One thing that’s good about boss fights is that, once you get into the rhythm and observe all the boss’s attack patterns, it’ll basically turn into a chore.

Even without thinking, you can move your body semi-automatically and fulfill your role.

Of course, the same applied to us too.

With me handling the boss’s attacks, the girls could focus fire, dishing out as much damage as they could.

Normally, the more damage dealt by others, the less certain it was that the boss would keep targeting the tank. However, with my perfect parries, the rate at which my aggro grew was too fast for the girls to outpace anytime soon.

Of course, that wasn’t my only worry.

"GROOOWL!"

When the Field Boss reached around 60% HP, it raised a howl, followed by the wind around its body stirring wildly.

"Back off!" Seeing the signs, I quickly commanded. "The boss will get buffed. Approaching it will equal death! Get some distance!"

And just as I predicted, the Grass Wolf Alpha’s body got covered by wind blades once more. Thankfully, the girls followed my command fast and cleared the monster’s periphery before then.

No damage taken.

But now it was another long delaying job for me. The buff took roughly a minute to wear off earlier, followed by a five-minute cooldown before it came back again.

Of course, it was my duty to handle the boss in its current state.

I didn’t pull the flag out this time, instead using it as a marker to kite the boss around that same section specifically. Better to keep the boss nearby than kite it somewhere other monsters could be lurking.

One problem, however—my SP wouldn’t make it past that one-minute mark. I was already at 50% SP just from endlessly parrying for three minutes.

"Stay away! Attack from range once every time I parry!"

I commanded once more as the deadly game of tag began.

Since I’d already seen every move this dog could pull, I could dodge its attacks more efficiently now. The distance, the steps, the breathing—everything calculated with near-zero variance.

And with a healer in the party this time, I could actually afford to parry some attacks rather than dodge everything.

I chose attacks I could parry while keeping my distance. The only part taking damage was my hand and arm—minimal, all things considered.

"Holy Light!"

And as if measured to the second, Eri’s heal landed on me at perfect timing.

"Iai Slash!"

"Martial God’s Far Strike!"

At the same time, Miyabi and Kiki launched their own attacks.

Iai Slash was a melee attack, but since its range extended the full length of the blade, Miyabi was able to stay clear of the wind blades’ range while still connecting. Kiki, on the other hand, fired what looked like a Had**ken or something, crashing it into the wolf’s body.

The damage wasn’t that good, though.

About 75% of her usual damage output without my flag’s buff.

Ram and Gwen attacked too, more accurately than Miyabi. After landing one slash each, they both backed off, following my instructions perfectly.

The same pattern continued as I bided time for Eri’s skill cooldowns. The Alpha’s HP fell pixel by pixel, until it was barely above 50%.

Just one hit away from entering Phase 2!

And this was where we needed to step up the pace.

If we let it enter the buffed state while in Phase 2, we’d surely get wiped out. The extra multiplier on its stats alone would be a serious threat to everyone present.

"Stop attacking until it reaches Phase 2!" I shouted. "Keep about 10 meters of distance and dodge the shockwaves that get released!"

"Shockwave?"

Kiki, who hadn’t fought a boss monster in Heaven’s Path yet, tilted her head curiously. I didn’t have the leeway to explain it to her, though.

Instead, Miyabi stepped forward, dragging the other two aside. "When the boss enters the next phase, it will..." She began explaining in detail.

Seeing them nod along, I felt at ease.

With this, they shouldn’t mess up something as simple as the dodge, at least.

I counted down, waiting for the buff to end. Five seconds... three... two... one—!

The moment the final second of the buff came and went, I grabbed the flag, reactivated the buff, and swung my parry dagger to meet the incoming claw—sending it flying back exaggeratedly.

Then, without waiting, I switched my grip on the dagger and threw it at the boss.

82!

A pretty small damage number, barely better than Kiki’s. But still enough to push the boss’s HP down to the yellow zone—50% and below.

"GRRRR!"

As expected, the boss’s fur stood on end as a powerful shockwave erupted from its body. Before it could reach me, I’d already swapped the parry dagger for the longsword.

Using it, I parried the incoming wave, escaping its effect without moving a step.

The girls, ten meters away, had all the time in the world to watch the wave coming for them and time their dodges. Though, unlike what I expected—

"Sanctuary!"

It was Eri’s skill that covered them instead, protecting the girls and both androids from damage.

So she can use Sanctuary like that too. Good to know.

Anyway—

"Everyone! All-out attack! We must kill it before the buff cools down in three minutes!"

Three minutes was more than enough. The girls alone had chipped off 40% of its HP in that window before, after all. With me joining in, clearing 50% was easily achievable.

No more holding back.

The girls rushed back to their previous positions, attacking the berserk wolf freely.

Entering Phase 2 meant it was faster and stronger, but it also came with a slight softening to incoming hits. Only a 5% increase in damage output for us, but that should be more than enough.

"GROOOWL!"

The angry wolf’s claw came down at me, faster than a speeding bullet.

I quickly raised my sword and slashed at the incoming paw—not a parry, but a counter-attack directly at the paw itself!

175!

PERFECT COUNTER!

The monster’s attack damaged my weapon, but my strike connected clean.

Of course, I didn’t stop there.

One attack after another came in. My longsword swung left and right without missing a beat, and a series of green notifications kept flying up.

I wasn’t the only one going hard, either.

The girls were giving their all, attacking as fast as they could without caring about aggro accumulation at all. They were trusting me—trusting my aggro control—that I wouldn’t let the boss turn on them even by mistake.

Damage notifications kept flooding the air around the boss monster.

Yet it barely moved from the spot. Locked onto me, expression burning with fury, with absolutely no intention of shifting targets.

A minute passed, and its HP dropped fast, crawling into the red zone.

25% remaining!

"AOE attack incoming!" I warned immediately.

Another shockwave burst out, staggering both Kiki and Eri.

Eri couldn’t use Sanctuary this time—the cooldown was still far from over. Wind blades exploded from the boss’s body in all directions.

Ram blocked most of it with her shield, while Gwen parried the attacks coming for her. Miyabi, already knowing what would happen, had gained enough distance to dodge with peace of mind.

None of them escaped damage entirely, though.

Their HP fell fast, nearly dropping below 50%.

"A-Area Heal...!"

Seeing the danger, Eri quickly burned her trump card, healing everyone nearby at once.

Their falling HP climbed back toward full before slowly starting to drop again. Thankfully, the wind blade barrage ended shortly after, leaving everyone sitting somewhere between 70 and 90%.

Not critically low, but not exactly reassuring either.

"Last spurt!" I shouted. "Pour everything you’ve got!"

There were two reasons I was rushing them.

First, my SP was back down to 5%. A few more seconds and I’d be completely empty—no parries, no sword swings, nothing.

Second, with the boss’s stats jumping further in Phase 3, the damage it could dish out would be beyond what any of us could take. Letting the fight drag meant a wipe, sooner or later.

My only job was to last as long as possible.

The next attack came fast—a swipe aimed straight at my neck and body.

"Moon Waltz!"

Instead of blocking, I launched both a dodge and a counter-attack at the same time.

My figure vanished from where I stood, turning into a flash of moonlight, before reappearing at the wolf’s backside.

Since I’d aimed for both the head and body, two damage bubbles appeared at once.

"GRRRR!"

Losing its target, the wolf whipped around, scrambling to keep me in sight. Free-hit time for the girls.

The moment it locked back onto me and lunged to bite my head off—

"Moon Waltz!" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

I slipped through it like a phantom and reappeared at its back once more.

"This..."

[Mr.Clean: Damn, that’s basically cheating...]

[GreedyTitan88: Wolfy’s getting dizzy wwwww]

[OnePlusTwoIsFive: Crazy... What’s that skill?! No cooldown?!]

I could see that the girls—and even the viewers—were flabbergasted. I couldn’t deny it felt like cheating, but Moon Waltz was a proper skill, not a hack. Just one that I happened to discover two decades into the apocalypse entirely on my own.

Anyway, with me keeping the boss spinning in circles, the girls managed to burst its HP down to zero in no time.

Only when the shower of notifications flashed did everyone understand what had happened.

Miyabi stared, confusion written all over her face, and whispered.

"We... won?"