Chapter 19: The Last Beginner-Level Rare Boss:<Big Mush>! 『Big Mush Bomber』!
The rare boss of the <Poison Mushroom Cavern Dungeon> is named <Big Mush>.
Just like the name suggests, it’s an enormous mushroom—easily over seven meters tall.
Additionally, it has evolved into a more humanoid form, featuring well-developed arms and legs. It wields an oversized cleaver and a gigantic hoplon shield, its entire body wrapped in a sinister purple poisonous armor. Both its attack and defense are frighteningly high.
Its speed is only a little faster than <Mother Mush>, but with that massive body, its reach is insane. Unlike with <Mama>, you can’t just circle around at range and pick it off with one-sided attacks.
And this one actually blocks with its shield, too.
To make things worse, its Unique Skill—『Mush Style: Big Mush Bomber』—is brutally powerful.
In short, it’s a self-destruct attack. If you get too close and fail to escape in time, you’ll be caught in the explosion and take massive damage. In games, self-destructs have always been infamous as devastating moves. Even tanks can be knocked out of commission, so you need to be on high alert.
And by the way, when <Big Mush> self-destructs, it only loses a portion of its HP—it doesn’t die. It stays perfectly fine afterward. Well… every once in a while it does drop to zero and keel over, but that’s rare.
It also summons <Mini Mush> minions and fires off spore attacks, just like <Mama>.
If you get swarmed by the little ones and take your eyes off <Big Mush>, you’ll end up sliced apart by that cleaver in an instant.
Honestly, it’s a boss with no real weaknesses. The only way to beat it is head-on. That’s usually how it is with rare bosses—they’re too strong for cheap tricks.
I explained all this to the others while we rested in the safe zone.
"So basically, we just do what we always do, right?"
"Yeah, pretty much, like Lana said. But this time we’ve got Kalua with us. So make sure you adjust to her movements."
"Leave it to me!"
Unlike before, when Hannah covered the backline, this time Kalua would be fighting on the front lines. That would change things a bit.
I reminded everyone to keep that in mind.
Kalua, however, tilted her head with a puzzled look.
"Is it really that different?"
"Yeah. Having four frontliners changes the flow. Well, since today’s boss is ridiculously huge, we’ll probably be fine. But against smaller enemies, we’d need to use switch tactics. If the attackers don’t coordinate properly, we risk colliding into each other mid-fight."
"Mm. So today I can just move how I want?"
"Just make sure not to bump into anyone else."
"Mm. Got it."
And with that, our strategy meeting ended, and we stepped straight into the boss's chamber.
It was the last day of the trials, so almost no one else was challenging the dungeon.
Which meant the rare boss <Big Mush> was still there, untouched.
Of course, since it fully recovers all HP when you retreat, any damage from the upperclassmen who fought it earlier was long gone.
The massive mushroom slowly rose to its feet, raising its enormous cleaver and its red, poisonous hoplon shield.
The boss battle was about to begin.
"MaaAAaaaahhh!"
"Hold on—that thing’s huge!"
"Yeah. Guess it really is a Big Mushroom."
Big Mush’s towering form had an overwhelming presence. Lana let out a startled cry, clearly taken aback by just how imposing it was.
But Sierra, as always, stepped forward with her large kite shield at the ready.
Cool as ever.
"『Provoke』! 『Aura Point』!"
Sierra unleashed back-to-back taunts to pull in the aggro.
Lately, our party’s firepower had grown so much that a single 『Provoke』 wasn’t enough to keep the target’s focus, so she added 『Aura Point』 into the mix.
With the distance still between us, now was our best chance to deal damage. The tank holds the boss in place, while we rain down attacks from range.
"『Blessing of Holy Magic』! 『Blessing of Protection』! 『Shining Blade of Holy Light』! 『Sacred Tree of Holy Light』!"
Lana rapidly chained her spells, raising both magic and defense buffs before launching her offensive magic. Cool in her own right.
"I’ll follow up! 『Lightning Burst』! 『Shining Lightning』!"
"MaaAAhh! MaaAAhh!"
As <Big Mush> swung its cleaver at Sierra, spell after spell pierced into its body.
But soon, the massive shield began blocking, and our damage output slowed dramatically.
That’s the difference from <Mama>. Unlike her, <Big Mush> actively defends against ranged attacks. Maybe <Mama>’s regret was what gave birth to that hoplon shield. After all, the shield’s design matched the pattern on <Mama>’s mushroom cap.
Back in the <DanKatsu> game days, you couldn’t see the back of the hoplon, and people used to joke that <Big Mush> had actually equipped <Mama> herself as a shield. In reality, though, it turned out to be just plain metal—so don’t worry.
"MaaAAhh! MaaAAhh!"
Oops—focus! This was still a boss fight.
"Spore attack and minion summon incoming! Kalua, Ester—fall back!"
While <Big Mush> was distracted, locked onto Sierra’s aggro and our ranged attacks, Kalua and Ester had circled behind it and were striking hard. I called them back quickly.
"Ester, bring out the carriage!"
"! Understood!"
Ester instantly grasped my intent and pulled a carriage out of her <Item Bag>. She had deliberately left her accessory slots empty just for this moment.
Vehicle-type accel skills don’t work on bosses. But against minions? They’re fair game.
One after another, <Mini Mush> sprouted—forty-two in total. An absurd number, but against the current Ester, they didn’t stand a chance.
"Here I go! 『Accel Drive』! 『Drive Turn』!"
""""MaaaMaaMaaa!?""""
"Oh yeah! Do it, Ester! Run ’em all down!"
Her driving skills went full throttle—every <Mini Mush> in her path was mowed down and vanished in bursts of effects. Damn, that was satisfying. So damn refreshing!
Ester expertly steered the carriage, using 『Drive Turn』 and other moves to crush more and more of the little ones.
Meanwhile, Kalua, blocked by the spore cloud and unable to approach the boss, ran back to me.
"Zephyrus, give me orders."
"Alright. Clean up whatever Ester misses."
"Roger."
"Then I’ll pitch in too—『Appeal』!"
No way Ester could wipe out every single one with just the carriage, so Kalua and I handled the stragglers.
Once the little ones were cleared, we turned our focus back to the boss, whose spore attack had finally subsided.
"『Blessing of the Lion』! 『Blessing of Protection』! 『Shining Blade of Holy Light』! 『Sacred Tree of Holy Light』!"
From range, Lana unleashed her spells. <Big Mush> raised its shield to block.
Perfect chance to get behind it.
Kalua and I darted around to the rear and unloaded our skills into its exposed back.
"『Elemental Sword: Fire』! 『Brave Slash』! 『Falcon Strike』!"
"『Force Sonic』! 『Scale Ripper』! 『Twinblade Lynx Slash』!"
"Maaa!?"
Though its armor protected most of its body, <Big Mush> had a few weak spots on its back where the plating didn’t cover. Hitting there boosted our damage. Our strikes dug in deep, racking up solid damage.
"MaaaaaAAAAAAhhhhh!!"
"『Aura Point』! 『Iron Wall』!"
"『Wish of Healing』!"
Even enraged from the damage, <Big Mush> couldn’t break through Sierra’s defenses. 『Iron Wall』 locks her in place, but massively cuts damage taken. Combine that with Sierra’s already monstrous stats, and she became nearly unbreakable.
With Lana’s heals layered on top, there was no way Sierra was going down.
Still… seeing that enormous cleaver, easily three or four meters long, slam against her shield again and again—it was hard not to worry.
"Sierra, hey—you sure you’re okay?!"
"I am. The strikes are heavy, but it’s nothing I can’t handle."
"R-Really? …Alright, then let’s pour on the damage while we can!"
Guess she really was fine.
Fantasy, man.
Even after two more spore barrages and two more minion waves, we handled it smoothly. No major incidents, and soon <Big Mush>’s HP dipped below 10%.
"Maaa… MaaaaAAhh… MUSH!!"
It entered rage mode.
For the next thirty seconds, its attack power would be multiplied by 1.5.
One huge cleaver swing slammed into Sierra’s shield, and this time she staggered back a step. Sierra staggered?!
"Sierra!"
"『Iron Wall』! Don’t worry—I was just caught off guard by the sudden increase in force. I’ll take it head-on next time."
Her eyes sharpened with resolve, burning with determination. She was ready to block the next strike no matter what.
But contrary to Sierra’s fierce resolve… the cleaver never came.
Instead of striking again, <Big Mush>’s entire body flared with a red aura.
A phenomenon unique to rare bosses—this was the startup motion of its Unique Skill.
"Crap, it’s using 『Big Mush Bomber』! Sierra!"
"I can’t move until 『Iron Wall』’s effect ends. Don’t worry—I’ll withstand it head-on."
Sierra said that calmly, but during rage mode, its attack power was multiplied by 1.5.
Self-destruct attacks are already absurdly strong since they trade HP for damage. On top of that, the closer you are, the more damage you take.
And now it was about to unleash that with rage-boosted power. Even Sierra, under 『Iron Wall』, was in serious danger. This wasn’t something you could just block.
You can’t underestimate a Unique Skill in rage mode.
"Ester! Get over here!"
There was no time to argue. I dashed to Sierra, grabbed her by the arm and waist—
"Eh, wha—kyah!"
—then, using my overflowing STR, I hurled her straight toward Ester.
She landed safely onto Ester’s carriage, which had pulled up nearby.
Even under 『Iron Wall』, she could still be moved with a throw. It wasn’t a skill, but if I could toss a slime, then tossing Sierra wasn’t impossible either.
"Ester! I’m counting on you—『Sonic Sword』!"
"Right! 『Overdrive』!"
I used 『Sonic Sword』 while Ester activated 『Overdrive』, both of us pulling back from the boss just in time—
And then <Big Mush> detonated.
"MaaaaaAAAAAASH!!"
BOOOOOM!!
A massive explosion erupted, a super high-powered area attack shaking the chamber as <Big Mush> let out a final roar.
A mushroom-cloud-like plume of smoke billowed upward—
—and when it cleared, two golden treasure chests gleamed in its place.
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