Defense-specialized, King of Bone.
When battle begins, Pain and Mii dash forward first, heading straight for the boss.
At the moment Crom tries to follow, the tip of the boss’s staff ignites with blue flame.
In an instant, weapons emerge from the ground, unremarkable until now, one after another.
From the rusted spears and swords they hold, black droplets fall, drip by drip.
“Crom, cover the rear!”
Pain shouts, severing skeletons blocking her path.
“Ah! — Provocation!”
Crom halts, raising his shield before the three rear members. The skeletons rising from every corner of the room must not reach the rear.
From behind Crom’s guard, flames burst forth, and blades of roaring wind strike in sequence.
Kanade attacks using a spellbook capable of area damage. Mizari counters with her innate area magic.
Marx supports Crom by setting traps to bind skeletons, reducing the burden.
Yet, due to the use of [Provocation], skeletons continue to converge on Crom.
Crom deflects and cuts down the skeletons with his great shield and battle axe. Still, a spear pierces his arm.
He responds immediately, knocking the attacking skeleton back with his shield. Crimson light leaks from his arm.
Damage is not severe... damn it! Seriously? Everyone stay alert—skeleton attacks seem to reduce HP!
Crom’s HP continues to diminish, slowly.
It halts after several seconds. No known remedy exists for this effect, despite it not being poison.
Skeletons appear to spawn without limit!
Then... shoot around Maple and Pain. I'll hold here with the trap.
From the pouch at Markus's waist, he drew a crystal and a seed, scattering them.
The crystal burst, and blinding light lashed at several skeletons nearby.
The seed grew rapidly, thick vines forming a wall that cut off the skeletons.
Seeing this, Kanade and Mizari began casting spells further forward.
Pain and Maple had been halted by the increasing number of skeletons near the boss, but thanks to the strengthened support attack, they finally reached the boss's side.
Does fire work?
He swung his arm hard, striking the boss directly with a flame sphere summoned by the Flame Emperor. The boss's HP dropped visibly.
Yet as HP decreased, the expected crimson damage effect instead transformed into a thick, pitch-black liquid.
Miyu avoided the direct hit, but still caught some of the liquid on her skin.
HP reduction...!
In this area where no HP recovery occurred, the attack proved a severe nuisance, steadily chipping away at Miyu’s health.
But fragile — Judgment Saint Sword!
Pain swung his blade. The boss raised his staff in defense, but the weapon was knocked aside. The blade sliced deep through the hollow chest, tearing from the sternum to the face.
As Pain lunged for a follow-up, black liquid oozed slowly from the coffin.
Damn it—Miyu!
One more strike!
Miyu struck the boss’s head with a fireball, forcing it to recoil. She and Pain stepped back together.
The skeletons below, struck continuously from behind by unbroken magic, could not divert their focus from the boss.
The black liquid oozing from the coffin spread across the ground around the boss and halted.
To advance closer required a price in damage.
The boss flung its staff upward. It vanished into the ceiling.
A black glow spread over the boss’s bony frame.
Half the skeletons lost strength and dissolved. In their place, black droplets began to fall from the ceiling.
The droplets were familiar. Each one struck with certainty, reducing HP.
"Everyone forward! Full assault!"
Pain charged again. The four behind advanced in sync, closing the distance to strike the boss.
Yet the power of all attacks diminished sharply the moment the black glow covering the boss’s body intensified.
“Crom… can you reach the boss’s side? Now, the boss has a strong buff— I’ll remove it.”
Before Markus’s right eye floated a white circle, as if he wore a monocle.
Thus, he was reading the boss’s data.
“Can the two of you manage?”
“I’ll use a defensive magic tome! It’ll be fine.”
Pushed by the certainty in his voice, Crom led Markus through the skeleton’s interior.
Despite taking damage, they reached Markus’s target position.
“Good… [Holy Chains]!”
Yellow magic circles appeared around the boss’s body in succession. From each, glowing white chains extended and tightened around the boss’s form.
The black glow enveloping the boss vanished. A bonus of three seconds of complete stillness followed.
Those three seconds pressed heavily upon Mii and Pain.
"Finish it!"
"Of course."
Mii’s fireball scorched the bones. The flame column burned the coffin to ash.
Pain’s sacred barrage struck the boss’s face, cleaving it in a single horizontal slash.
When the black droplets had reduced everyone’s HP to half or less, the Bone King sank back into sleep.