A furious roar greeted us the moment we crossed over into the Six-tailed Red Fox’s territory. The world trembled and trees crashed to the ground as the boss crashed through the forest.

[Instinct] screamed in warning. Cheddar and her pack jumped into the shadows while Boss Bro and his buddies climbed up the trees around us. I stood my ground and waited. A giant, fiery blur reached me in an instant.

[Instinct IV], [Ki IV]. [Fox Fire IV], [Agility III], and [Strength II] flared to life. Blue flames met blue flames as my flame coated claws clashed with the Six-tailed Red Fox’s fiery claws. An explosive wind shook the forest from the impact of our collision.

It was like a mountain collided with my hand. The force of the blow pushed me back, causing my feet to leave tracks as I slid backwards. Despite the boss’ greater size and strength, its claws could not penetrate the flames coating my claws.

“Nice to see you again, my fated enemy.”

I growled at my enemy. Ice cold words spilled from my mouth. [Taming] helped me convey my intention to the Six-tailed Red Fox. At the same time, my [Fox Fire] snaked across our clashing claws and raced across my fated enemy’s body. As I thought, my [Ki IV] was much stronger than my fated enemies' ki.

The final boss of the dungeon roared in response and leapt backwards. A quick brush from its tails quickly put out the flames on its body. Wicked, balls of blue flames danced at the tips of its six tails.

“Too bad! You aren’t the only one that can play with fire!”

My own fire orbs appeared behind my 9 tails and two appeared above both of my hands. We launched our own all out attacks at the same time. Beautiful blue flames raced through the air, setting the world on fire.

My claws easily tore the approaching flame orbs in two. I dropped to all fours and let my nine tails launch barrage after barrage of [Fox Fire] with wild abandon. Thanks to [Ki IV] strengthening my mind, I could race through the battlefield without having to stop my steady stream of attacks. The same could not be said for my fated enemy.

“Arooo!”

Cheddar saw an opening and leapt to the Six-tailed Red Fox’s shadow. Cheddar’s claws left a nasty gash on one of the boss’ tails, causing it to droop powerlessly against the ground. My fated enemy tried to crush Cheddar with its other tails, but a tree fell from the sky on top of the boss’ tails. That gave Cheddar enough time to dart back into the shadows to safety.

“Nice assist, Boss Bro!”

I shouted to the Diamondback Gorilla as I darted through the field of flames towards the Six-tailed Red Fox’s wounded tail. My claws flashed and with the help of my [Fox Fire IV], I cut straight through the wounded tail, severing it near the base.

A furious roar of pain shook the forest. Flames danced around the boss of the dungeon and its fur stood on end. It was furious like never before, but I wasn’t intimidated. I roared back at it.

“That is one.”

There were three more to go. I needed to cut off three more tails to make up for the four scars it left on my body.

No.

Four tails wasn’t enough. I wouldn’t be satisfied until I cut off all of its precious tails. Only then would it know what it felt like for me to see my severed body burn up in front of me.

The Six-tailed Red Fox’s power noticeably dropped the moment it lost a tail, but it made up for the drop of power by wildly making use of its own flames. A vortex of flames surrounded its body. It was impossible to get close. Luckily, I wasn’t alone.

Trees rained from the sky as Boss Bro and his drinking buddies hurled everything they could get their hands on at my fated enemy. The impromptu projectiles didn’t manage to do any damage, but it did weaken the flames surrounding the Six-tailed Red Fox.

I coated my body in [Fox Fire] and leapt into the center of the vortex. My claws flashed and a second tail was severed.

“Two.”

My moment of victory was short-lived. My fated enemy had sacrificed a tail to leave me open and defenseless. The four remaining tails shot at me and swatted me like a fly. My world erupted in pain. I crashed through tree after tree in the forest.

Thankfully, the [Fox Fire] coating my body protected me from the worst of the damage. I quickly regained my senses. It was not a moment too soon. My fated enemy was on top of me with claws ready to end my life.

A falling tree shifted the blow at the last second, allowing me to leap to the side and avoid it. At the same time, Cheddar and Olive jumped out of the shadows of the nearby tree and struck at my fated enemy’s vulnerable tails.

[Taming] helped me interpret the boss of the dungeon’s angry roar. It was upset at these nats flying around it. It was unfortunate for the boss. It was alone by choice. If it had any other monsters to support it, then this would be a very different battle.

My fated enemy outnumbered and alone. [Health] mended the worst of my injuries as I fought on. The two tails wounded by Cheddar and Olive easily fell victim to my claws.

“Three. Four.”

The cold fury in my heart burned brighter than ever. Only two more to go. The Six-tailed Red Fox’s power had dropped even further. It couldn’t maintain the aura of flames surrounding its body.

Cheddar and his pack freely darted in and out of the shadows, racking up cut after cut on the boss of the dungeon’s body. Boss Bro and his drinking buddies steady stream of trees interrupted every counterattack my fated enemy tried.

“Five. Six.”

Within a few minutes, the Six-tailed Red Fox in front of me had lost all of its tails. Our positions had been swapped from the very first day I entered this dungeon.

“How does it feel to be nothing more than a tailless beast now?”

My fated enemy had no tails. Meanwhile, I now had 9 tails. It could only look at me in envy as I had gained more tails that it ever had in its lifetime.

“Times have changed. Now, I am the predator and you are the prey.”

My fated enemy… no, my prey growled weakly in protest. I coated my body in [Fox Fire] and slowly approached it. My prey took in the sight of my approaching form and…

…turned tail and ran.

“Oh no you don’t!”

I chased after it. Its body was much weaker without any of its tails and it was steadily losing blood from all of its cuts. Cheddar, Olive, and the rest of the Shadow Wolf pack ran with me as we hunted down our fleeing prey.

“Arooo!”

Howls filled the forest as we coordinated our efforts. Our prey was a cunning one, but it couldn’t match the overwhelming communication of our pack. The forest shook from our chase. Our prey’s mad flight left destruction in its wake.

I listened to the howls of my pack and flanked our fleeing prey. Each subsequent howl allowed me adjust my position. With the help of my comrades, our prey was led straight to my waiting fangs.

A giant blur reached me in an instant, but I was ready. Its claws flashed at me in desperation. I easily avoided them and leapt at my prey. My fangs sunk into its flesh. [Fox Fire] raced down my fangs into its body, ravaging its insides.

My prey managed to take a few more steps with me clinging to it before it succumbed to its wounds and fell. The rest of my pack surrounded the fallen prey and howled in victory. We watched together as the light faded from our prey’s eyes.

The boss of this dungeon, the Six-tailed Red Fox, was dead.

An intense wave of heat filled my body from its death. I was so excited that I let out a roar of my own. We had done it. We had defeated the boss of this dungeon. There was nothing more stopping me from returning to my loved ones.

Cheddar and Olive nuzzled my side. I looked at them with a faint smile on my face.

“What is it?”

They pointed at the corpse of the Six-tailed Red Fox with their snouts and looked at me with pleading eyes. The rest of my pack joined them. Laughter welled up from the bottom of my heart.

“How could I forget? Don’t worry, we are going to have the party of a lifetime to celebrate our victory!”

I quickly set about my designated duty as the cook of the pack and began to roast the Six-tailed Red Fox’s body. Boss Bro and his buddies brought the drinks and we had the greatest party ever. It was a party I would never forget.