Looking at his sister, who stared at the door in surprise as if it were the first time she'd seen one, Ellis was certain. This was also her first boss battle. After a moment of thought, especially after noticing the foreign language, he said.
"Sister, before we go in, can you try to remember everything written on the door? It might come in help later in other dungeons."
"Yes."
Although it took longer than he expected, especially considering her innate talent, his sister finally told him she was done.
So seeing that they were ready now, he gave her some instructions first.
"sister, try to keep a safe distance always from the boss, and if there were a horde of hobgoblins like the big rooms, just take care of the ranged hobgoblin with your safety as the priority at first. You can try assisting me later."
"Sister, always keep a safe distance from the boss. And if there's a horde of hobgoblins like in the big rooms previously, focus on taking out the ranged ones, but prioritize your safety first. You can assist me afterward."
"..Okay."
While his sister seemed unsatisfied with this plan, she still didn't say anything else. So finally, Ellis pushed the door open, revealing what was inside: nearly a hundred hobgoblins, a shabby but still a throne, and the final boss sitting upon it. Flanking the boss were two larger hobgoblins, seemingly personal guards.
With cold sweat running down his back, Ellis pressed forward, but this time he didn't take many steps. Instead, he waited for them to come to him. This battle would likely be a bit dangerous, even for him, so he was extra cautious.
Seeing droves of hobgoblins rushing toward him, Ellis waited a bit longer until they were close. Then he quickly killed a few and retreated, circling around them.
Killing a few hobgoblins while avoiding getting too entangled with them, Ellis kept his focus on the boss. The boss was smaller than a typical hobgoblin, holding a staff in his hand and exuding a fierce aura—likely a mage. Ellis was waiting to see when the boss would join the battle.
But suddenly, the two guards started moving: one headed toward him, while the other drew a bow and aimed in another direction. Ellis quickly glanced in that direction and confirmed it was his sister. Without hesitation, he changed course and rushed toward her, shouting as he went.
"Clara, watch out! One of the archer guards is aiming at you. Come to my side quickly!"
He knew she was best with agility and dodging, and it was unlikely she would get seriously injured, but there was no need to take any risks. Besides, he still had two healing opportunities available.
With simple punches and kicks, Ellis killed the hobgoblins in his path as he moved toward the archer, positioning himself between his sister and the archer guard. Despite the other one closing in on him, he decided to go all out and face them head-on.
Interrupting the arrow headed for his sister with his hand and stabbing the other hobgoblin with it, Ellis was forced to dodge a blow from the remaining guard. Realizing the situation was becoming increasingly difficult, he decided to focus on finishing off the guard in close combat first, ignoring the other hobgoblins.
Landing a blow to the torso of the guard while sustaining some minor injuries from the regular hobgoblins, Ellis shrugged off the pain and continued his assault on the hobgoblin guard.
Surrounded on all sides, Ellis's punches, which would normally have sent the guard flying, were disrupted by the regular hobgoblins behind him. Their presence prevented the guard from being knocked too far away from the impact. So after a few more punches, the guard was finally finished.
[You have obtained 2.4 blank points.]
Not bothering to look at the fallen guard, Ellis turned his attention to the moving archer guard while continuing to attack some regular hobgoblins. It seemed the archer realized it wouldn't be able to shoot effectively with so many hobgoblins around. His sister mostly stayed in line with him at the center, not moving much. She was sending ranged air punches, finishing off some archers, and then quickly returning to her position.
Assessing the battle situation and glancing at the mage boss, Ellis contemplated for a moment before deciding to focus on the archer first while he still had the chance. He hoped to finish the archer off before the boss joined the fight. And although he would have liked to ask his sister for help in interrupting the archer, her range was still shorter than that of an archer specialized in long-range battles.
"Clara, I will try and see if I can kill the archer guard. Try to focus your attacks on the hobgoblins acting as an obstruction."
After shouting and seeing her give him the okay sign, Ellis began to retreat, avoiding the battle as much as possible and only killing a few hobgoblins. Getting out of their entanglement, he just had some space, when he saw an arrow coming toward him, barely dodging it. And killing the hobgoblin who took the chance to come close to him, Ellis was gonna continue his charge, but he suddenly spotted another arrow coming toward him, and it was moving a lot faster than the first.
Not being able to dodge the arrow completely, Ellis was scratched on his cheek, and felt the stronger effects of the poison immediately. Turning his head toward the place the arrow landed, he noticed a small puddle of purple liquid. Looking at direction the arrow came from, he saw the hobgoblin boss standing and pointing his staff at him, more of purple arrows materializing above him. And Ellis realized instantly that he had lost his chance to take out the archer guard easily now.
Glancing at the regular hobgoblins still around, Ellis was sure that more than half had died. Despite this, their gathering was still visually impacting.
"Sister, prioritize your stamina. The battle could drag on now."