~BOOOOOOM!~
Adonis' first attack roared as he put all his power into his swing.
Layers of brightly bursting energy and golden light were sent flying towards the hide of the Boss Monster in a single rush of destruction.
However…
'N-nothing, huh?!' Adonis felt a bead of sweat fall down his face as he gulped.
Not only was the creature perfectly fine after tanking that attack, but it used its very long tail to whip through the area, speeding towards where Adonis stood.
'W-what?!'
Thanks to [Full Sense], Adonis was able to detect the tail swing in time, but he wasn't fast enough to completely evade it.
Sure, he dodged the tail itself, but there was no escaping the shockwaves that flowed with it.
"Guh!" The pressure alone was enough to send Adonis flying into the Boss Room itself, a desolate place filled only with glowing crystal-like energy sources.
'Damnit! I miscalculated!'
Adonis' thoughts began to race as he looked ahead, barely seeing the Monster as a result of his disoriented vision.
'I blinded it, yet it could sense my exact position.'
Was that a coincidence?
No… Adonis couldn't possibly assume that.
There was only one conclusion he could reach, and based on his experience, Adonis knew he was right on the mark with this.
'It has a Sensory Skill!'
If that was the case, then he had to hurry and warn the rest of his teammates.
They weren't as safe as they thought!
*******
"True Frosty Spikes!"
Alicia sent multiple spiky projectiles towards the Boss Monster, while also trying her best to slow it down by covering it with ice.
Unfortunately, the creature's body mass was too big for her to possibly cover. Also, its body's incredible density and vitality made all her efforts worthless.
Even the Ice Spikes easily bounced off its body as if it was nothing.
'I've been expending Mana at an astronomical rate and yet…!'
Not a single sign of damage seemed to be evident.
She looked as her Familiar, Snow, was busy fighting the Mobs, an order Alocia gave her despite the rabbit desperately wanting to stay by her side.
'Snow wants to protect me, but this is what is best for the formation.'
With the rabbit's speed, the rest of the Otherworlders could more quickly dispatch the Mobs and come over to assist them in facing the Boss.
That was what she thought, at the very least.
While Alicia was having these thoughts, she didn't notice the long neck of the Boss Monster turning towards her.
… Not until it was too late.
~VWUUSH!~
A smaller, more concentrated blast began to manifest in the Monster's mouth, and it set its blond eyes on the annoying woman on its flank.
~VWOOOM!~
The air trembled as the blast was launched, which was just when Alocia noticed it coming towards her.
Her body was too stiff to move, and her widened eyes took in the intense radiation that was charging towards her.
"Aliciaaaaa!!!" Billy's roaring voice echoed in her ears as she felt her body being pushed to the side.
Surprised, her sight caught Billy now taking her previous position.
'H-he… what is he doing…?!' Alicia thought to herself as she looked at Billy's determined gaze.
'N-no…!'
The light descended, practically swallowing him whole.
'Not this!'
And then, the resounding echo of destruction raged forth, sending shockwaves flying in multiple directions.
Everyone was blown away, and Alicia was no exception.
In the end, once the dust began to settle, she was still on the ground, weakly looking at the distance where Billy had stood.
She expected to see nothing standing there, but instead she found two people at the exact spot.
One was floating in the air, both hands raised, with smoke rushing all around him. The other was kneeling on the ground.
"C-Clark…?" Alicia's gaze of surprise greeted the floating boy who had left his own formation and successfully blocked the blast.
Everyone in the team already knew that one of the Privileges of his Class was the ability to withstand any single attack, no matter how powerful.
This Privilege only applied once a day, so it wasn't invincible. It also protected the user from one attack, so a second blow would be fatal.
Clark hadn't yet used this Privilege on the Raid thus far because everything was so easy—at least, until now.
If it hadn't been for that, Alicia already knew they would be toast.
~WHOOSH!~
Like a comet, a golden blast rushed from within the Boss Room, and Adonis charged towards the face of the Boss Monster with far more tenacity than normal.
~BOOOOM!~
Tremors filled the room as the impact of Adonis hitting the face of the Boss Monster spread all over the massive expanse.
This caused the thing to stumble, and with Belle's persistent Wind Attacks, the creature's imbalance took a very critical turn.
Alicia instantly realized it was her turn for action, so she froze the ground, forcing the Monster to collapse on the ground.
"Haaa… haaa…" As she heaved in near exhaustion, she turned her gaze to Billy and Clark.
They were already having a heated conversation, and Alicia could already tell what it was about.
'He nearly died… just to save me!'
*********
"Are you stupid?! Why would you throw your life away like that?"
Clark's face was flushed with annoyance as he glared at Billy.
Not only did he have to use his once-a-day Privilege to save Billy, but he also broke his own team formation in the process.
"Y-you didn't have to save me. I'm fine…"
"Fine my ass! If I didn't save you, you would have died, and that would have compromised the entire formation." Clark growled as he dragged the kneeling Billy by the collar.
"We need you to survive this, asshole. If you just throw your life away like that, it would reduce our chances of making it out of here alive."
As Clark said all this, he felt something shift in his heart, but he didn't know quite what it was.
When he saw Billy in danger, the first thing he thought of wasn't merely to prevent him from dying.
Rather, it was how his death would affect the whole team.
Once he recognized the overarching detriment, his body moved on its own, and he ended up saving Billy.
… Not like the boy seemed very thankful for it.
"Are you suicidal or what? If you pushed Alicia out of the way, you could have moved too!"
Clark knew this wasn't the place to say all of these things. He knew Billy had done a very righteous thing, by saving one of their own.
But… somehow he couldn't help but feel frustrated.
"Choosing to die, just like that, do you have any idea how selfish that is of you!"
That wasn't what being a Hero was about.
"I…"
"Do you even realize how your death would affect the person you saved? Think of the guilt and heavy burden she'll have to bear her whole life—that is, if we manage to escape this place!"
Once Billy heard this, he chuckled slightly and leaked out a small smile.
"No… I don't think she'll feel guilty at all." Billy cast his gaze on Clark, and his gaze was pretty much dull.
—As if he was a dead man standing.