Amy never saw the bucket coming. The instant the water splashed over her, her movement speed dropped so sharply it felt like she was stuck in place. All she could do was watch as the Gardener lowered his shoulder and charged straight at her.
Before the mob could reach her, Flynn threw himself forward and tackled her to the ground. They hit hard and rolled across, barely avoiding the blow as the Gardener tore past them. The monster skidded to a halt and began to turn for another charge, but an Avenger's Shield flew in from the side and struck it cleanly. Not-A-Bystander reclaimed the aggro just in time.
Flynn let out a slow breath. He stayed where he was for a moment, still half on top of Amy after the tumble. She looked dazed and a bit annoyed, with strands of hair stuck to her face. He lowered his head slightly and said in a low voice, "Not bad."
Amy felt his breath near her ear and stiffened. Her face burned as she turned away. "Get off me, you creep! I didn't ask for your help!"
Flynn chuckled and climbed to his feet. He reached out a hand. "Up you go, gorgeous."
"...."
Amy just stared at him, annoyed. Not wanting to make it awkward, she took his hand and let him pull her up. "Seriously, I didn't need you to do that."
"Sure," Flynn replied with a shrug. "My bad."
As he straightened, he noticed Peerless Blood-Sword staring at him from across the courtyard. The Duelist's expression was dark, jaw tight, with his sword clenched a little too hard.
Flynn understood immediately. He had seen that look before. So that was it. The reason for the sudden hostility in Hell mode had nothing to do with dungeon difficulty.
He stepped back casually, making sure no one else was watching, and flashed a quick thumbs-down at Blood-Sword.
The Duelist's face flushed. He muttered something under his breath and turned back to the mob, swinging harder than necessary.
Flynn chuckled. "This is getting interesting."
Amy glanced back at him while repositioning. "What's getting interesting?"
"The dungeon," he replied quickly. "This dungeon."
Then he rushed forward and finished off the last ghost with a clean stab.
After the first few pulls, they started to understand how the mobs worked. The flower-picking maids threw roses that stuck to players and drained health over time. The cooks would rush in and smack someone on the back of the head with a rolling pin, stunning them without warning. The Gardener's Bucket Burst reduced both attack and movement speed, though at least it didn't last long.
On the second pull, Amy adjusted her approach. Instead of going near the Gardener, she chose to kite a cook. It seemed safer.
But she was wrong.
The cook suddenly hurled the rolling pin like a projectile. It struck her squarely, stunning her in place. The mob closed the distance at once.
Three bombs dropped from above and exploded beside the cook, pulling it away just before it could land a hit.
Amy's face went pale, not just from fear but from pure embarrassment. Messing up a kite twice in a row was a serious hit to her pride. She wasn't a ranked player, but that was only because she didn't have the time and focused on studio stuff. Her mechanics were legit top-tier, which was exactly why Let-There-Be-Light had brought her along for the server-first run. It wasn't just because she was his sister; her Ranger skills were among the best in their whole studio.
Flynn noticed the change in her expression and sent a private message. "It's fine. My friend just told me these mobs are designed to be fought head-on. They're a nightmare to kite."
"Because it's difficult doesn't mean it's impossible," Amy shot back, not buying it. A thought crept into her head: 'If he was a Ranger, he'd probably pull it off.'
"Take your time," Flynn said with a teasing smile on his lips. He lifted his dagger slightly. "Want to bet who deals more damage?"
She shot him a sharp look and quietly opened the damage meter. Their numbers were close, though he had been splitting focus as an off-tank earlier, which lowered his output.
'What a pain,' she thought. She raised her bow and fired a Double Shot. The second the arrows left the string, she yelped, "Oh no, wrong target!"
Let-There-Be-Light sighed. "Amy, focus."
"Haha, it's cool, it's cool. Amy's just testing my tanking skills," Not-A-Bystander jumped in, covering for her. Her Double Shot had tagged the mob he'd just pulled back. Since he hadn't built solid threat yet, the mob almost turned on her.
Amy stuck out her tongue and quickly locked back in, her bow unleashing a steady stream of sharp shots.
One by one, the mobs dropped. After clearing nearly twenty packs, they finally got to face Rhaess, the Head Maid. In the garden pavilion, Rhaess stood there in a skimpy leather outfit that looked like something a succubus would wear, casually swinging a spiked whip. Her voice was sharp as she barked at the nearby maids: "You useless servants, get the flower tea ready now! Our great master will be here any moment to enjoy this lovely evening."
"Oh, and watch the trellises! Don't you dare knock them over!"
"Ugh, you people are always giving me headaches."
Not-A-Bystander let out a low chuckle at Rhaess's outfit. "She doesn't really look like a maid."
Flynn nodded. "More like a queen, honestly."
Not-A-Bystander glanced at him. "Great minds think alike, haha!"
"Perverts," Peerless Blood-Sword muttered, looking up at them with disgust. "It's just a whip. How do you two read so much into it?"
Flynn and Not-A-Bystander exchanged a look and burst out laughing. "Whoa, we just meant her vibe was more queen-like. Nothing else."
Not-A-Bystander clapped him on the shoulder. "Dude, you're the one with your mind in the gutter."
"You...!" Peerless Blood-Sword was stuck. He'd tried to call Flynn out for being a creep, but he'd ended up tripping over his own words. They really hadn't said anything explicit.
Flynn turned toward Amy and studied her for a moment.
She noticed at once. "What are you staring at?" she messaged privately.
"Just thinking, that Rhaess outfit would look pretty good on you."
"Get lost, you freak!" Amy's face went bright red. She glared at him, mortified. 'How can someone this shameless even exist?'
Flynn coughed twice and looked at Let-There-Be-Light. "What's the plan, boss?"
"B-boss!?" Let-There-Be-Light gave him a tired look and shook his head. "I've never fought her. Has your friend cleared this already?"
"Probably still stuck," Flynn said with a shrug. He wasn't about to ask Chad again. They had a bet going, and asking for the strategy now would be cheating. Plus, knowing Chad, he might even feed him bad info on purpose.
"Alright," Let-There-Be-Light said after a moment. "We'll test it. Bystander, go in first. Amy, pull one of the flower maids and kite her close enough for heals."
The flower-maid was the easiest of the servants to deal with. Her ability only did damage over time, with no slow. As long as she didn't get hit by the mob's basic attacks, Let-There-Be-Light could keep up with the healing.
"Got it!" Not-A-Bystander shouted, charging forward.
Besides Rhaess, there were three other maids in the pavilion. As Not-A-Bystander entered aggro range, Amy immediately fired a Concussive Shot to pull one of the maids toward her. At the same time, Not-A-Bystander used Avenger's Shield to grab the remaining three.
Crack!
Rhaess's whip suddenly lashed out like a snake, catching Not-A-Bystander from a weird angle. The iron spikes on the whip tore a bloody gash in his armor, and he yelped in pain. "Damn it, I should've turned off the pain sensitivity!"
"Tough life for a main tank," Peerless Blood-Sword said with a shiver. He'd thought about choosing a Guardian Warrior once, but the studio already had two better tanks, so he'd settled for Finesse Duelist instead.
While they were joking around, Not-A-Bystander's face turned serious. "This is bad. Rhaess's damage is too high. I don't think I can hold."
Let-There-Be-Light frowned. "Night-Stalker can't pull another one. These mobs' abilities are too rough for a melee to dodge."
"The difficulty on a low-level dungeon shouldn't be this crazy. Maybe Night-Stalker could try," Peerless Blood-Sword suggested, glancing at Flynn.
Flynn met his eyes. 'This guy trying to get me killed?' He'd seen how nasty these mobs were. Their skills were unpredictable and hard to avoid. Other than the flower-maid Amy was kiting, which only did damage, the other two had deadly abilities: a stun and a slow. Either one would leave him helpless.
But if Not-A-Bystander was saying he couldn't handle it, that meant Rhaess's damage was seriously brutal. He had to do something.
"If we're doing this, let's go all in," Flynn said, looking at Peerless Blood-Sword. His voice dropped. "Blood-Sword, let me show you the gap between us."
Peerless Blood-Sword froze. "What did you say?"
"The gap. The gap between us. In skill... and in everything else." Flynn grinned, gesturing toward Amy in the distance. He shook his head slowly. "You're not even close."