Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 188

We entered the library again where Bandersnatch was waiting.

Though Bandersnatch wasn’t visible in the library, it would likely detect us entering from below where Oscar was and come up to attack soon.

Among us, only Ozwald could directly fight Bandersnatch.

Hilde could only provide support and Gerda was quite concerning.

I of course couldn’t fight at all.

But theoretically, we could fight Bandersnatch.

The basic strategy for hunting behemoths is to have high-ranked hunters fight directly while mid-ranked hunters provide support and lower-ranked hunters help indirectly.

Theoretically speaking, we could defeat Bandersnatch.

Though it’s disadvantageous that we only have Hilde and me as proper mid and lower-ranked hunters, they have their disadvantages too.

“Over there!”

As soon as we entered, I pointed to the ladder going down on the opposite side.

The first strategy was to get down first.

Since the library had multiple floors, there had to be ways to go up and down.

In the setting there was an elevator, but we didn’t have the luxury to leisurely ride such a thing in this situation.

We all ran toward the ladder.

In Blue Paper Moon, dense bookshelves blocked the path to the ladder, but now there were hardly any bookshelves.

Though I don’t know why, it’s favorable for us either way.

And soon we heard Bandersnatch coming up again after detecting our entry.

“Hup!”

Hilde took a stance with her axe blade pointing down while holding her breath and focusing her strength.

Then as soon as Bandersnatch poked its head out, she swung her axe like a golf club.

It wasn’t just a normal swing but a Bash infused with magical power.

Even in Blue Paper Moon, attacking Bandersnatch like this when it tried to prevent going down would make it fall back.

Though it wouldn’t budge at all on flat ground, it was possible when it was climbing up in an unstable posture.

And as the axe blade struck Bandersnatch’s head with a heavy impact, it fell back down again.

A small amount of blood appeared on Hilde’s axe.

But it was just a scratch at best.

Even the fall wouldn’t deal much damage.

Since it would grab onto the middle floors and climb back up.

Still, we could buy time.

“Keep running!”

During that brief moment, we circled around to the ladder on the opposite side.

First I, being the weakest, climbed down the ladder.

Of course, Bandersnatch wouldn’t stay still while we were using the ladder.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

But we had Great Mage Ozwald.

Ozwald aimed at Bandersnatch not with his original smooth staff but with the twisted wooden staff he used when swallowed by Thumbelina.

[Malkuth], one of Maia’s collections.

In Blue Paper Moon, it would undoubtedly be among the top picks if choosing the strongest magic staves.

With features specialized for spells dealing pure magical power attribute damage, the [Light’s Wrath] that Ozwald used when receiving Thumbelina’s magical power and curse support was truly catastrophic.

And the spell he used this time was [Barrier].

As the name suggests, it’s a simple spell that creates a wall with magic, but Ozwald’s true worth lies in such simplicity.

“Graaah?!”

[Barrier] not only blocked Bandersnatch trying to pounce on me but moved at an angle to make it fall down again.

No matter how powerful a Beast Bandersnatch might be, it can’t fly without wings.

Meanwhile we all climbed down the ladder and then, taking advantage of a perfect gap, skipped the ladder entirely and just jumped down to the lower floor.

Though in Blue Paper Moon it was impossible to carefully jump down floors like this and we had to use the ladder each time, there’s no need to do that in reality.

We descended floor by floor, steadily but swiftly.

Bandersnatch didn’t deviate much from its behavior shown at first.

It only ambushed while going up and down floors.

This is a fundamental weakness of behemoths artificially created by Vile.

Lack of experience and flexibility.

Though Bandersnatch’s body is undoubtedly behemoth-level, it was born recently and had its ego intentionally lowered for control.

If Vile was beside it giving direct orders like when Ozwald fought it, it would have displayed its abilities to the fullest, but now it’s foolishly adhering to its initial orders and tactics.

As a result, we all managed to reach the bottom with no variables other than Ozwald’s magical power being slightly depleted.

We ended up facing Bandersnatch on flat ground with Oscar sealed in the giant crystal in the center.

“Grrr…”

Bandersnatch slowly looked around at us as if licking us with its gaze.

The atmosphere was completely different from the simple-minded feeling it showed until now.

This is where the real fight with Bandersnatch begins.

“Don’t forget. That thing is fast and sharp. If you let your guard down, you could die in an instant. Especially be careful with distance.”

Ozwald said.

As shown at the entrance earlier, Bandersnatch can extend its arms like whips when attacking.

That power was enough to make even Hilde, who was prepared for it, drop her weapon and feel her arm go numb.

“…Graaaah!!”

Bandersnatch charged toward us.

It moved irregularly at a speed that even left afterimages, dizzying our eyes.

A speed I could never possibly react to.

Even Hilde couldn’t respond perfectly.

Only Ozwald could do it.

“Hmm!”

As Ozwald lightly tapped his staff on the ground while watching it approach, Bandersnatch suddenly flew sideways as if thrown.

A technique that breaks balance by casting [Slow] magic on just one front leg and makes it fall to its own speed and power.

Creating powerful effects with minimal magical power and spells is Ozwald’s specialty.

“Haah!”

Hilde launched [Crescent] at Bandersnatch as it was thrown flying through the air.

Even Bandersnatch had no way to dodge in mid-air and the attack struck precisely at its waist.

A small trickle of blood.

“As expected, this much won’t do it.”

Even a perfect attack exploiting an opening only made a scratch-level wound.

Then we have no choice but to rely on Ozwald for attacks too.

What Gerda and I need to do is simple.

Leave attack and defense to Ozwald and Hilde while helping with aspects they can’t focus on.

“Let’s see…!”

Gerda and I simultaneously drew our guns and shot at the crystal containing Oscar.

“…!?”

Bandersnatch, which was about to charge again, urgently changed direction and blocked the crystal sealing Oscar with its body.

“Hmm…”

Though Ozwald let out a reluctant groan when we shot toward Oscar, he also knows this is our best option right now.

There’s no way the crystal sealing Oscar would break or come undone easily.

Being the product of that Vile’s perverted obsession, he must have put an extremely difficult seal that only he could undo.

These mere silver bullets wouldn’t even scratch it.

But Bandersnatch can’t make such calculations.

It only follows the highest priority order to protect Oscar.

An ironic situation where we attack Oscar and Bandersnatch protects him.

However, this is the closest path to victory.

“I’ll leave Oscar’s side to you, Eugene…!”

Ozwald said firmly as if steeling his resolve again.

“Yes!”

I just need to live up to Ozwald’s trust in me.

“Gerda. Shoot together when I shoot. Understand?”

“Yes!”

“Graaaah!!!”

This time Bandersnatch charged precisely toward me and Gerda.

Ozwald, who had anticipated it would target us, pulled out a whip made of magical power blades from his staff and swung it.

Though Bandersnatch also intercepted Ozwald’s attack that exploited a small weakness by swinging its front leg, unlike with Hilde, it left a definite wound on its hand.

When Bandersnatch briefly retreated, Gerda and I aimed at Oscar again.

Seeing our gunfire, Bandersnatch threw itself at Oscar again but Ozwald seized the big opening and unleashed [Magical Power Blade] like a machine gun.

“Gyaah…!”

[Magical Power Blade] stabbed into its neck, stomach, and leg while the rest also dealt large wounds making it bleed.

Though Bandersnatch released curse energy from its body to shake off Ozwald’s magic that had pierced it, the tide of battle had clearly turned in our favor.

Even a behemoth can be defeated if it has low intelligence and clear weaknesses.

After continued one-sided attacks and outmaneuvering, Bandersnatch started to stagger.

“We’re almost there…!”

Hilde said.

Bandersnatch looked like it had run out of energy.

But phase 2 still remained.

Unlike Vile’s other behemoths which were divided into gimmick battles and direct battles, Bandersnatch was the only one with just a single direct battle but also the only boss that transformed.

“Giiiii…”

Bandersnatch’s head split open like flower petals revealing what was inside.

A bright red, grotesque and disgusting flower.

Tentacles inside stretched out and wrapped around its entire body like an insect’s cocoon.

The opponent showed a huge opening while transforming.

Normally this would be the time to concentrate all firepower, but it’s a trap.

Soon after, the cocoon wrapping Bandersnatch gradually grew larger, instantly swelling to become bigger than a house.

A hill made of flesh.

And tentacles stretched out all over with one large eyeball revealed at the top.

Though it was an unbearably disgusting appearance, only after carefully observing did I feel relieved inside.

Thanks to convincing the party to carefully watch if Bandersnatch showed any strange movements beforehand.

“…Strange.”

Ozwald said.

“I thought it was revealing hidden power, but somehow it seems weaker.”

“It seems… that way. Probably.”

Hilde agreed too.

Though its appearance became more hideous, as they said, it had actually gotten weaker.

Bandersnatch deliberately shows a big opening during transformation, and the more damage it takes then, the stronger it becomes when transformation ends.

Even in Blue Paper Moon, attacking it during transformation with max level characters would never kill it and only make it insanely strong later.

“It seems we did well following what Eugene said.”

“As expected of Senior!”

“Brother is amazing!”

“It just happened to work out. And nothing’s certain yet so let’s stay careful.”

It’s just embarrassing to be praised for something I did while already knowing the answer sheet.

We carefully attacked post-transformation Bandersnatch.

When I shot silver bullets it countered by extending tentacles, but Hilde could deflect them without much trouble.

After accumulating a certain amount of damage, threatening patterns like shooting masses of beams in all directions or spraying poison gas over a wide area would increase, but now it only showed half-hearted tentacle attacks no matter how much we attacked.

After that, we cut off Bandersnatch’s lifeline almost disappointingly easily.

“Hmm… now this is the problem…”

After completely burning Bandersnatch’s corpse, we surrounded the crystal sealing Oscar.

As expected, though it was exposed to our attacks several times, not even a small scratch appeared.

It remained transparent enough to clearly see Oscar inside.

“Hmm… I don’t know. I can’t even get a sense of how to unseal it.”

Ozwald placed his hand on the crystal with a troubled expression.

“As expected, we’ll need Ms. Maia’s help.”