Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World (LN)

What was that attack that hit us just now? Teleportation? Telekinesis? Or perhaps some kind of omnidirectional attack redirected to our stomachs so fast that we werent even able to react to it in time?

Are you okay, Roxanne?

Yes, I am fine watch out, master!

The Beep Sheep tried to headbutt me, but I barely managed to block its attack with Durandal. Even so, it does not mean that I got away completely unscratched from it, because while I the attack did not connect with me, I could feel the sheer force of the impact reverberating throughout my hands that were gripping the sword and slowly spreading along my entire arms length and seeping all the way to the bones. Now that I had a moment of peace, I briefly glanced at my Leather armor around the area where I have been hit by the boss Skill. It was visibly damaged, but still holding together nonetheless. If I was not wearing it, then that attack could have pierced right through me.

Any ideas what the hell was that just now? How was it possible for something so big to attack me in a split second without even noticing it.

I dont know. I was also attacked without even realizing it.

We slashed the Floor Boss with our weapons and distanced ourselves from it, only to rush in and attack again.

In between the Beep Sheep attacks, I looked at Roxanne and confirmed that she has sustained the same wound that I did. That was enough for me to confirm that I absolutely have to kill this fucker as fast as possible. No matter how many wounds I will receive and how much damage will be dealt to me, as long as I will connect some of Durandals attacks with the enemies then I should be able to go back to having full health. However, that goes only for me and my OP weapon, but not for Roxanne. She unlocked the Herbalist Job just like I did so she should have some emergency medicine on her, but other than that she has no way of recovering her own health, and that is why she focuses so much on evading the attacks that come her way. But, just like we saw just now, not even she is able to evade some of the attacks, especially if she cannot even see them coming. Her levels are also lower than mine, I have to prioritize defeating the enemy in front of me as fast as possible so that she wouldnt be in constant danger and have enough time to actually recover.

Could it have been some kind of status effect that affected our cognition in some way?

Its hard for me to say with absolute certainty, but from my perspective it looked like all of a sudden you stopped moving for quite a while, master.

I stopped moving? Really? I dont remember doing such a thing.

Yes, it looked almost as if you were asleep, or petrified.

Asleep, huh?

Asleep sheep ah, so thats it. It must have been something like that!

I dont know how it managed to do that without me noticing, but the Skill that the Beep Sheep used must have put me to sleep, much like in that stereotype where children are told to count sheep jumping over the fence to help them fall asleep faster.

But. . . . have I really fallen asleep due to the Beep Sheeps Skill? I mean sure, it would not be all that improbable for it to possess an ability that would put the target to sleep or stun it, especially since that chant-like meehing of it did sound like a kind of a warning call signalling that such an attack is incoming, and it would explain why I failed to notice what was happening around me until it was too late: I must have been put under the Beep Sheeps spell and lost consciousness which has been regained the moment an attack hit me, or to put it in the more technical terms, when my body has been exposed to an extensive physical trauma. Thats only my hypothesis though. Lets ask Roxanne about it to be absolutely sure.

Roxanne, are there Skills that the monsters possess that could put their prey to sleep or immobilize them in any other significant way?

Yes, some of them have effects like that.

And there you have it. At least now I know that some enemies do possess terrifying techniques like that. And this one is especially nasty, because it practically guarantees that you are going to get hit at least once before you finally snap out of it. In that case, the best course of action would be to not allow the enemy in front of us to use that Skill of his ever again, so I need to Rush to it and stick to it like glue and dont stop swinging my sword.

My biggest concern in our current situation is that even though I know Roxanne was also attacked by the Beep Sheeps Skill, I have no way of knowing exactly how much damage she suffered with that blow she took, since I can only see my own MP and HP pools when I use Identify on myself. For the time being, I think three od so strikes with Durandal should be enough to bring me back to full health, but if I dont want things to get dire very quick I should do everything in my power to avoid getting hit with any more of those Skills. Also

Roxanne, switch with me!

Roger!

We swapped our positions, so now Roxanne was in the back of the Beep Sheep and I stood in front of it, but I was not planning on simply staying there, waiting for it to come at me with its attacks, oh no. Instead, I ran from one of its sides to the other, whacking them with Durandal and getting back all the HP that I lost. The Beep Sheep did not stand there taking it either, because it tried to follow after me and ram me with its curved horns. Is it just me, or am I catching this monsters aggro way more easily than Roxanne did?

I deflected the horns of the boss with Durandals dull side and then countered immediately after with the sharp one. Every time it tried to attack me with its horns, I would repeat that process while jumping back or to the sides to evade an occasional body slam attack. After a while, the Beep Sheep did something new, which was a headbutt attack it performed after bending its front legs and lowering its head with its horns facing forward. It looked dangerous, but that was it. In truth, it was even easier to dodge than the horn swings, because just like with the Minos on the previous floor, all I had to do to get out of the harms way was to wait for the last possible moment and then do a dodge roll. As an added bonus to risking such a perfect timing-dependent manuever I managed to confuse the Beep Sheep, who seems to be just as bad as making sharp turns during its charges as the Minos and Hachinosu. Good. That gives me even more chances for an attack.

In the meantime, Roxanne was also attacking it from the back, but the damage she was doing to it with her Scimitar should be laughably small in comparison to the DPS from my own weapon.

At some point The Beep Sheep started using its hind legs trying to kick Roxanne, but since she is a much more graceful dodger than I can ever hope to be, she dodges its outstretched hooves with minimal movements without letting herself be reached by them. No matter how many times I see her evade the enemy attacks, I still cannot believe that a person can actually move with such nimbleness. Its like shes moving, but at the same time that shes not, and just when you think that shes been hit it turns out that it was nothing but a vanishing afterimage.

Her dodges are the complete opposite my own. Where Roxanne simply moves her body literal inches to the side, I need to roll or jump away, creating a large gap between the enemy and myself. That might work in tight spots, but as was evident by the earlier situation, when enemy possesses Skills, such a way of dodging is not an effective one if you want to interrupt their chanting. Even now I still have some difficulties with a swift continuation of the battle because after every dodge I have to do a short Rush to get back up close and personal with the boss.