"As expected, it is not dealing much damage after all."
Will's muttered voice echoed in my mind as he watched the white snake, which did not appear to be taking any damage even after being hit by the rain of attack magic from Rain-san and Lucre.
"No, damage is definitely accumulating little by little even if it is slow. It is frustrating, but we have no choice but to keep chipping away at it gradually with magic. Selma-san, since the attack with the magic sword was not very effective either, I will join Will in supporting the rear guard."
Physical attacks are not very effective against the white snake due to its constitution.
I had thought a magic sword might work, but the previous strike proved that even a magic sword was not particularly effective.
We therefore decided to switch fully to a magic-focused battle.
"Understood. Everyone heard Orn's voice, right? From here on, this is a battle of endurance. Do not let your concentration waver!"
"""Understood!!!"""
The battle plan for this fight had now solidified to some extent.
I touched the ground with my left hand, constructed the formula, and channeled magic into the ground.
Then I canceled [Seal Release Calumination] and switched to [Seal Relaxation: Fifth Layer Restoration Quintuple].
As Selma-san said, this would become a battle of endurance from now on.
I still had work to do, so I could not tire out early.
Because we decided to refrain from close combat against the white snake, Rain-san and Lucre increased the density of their attacks even further.
I set up [Amplification Chain Raise Repeat] along their lines of fire.
At the same time, Will and I equipped several accessories embedded with magic stones and began cutting down the underbrush.
The white snake's magic allows it to interfere with plants and control them freely.
It sometimes creates new plants instantly, as it did with the giant tree earlier, but it can also cause the underbrush in the boss area to move autonomously like living creatures with wills.
To prevent that, we cleared away the obstructive trees while we still had the leeway to do so.
The white snake we fought in the battle against "Golden Dawn" had crawled freely across the ground in all directions.
Its massive body alone was threatening just by moving around, but the current white snake remained almost completely still in the center of the boss area, like a snake that stops activity in winter.
Perhaps because of the cold environment, it was not launching much magical counterattacks either.
Even though it was taking some damage from our magic, the fact that it showed no movement meant our strategy of lowering the temperature in the boss area was a great success.
I cannot thank the magic development department of "Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky" enough for creating this magical tool.
However, I did not think the opponent would let us end this so easily.
For a while, the battle remained one-sided, but suddenly the white snake let out a "shaa" sound like a threat, and its scales began to take on a bluish tint.
We had considered this as one possibility, and it seemed the snake had adapted to this cold environment.
The white snake's scales turned a dark blue color, and it charged toward Rain-san at a speed unbelievable for its massive body, as if the stillness from before had been a lie.
This was the reason Will had told me before entering the boss area that this enemy was different from the usual ones.
Unlike normal magical beasts, the white snake does not aim much for magic stones.
It is not that magic stones are completely meaningless to it, but it tends to target the rear guard using magic more often than a defender wearing magic stones.
Physical attacks are ineffective, and we cannot lure it with magic stones.
For that reason, the white snake is one of the most difficult magical beasts for defenders to fight.
Whether this behavior is unique to the white snake or whether future floor bosses will no longer be manageable with standard hate management is something we will only know after facing the 94th layer floor boss.
For vanguard members like Will and me who have reached the deep layers, dealing with the white snake's charge is not difficult.
That is precisely why the white snake targets the rear guard, who are weak in close combat.
Mages often annihilate enemies before they get close, and they usually leave close combat to the vanguard, so they have little experience in it.
Therefore, the decision to challenge the rear guard in close combat is correct.
But, white snake.
You are underestimating Rain-san far too much.
"Rain, do you need support?"
Selma-san asked Rain-san via telepathy as she saw the white snake heading toward her, but there was no urgency in her voice.
"Just keep the buffs up, please. I will draw its attention, so everyone prepare your attacks. Oh, and Lucre, please have water-based magic on standby too."
Even though the white snake was approaching, Rain-san showed no sign of tension at all and replied cheerfully.
As the distance between Rain-san and the white snake gradually closed, she tapped the ground once with the staff in her hand.
Immediately afterward, the ground around Rain-san rose up, and randomly appearing stone pillars blocked the white snake's advance like obstacles.
If it had been a four-legged magical beast, these obstacles might have hindered its charge.
But for a white snake that slithers along the ground, they were not very effective, and it continued advancing by weaving between the stone pillars.
The white snake, paying no attention to the stone pillars, finally reached right in front of Rain-san and opened its mouth wide.
Its upper and lower jaws clamped down on her from both sides, and it closed its mouth to swallow her whole.
Right after that, a loud explosion sounded from inside the white snake's mouth.
Thin smoke rose from its still-open mouth, and the white snake writhed as if in pain.
"Did my magic taste good?"
Rain-san, who had somehow climbed onto one of the stone pillars, spoke to the white snake, which had finally taken visible damage for the first time.
As the white snake directed a hostile gaze toward Rain-san after she spoke, it swung its tail at incredible speed—too fast for an ordinary person to react to—and struck the pillar where she stood.
Even though an ordinary person could not react, Rain-san is an experienced explorer, not an ordinary person.
She has the skill to reach the deep layers.
With Selma-san's buffs on her, reading the attack would be easy.
"Too bad. Over here."
Rain-san, already on a different stone pillar, called out to the white snake in a teasing tone.
Perhaps this individual has a short temper, because the white snake grew even angrier and used magic to grow numerous vine-like plants around Rain-san.
A large number of vines attacked her.
'Lucre, water!'
Seeing the vines appear, Rain-san called out to Lucre via telepathy while putting up a magical barrier around herself.
Multiple magic circles appeared above her head, and water bullets poured down.
Since getting wet did not slow the vines' movements, I used [Gravity Manipulation] to hinder them.
'Thank you, Orn-kun.'
Rain-san noticed and thanked me.
Then,
"[Extreme Cold Blizzard]"
When Rain-san activated the magic, a white mist denser with magic than the white smoke from the short sword earlier appeared around her.
The vines that had been trying to attack Rain-san froze solid and could not reach her.
"Hehe. Snake-san, too bad. My attack missed you again."
Rain-san, who had easily dealt with the white snake's attack once more, taunted it.
She did this to draw its hate toward herself.
The white snake let out a "shaa" sound and charged at Rain-san even faster than before, like a headbutt fueled by raging anger rather than a mere threat.
Right before the white snake's headbutt reached Rain-san, she activated [Spatial Leap] and transferred to another location.
Magic activates only after constructing a formula and then channeling magic into it.
Anyone can construct a formula or channel magic.
However, people have strengths and weaknesses depending on the type of formula.
Some are bad at constructing support magic formulas but good at attack magic, or good at fire-based attack magic but bad at water-based, and so on.
There are also people with no particular strengths or weaknesses in formula types, but they are a minority.
As far as I know, besides me, only Grandpa and the former hero party member Aneli fall into that minority.
In most cases, everyone has their own specialty.
For Selma-san, it is support magic, and for Lucre, it is recovery magic.
So what about Rain-san?
Attack magic?
No, that is not it.
She is what is called a singular magician—a prodigy among magicians.
Singular magicians are essentially the same as those of us with no particular strengths or weaknesses.
However, there is one major difference.
In their singular magic, they possess an extraordinary aptitude that is so exceptional that no one else can match them.
This aptitude might mean they can construct a formula in an instant without needing time, or they can affect a range far beyond what magic normally allows.
Rain-san's singular magic is [Spatial Leap].
Among all magic, it is said to have the most difficult formula to construct, so even experienced people struggle with it, but she can assemble it in an instant.
Although Rain-san is like this, she apparently went through something terrible in the past because she was a singular magician, so she rarely uses [Spatial Leap].
In this white snake fight, since the rear guard is easily targeted, it was safest to have Rain-san temporarily act as a defender as well, so we asked her to allow the use of [Spatial Leap].
Even when she uses it, as in this case, the target is limited to herself, and the transfer distance is only a few meters around her.
'Everyone, now!'
As the white snake slammed its head violently into the stone pillar where Rain-san had been, her voice echoed in my mind.
We did not miss that opening.
"""[Heaven's Thunder Hammer Mjolnir]!!!"""
"Chaos Edge!"
"Heavenly Flash!"
Rain-san, Lucre, and Selma-san unleashed their special-grade magic, Will unleashed Chaos Edge, and I unleashed the jet-black slash, all striking the white snake at once.