body being able to keep up with my speed of thought an entirely different matter altogether.

Glancing to the side, Miyabi’s team still wasn’t done with the mobs. A minute more, maybe, before it was over.

’In short, I need to last that long with 25% SP remaining... Talk about an impossible game!’

But well, impossible or not, I had to do it.

"Come!" I taunted, pulling my index finger with a smug smile.

Whether the AI understood my intentions or simply moved to the next logical branch in its neural network, it charged at me again. As it did, the wind blades wreathing its body vanished all at once.

"...!"

Its buff ran out!

Seeing the change, I didn’t delay. Instead of transitioning back to dodging, I held my parry dagger and took a bold step forward. Then I swung it against the wolf’s fang, causing a loud clang as sparks flew.

PERFECT PARRY!

The field boss’s head flew back, toppling it over and buying me a few precious seconds.

Of course, I didn’t move around after that. Those seconds were spent recovering SP—no matter how little came back.

After all, even without moving, parrying itself still burns stamina.

It took the boss about five seconds to regain its bearings and stand back up. Wobbly, but furious—glaring at me like it wanted to swallow me whole.

Then it rushed again, swiping its claws.

"Stay!"

PERFECT PARRY!

The parry dagger sent its paw back as if it had struck a solid wall.

I could see the irritation, confusion, and anger swirling in those virtual eyes. A slow-building fury that was quietly turning into something dangerous.

"...!"

The stagger effect from the parry, for whatever reason, cut short. Barely a quarter of a second later, it was already bringing the same paw down again. Another swipe!

I didn’t dare delay, swinging the parry dagger with perfect timing.

TING!

The blade and claw met with a resounding ring, sending the claw reeling back—but then it came careening straight back down without missing a beat.

’No stagger?!’

That was strange, and I knew it.

The only things I’d ever seen that inherently resisted stagger were the Void Lords—the Big Bosses of the game from my previous timeline. No other exceptions existed, as far as I knew.

Yet here, right before my eyes, a mere field boss was ignoring a perfect parry’s stagger entirely.

"Kuh!"

I reset my grip and tried to parry again—but it came in too fast. Even at my best, my aim missed by a full millimeter. Nothing much in terms of distance, but a rift-like difference between perfect and not.

PARRY!

It still counted, but no longer with the effect of a perfect one.

The claw slid sideways and hit the grassy ground instead of getting offset, scattering dirt and rocks. The debris nicked my HP, along with the minor damage that leaked through the imperfect parry.

My HP dropped to 90% instantly!

It would be dangerous if the attack continued raining down, but I didn’t let it take the lead, though.

The moment the claw hit the ground, there was a brief pause before it could move again. I took the window and drove my longsword straight into the monster’s eye.

"GRAAAH!"

Direct hit!

The damage, however, was laughably low.

Not nearly enough to make it flinch, let alone blind it.

The other claw came in, then the maw—a flurry of bite attacks, frantic and relentless, like a dog pawing at an itch it couldn’t reach.

Each time, I swung the parry dagger. Controlled, careful this time.

I kept it close rather than letting it fly wide, ready to strike at any opening. And then, after the tenth exchange—

PERFECT PARRY!

The tenth perfect parry in a row.

Instead of another instant counter, the Alpha’s claw flew back and it stumbled—actually stumbled—losing its footing for a brief moment.

"Stagger...!"

I didn’t know why, or how, but it was taking stagger effects again.

The earlier phenomenon had to be a skill, then—one that temporarily negated the effect. The Berserker class had something similar, so it made sense. That had to be it!

With that reasoned out, I didn’t let the chain break again.

"Master!"

"Gwen has come to assist, Master."

But just as I was about to renew my focus, two deadpan voices reached me from behind.

Looking behind, Ram and Gwen were almost at my side. The girls had finished on their end and were coming to help.

Honestly, just in time.

With my remaining 5% SP, I had two parries left at most before I bottomed out.

I’d been keeping an eye on their HP throughout the fight—everyone except Kiki had stayed at full health the whole time. So I knew they weren’t struggling badly.

But clearing over a hundred monsters in two minutes... Earlier, we were killing 10 in thirty seconds. The speed gap—or rather, increase—was staggering.

After one last parry, Ram and Gwen took over the frontline.

I trusted they wouldn’t go down fast, so I backed off without arguing at all.

Without delay, I swapped my longsword out for the flag—its cooldown had long since cleared—and planted it into the ground, activating the passive immediately. Attack and defense for everyone, doubled. Buffs that the two androids would sorely need.

Of course, even with the buff, I doubted the girls alone could handle the boss.

The level gap was still too wide.

Which meant I’d need to return to the front, take all the hits, and let the girls swing freely. Only then did we have any real shot at this.

"Hm?"

But after a minute or so, as I watched the fight, the wolf’s movements shifted in a way I could barely notice. A not-so-familiar pattern—one that made me frown.

If it was what I thought it was, Ram was about to be in trouble.

"GentleBreeze, shift your heals to Ram. She’ll take a hit soon." I warned quickly.

And sure enough—

"GROOOOWL!"

A powerful howl echoed, then one swipe after another followed. A double attack.

The same attack I’d parried before. The one that had ignored stagger entirely!

’That buff again!’

Thankfully, it was within expectations.

Thanks to the heads-up, even after eating a solid hit, Eri managed to pull Ram’s HP back to full in one go. Thanks to that, Ram didn’t get stunned from the heavy hit and held her ground, staying up front as the tank.

But then—

"Ugh...!"

Ram started groaning under the pressure.

Each hit was faster and heavier, barely getting deflected.

Her HP was falling faster than before, and Eri’s heals could barely keep pace.

Damage, recovery, damage, damage, recovery—the cycle kept repeating until Ram’s HP was crawling toward the red zone.

"Alright, that’s enough." I muttered.

Left to her own, Ram would go down sooner or later. But with my SP back at 100%, it was time to swap.

I yanked the flag out of the ground, sprinted forward, and drove it back in right in front of the wolf’s nose—grabbing Ram by the nape of her armor and pulling her back in the same motion.

"Everyone!" I shouted. "I’ll take all the hits and hold aggro! Don’t hold back—attack as much as you want!"

Flag in one hand. Parry dagger in the other.

It reminded me of the fight against the Goblin King—me and Miyabi, back then, fighting on the brink together. A bitter smile rose to my lips at the memory.

"As expected, even with a UR Android Meister class, I still can’t step away from the frontline..."

For now, at least.

The wolf’s attacks came. The dagger flashed.

PERFECT PARRY!

The same green notification popped five strikes in a row.

I could feel the girls’ eyes on my back, but I didn’t bother turning around.

"Hey, don’t forget to attack! Parrying alone isn’t going to kill it!" I shouted.

Like a wake-up call, they snapped into motion.

Kiki and Miyabi took the wolf’s left flank, Ram and Gwen the right. Then they started slashing without restraint, damage numbers erupting endlessly.

393!!!

89!!!

447!!!

371!!!

With the four of them combined, they dish roughly a thousand damage per volley. But even so, it took about ten volleys just to shave a single percent off the boss’s HP bar.

Our damage was far too low to hunt this boss efficiently.

But as long as we could deal damage, no matter how slowly... It meant we could kill it.

"This is going to be a drawn one...!"

I grinned as I parried another blow.

And just like that, our slow grind began.