[Goblin Lv.3 x81]
[Goblin Archer Lv.3 x64]
[Direwolf Lv.4 x47]
There were more and more enemies emerging and charging toward my heroes.
But thanks to Jonah's weapon enchantment casted by Serafina, the party was able to get through them without much problem.
It was still a shame that Jonah would lose his throwing spear every time he used them. Since the spear would be destroyed in the blast, of course.
But at least Jonah still had his main spear to arm himself with.
Serafina could open a portal to the lobby's storage to summon more throwing spears for Jonah. The skill guides suggested she could.
I was certain she was aware of this.
It was likely she would open a portal once there was a safe chance to do it. Probably once they reached the next hill.
Kroahh!
[Ogre Lv.15 x5679]
The army of ogres had descended down the previous hill and began marching toward the third forest patch.
Thankfully, my party managed to get over every monsters blocking their way and kept on advancing.
They soon reached the third hill range.
Once Serafina destroyed the slope behind them, preventing the monsters from immediately catching up to the party, the 4-star mage began casting a spell.
A circular glowing haze started to form on the top of the hill.
['Serafina (★★★★)' is opening a dimensional portal!]
[Establishing connection to the storage!]
As expected from my 4-star hero.
I knew she was smart.
[A dimensional portal has been created!]
[You can summon equipment and weapons in the storage through dimensional portal.]
There were plenty of spare weapons in the storage.
The crafters managed to have sufficient materials thanks to the grind sessions I made the heroes do.
This would be the perfect opportunity to replenish our archer's arrow supply.
But we already lost our archer at the beginning of the mission.
Serafina knew that as well.
She created this portal for another purpose.
[Jonah (★) is requesting 'Throwing Spear (C)' x4!]
The exploding spears helped my heroes breaking through the enemy formations.
My heroes must had noticed their effectiveness as well.
[Summon 'Throwing Spear (C)' x4?]
[Yes (selected)/ No]
As soon as I approved the request, several throwing spears in the storage vanished and emerged through the dimensional portal in the boss stage.
I did not see any need to summon more equipment for Jonah and Shanny.
There were comments about players failing the boss stage because their heroes' equipment broke down during the mission.
But Jonah's main spear and Shanny's sword and shield were still in good condition thanks to Serafina's reinforcement enchantment on them, as well as the good craftsmanship by my 3-star crafter.
I was really lucky to pull those reliable heroes early on.
Serafina then closed the dimensional portal and quickly enchanted the weapons as Jonah was equipping them.
The ogres were drawing close. They were near the hill my heroes were on.
My heroes could not tarry for too long.
[Goblin Lv.3 x86]
[Goblin Archer Lv.3 x75]
[Direwolf Lv.4 x44]
[Harpy Lv.4 x28]
There were more enemies waiting for my heroes ahead of them.
And there were still three patches of forest to go through before my heroes could reach the statue in the eastern end.
Doubtless, more enemies were waiting the closer my heroes got to their objective.
But my heroes simply had to press on.
They would only die if they falter now. And death meant permanent deletion.
We must clear the first boss stage in this attempt or I would forever lose the heroes I needed to climb the tower.
['Serafina (★★★★)' is casting temporary enchantment.]
The 4-star mage started preparing another enchantment once my heroes went down the hill.
It had been a while since the previous one expired.
[Enchantment casted!]
[Party 1's agility, strength, and stamina have increased by 15% for the next 30 minutes.]
Interesting.
This enchantment raised not only agility, but strength and stamina as well.
So her Intermediate Enchantment was capable of giving multiple status buffs at once. Noted.
I wondered how much Serafina's mana capacity was.
She had been casting many spells by now.
According to the guides, mages would experience a severe debuff state called mana overflow if they used too much magic.
Usually the progression of that debuff could be suppressed with mana potion.
But we did not have any in supply.
So hopefully Serafina would be able to endure till the end of the boss stage.
She was a 4-star hero, after all.
Boom!
Serafina managed to create another fire trail for the party to tread through.
She took a while to unleash that assault.
Could it be a sign of mana overflow? Probably.
Serafina needed to let Jonah and Shanny do most of the fighting so she could conserve her mana.
Hopefully my 1-star heroes would be able to fulfill their roles really well that Serafina did not need to push herself more than necessary.
I had been doing a lot of hoping so far.
Since I could only observe the mission, that was basically the main thing I could do.
Hopefully every single one that I hoped for would come true.
[Goblin Lv.3 x51]
[Goblin Archer Lv.3 x47]
[Direwolf Lv.4 x30]
[Harpy Lv.4 x18]
Despite Serafina's powerful AoE assault, more than a hundred enemies still managed to breach the firewalls and stood in my heroes' path.
Jonah threw one of his throwing spears and obliterated a good number of the blockading enemies.
Boom!
Quite a lot of monsters still remained, however.
They immediately charged toward my heroes.
Jonah and Shanny rushed ahead to intercept them. The two 1-star heroes worked in tandem stopping the enemies.
Shanny collided the monsters head on and broke through their formation. Jonah followed closely behind her while dealing the airborne harpies using his throwing spears.
I had never seen them fighting so well like this.
['Shanny (★)'s Basic Sword-Shield Technique has levelled up to level 5!]
['Jonah (★)'s Basic Spearmanship has levelled up to level 5!]
['Jonah (★)' has obtained the skill, 'Projectile Defense'!]
Wow…
Loki said boss stages were a mine of opportunities to uncover and develop heroes' potential.
I was certainly beginning to strike gold as the mission went on.
Jonah also obtained the Projectile Defense skill.
As the name suggested, it allowed him to parry arrows and other projectiles coming at him.
It was a must-have skill for combat-class heroes.
Now that Jonah had obtained the skill, the other heroes in the lobby would be able to develop it too if they trained together.
[Goblin Lv.3 x95]
[Goblin Archer Lv.3 x86]
[Direwolf Lv.4 x58]
[Harpy Lv.4 x32]
My heroes had reached the end of Serafina's fire trail. But more enemies were already waiting for them at the remaining part of the fourth forest patch.
The 4-star mage then prepared to cast another fire spell to extend their secure path.
Suddenly the magic circle around Serafina disappeared. She immediately fell to her knees.
['Serafina (★★★★)' is experiencing mana overflow.]
I knew she was approaching her limit.
But how close was she?
Jonah and Shanny quickly made a protective fence around the kneeling 4-star.
So the 1-star heroes were capable to sense their comrade was now in a vulnerable state. Noted.
Fortunately, Serafina returned to her feet immediately.
She started casting her fire spell again.
I supposed she still had enough mana to keep on going.
Given the amount of distance they still needed to cover, Serafina had no choice but to push herself.
She could not collapse now if she wanted to survive. If the entire party wanted to survive, even.
Due to her debuff, Serafina took longer to prepare her spell.
Enemies then were able to reach my party because of the delayed assault.
The 1-star heroes intercepted all the enemies and protected the 4-star mage that was still casting her magic.
['Shanny (★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. Her stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
['Jonah (★)' has been inflicted with bleeding. His stamina will be reduced for a period of time.]
They might had levelled up their combat skill, but the enemies were numerous.
It was simply impossible to survive the onslaught unscathed.
Thankfully, Serafina managed to unleash her assault before the 1-stars were overwhelmed.
Boom!
While bearing wounds and pain, my brave heroes charged on through the battlefield, fueled by their determination to survive.