Erika took a deep breath, preparing herself for the assault operation. The Windflora King towered over her petite body all the way across the field, numbing her muscles with tension.

I’m so dead...

She dashed into the danger zone. Her goal wasn’t to confront the monstrous flower. Instead, she ran along the lake and hoped to break through without battle.

The Windflora King wasn’t amused by the intruder. The flower took its aim and fired a tornado at Erika.

“W-WAAAH!!”

Erika was blasted high into the air. How could that possibly be the regular attack of a mob? It was a nuke! There was no way to defend against it! There was nowhere to hide!

“Waaa- blagh!”

Erika crashed into the lake. Her dipped body rapidly turned heavy. She could feel the water sticking to her skin, as if absorbed by a sponge. No matter how desperately she struggled to swim, there was no option but to drown.

【Congratulations! You died.】

With this, Erika confirmed that even the area by the lake was within the Windflora King’s sniping range. She couldn’t casually waltz through the area unscratched.

On her second try, Erika confronted the road boss head on. This earned her lots of praise from the battle manic.

“Ya can do it, Titan! Go go go!”

Easy for you to say...

Erika scanned the Windflora King for weak points. From what she learned about Windfloras, the stem was a vulnerable area. If she could chop the stem in half, then the giant enemy would fall.

Sadly, the Windflora King was a scaled up version of the regular Windflora in every sense. Its stem was as thick as a bamboo tree, not nearly as frail as the stem of a normal Windflora. There was little hope for the short and thin Silver Knife to deal substantial damage.

Erika took a deep breath and charged at the Windflora King.

“W-waaaaaaaa!”

She didn’t even reach the bamboo tree. A fierce hurricane swept her away like a rock.

“Gah!”

Erika was slammed into the ground and the Silver Knife flew out of her hand.

N-not good...!

She pushed her wrecked body to move. She had to reach the Silver Knife before dying, or else it might vanish for good.

“G-GAAAAH!”

She was shoved into the ground by another blast. Her frail arm was kicked away, never reaching her beloved Silver Knife.

【Congratulations! You died.】

When Erika respwaned, the Silver Knife dropped by her legs. She let out a deep sigh of relief and hanged the knife on her waist.

There was a section about this in GoVe’s in-game manual. As long as the item was within five meters of the owner, said item would spawn beside the owner upon death. Otherwise, the item would keep lying on the field for some time, free for anybody to grab. Eventually, it’d vanish.

I got off the hook this time, but it was a close call. If the knife flew any farther away, i’d be in a pinch.

Erika charged at the Windflora King again. This time, she didn’t draw the Silver Knife until she was within striking range.

The Windflora King was as alert as ever. It aimed its huge face at Erika and prepared to bombard.

“Jump, Titan!”

“E-eh!?”

Erika was too slow to process the sudden advice. Luckily, the Combat Aid already registered the jumping command that vaguely crossed her mind.

“W-whoa!”

Erika leapt forward. The bombarding missed its target, ravaging the area behind Erika.

“W-waaaaaah!”

The fierce explosion behind Erika pushed her into huge momentum. Her body was tossed forward and she rolled on the ground.

At least I’m alive, somehow.

She rose in a daze, shaken by the whole experience.

“Wake up, Titan! You should attack!”

“Eh...?”

Erika blinked while examining her position. The Windflora’s menacing figure hovered over her. She stood right in front of the tall stem, she could slice through it.

“Right...!”

She drew her knife and slashed the bamboo tree. Her slashes were savage and masterful thanks to the Combat Aid. Alas...

Curses! It hardly digs in!

Faint red marks appeared on the thick stem, but nothing else. No matter how much she hacked at the bamboo tree, she didn’t feel any progress.

Why you fail me so, Silver Knife!?

Erika gritted her teeth and continued to slash. Even though her attacks weren’t effective, she had no choice but to keep attacking; that’s all she had. Any RPG boss would eventually collapse after enough pokes. She relied on that thin thread of reasoning and desperately cut the enemy.

“Hey, Titan! Watch out for when that fucker attacks!”

“Oh, you're right- ack!”

Erika was careless. She was so invested in slashing the stem, that an important fact escaped her mind: her enemy could strike back at any moment. In fact, the Windflora already took its aim and planned to blast Erika from above.

I need to dodge...! Or, maybe I should block!? T-there’s no way I’d live after this nuke! But, there’s no time to dodge either!

Her mind was a jumble. The Combat Aid went back and forth between moving her legs toward escape and raising her arms for a block.

It was a dead end. She dodged the first attack with a lucky jump, but now she had no momentum. She couldn’t do anything against a nuclear bomb.

The Windflora King rustled and fired a hurricane toward the ground. There was nowhere to hide. There was no chance to block.

“Gah!”

Erika’s body was pushed aside by a gust of wind. It was a strong gust, but it was different from the Windflora’s devastating bombarding.

Eh...?

She had no idea what happened, but she managed to get some acceleration via this push. She exploited the opportunity and leapt in the direction of gust, letting the wind carry her.

“Guh.”

Her body slid across the grass, barely making it out of the bombarding zone. A huge tornado rammed the ground, but it only made Erika’s hair flutter.

When she glanced behind her, she spotted Vivi’s stretched palms. That invisible push was certainly Vivi’s work.

“Hmph. Just because you’re such a helpless loser, the generous Vivi decided to help you a little.”

Vivi crossed her arms and shifted her eyes. Erika smiled at the heartwarming event, but her peace was immediately interrupted.

“Hey, Titan! Get yo shit together! No daydreaming!”

“Oh, right.”

Erika shook her head and switched her attention back to the enemy. When she stood right beside the stem, the Windflora had no choice but to drop its atom bomb near its own stem. Apparently, the explosion from that attack managed hit the stem and stunned the Windflora King.

“Pwahaha! That dumbass! C’mon, get him, Titan!”

“On it!”

Erika jumped on her feet and dashed to the stem again. She brandished her trusty Silver Knife and thrust the blade into the thick bamboo tree. Slowly, but surely, her attacks stacked damage to the mighty boss.

Every now and then, Erika threw a glance toward the Windflora’s head. She had to be prepared for the next attack.

It’s amazing. I can even autopilot with the Combat Aid.

Her hand continued to swing the knife around, whereas her eyes followed the enemy’s movements. The Combat AId seamlessly repeated the same movements, without requiring Erika’s full attention.

The Windflora was dazed hard and couldn’t recollect itself for a while. Its head tilted back and forth on the flexible stem, without ever stopping to aim at Erika. In fact, flower’s head tilted so much that it literally started swinging around.

This put Erika at peace. She continued to casually slash the stem, delivering one cut after another. She was too slow to realize the truth...

“Bah! Titan! Dodge!”

“Eh?”

The Windflora’s head swung around... and rammed into Erika!

“AAAAAAAH!!”

Erika was kicked like a golf ball. She flew high into the air, then pummeled into the ground.

Curses, I forgot about that...

Normal Windfloras often resorted to smacking with their heads when things went south. Erika should have already learned that lesson. Yet, she brilliantly failed to predict the same pattern at this crucial moment. Sigh.

“Ugh... I can still- AGHHH!!”

She was flattened across the ground by a nuke. Her body jerked as she squeezed her final bits of strength, but...

【Congratulations! You died.】