With both eyes crushed, the Great Turtle had entered its Second Form, its body turning pitch black while its shell stained a deep, bloody crimson.
I wondered if the way its eyes had turned red earlier wasn't actually due to congestion, but a brief teaser for this Second Form. Regardless, the shell's sudden color change was the real surprise. Under normal biological circumstances, something like that should have been impossible.
"O-o-o! Its face is black and its shell is bright red!" Alto shouted.
『It really does feel like a game now! I wonder if its eyes would have stayed red if they were still there.』
Usually, a face turns red because blood flow increases under soft skin, causing vessels to expand. Even if we assumed the black body was a form of camouflage—like an octopus changing its pigment—a turtle’s hard shell was its armor. It shouldn't have been capable of such unnecessary visual flair.
It wasn't that the rain was clinging to it or that the shell had been smeared with blood. The crimson hue was merely a visual effect. To make matters worse, the grooves across the shell began to pulse with a fluorescent light.
"Gubumooooooooooooo!!!!!!"
『Well, look at you, buddy! You look cool as hell! You’re just as raring to go as we are!』
"It's coming!" Alto warned.
The turtle let out a deafening roar. Alto fired her weapon while covering her ears, but the Damage Display only showed 0s and 1s.
The fact that she could land hits at all in this torrential downpour was a testament to her skill.
"Gah, its defense went up way too much! If I can’t pierce it with this, I’m practically useless!"
『No, wait! It’s the rain—we’ve got a debuff! Roll!』
"On it!"
We threw ourselves onto the ground, which had already begun to churn into a muddy mess. A split second later, a laser—not a breath attack—pierced the spot where we had been standing. A moment after that, a series of thunderous explosions rocked the area. The shockwave was powerful enough to lift Tria’s body slightly off the ground.
"O-o-o! It’s one of those delayed-explosion types! How does that even work!?"
『The initial laser probably embeds some kind of explosive charge.』
"I want to try and replicate that in the real world!"
I quickly splashed Tria with a Status Ailment Recovery Potion, one of Penpen’s specialty brews. The Status Decrease in her Parameters vanished instantly, though in this rain, it was only a matter of time before the debuff took hold again. I made sure to douse Alto with a potion as well.
『We need to finish this fast. We only have so many potions left.』
"O-o-o! I’m back to normal, but I'm only doing half the damage I was before! Be careful in close quarters! One hit could be the end!"
『Wait, there are Young Turtles coming in! Watch yourselves!』
"Actually, Lord Spirit, this is perfect!" Tria replied.
In one fluid motion, Tria struck down a Young Turtle. Then, she hoisted the corpse—which was the size of a small car—and threw it. She had grown incredibly strong by Level 30. The carcass slammed into the boss with a dull thud, dealing 120 damage.
"O-o-o! I see! It’s pinball!"
Alto followed suit, shooting the corpse to keep it moving. It bounced with a heavy thud and slammed back into the Great Turtle, dealing 83 damage.
"Gubuaaaaaaaa!!!!"
The Great Turtle retracted its neck and began to spin.
"Again!? It’s a one-trick pony... wait, watch the lasers!! Use the Young Turtles as shields!"
『Oh, crap! Lasers while spinning? You’ve got to be kidding me! Tria!』
"Yes!"
We ducked behind the remains of a Young Turtle to wait out the barrage. A rhythmic series of explosions erupted all around us. The force was terrifying; without the cover of the smaller turtles, we would have been obliterated instantly. In fact, the Young Turtle we were using as cover was eventually blown apart. In this state, the boss clearly didn't care about its own offspring.
Tossed about by the aftershocks, we scrambled to find cover behind another intact corpse.
"Guboh! That blast grazed me... Hey, the debuff is already back! Medicine! I need medicine!"
『Same here. For a turtle, this guy is awfully impatient...』
"Ugh... thank you, Lord Spirit."
I cast Light Heal while emptying another potion. In hindsight, I should have asked Penpen to focus more on status recovery than HP.
Communicating would have been impossible through the thunderous explosions and the roar of the rain if it weren't for Friend Chat. The boss had enough destructive power to wipe out an entire army of NPCs.
『I don't know how long these 'walls' will hold. Should we fall back?』
"No, wait. I think we’re close to winning."
Alto fired at a rock sitting on the back of a Young Turtle, ricocheting it into another corpse to slam it into the boss. It struck the spinning Great Turtle with a harsh grinding sound, dealing 30 damage. The corpse was sent flying by the impact.
"Tch. It’s too tough while it’s spinning."
『What makes you think we’re almost there?』
"Its movements are getting sluggish. I think it’s running out of energy."
Now that she mentioned it, the explosions were becoming intermittent, and the rain seemed to be letting up. We couldn't survive a war of attrition under these conditions, though. I really should have bought an umbrella.
"It stopped! Now's our chance! Let's end this in one turn!"
『Go, Tria!』
"Understood!"
Tria dashed forward, closing the distance instantly. She dropped one of Penpen’s bombs directly into the hole where the Great Turtle's head had retracted. Boom! 70 damage.
The head shot back out in response. Tria met it with a kick. Combined with Enchant Thunder, the strike dealt 124 damage.
『Haha! This Damage Display is great. I can tell immediately what’s working!』
"Watch out for the bite!"
『If it wants to bite something, let’s give it this! Here, more bombs! Throw them with everything you’ve got!』
"Yes!! Hiyah!"
I conjured a bomb in Tria’s hand and she hurled it into the beast's open maw. At this range, she couldn't miss. The bomb detonated deep in its throat with a heavy thud. 100 damage. I fed her more in quick succession. 102, 110, 105!
"Guru-guru, guru-guru...!!!"
The turtle began to sway in a circular motion. It was a charging animation!
"Covering fire!"
Alto fired off shots that struck like pale blue flames, suppressing the Great Turtle’s limbs. Each hit dealt 40 damage. In that brief window, Tria's charge reached its peak. Her target: the knife still embedded in the socket where the left eye had once been.
『Do it, Tria!!』
"Yes—Kick!!!"
"Gyuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
She used a kick? I didn't know the charge worked for that too! And it dealt 3000 damage!? She had driven the knife already lodged in its eye even deeper into its skull. That had to be a fatal blow.
"We won," Alto said.
『Hey! Don't go throwing out flags like that!』
"I only said it because it stopped moving..."
"Hm?"
The light on the Great Turtle's shell slowly faded. The rain ceased, and the sun began to peek through the clouds. Tria gave it an extra kick, but no damage display appeared. We had actually won. Suddenly, my level jumped all the way to 36.
"Haa... aah..."
"Woo-hoo! We did it! Boss subjugation complete!"
『Good work, Tria. Light Heal.』
"Phew... thank you very much..."
Tria collapsed onto the muddy ground with a splash.
I considered starting the material collection, but decided we deserved a rest first. As I watched, a shimmering white light began to rise from the Great Turtle's body, and then it simply vanished.
"L-Lord Spirit!! The turtle is...!?"
『Ah, I see. It’s the kind of boss that despawns once it’s defeated.』
"Is there any loot? Oh, there it is."
"You're so composed, Lord Spirit... Tria was very startled."
In the space where the Great Turtle had been, a large, dark blue crystal remained. Despite how red the boss had become at the end, the drop was blue.
Was this the reward? It certainly looked like a key item. I might have preferred raw materials, but if it was a progression item, there wasn't much I could do. I’d just have to be satisfied with what we could scavenge from the Young Turtles.
I picked up the crystal, cradling it in my arms.
Suddenly, a voice echoed from above—or perhaps from the heavens themselves.
[Congratulations on the Boss Subjugation. The Second Character has been unlocked. You may select an additional character from the System Menu.]
It seemed a new system had finally been made available.