[The Fury of Pierce Big Boar]
– When an enemy invades the territory, strength and agility increase by 20.
As the distance to the monster closed, the Fury trait of Big Boar activated, and I felt a noticeable boost in my stats.
Thanks to that, my body felt much lighter, allowing me to observe the creature more leisurely.
‘Definitely different from the last one.’
This one seemed a bit bigger and had a slightly higher combat power than the first one I met.
But I had not been idle either.
First, I opened my space wide.
Taking out skeleton bombs one by one would be unsuitable for the urgent battle.
After binding it with [Chain of Flame], I would unleash an avalanche of bombs.
Changing from a crawling position to a sitting one, I lightly pushed off the ground.
Using [Lightning Step] as a starting point, I unleashed all my mobility skills and reached the wall in no time, getting close enough to see the monster right in front of me.
Up close, it looked truly horrifying.
Even if I selected the ugliest one among the orcs, it would still look better than this guy.
Thick, slimy liquid continuously dripped from its eyes, making it appear as if it were crying.
However, the heat radiating from it was definitely closer to ecstasy than sadness.
“Grraaa?!”
The creature belatedly discovered me.
‘Too late!’
With its absent chin, the monster’s jaw dropped even wider upon spotting an unexpected enemy.
[Dagger Throw]
I opened the space that I had kept at the front and bombarded its gaping mouth with bombs.
“……..?!”
It blankly looked up and swallowed dozens of bombs.
Just as it was about to regurgitate them in a hurry.
[Chain of Flame]
Crash—!!
After binding it with chains, I detonated all the bombs stuffed inside its mouth and those scattered around it simultaneously.
Kaboooom—!!
The explosions set off a chain reaction, amplifying the explosive force one after another.
It was a deafening roar that could even worry the eardrums of nearby soldiers.
Yet, I had the will not to harm the defending soldiers, and thankfully, just like in our world, it seemed that only the intended target suffered damage.
However, the wall did take damage, and the defense I had worked so hard to maintain crumbled down, causing the soldiers to fall with it.
“Waaah!”
“Fall back for now!!”
‘Sorry, sorry.’
I wished I could simply raise my hand in apology, but this wasn’t the time for that.
“Kuwaaaah—!!”
A grotesquely distorted shape that looked as if a slime was melting in mid-air caught my eye.
The reinforced skeleton bombs and the painstakingly accumulated stats combined to produce tremendous synergy.
The torso of ‘Residue of Chaos’ exploded in dozens of places, leaving it almost unrecognizable.
Of course, the internal explosions heightened the effect, and I felt delighted to experience the power of the bombs once again.
‘Alright, better take it out while I have the momentum.’
It was my first encounter with him, but I knew this guy well.
Outstanding physical abilities and regeneration.
Plus, a special power to move through space as well.
‘As my master advised…’
The monster’s body twitched, a dark hue intensifying as it roared in response to the attack.
It was clear it was preparing to do something.
I had no intention of letting it be, but I needed to think quickly.
I transformed into [Combat Type] and clung tightly to its body, manifesting bone thorns that spread out like a hedgehog.
Pfffft!!
“Kwaaaaar!!”
Having had the skeleton bomb followed by thorn attacks, it let out a horrific shriek.
How could a monster with such poorly formed lips produce such a bellowing scream?
The flames that clung to me added to the chaos, igniting as they raged.
– ······?!
– Uh……?
From the moment I unleashed [Lightning Step] to now.
In just a few seconds, so much had changed.
As I started to pummel the monster, countless soldiers watching froze as if time had stopped.
But the longer they watched, the clearer my situation with the monster became, and soon, one by one, they started shouting something.
– ······!!
– Oh my god!!
– The goddess has answered our fervent call!!
– H-Hero of the Flame?! It’s the hero of flames!!
‘It’s the Flame Sword Mountain.’
I needed to calm down this struggling creature even more.
[Toxic Scale]
“Whap-!”
I seized the quivering neck of the creature, which was flopping about like crazy, and injected paralysis poison.
I wasn’t sure if such a filthy being would be affected by a status ailment, but just as my master advised, I decided to hit it and see.
“Krrr?!”
I also used [Corrupted Breath], a skill I hadn’t utilized outside of enclosed spaces, along with [Fireball], [Thunderhorn], and the newly acquired Blade of Water [Sicklelin].
“Kwooooooo!!”
‘Does it hurt? If you don’t want to hurt, just die!!!’
[Spiked Tooth]
I sank my sharpened teeth into the burst neck of ‘Residue of Chaos’ while firing off every skill I had available.
‘Die! Die! Just die!!’
[Fierce Claws] [Warrior’s Roar] [Flame Cut] [Fireball] [Stagnant Sneaky Drain] [Special Strong Acid] [Wall of Fire] [Thunderhorn] [Sicklelin]
For a brief period, I kept hammering every attack skill as soon as their cooldowns were over.
In that short time, my magic power plummeted to an astonishing low of 1,072.
– Magic power drops below 50, magic power fully recovers.
– Magic power drops below 30, magic recovery speed increases by 300% for 10 minutes.
The top-tier magic circuit was buffed after a long time.
With both buffs active, I bolstered my magic power and hit the creature even harder.
‘DIE! DIE!! You cockroach!!’
It was almost puzzling if I had ever thrown myself into a fight with such a singular purpose before, and perhaps because of that, ‘Residue of Chaos’ still hadn’t managed to break free from [Chain of Flame].
In some ways, it was only natural.
I had delivered a devastating opening.
Typically, tough-skinned monsters usually have weak interiors.
However, even ‘Residue of Chaos’ wasn’t simply taking it lying down.
It extruded dozens of tentacles to stab at me and jumped up, trying to slam me into the ground while rolling around.
But with my [Sturdy Armor] significantly boosting my defense, I wasn’t taking major damage from its attacks, which didn’t even have a proper body.
– Waaaaah──!!
– Sir knight~!!
– ······!!!
‘Are they really screaming that even after seeing me?’
What on earth do they think I’m going to do after I catch this monster?
The soldiers’ cheers grew louder, but I could not afford to be distracted by the inhabitants of this world right now.
To avoid falling off, my arms were restricted, and their loud monster roars made it hard for me to even use [Flame Cut].
Still, as I clung on and kept stretching and retracting my thorns, I saw one mark after another starting to pile up.
– The poison rune effect has been applied to the enemy.
Having inflicted damage with the poison rune from my first attack, the creature’s health steadily diminished.
It continued to thrash and slam me against the ground, creating huge craters as it did.
Even though it was a failed method, it seemed its intelligence wasn’t on par with the one I faced before.
‘If I constantly trigger flame explosions, it won’t be able to recover properly!’
The flame marks stacking on the creature crossed ten, and just when I felt ready to unleash a series of explosions.
Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation moving.
‘Ugh?!’
The scenery around me shifted rapidly, and it was clear that the creature was moving through space while still holding onto me.
‘A power similar to the Sword Dragon’s…!’
It continued to demonstrate its ability for a while before abruptly stopping.
‘Oh no…’
I couldn’t trigger any of my abilities during the spatial movement for some reason, and in the meantime, it had bought time to heal its injuries.
Fwoooosh—
But its body wasn’t in a normal state either.
The monster’s body bubbled as if boiling with lava.
I exercised all my will to stay clinging on.
In an [Adhesion] state, it was nearly impossible for it to shake me off—
‘Huh?!’
At that moment, I was launched into the air and thrown far away.
‘Residue of Chaos’ had sliced off the part of the body I was clinging to and tossed it away.
‘Wow— really. What a crazy guy.’
I felt like I wanted to applaud for something I hadn’t even considered.
“Kwaaaaar!!”
Still not fully recovered, it roared in fury, directed at me.
The overwhelming pressure made my cloak flutter violently behind me, but I felt an excitement pounding in my heart.
‘Should I give it a try?’
I could easily suppress it with a fire explosion, but such slight advantages in one-on-one battles don’t come often.
I made up my mind, locking eyes with the creature.
Neither of us had proper eyes, but we were undoubtedly staring each other down.
Soon, we charged at each other.
No one slowed down, and as it threw a massive punch at me, it simultaneously opened its mouth wide, releasing immense energy.
Kabooom—!
If hit, it would surely inflict severe damage to my health, armor, and everything else.
‘Residue of Chaos’ had likely endured all this time just waiting for this single attack.
But I was already equipped with the ‘Rune of Swiftness’ and burst out my speed with all my mobility skills.
Yet surprisingly, it reacted to my speed and a sharp tail flew towards me as it turned back to catch my rear.
‘Huh?! What’s with its reaction speed?!’
That was an unexpected attack.
I hadn’t predicted a new tail would sprout from its back.
At that split moment, my master’s teaching came to mind.
When its strike reached a critical point, a flash of light was sensed.
A moment where the monster and I both became nothingness.
Like water flowing smoothly downward, the absolute evasion technique ‘Bran’ activated.
Swoosh—!
And just after that brief flash.
It had turned to face away from me, with the tail that attacked me having vanished without a trace.
“?!”
It was as if it had reverted to before it tried to attack me, a moment of pure tranquility.
However, the heights of our gazes had definitely changed.
It was an ability that affected both the monster and me, but of course, we would have differing experiences.
The difference between knowing what is happening and being oblivious to it is immense.
If the monster had been human, it surely would have bitten its lips in frustration.
It had perfectly exposed its back to the enemy.
Had ‘Residue of Chaos’ sensed death?
Or was it still lost in dreams, unable to escape?
I seized the opportunity and repeatedly struck at the monster’s legs.
Passing on marks to an unguarded enemy was as easy as pie.
If I stacked a few more, I might just summon the Fragments of a Great Being.
‘That can’t be allowed.’
If I were to offer such a pathetic thing, I might suffer a terrible punishment.
Boom—!
The creature attempted to counterattack late, but I had already put distance between us.
Dozens of bolts of lightning sparked against my body, exhilarating me.
To have perfectly executed an evasion against such a powerful enemy was a trial worth taking the risk for.
‘This is it.’
Creeeak—
With a horrific rupture, the creature’s body began to shine with a bright light.
[Flame Explosion]
KABOOOOOOM—!!
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