DanKatsu Volume 4, Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The New Members Struggle Against the <Battle Wolf>

<Lesser Wolf’s Shallow Forest Dungeon> — Boss: <Battle Wolf (First Form)>.

This was the very same boss who had been hunted to the brink of extinction not long ago. And today, once again, it was about to be mercilessly hunted down.

"Gr… grrr…"

"This doggy looks kinda tired."

"Kyain!?"

Lulu, with one arm firmly clamped in the <Battle Wolf>’s jaws, used her free hand to gently pat the beast’s head as she spoke. The scene looked ridiculously like something straight out of a protagonist’s highlight reel.

The <Battle Wolf>, seemingly confused as to why its bite wasn’t working, clamped down harder and more frequently. But at the same time, its tail gradually began to droop. For some reason, it almost seemed afraid of Lulu… but that had to be just my imagination.

Currently, they were in the middle of the boss fight.

This was the first run for the party’s five new members.

The lineup was a little unbalanced—everyone leaned heavily toward attacker roles—but with Lulu shredding the boss’s actions and attack power bit by bit, things were holding together just fine.

As expected, the 【Lolita Hero】 is insanely strong.

Among the group, Lulu stood out the most as the only one with a <Princess Job>.

I slipped into the boss chamber wearing the <Bracelet of 『Guest』>, quietly watching the fight from the shadows.

Ester, meanwhile, was left behind in the Safe Zone. Looks like she wasn’t coming along this time—guess being alone had gotten to her more than she’d admitted.

Oh? Looks like the members who had been fighting the <Wolves> and <Leader Wolf> have regrouped.

That just leaves the <Battle Wolf>. From here on, it’ll turn into a one-sided beatdown.

"『Fire Bullet』! 『Ice Bullet』!"

"『Elemental Lance』! 『Elemental Javelin』!"

"Gauh!? Gahh!?"

Pinned down by Lulu, the <Battle Wolf> was hammered by Shizu and Cheria’s spells and staggered back in a panic, trying to gain some distance.

"Brace yourself, deesu! — 『Giant Shuriken Technique』!"

"Gauw!"

"Ah—he dodged it, deesu!?"

"Leave this to me. 『Straight Punch』!"

"Kyain!?"

Pamela followed up with a massive shuriken, as big as her own body. Incidentally, just like Kalua’s 『Throwing Dagger』, it was only an illusory weapon. Even so, the <Battle Wolf> avoided it on sheer animal instinct.

But the spot it dodged into was already occupied—Celestan was standing there with a serene smile.....When did he even move!?

His punch, backed by solid footwork, slammed into the wolf. The <Battle Wolf> staggered, eyes rolling back white for a moment. What the heck kind of punch was that!?

"Lulu’s going too! 『Charm Point Sword』!"

"GaaAAAH!?"

Lulu’s follow-up pierced in clean, and the <Battle Wolf> thrashed about violently.

Boss monsters had a trait: when beaten down too one-sidedly, they’d go into a frenzy. This was its anger mode.

Unfortunately for it, Lulu’s debuffs had gutted its attack power, so the frenzy lacked bite.

Pitiful <Battle Wolf>...

Unfazed by its rampage, Lulu lunged in, followed by all the attacker-heavy members who pounded it mercilessly until, at last, the <Battle Wolf> faded away.

A victory without a hitch.

"Good work, everyone~."

"Yes. Thank you all for your efforts. That was a most trivial opponent."

"Well, I get what Cheria means, but still."

Poor <Battle Wolf>. Once hailed as the strongest Beginner Mid-tier boss, a staple for hardcore <DanKatsu> players, it had just been humiliated.

To be honest, <Battle Wolf (First Form)> on its own is very weak.

Actually, most Beginner Mid-tier bosses are unimpressive solo. It’s their minions that make them dangerous.

Once the minions are separated, they’re not much at all.

For the sake of the <Battle Wolf>’s honor, I should say: back in the original game, it was a tough opponent. It always fought alongside its pack, buffed its minions, and even if you split them apart, it had the 『Rally』 skill to regroup instantly regardless of aggro.

These days, we have solid counter-strategies, so it’s an easy fight—but facing all five at once used to be brutal.

In the early days of the game, it was considered harder than even <Debubu>, whose weakness was obvious. It only became a pushover after strategies spread for sealing 『Rally』.

…Actually, maybe…

Why not let the 『Rally』 skill play out once, without countering it?

It’d be good training. And I can sense a bit of arrogance creeping into Cheria. This is just a Beginner-level dungeon—if she gets too cocky here, she’ll trip badly when she stumbles later. Better to show them firsthand how one countermeasure can make or break a boss fight.

Yeah. Might actually be a good idea.

"Everyone, gather up! We need to talk about our future plans."

I decided to act on impulse. I called an emergency meeting, Ester included.

Naturally, I was the chair. With little time, I kept it short.

"That last fight was great for leveling, but I don’t think it was good training."

At my words, Celestan and several others nodded. Seems they’d felt the same.

The strongest members in particular were in agreement. Cheria and Shizu, for instance, where Hannah had struggled with long-range attacks, they pulled them off effortlessly. To them, that level of a moving target was nothing at all.

Pamela, lacking ranged attacks, just looked puzzled.

Lulu… probably didn’t understand at all.

So I laid out my proposal.

"We’ll keep our goal of raising everyone’s job level to 30 or higher. But alongside that, I want to push for combat training. As part of that, I propose we try fighting fair and square."

"Teacher-accompanied, deesu?"

…No, not "teacher-accompanied."

"By fair and square, I mean without countermeasures. Don’t use the tactics I’ve taught you. Fight by figuring things out yourselves."

"Ahh, I see. What Sir Zephyrus wants is for us to experience just how valuable the current strategies are, by feeling the difference when we don’t use them."

"As expected of you, Cheria. Exactly."

The current strategies are the crystallization of player ingenuity—optimized to shave down dungeon clear times. I want them to experience what it feels like to fight without them.

After some discussion, we agreed to begin once Shizu and Pamela, both still at Job Lv.18, unlocked their second-tier skill trees.

And with that, the plan was set.

"【Battlefield Maid Lv20】 achieved!"

"Same here, desu! 【Kunoichi Lv20】 now, desu!"

"Alright! Then let’s get straight into teaching you the ultimate style!"

After another six runs, Shizu and Pamela had both reached Job Lv20.

That unlocked their second-tier tree! Normally, I’d want them to enjoy the moment, but a straight-up fight against a <Battle Wolf> was way too tough. So, I had them dump all their points right away. Sorry, girls—less hype, but way safer.

Then another five runs after that.

Once Shizu and Pamela had tested out their new skills, it was time for a proper, honorable showdown against the <Battle Wolf>.

As usual, I was overseeing things with the <Bracelet of the 『Guest』>.

Ester had returned to town once via the teleport circle—apparently, she had something to take care of.

"Alright then, good luck~!"

"Lulu is invincible! Lulu is the hero of justice!"

"Your way of speaking sounds a little scary, with all the hidden meaning… Is it really that different now?"

"I’ve got the hang of it, desu! This time for sure, I’ll nail it with 『Giant Shuriken Technique』, desu!"

"Miss Pamela, you just received Lord Zephyrus’s instruction earlier. Practice first. Using it in live combat is still premature."

"Then, Lord Zephyrus, we’ll be off."

I waved them off as Lulu, Cheria, Pamela, Shizu, and Celestan—each fired up—lined up in order.

Even though this was their twelfth boss fight, their motivation was through the roof.

I leaned back against the wall and watched over the five of them.

"Grr!"

"Awooo!"

The <Wolf> and the <Leader Wolf> minions charged forward.

Up until now, Pamela or Celestan would pull their hate, holding them off while Lulu slipped past to split the <Battle Wolf> from its pack.

But this time the plan was to fight all five together. Splitting them up was a no-go.

So Lulu deliberately dove straight into the middle of the wolves to draw their aggro.

"Here I am—『The Hero is Here』!"

With a dramatic pose, Lulu raised her sword, and a phantom hero’s cape flared out behind her as her taunt skill triggered. Instantly, the <Wolf> and <Leader Wolf> targets locked onto Lulu, surrounding and striking at her.

"And then~—『Small Spin Slash』!"

"Yipe!?"

"Grr!?"

Completely unfazed at being surrounded, Lulu spun with a circular slash, cutting down all the wolves around her. She was getting gutsier by the day—seriously, that was one hell of a hero moment.

"『Spirit Summon』! 『Elemental Boost』! 『Elemental Arrow』!"

"『Rapid Fire』! 『Grenade』!"

Cheria called forth a Fire Spirit, buffed herself with 『Element Boost』, then fired off a quick 『Arrow』 at one <Leader Wolf>.

Meanwhile, Shizu, using her newly unlocked second-tree gun skills, let loose with 『Rapid Fire』 and 『Grenade』 at the other.

But—

"Bow!"

""Awoo!""

"What!?"

"They’re fast!"

Unlike before, the <Leader Wolves> nimbly evaded both attacks.

With a single bark from the <Battle Wolf>—Bow!—the 『Command Lv4』 skill activated. Thanks to it, the <Leader Wolves> had been powered up.

""Awoo!""

""Grr! Grr!!""

"T-this is bad…"

The <Wolves>, in turn, received 『Command Lv1』 from the <Leader Wolves>.

Now the <Wolves> had both 『Command Lv4』 and 『Command Lv1』 stacked on them. In effect, it was the same as being buffed with 『Command Lv5』.

The reason the optimized strategy starts with splitting them apart is exactly to stop this. Once they buff each other like this, not only does it take much longer to bring them down, but you might not even be able to win at all.

And now… things just got nasty. How are they going to handle this?

"『Heart Charm』! Uh…『Charm Sword』!"

Lulu unleashed her area attack debuff, 『Heart Charm』, partially canceling the buffs on the enemy. After a brief hesitation, she followed up by slashing at the nearby <Leader Wolf> with 『Charm Sword』, trying to drain even more of its attack power.

But that was a mistake. 『Heart Charm』 was fine, but chaining it straight into 『Charm Sword』 was not.

"So, so fast!"

The 『Charm Sword』 missed. Once the wolves are under 『Command』, they gain a boost in attack and speed, and their evasion rate goes way up. That’s the most annoying part—fights take longer, and the enemy gets stronger, forcing us to burn through resources.

"Ah, aww! Lulu's taking too much damage, Lulu's HP’s in danger!"

Lulu cried out in distress as the <Wolves> struck back before the debuffs were fully in place. Every attack made her HP plummet.

After all, the 【Lolita Hero】 isn’t a pure tank—she’s a debuff attacker who can tank when conditions are right. If the debuffs don’t stick, she’s forced into these dangerous situations. To tank properly, Lulu has to read the situation.

Right now, Lulu was in trouble. But just then, a reliable butler rushed to her aid.

"Miss Pamela, let’s handle this together! 『Straight Punch』! 『Taunt』!"

"Kyain!?"

"Leave it to me, deeesuu! 『Ninjutsu: Shadow Stitch』! 『Ninjutsu: Decoy Shadow』!"

Celestan slipped between Lulu and the surrounding wolves, driving a clean right straight into one of them.

He then used 『Taunt』 to switch aggro onto himself. Pamela followed up with 『Shadow Stitch』, inflicting the <Slow> debuff on the <Leader Wolf>, then passed her own aggro to Celestan with 『Decoy Shadow』, drawing even more attention to him.

"Lulu, come to me! Fall back and heal!"

"Uuuhhh~… Cheria onee-chaaaan!"

Following Cheria’s orders, Lulu withdrew from the frontlines and popped a potion, recovering her HP.

"Aww… Lulu is so cute. No, wait, focus. I see now—just as Sir Zephyrus said, this won’t be simple. The difference is overwhelming. They’re too fast to target…"

"Miss Cheria, focus on pinning down the <Battle Wolf>! If it slips past into Celestan’s group, the front line will collapse! 『Rapid Fire』!"

"Understood! 『Elemental Arrow』! Lulu, are you ready?"

"Full heal complete!"

"Good. Then switch roles—handle the <Wolves> with debuffs, slow them down, and take their speed."

"Got it!"

The backliners, Shizu and Cheria, were quick thinkers. They were already adapting to the situation.

Shizu kept the <Battle Wolf> under pressure while Cheria joined in, making it difficult for the boss to break into the frontline. Even though it dodged their attacks, being targeted forced it to hesitate.

Meanwhile, Lulu had fully recovered.

Cheria shifted Lulu’s role from attacker-tank to dedicated debuffer, instructing her to focus on stealing speed.

Nice call, Cheria. Exactly right.

The nastiest part of 『Command』 is the speed and evasion buff. Since Lulu can debuff, the correct play is to strip those advantages away. Once that’s done, you can cook the wolf however you like.

"Lulu is back in action! 『Cute Eye』!"

"On!?"

『Cute Eye』—an AoE speed debuff. Basically, the speed version of 『Heart Charm』. Her unbearable cuteness slows them down. (Don’t ask me how it works.)

"Now! Pamela, keep the <Battle Wolf> occupied! We’ll deal with the minions! 『Grenade』!"

"D-doing my best, desuuu! 『Draw Attention』! 『Acrobatics』!"

Under Shizu’s sharp instructions, Pamela pulled the boss’s aggro.

That gave the backliners time to clear out the minions. With their speed lowered, hitting the wolves from range wasn’t difficult. Celestan focused on evasion while tanking, Lulu drained their speed with debuffs, and the backline attackers finished them off.

One by one, the minions fell.

Without its pack, the <Battle Wolf (First Form)> wasn’t much of a threat. Just like before, Lulu stripped away its attack power with debuffs, and the party brought it down without issue.

There were some close calls, but victory was theirs.

Sure, the boss and its minions got split up in the fight, but this was their first attempt—let’s cut them some slack.

For now, it was time for a review session.

"You're right, we really had no choice but to separate them."

"Yes. Just that 『Command』 skill alone made the fight so much harder. It truly shines in group combat. As Lord Zephyrus warned, we absolutely must not let them coordinate."

I was about to start the reflection meeting, but the brains of the team—Cheria and Shizu—were already analyzing the fight together.

That’s good. That kind of back-and-forth is exactly what makes you grow.

I remember when I used to lose to boss monsters, or when fights dragged on forever. I’d hop onto the forums and swap strategies with other players. That’s how I slowly built up both skill and knowledge in the game.

Maybe it’s actually better to just leave those two alone.

If they start picking up bad habits, I’ll step in with some advice.

With that decided, I turned to the other three.

"Alright, first up—Lulu."

"Aye!"

"Mm, good response. Do you know what went wrong in that last fight?"

"Aye! Lulu thinks… maybe diving straight in at the start was bad!"

"That’s right. You understood it well, Lulu. Charging straight into the enemy and going wild is flashy, heroic even. But take one wrong step, and you’ll end up beaten to a pulp like before. Still, that’s something you can avoid, once you learn how to really use your Job."

This reckless dive-and-smash tactic was what <DanKatsu> players used to call the "Hero Strategy."

It’s a well-known approach in sim games: toss a tough or evasive unit into the enemy’s center, let them wipe out the small fry, then the main force strolls in behind, conserving strength to crush the boss with ease.

But of course, it only works if the unit you throw in is overwhelmingly strong.

This time, because the enemy buffed itself, the power gap wasn’t wide enough. Lulu couldn’t dominate the field. On top of that, her skill usage was still clumsy.

Whether or not the "Hero Strategy" works against a given opponent—that’s something you have to judge carefully.

I want Lulu to learn many strategies, tactics, and ways of using her skills from here on out.

Her Job can do a little bit of everything, which means it has just as many opportunities to shine.

She’s not even Lv40 yet. As a 【Lolita Hero】, she’s still got plenty of room to grow.

After all, it’s ranked fourth on the official "Top of Job" list. If she masters it, she’ll be a fearsome force. We’ll nurture the true potential of the strongest <Princess Job> bit by bit.

Next was Pamela.

"Pamela, you did well. Your skill usage has gotten really good. And grabbing aggro from the <Battle Wolf> in the middle phase was perfect. You were the only one who could’ve held it there—and you did. Without that, we wouldn’t have had such a smooth finish."

"Really, desu!? That makes me so happy, desu!"

"From now on, though, try using a wider variety of skills. You’re still holding back a little."

"Uu… okay, desu. I’m still not used to them all, desu."

Pamela used to focus on guarding from the shadows. She’s apparently very capable in that role.

But in boss fights, she has to step out front, and that still unsettles her.

She wants to remain hidden, supporting from the rear. Yet instead she’s the one drawing aggro, standing firm, grappling with enemies head-on—standing out more than anyone.

Still, that’s what it means to be a 【Kunoichi】. She’ll just have to push through close combat.

Pamela clearly needs more practice.

"As for Celestan… there’s really nothing to critique. Honestly, I want to know how you manage to dodge so cleanly without a single evasion skill."

"I am honored."

He’d held down four minions by himself, yet his face remained the same calm, smiling mask. Perhaps this was what a true butler was. A real-life butler is terrifyingly capable.

After that, we repeated the <Battle Wolf> fight—this time with its 『Command』 buff—about seven more times.

I didn’t issue any orders, just watched. They began experimenting with their own tactics, led mostly by Shizu and Cheria.

At first, their coordination was clumsy, but with each round, they refined their teamwork. I could see their movements sharpening with experience.

Hmm… Celestan really does seem leagues more stable than the others. His dodge-tanking is impeccable. I want to know how he keeps it so consistent.

Pamela still can’t draw all four adds at once, and Lulu keeps experimenting—sometimes tanking, sometimes acting as attacker or debuffer. But she can’t yet handle four buffed adds on her own, either.

At one point, the <Battle Wolf> merged with the adds, forcing them to fight all together at once. That was dangerous.

That 『Rally』 skill is nasty—suddenly the boss crashes into the fight you thought was just the minions. Everyone panicked, but they muscled through it. Honestly, someone could’ve easily gone down. Still, it was a valuable lesson.

Eventually, through trial and error, they settled into a stable tactic: Celestan would handle the adds, while either Pamela or Lulu locked down the <Battle Wolf>.

After the seventh clear, Shizu and Cheria returned and reported:

"As we suspected, we must separate the adds from the <Battle Wolf>. Together, they’re unmanageable."

"In conclusion: no matter the method, if the adds remain, the <Battle Wolf> cannot be defeated. We must prioritize taking them out, and to do so swiftly, we need to split them from the boss. This was a good lesson."

"Exactly. Always take out the weaker enemies first. It’s a textbook strategy, but also the most fundamental. I’m glad this battle left such an impression on you."

Cheria seemed to have lost much of her arrogance. She’d finally felt firsthand how a single tactic could make all the difference.

"Is it about time for lunch? Shall we take a break, Lord Zephyrus?"

"Yeah. Let’s rest. Shizu, if you would."

With a polite bow, Shizu stepped into the safe zone and began pulling supplies from her <Item Bag> to prepare.

Celestan, Pamela, and Lulu quickly joined her, and in no time, lunch was ready.

For some reason, Cheria remained right beside me.

"Cheria, shouldn’t you be with them?"

"I wouldn’t want to get in the way."

…What was that supposed to mean?

"Zephyrus Onii-sama, it’s ready! Lulu helped too!"

"O-oh, is that so? Well done, Lulu."

While I was puzzling over Cheria’s cryptic answer, Lulu came bouncing over to report, eyes sparkling.

Something about the scene warmed my heart.

Lunch was a stew Shizu had prepared in advance. Paired with white bread, it was absolutely delicious.

"Shizu, you’re really good at cooking."

"Fufu, I do have some confidence in that, you know?"

Ohh, Shizu bragging about her cooking—that’s rare.

Well, to be fair, she’s earned the right to brag. This is seriously delicious! Is this the true power of a maid!?

It was so good I couldn’t stop myself, and before I knew it, I’d cleaned my plate.

I wonder if she’d make it again if I requested it next time?

With that, lunchtime came to an end, and we went back to boss farming. A bit of exercise after the meal, so to speak.

"Should we stick with the first strategy for the runs?"

Shizu asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah. We’ve already accomplished the main goal. This afternoon, I want you all focused on hitting Job Lv30, just as we planned."

The <Battle Wolf> fights with 『Command』 active were great training, sure—but they took way too long. At this pace, we’d never reach Job Lv30. We needed to speed things up.

Shizu gave a polite, "Understood," and stepped back. Just then, Cheria looked toward the 14th-floor entrance and spoke up.

"Oh. That carriage—it’s Ester’s."

"Hm?"

I turned to see the <Karakuri Carriage>—or rather, the newly christened <Thunder Javelin>—rolling our way.

So it was already time for the switch.

"Sir Zephyrus, thank you for waiting."

"Not at all—we just finished our lunch break, so you’re right on time. And really, thanks, Ester. This helps a lot."

The truth was, in the afternoon, I was scheduled to link up with Rika and Kalua’s party.

So Ester was taking my place as the "boom" specialist for farming runs.

By now, the five new members had gotten plenty competent, and with their optimized tactics, they should be fine even without a healer.

And so, I returned ahead of them.

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