"Analyze." Erina used her new skill on our enemy, and after checking the creature’s weak point, she told me, "He doesn’t seem to be particularly weak to magic, but he is certainly resistant to pure physical damage."

"Then let’s focus on magical attacks against him," I explained to them. "Sarah, if you attack him, use skills that are imbued with magical power. Camula, focus on defense. Alicia, you..."

...

After analyzing our enemy, who seemed to be in no hurry as it delighted in every bit of greenery it could find in the forest, we came up with a plan to approach the creature and eliminate it.

First, we needed to take away its mobility. We could use Water Prison, but since it required us to maintain the spell by channeling it, we opted for the earth magic we had recently gained.

"Muddy Trap!" Justine called out her skill loud and clear, drawing the King Boar’s attention.

The monster had no time to react to our presence. Almost instantly, the ground beneath its hooves gave way. Its legs sank into the earth, which had turned into quicksand.

"SQUEEEEAL!" The creature squealed irritably, but it was useless. Its legs only sank deeper into the ground.

"Ice Spear." My Sage prepared her second skill, her hand pointed high into the air.

I could feel the air growing colder around Justine’s body. Near her, ice gathered in midair and took the shape of spears, with long shafts and sharp triangular tips pointed upwards.

Justine lowered her hand, and the spears changed direction, now pointing at the creature immobilized in front of my Valkyrie.

Without mercy for the enormous swine, Justine fired all six of her icy spears towards the enemy.

The creations of ice cut through the air, advancing towards the King Boar, ready to pierce its flesh, but when they were halfway there, the animal opened its mouth again.

What came from it was not a grunt like before, but a powerful screech strong enough to induce a headache just by hearing it. The spears approaching it shattered right before reaching their target, without causing any harm.

"Ugh! What the hell is that sound?" I asked.

"It’s one of its skills! It’s using it to defend itself and immobilize us!" Justine said, covering her ears with her hands.

"Seriously, Captain Obvious, I wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t said anything!" Erina shouted, repeating her friend’s gesture.

"It’s annoying, but it doesn’t seem like we’re taking damage from this skill," I said, noticing that our HP hadn’t changed.

"He must be trying to buy time..." Diane said.

"I won’t allow that!"

Sarah drew her sword and took an attacking stance.

"If I get close, I’ll probably pass out from all this noise, but from here, it’s safe to attack that pig, right?"

Sarah then swung her sword. The monster was well outside her attack range, but that wasn’t a problem for her. Not with her new skill.

"Wind Cutter," she pronounced the words right in the middle of her attack.

As if the air had extended from the tip of Sarah’s sword, a blade of air shot out at high speed towards the King Boar.

Unlike the ice spears that had shattered when they approached the Boar’s body, Sarah’s wave of wind was not stopped by the enemy’s sound wave. It had no problem reaching it and cutting into its flesh.

"SQUEEEEAL!"

"That’s right, that’s how I like it!" Sarah said, excited that her attack had hit the monster. "Keep moaning in pain for us, piggy."

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAL!" He kept groaning, but there was something different about that grunt of his.

After so many battles, I could feel mana being used for a skill through my body, and that was certainly the case here.

*Crack*

I heard the sound of something cracking, coming from the direction of the King Boar. Beneath his feet.

*Crack*

The ground beneath him split apart, freeing his leg. It took me a second to connect the dots. His feet should have been sinking into quicksand, but the ground was now visibly solid, making it easy for the swine to pull himself free.

"Eh? My foot...?" Erina let out a surprised gasp.

It was only when she said that that I noticed something wrapping around my foot. When I looked down, I saw that the grass around my feet had magically grown and, as if it had gained intelligence and malice, was now coiling around my foot, hindering my movements.

"Can this monster change the terrain?" Justine said while quickly pulling the grass off her feet, "Everyone, it’s not hard to remove. Pull it off quickly and get away from him."

We followed her advice, but by the time we had finished removing the grass from our feet, the Boar was not only already free from Muddy Trap, he was also dragging one of his front legs. A clear sign that he was preparing for a tackle.

It all happened very fast. Before I knew it, that giant pig was coming towards me with a speed far too high for its weight. It was as if a car at full speed was heading straight in my direction.

"Master!"

I was pushed to the side just in time. At that moment, it felt like everything was passing before my eyes in slow motion.

Camula was standing where I had been just moments before, and right after that, the King Boar hit her.

"Ugh!" A sound of pain came from Camula, followed by the sound of wood being split apart.

The ground was marked by tracks where the monster had passed, tearing up the soil with its brutal attack. The impact had been so great that Camula was sent flying deep into the forest, destroying the vegetation along the path where the King Boar had shoved her.

"Camula!" I shouted her name nervously, afraid that the worst had happened.

The pig came to a stop six meters away from the rest of us, with the exception, of course, of our dear Demonic Slime, who had taken the entire blow.

Her body was lying at the base of a tree, where she had finally lost her momentum.

"Aaah... aaah..." I could hear her voice despite everything. It was weakened by the pain she felt, but it was indeed her voice. Her body was also moving, as if she wanted to get up, though her movements were slow and trembling.

The King Boar realized that she was still alive and scraped his hoof against the ground again, preparing for another attack.

"No way I’m letting that happen!" I ran towards the creature.

I could hear two people running right beside me.

"Rick, Sarah and I will draw that monster’s attention. In the meantime, you get Camula," Diane spoke to me hurriedly.

"Huh?" Her words left me confused.

The right thing would be for all of us to gather together and fall on the monster with everything we had. Unless—

...

During our planning, we had talked about everyone’s role in the party. And all of them had assessed me. All except one.

The woman with long pink hair puffed out her cheeks in disagreement with me.

"Master, can’t I attack that pig? It’s boring just staying on the defensive."

"You’re right. When I played MOBAs, I didn’t like playing as the tank. Even today, it’s not my favorite way to play those games."

"Then..."

"But tanks, the ones who protect the team from damage, have an extremely important role. Especially with your new power."

"Counter."

"That’s right." I smiled maliciously at her. "You have the task of returning every bit of damage that fat pig dares to inflict on us."

...

The memories of our recent conversation were still fresh in my mind. If Diane told me to go get Camula, then there was certainly a reason for it.

"I’m counting on you two, then," I said to both girls and ran towards Camula, ignoring the giant pig in my way.

As I moved away, I could hear the voices of my Valkyries behind me.

"Ready, Sarah?" Diane asked the Swordmaster.

"I was born ready. And today, I’m feeling really motivated to slice up this piggy."

The two of them moved around to the King Boar’s rear and swung their blades close to the creature’s backside.

"Demon Slash!" Sarah was enveloped in a dark crimson aura. Without mercy, she brought her sword down on the creature’s backside.

"Fatal Slash!" Diane attacked the creature close to the spot where Sarah had struck.

"SQUEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAL!" The animal stopped immediately, grunting in pain from their attacks.

Although both were physical attacks, there were a few details about the techniques the two of them had used.

[ Demon Slash: The user’s sword is surrounded by demonic energy that, upon wounding the target, causes bleeding that cannot be healed until the end of the fight, dealing damage over time.

Cost: 10 MP ]

[ Fatal Slash: The user’s next physical attack deals additional damage. If the attack is a surprise, the damage is increased.

Cost: 10 MP ]

Diane’s Fatal Slash was able to deal more damage thanks to landing a surprise attack on the enemy, while Sarah’s Demon Slash had demonic energy added to her strike, which was magical in itself. Any wound caused by that attack would inflict irreversible bleeding on the King Boar.

I would leave the enemy to them for now. Right now, I had to bring Camula back into the fight.