CH 23

[Yuri-san Doesn’t Stop Punching With His Bow Hand]

The fourth day since the game launched. Accompanied by a dog and a monkey, I headed to the dungeon called ‘Firebird Mountain’.

The recommended level to capture it was 25, and it was less like a dungeon, and more like a normal mountain. The boss monster was located at the summit, and as you climbed up the mountain, flame-clad bird-type monsters would constantly spit fire at you from the sky—it was a pain in the ass dungeon. Melee jobs would have a rough time getting rid of them, I reckon.

But bird-type monsters were perfect prey for a bow user like me. I aimed my bow toward the sky and shot Pontaro and the gang!

“Go get ‘em boys!”

[Kishashashasha~!] My underlings flew away cheerfully. Thanks to their ‘Flying’ skill, their momentum didn’t diminish even as they went higher and higher into the sky.

As the proud faces of the birds flying in the sky warped in shock, they started to fall one after another, pierced by my underlings.

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・Ponjuichiro’s level has reached 25! Evolution is available!

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“Oh, Juichiro can finally evolve, too! Now all of you can become ‘Shadow Weapon’!”

“Kisha~!” Ponjuichiro cried joyfully. Pontaro and the rest then gathered around him and began to vibrate as if congratulating their youngest brother. Glad he made it before the battle event.

I continued climbing up the mountain with my reliable underlings. Just before the summit, a dense fog began to cover the area.

Oh, I see, there was no door here. Once I passed through this fog, I’d be in the boss area.

Of course, I was not going to turn back now after coming this far. I started running into the fog.

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“Pigyaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Whoaaa, so cool…!”

I finally reached the summit. Waiting for me there was a giant bird that was bright red from head to tail.

His name was ‘Vanishing Firebird’. According to the capture site, among level 25 boss monsters, he was apparently the most difficult one to take down because he’d always be in the sky during battle.

The sight of him spreading his peacock’s-like tail feathers was simply magnificent. I’d definitely tame him!

“Let’s get this fight started, Firebird!”

“Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”

As soon as I readied my bow, he took to the sky! After reaching a certain height, he fired countless fireballs from his tail feathers toward me.

There were more than 100 of them. Each fireball was small, but to a guy like me, who was always at 1 HP, an attack such as this was the most lethal.

However…

“They’re not gonna get past the evolved Pontaro and the gang. Go!”

[Kishaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!] I shot eleven jet-black arrows into the sky consecutively. Seeing the pitiful few numbers of arrows when compared to his fireballs, Firebird wore a mocking face, but in the next moment, his expression changed into one of shock.

The arrows all split into ten as they emit jet-black light, reaching a total of ‘110’.

They pierced through every single fireball and went on to stab themselves into Firebird’s body!

“Pigigiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii?!”

“Ha, how’s that? It’s Shadow Weapons’ skill ‘Dark Clone’!” I smiled while looking up at Firebird crying in agony.

‘Dark Clone’ skill, just as its name suggested, had the effect of creating 9 clones. Each of the clones’ stats was about half of the main body, and they lasted only about 10 seconds, but that was more than enough when they were used as arrows.

“Come back, guys.”

I activated the High Summoner job trait. Traversing across space, the eleven arrows returned to me without consuming a single of my MP.

It sure was convenient. When I was a Summoner, I’d used to summon back the eleven arrows one by one with ‘Summon Return’, but now I could summon them back all at once, when each of them was split to ten, even. I could spam it, too.

“Pi, piiiiiiiiiii!”

“Sorry, Firebird. Please bear with me until this is over.”

As a bow user, I couldn’t afford to lose to a mere big bird. Feeling proud of the bow in my hand, I single-mindedly shot arrows at Firebird, who let out a frightened cry.

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‘Genocide Killing’ activates! Damage doubles!

‘Fatal Strike’ activates! Damage doubles!

‘Absolute Zero’ activates! Damage doubles!

Critical hit! Critical hit! Damage triples from hitting a weak point!

‘Heartless Shinigami’, activates! Critical hit damage increases by 30%!

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A number of my damage-increasing skills were activated. Each arrow became more than twenty-four times more powerful as it hit Firebird.

In a flash, he no longer had the strength to fly and fell to the ground.

“Pii… pigyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” Firebird showed his stubbornness then. With all his might, he flapped his wings and changed his falling direction towards me.

Still not giving up, are we? I commend your spirit. As a man, it is only right for me to face you head-on!

I threw my bow aside and clenched my fist as he fell toward me.

“Pigyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“Okay, come, Firebird! Haaaaaaaaaaa!”

I swung my fist at the incoming giant bird’s sharp beak!

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‘Psycho’ activates! Melee damage triples for three seconds after throwing away the bow!

‘Head-to-Head’ activates! Melee damage increases by 10%!

‘God-Slaying Fist’ activates! Hands become ‘invincible’ when punching! Nullifies all damage, impact, and debuffs!

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At that moment, a shock wave swept over the summit with a roaring sound.

As the resulting wind blew my hair, the giant bird gradually turned lifeless.

“Pigya…aaa…!”

Beak now shattered, Firebird fell to the ground with a huge thud. Thus, our battle concluded.

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Congratulations! You have succeeded in defeating solo the Dungeon Boss: Vanishing Firebird!

Yuri, Pontaro Double Twin MK II, and the rest have obtained a large number of experience points!

You have obtained the extremely rare item ‘Firebird Wing’!

Taming succeeded! Boss Monster: Vanishing Firechunchun has become your friend!

You can summon the boss monster who is now level 1!

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“I win, Firebird.”

I got his meat, too.

Since he could do AoE attacks from the sky, I planned to combine his wing with bomb-type items to create a Chimera capable of an air raid. Then right before it died, I’d have it do a suicide attack.

“Pii pii…!”

“Hm?”

Firebird released a fawning voice. His level had also been reduced to 1, and his monster name sadly had been changed to ‘Vanishing Firechunchun’. What the hell was chunchun?

His description said [A loser who has been forced to the ground and turned into a mere big bird. Its meat is delicious]. You were delicious, huh?

Looking at his stats, he has ‘Flying’ just like Living Weapons, but there were limits on how high and how long he could fly. Looked like I couldn’t use him to travel by air.

“Okay… starting today, you’re my second pet. Let’s get along, Chuntaro.”

“Piyooo!”

As I stroke his fluffy feathers, Chuntaro happily spread his wings.

Alright, now I had all the materials I needed. Time to create the Chimeras and prepare for tomorrow’s event.

The details hadn’t been released yet, but I was going to be the ultimate winner, no matter what!