Cecile's Extra Skill [Small Meteorite] hit Gordino which forced Gordino to reveal its true form.
Gordino was about 30 meters tall, about one-third as tall as the first time I saw it. Gordino was slender and neat.
Like the Mithril Golem, Gordino had a spinning wheel-like thing on its head that allowed it to float.
And then, as Gordino's eyes glowed, we were all enveloped in light, and felt a sensation of power draining from us.
"Gordino has deactivated all our buffs! Use your buff skills again. Defensive first!"
I shouted my instructions loudly as we were facing the worst scenario.
I also summoned my Fish species summons to reapply their special and awakening skills that had been deactivated.
"Ha-ha-ha! You've never seen me like this before! You may die proud to have seen my true form!"
Gordino declared victory on a high note.
Everyone in the group understood the situation and started to reuse their support skills.
However, Gordino pulled out a Light Shield and a Light Saber from its hands and closed the distance between us at once.
"Woah!"
"Hmph! That's depressing!"
""Ha!""
One of our three Gigantic Golems blocked Gordino's attack by embracing the rest of us.
However, both of the Gigantic Golem's got cut off and the Dwarves inside screamed out loud.
"No matter how many times you try, it will be the same!"
Gordino's eyes lit up again, and I felt the sensation of the buffs leaving my body.
Support skills were worthless in front of Gordino.
(How many times can he nullify the buffs? If it's infinite, we are in trouble. It also has a wide range of area of effect. Then there's only one thing to do.)
I had to decide whether to retreat or continue the fight.
We were originally in a passageway, but Cecile's Extra Skill had shattered the walls of the passageway on both sides, making it quite spacious.
"Tsubame!" (A-rank Bird)
"Pihii!"
I decided to continue fighting.
I thought of the most effective strategy in that situation and put it into action.
"Everyone, split into three groups. And everyone, use support skills. [Homing Instinct]!"
I dispersed everyone to lead them to victory from that situation.
I wanted each group to have one vanguard, one rear guard, and mid-guard, mixing up the races and prioritizing stability.
We only had 2 Saints from Helmios' party, Kiel, and 2 beastmen who could use Recovery Magic.
The Saints, Kiel and beastmen healers were in three different groups.
"Now Gordino can't use his buffs nullifying skill! The enemy can't recover any more. If we can defeat it now, we will win!"
As everyone's vision changed at once, they heard my shout.
We had encircled Gordino.
We could still fight.
"Useless! Useless!"
"Ggh!"
As I floated in the air with the help of A-rank Bird's Blessing, [Flight], and screamed out so that everyone could hear me, Gordino took aim at me.
I used my left arm to block Gordino's attack. I survived but I lost my arm.
"Allen!"
"No problem! Just help me while it attacks me!"
(I will die in just 2 hits. So if you can afford it, Kiel, please help me.)
Allen stays in the air and buys time for his friends to assist him.
I used a [Blessing of Heaven] which regenerated my missing left arm.
In that situation, my Fish species summons' special and awakening skills showed their full effects.
"You're just wasting your time. Just watch your comrades die!"
Gordino attacked one of the three parties.
"Come on, Oaaaaah!"
"Pfft! You little fish!"
"Guh!"
Dogora tried his best to attack, but was blocked by the Light Shield, and then turned counter-attacked with the Light Saber.
The same seems to be true of the other beastmen.
Our attacks were no longer getting through because Gordino prioritized defense and as we had lost our buffs.
Gordino's true form was just one-third the size of the original Gordino, but it seemed to be much stronger than the original Gordino.
Because Gordino made full use of the Light Shield, most of our attacks were getting blocked, as Gordino moved swiftly through the air at great speed like Mithril Golem.
In that state, our only saving grace were the Gigantic Golems that required no buffs whatsoever.
A stalemate ensued as the Gigantic Golems protected their respective parties.
However, the situation was becoming more and more favorable to Gordino with every passing second.
Every time it was attacked, the Gigantic Golem had to consume a Stone Slab, so there were already some parts of it that could no longer be fixed.
Before that, the time limit for their Extra Skill [Combine] was approaching.
It had almost been an hour since the fight had started.
Gordino was too strong, and if the Gigantic Golems that acted as a wall disappeared, many rear and mid-guards would die.
(Now, I have a decision to make.)
I tried to damage Gordino by trial and error this way and that, but I could hardly damage it.
And, neither the Ten Heroic Beasts that had been transformed nor the rest of us could deal any damage at close range.
Even if B-rank Stone's [Reflect] succeeded, not likely to happen, Gordino was fast enough to dodge the attack.
I had already completed setting up the "Nest" that led to the cube that teleported us outside of the Boss Room.
I could forcefully teleport everyone or let them know and teleport them.
(Unfortunately, [Combine] will reach its time limit in a few more minutes. I haven't used the Spirit King's Blessing yet, should I at least try that? Nah, there'll be a lot of deaths in the meantime.)
There was still the [Blessing of the Spirit King], which increased everyone's stats by 30% and allowed them to use their Extra Skill again that Sophie hadn't used yet.
I didn't know if we would win in that situation, plus I thought that we might lose the time to retreat doing that.
It was a shame because there was no way to revive the dead, but we could always challenge the Dungeon Boss again.
That's when I decided to retreat and try to fight Gordino again, fixing the problems I had noticed in the first fight.
"I'm sorry to say this only now. Showing it in public too much will hurt my business, but I don't have a choice. I'll do something with my Extra Skill, you guys take care of the rest."
After a sigh, the Thief Rosetta opened her mouth.
(Hmm?)
My B-rank Bird that I was using <Sharing> on picked up Rosetta's voice.
"Doesn't your Extra Skill allow you to steal treasures?"
What are you talking about, said Hermios beside her.
Even Helmios, her party member, thought there was nothing that Rosetta could do in that situation.
The rest of the group looked at Rosetta, wondering what she could do against Gordino in that situation.
"Well, you'll see, Helmios. You'll pay dearly for this loan. Allen! I'll take the power from this big bastard, and you can do something about it!"
"Everybody, Rosetta's going to do something!"
Merus and I were at the center of the battlefield.
I told everyone that Rosetta was going to do something and that defending her was a top priority.
In the midst of all that, Rosetta the Phantom Thief's body started shimmering.
"Ha-ha-ha! What can a Thief do! I'll nullify no matter what you do!"
Gordino mocked Rosetta who had stepped forward.
"Good. I'd like to borrow some of your skills. [Rover Hands]!"
Rosetta smiled for a moment, and then reached up into the air and grabbed something.
""What!?""
Rosetta raised her hand and made a large swinging and grabbing gesture while everyone watched astonished.
There was something shiny floating in Rosetta's hand.
"What!? What's this? You've got something nice, don't you? Now you can't use my skill anymore. Fuf."
"What? You. That's it! You took my skill! I'll never forgive you!"
(She took away Gordino's skill!? Seriously!)
Gordino immediately understood what had happened.
It closed the distance between it and Rosetta at once and tried to regain the skills that were taken from it.
"Hey, hey!"
Aimed at Gordino, Rosetta began to get impatient as the glowing ball floated in her hand.
"[Guard Break]!"
Master Swordsman Doberg jumped in and defended Rosetta.
He seemed to have timed it perfectly.
Maybe he was looking for an opportunity to follow up if Rosetta were to fail.
"Ha-ha!"
The Light Shield and Gordino's entire arm was shattered by the Master Swordsman Doberg's blow.
(Opportunity knocks!)
"[Homing Instinct]! Use your Support skills! Sophie, [Blessing of the Spirit King]!"
Seeing that as an opportunity to win, I brought everyone who had been divided into three parties into a single location.
"Yes! Master Allen. Spirit God Rosen, please."
While everyone began to use their Support skills if they had one, Sophie used all her mana and used her Extra Skill [Great Spirit Manifestation].
"Ha-ha-ha. The battle is in its final stages."
With that said, the Spirit God on Sophie's shoulder started floating in the air and shaking his hips.
The whole area was covered in what looked like glowing raindrops.
"Support skill quick! Everyone can use their Extra Skill again!"
Everyone had already been briefed on the [Blessing of the Spirit King] that the Spirit God had used beforehand.
Since Sophie used it, everyone knew that it was our last chance.
"You've got to be kidding me! You think I'm going to give you time to get ready for that?"
""We'll buy you some time!""
Two Gigantic Golems, already battered and bruised, stood in the way of Gordino.
"We can't step back now! Merle, grit your teeth!"
"Yeah!"
The already battered Gigantic Golem was at its limit.
But they roused themselves and faced Gordino head on.
Admiral Galara was leading the dwarves. He was ready to sacrifice himself for earning some more time.
"Don't get carried away!"
After being damaged so many times, a Gigantic Golem had finally reached its limits.
One by one, the Gigantic Golems started collapsing and falling down.
Dwarves waddled out of the crystal from the collapsed Golem's chest and ran to the rear guard.
And a vicious Light Saber attacked the Gigantic Golem that Admiral Galala was on.
The Gigantic Golem took a vicious blow, and was sprawling backwards, but Merle used her Magic Board to control it with all her might and used the last attack.
"Megaton Puuuunnnnncccch!"
However, Merle's deadly blow was blocked by the Light Saber.
Admiral Galara and Merle's Gigantic Golem also reached its limit and collapsed.
Merle and the others were thrown out of the crystal part of the collapsed Gigantic Golem.
"Hmph, I am not dying. Stop! Stop!"
Gordino tried to take care of Merle and the others who were thrown out of the Gigantic Golem.
I used [Homing Instinct] and moved them towards us.
"No, that's enough. Thank you all."
I gripped my sword and said thank you.
"Yeah, I guess so. That's enough. We don't need any more."
Helmios also readied his sword and said with room to spare.
"Grrr!"
The beastified Prince Zew caged enough power to grip his knuckles and bent forward to face Gordino.
We were all surrounded by a blinding light.
Those lights showed that we were all fully buffed.
"You think you've won with that?"
"Sophie. It's hard to take it down when it moves around, so block its movement."
"Yes, Master Allen. Wind Spirit Gale, please lend me your help."
"Yes. Ok, Mama.'"
Sophie recovered her mana and manifested a boyish Wind Spirit.
For some reason, the Wind Spirit calls Sophie "Mama".
Because of two Rings that increased [Mana] by 5,000, the [Blessing of the Spirit King], and the assistance of Sophie's entire mana pool being sucked up, a visible rope of wind crawled across Gordino's entire body, binding it.
"What? This thing."
But even all of that could only keep Gordino immobile for a few seconds.
But it was enough.
We all started our attack at the same time.
Sha!
"Guaaaah!"
I used [Flight] and slammed my sword into Gordino's eye with all my might.
After [Blessing of the Spirit King], my [Attack] was high enough that it didn't matter that Gordino was made up of Hihiirokane.
"Now it can't nullify our skills."
I put my foot on Gordino's face and pushed my sword in further.
The beastmen who had turned into beasts also attacked.
Weapons slammed from all directions on Gordino's body.
"[Phoenix Sword]!"
"[Supreme Sword]!"
"Ha! Against such a foe as myself..."
Helmios and Kurena's sword slammed deep into Gordino's chest.
Zuuuuuuuuhhh!
Gordino, having lost its power, fell to the ground.
"You have defeated Gordino. You have acquired 4,000,000,000 (billion) Experience."
(Somehow, I got the whole villain vibe all the way through.)
"Looks like we have won."
""Oh! We won!"
Allen's declaration of victory was met with cheers by everyone.
Allen and his party finally defeated the Dungeon Boss.
TL Notes:
I am really sorry for not being able to keep on schedule because of my stupidity and not sharing it with you guys. I got a ransomware on my computer on 19th. Everything on my PC from documents to videos turned into a .bbyy extension file. I had to reset my PC because of it. I had a report that I had been working on but that too was compromised. I am really sorry for not notifying my absence beforehand and only sharing it now.
I will make it right to you. Though late I will upload all the chapters I have failed to upload. I have no intention of sweeping the chapters that I have failed to deliver to you guys under the rug. I know you guys have been patient, in fact extremely patient with me. So, just a few more days.
I promise you that Chapter 302 will be out by this Saturday.
