Face to face with the boss of this dungeon, Gaius, he took up his blade and charged at Bane and I without a single thought.

"Thorn Bind!"

The foe was fast. But I caught him with my skill and followed it up with the next.

"Hex! Now go, Bane!"

"Skreee!"

With Hex applied onto Gaius, Bane went straight and tackled the knight with all of its might. But despite having its damage resistance decreased, Gaius merely took a bit of damage, losing only a small chunk of its HP.

Darn. This guy is tanky.

"GRRRAAAAAWWWWRRRR!"

Gaius then roared with malice and sliced at Bane with its sword. Its movements were so fast that I got scared for Bane for a second. Fortunately, my centipede friend was fine due to its hard carapace taking the blade without issues. However, that one swing of Gaius did knock Bane back to my side, as Gaius himself started charging towards me with great speed.

"Magic Shield! Thorn Bind! And then, Multi-Firebomb!"

I quickly reacted to his speed, placing a small Magic Shield right at his feet for him to trip over. And with that speed, it would be hard to avoid it if you couldn't see it coming.

Once Gaius tripped and fell onto the ground, I then quickly bound him to the ground with Thorn Bind. Immobilising the mad knight for a few seconds; enough time for me to use my recently acquired attack skill, Firebomb, at him. Sending a barrage of it towards the boss which sets off a chain of explosions for a few seconds.

As a result of my quick thinking, Gaius's HP decreased by a significant amount. More so than what Bane could do to him.

Well, it's no wonder. As I have these two skills, Lone Wolf and Underdog. Acquired from when I defeated The Jackson this afternoon.

Kind of crazy, if you think about it.

Lone Wolf allows me to deal 30% more damage to Bosses when I'm playing solo. Although I do have Bane by my side, the game does not count monsters as party members, it would seem. Thus, the skill was working.

Underdog too increases the damage I deal to enemies by 20%, but only when my enemies are of a higher level than I am. And because Gaius is higher level than me in that regard, the skill was also working.

I was not sure if the effects stack. But if it does, that would mean I can deal a total of 50% more damage to Gaius right now from those two skills. And if I combine that with Hex, my staff's effect and my Ring of Magic Attack's effect, even more damage can be dealt to the fallen knight.

In other words, change of plans.

While Gaius was getting up, I directed Bane with an instruction.

"Bane, be my shield. I'll do the damage. You just focus on taking hits for me. Got it?

"Skreee!"

As if it understood my plan, Bane circled around me, acting like a fortress with its own body as a wall, while also giving me some open window for me to shoot my attacks from.

Huh. This is neat. To think I would be facing a Boss monster in this manner.

But the question is: How well will this Fortress of Bane work against the Fallen Knight, Gaius?

The answer will soon be revealed as Gaius charged straight at us with its incredible speed again.

"Magic Shield!"

I tried doing the same tactic as before. However, the boss seemed to have adapted to it after experiencing it once and leaped over the Magic Shield protruding out of the ground.

So even after losing his mind and humanity, he still possesses the skills of an experienced fighter. What a pain in the neck, this boss is...

"Thorn Bind! Thorn Bind! Multi-Fireball!"

I tried binding him after that. However, he was simply too fast and evaded each Thorn Bind that had attempted to capture him.

Seeing as how that would not work, I quickly changed up and multi-casted Fireballs at him. But with each swing of his sword, Gaius was able to deflect the attack away from him as he kept charging forward.

Ok. What the hell? You can deflect magic!? Hax! I call hax!

"Crap!"

Gaius had closed the distance between us and kicked the ground, lunging forward with his sword pointing straight at me with the intent to kill as it slipped through the gap in Bane's defenses. Fortunately, it did not reach me as Bane stopped the sword by closing the gap. Catching it with its body while I took a step back, seeing as how the tip of the blade was right in my face.

That was close! But now, Gaius is trapped as he struggles to pull his sword out of Bane's grasp.

"GRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!"

"Hold him there, Bane. Magic Shield!"

I conjured a Magic Shield under my feet. Boosting myself up to look down at Gaius on the other side.

Then, I multi-casted my skills.

"Multi-Fireball!"

More damage was done to the knight. But unfortunately, that only lasted a few seconds as Gaius twisted his sword and pulled his sword out of Bane in a single instance. Hurting Bane in the process.

"Bane, are you alr— Oh ****."

Before I could even worry about Bane, Gaius jumped to reach me and horizontally swung his sword at me.

I blindly ducked down on instinct and luckily evaded the attack, as I could hear the wall behind me getting sliced from the mere swing of the sword instead.

That would've probably killed me in one shot, wouldn't it?

While I was thinking that, Gaius, who was still in the air, followed up with a vertical downwards slash at me.

But instead of dodging, I charged at him instead and swung at him with my staff.

"Power Blow!"

The boss was knocked back before his attack connected, being sent to the end of the room. I then dropped back down to ground level as Bane opened a gap for me to fire a barrage of Firebombs at him

Gaius stood his ground and deflected some of the Firebombs. However, with the sheer amount he was up against, my attacks eventually overwhelmed the knight as his HP then dropped further.

Why did he take the hits though...? I wondered about that while observing the situation from my safe spot.

What I have known so far is that Gaius is fast and has great reflexes. He can adapt to his opponent's tactics quickly and each swing of his sword is equally dangerous as well. If it were not for Bane, I would probably be dead by now.

But even with Bane, there's still a good chance that I might lose if I don't think of another tactic soon.

Which brings me back to my question of why he bothered with deflecting the Firebombs instead of simply dodging. With the speed that easily surpasses The Jackson's, evading would definitely be easier for him to achieve.

Was it just something its AI was taught to do? Or was it something else that I'm not getting yet?

Either way, I had no time to think about that as Gaius came charging at me again with a raging roar in his voice.

"GRRRRAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Oh, shut up already! I demand that you speak normally, you lunatic! Hex! Multi-Magic Shield!"

I reapplied the Hex status on him and conjured multiple Magic Shields to pop out at specific locations near him. Hindering his charge as he had to change his sprinting path several times whenever a wall of the barrier suddenly spawned in his face.

Sometimes he would destroy them, and sometimes he would do what I had just mentioned. Most cases, it was the latter, which was good as I steadily manipulated his path into another trap.

"And there! Magic Shield!"

I directed Gaius into a corner without his knowledge and quickly held him there with my Magic Shields. Doing a similar thing as what I did to The Jackson.

But unlike The Jackson, Gaius broke the barriers binding him with much ease with a swing of his sword. However, that brief moment of when he was bound was enough for me.

"Thorn Bind!"

And once again, I got him ensnared.

This time, I'll make sure that your HP reaches the halfway point.

I chugged several MP potions and aimed my staff at the foe.

"Multi-Firebomb!"

I once again casted my current strongest skill in my arsenal.

"GGGGGGRRRRRRRAAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRR!"

Gaius screamed. Was it from pain, or from rage? But in any case, I chucked as many Firebombs at him as I could. Dropping his HP as much as I possibly can, before he got out of the Thorn Bind.

And then, he burst out of his bindings. Glaring at me with animosity after that and roared at the top of his lungs, forcing me to cover my ears and Bane to cringe uncomfortably.

What the hell is going on now!?

While I was wondering about that, I quickly took notice of the changes that Gaius is undergoing.

The dark aura that shrouded around him started engulfing his entire body. As a result, the crimson armour he was wearing began turning black. The red glint in his eyes has also turned into an ominous blue.

It was a simple colour change. And yet, I could feel the tension rising in the room as Gaius roared once more after completing his transformation.

"Jesus Christ..."

You're strong enough already. Why do you have a Phase 2, man?

What's more, Gaius's HP went back to full after the transformation.

"Bane, prepare yourself."

"Skreee!"

The real battle is about to begin.