Chapter 464

464 – Nightmarish Earth

Having been punched into the air by me, the clay guardian’s huge body slowly floats up. It’s probably using the [Float] skill.

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Species: Clay Guardian

Condition: Physical Resistance Enhancement

Lv: 85/85 (MAX)

HP: 511/785

MP: 208/255

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It really is solid. I hit it as hard as I could, but it only did a little.

I still haven’t used [Dragon Punch] though – that was just a normal punch. A lower rank defence specialist really isn’t very scary.

As long as some damage gets through, then if I keep hitting it, it’ll eventually die. Its MP has already fallen by ten percent. It’s annoying to have to spend so long slowly wearing it down, but considering I’ll get a B+ rank’s worth of experience from it, it’s not a bad use of my time.

The floating clay guardian’s eyes shine with red light. I fly up.

A pair of red beams streak from its eyes. It’s the long range skill once scared me when the giant centipede used it, [Heat Ray]. I didn’t expect it to be able to shoot two of them at once.

[Heat Ray]’s range, power, and duration make it an relentless skill… But at this distance, it’s nothing to be afraid of.

The clay guardian’s bright red beams chase me as I fly through the air. I kick it as I swoop past. The beams cut off, and its huge body shoots through the air.

I quickly fly around it and grip its back with my claws, then put all of my weight on it to shove it towards the ground. At the moment of impact, I drive my foreleg into it.

Cracks appear all over its body. At the same time, countless sharp protuberances emerge and grow towards me. It’s using the [Transformation] skill. But it’s too slow. I spread my wings to fly up, escaping from the spikes.

…It’s going well, but I can’t get complacent. What scares me is its [Direct Burst].

【Normal Skill [Direct Burst]】

【A null-attribute magic skill.】

【Causes the user to explode from the inside, dealing damage based on magic and defence.】

I faintly knew when I first saw its status, but… This thing is a giant bomb.

I can’t begin to imagine how powerful an attack that uses a B+ rank monster as a disposable pawn could be. Its defence is too high for me to kill at range, too. It’s a monster I would normally never consider challenging.

All I can do is periodically take my distance, and keep my health full. The only strange skill it has is [Direct Burst]. Other than that, it’s actually easier to fight than the pure attacker-type fenrirs. Even with the rank difference, the fenrirs’ attack strength and speed make it so I can’t let my guard down around them… Of course, this thing’s [Direct Burst] is too much of a threat for me to relax, either.

While I’m keeping my distance, the cracks fade away. Its health has fully restored. It looks like it used [Autoregeneration]… Should I have kept attacking it? No, bearing its [Direct Burst] in mind, stopping was correct.

I focus everything on flying around the clay guardian at high speed, and on hitting, scratching and kicking it at each opportunity. It’s fine if it takes some time. This is an opponent I can definitely beat through endurance. By the time I’m starting to get tired myself, the bottom of its status finally comes into view.

The clay guardian sinks down and lands on the ground. A magic circle appears around it, and chunks of ground float up to form four giant spheres, which then shoot towards me.

This is probably the [Clay Sphere] skill. Of course, I can evade it easily. But what I don’t understand is why it’s wasting MP on a large-scale [Clay Sphere] at this stage.

Next, a giant dome of black light expands out from the clay guardian. So it’s using [Gravity] now, huh. But with this difference in stats, it’s not too hard for me to move regardless. My body’s a little heavy, but that is all. In the first place, the clay guardian isn’t a magic type.

Despite being inside the black light, I dodge the [Clay Spheres]… But the moment after I dodge them, I feel something grabbing me from behind. As I turn around, a shudder runs through my spine. From one the ball of earth, countless earthen arms are stretching out and clutching my body. The other clay balls are also erupting into earthen arms that reach out to restrict me. Their bindings compound with the [Gravity] to seal my movements.

“Guu, guuOOOOOOOh!”

I bite through the earthen arms and twist my body to break free. That scared me. It’s the same skill Aro occasionally uses, [Rope of Regret]. It seems you can use it with thrown balls of earth. I’ll teach Aro to do it that way later.

As I look up, right in front of me, the clay guardian’s giant mouth opens wide. About eighty percent of its face has become mouth. I try to step back, but it chomps into my shoulder before I can escape.

D-damn it! The damage isn’t too much, but I need to get away, or…!

Innumerable arms stretch out from the clay guardian and wrap around my body. I cut and tear, but more arms grow to replace them. Th-this…!

The clay guardian’s expression changes to one of pure malice. A dark magic circle expands out, and cracks appear all over the its body. I-it’s using [Direct Burst]! I clench my teeth and use [Autoregeration] to heal my shoulder.

Heat engulfs my body and my vision goes dark as though my eyes are burned off. For a moment, my consciousness fades. I awake to find myself collapsed on the ground, and quickly set to work restoring my body with [Autoregeneration]. It takes some time until I’m able to stand up.

…That was dangerous. [Perseverance of a Champion] saved me. Because I had that, I could have perhaps tried rushing the battle. But to be honest, I don’t like relying on it. From how it felt, I would have just barely survived even without it though.

To be able to push the HP monster that is an ouroboros this hard, it’s quite the dangerous skill. The range was less than I was expecting, but considering it was almost able to kill an A rank, it seems more than a little broken. If I had a skill with that much power, I’d love to use it on the high defence, high HP, high attack monstrosity that is Beelzebub.

However, my recklessness has paid off.

【3400 experience points have been acquired.】

【Due to the title skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 3400 experience points have been acquired.】

【The level of [Ouroboros] has risen from 123 to 125.】

【The level of [Ouroboros] has reached MAX.】

【Evolution requirements have been met.】

…Finally, I can evolve. I went up two levels. It probably helped that the two fenrir’s brought me close to levelling up. Now… I can become the same Legendary class as the ruin.

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