Now, the body specialist.
[It's rough. No footing is the worst part.]
For now, the body specialist's priority is evasion.
[Got it.]
Ideally, I'd want it keeping the fire dragon in sight at all times, but that would be asking too much.
[Make sure I'm using the best option here. But evasion is the top priority.]
That works.
If I can chip away at it even a little with the evil eye, there's a chance.
Now, the magic specialist.
{Intercept incoming attacks and mop up the small fry, right?} Right.
The level of mental synchronization is maxed out.
I'll feed you information in real time.
[{Understood.}] I crank the synchronization level to maximum and layer three consciousnesses together.
In a situation like this, even the slightest miscommunication can't be tolerated.
But that's not an issue.
Even if there are three minds, they're all me.
Disagreeing with myself is simply impossible.
First, I need to increase the usable footing.
Where I am now is a tiny island.
I can barely even dodge here.
But if I try to move to another island, the surrounding magma is teeming with monsters.
Even if I leap, I could get intercepted mid-air.
While I'm thinking, the fire dragon roars.
At that signal, all the surrounding monsters open fire with fireballs in unison.
I jump upward.
The island I'd been using as footing sinks into a sea of fire.
More fireballs come after me as I fly, but I launch poison bullets to intercept them.
The poison bullets have a bit of physical attack power as well.
Out of all my magic, they're the best suited for interception.
I fire thread toward the ceiling and immediately reel it in.
I escape to the ceiling.
I begin moving quickly.
As I do, I spam Poison Bullet and Poison Synthesis, scattering poison everywhere.
Poison Bullet for precision shots.
Poison Synthesis for wide-area coverage with increased volume.
The poison generated by Poison Synthesis rains down on the monsters' heads.
Just that alone has monsters dropping left and right.
But the monsters' fireballs are heading for me too.
I kick off the ceiling and drop toward an island.
I intercept the incoming fireballs with Poison Bullets.
I land safely on a new island.
The instant I do, I leap back up to the ceiling to take shelter.
An enormous fireball scores a direct hit on the island I'd just been on.
That's the fire dragon's fireball.
That was probably either the Flame Sphere, learned at Skill Level 5, or the Greater Flame Sphere, learned at Skill Level 7.
If it was the Greater Flame Sphere, that's one thing, but if it was the Flame Sphere, it means there's an even more powerful fireball attack to deal with.
Either way, getting hit by that would be game over.
I focus on dodging the relentless storm of fireballs while scattering poison to intercept.
{Experience Points have reached a threshold. Individual Zoa Ele has risen from LV8 to LV9.} {All base stats have increased.} {Skill Proficiency Level-Up Bonus acquired.} {Proficiency has reached a threshold. Skill "Ki Combat LV3" has become "Ki Combat LV4".} {Skill Points acquired.} What!?
The molting begins.
Because of that, my body's movements falter for just an instant.
A monster's fireball scores a direct hit.
Damn.
That hurt.
But I tanked it.
It was just a small fry's fireball, so at least there's that.
My HP took a big chunk of damage, but it's not lethal.
Who would've thought the level-up molting that's been helping me until now would end up causing me to take a hit?
The timing was awful.
I race along the ceiling, occasionally touching down before scrambling right back up again.
I repeat this over and over.
My three-dimensional movement skill, which has been quietly leveling up, comes in handy.
Thanks to my Status growth, I can move along the ceiling even more smoothly than when I fought the eels.
It's still much slower compared to the ground, but dodging small-fry fireballs is a breeze.
The problem is the three eels and the fire dragon's attacks.
I absolutely cannot afford to get hit by any of those four.
A single hit could very well be the end.
For now, I'll focus entirely on dodging and buy time.
As long as I can buy time, victory is mine.
One of the eels arches back dramatically.
A flame breath is incoming.
But I won't let that happen.
I activate Heterodox Magic.
Heterodox Magic Level 5 — Hypnosis.
The eel that had been about to unleash a flame breath at me switches targets and fires it at the adjacent eel instead.
It doesn't do any damage since the eels have heat immunity, but it disrupts their movements.
Hypnosis is a spell that temporarily forces the target to obey the caster's commands.
Against monsters at the eel's level, I can only control them for a split second, but even that's enough to redirect an attack.
However, it requires a fairly complex spell structure to activate, and it drains a massive amount of MP scaled to the target's resistance.
Without Grimoire's Pinnacle, there's no way I could activate this mid-battle.
Besides, it only works for a split second against the eels. It has no effect on the fire dragon.
I'll just have to give up on the fire dragon's attacks and dodge them all.
I flee along the ceiling.
Fireballs give chase.
We play this game of cat and mouse endlessly.
Because I've been fighting on the run, I've drifted far from where I started.
But this game of cat and mouse is about to end.
The small-fry monsters are dropping out one by one.
They can't endure the Poison Magic Level 6 — Poison Mist that I've been continuously casting this whole time.
As the name suggests, Poison Mist generates a mist laced with poison.
The poison created by Poison Synthesis loses its toxicity the instant it evaporates.
Poison Mist covers that weakness, spreading poison across a wide area — that's the spell.
The effect is incomparably weaker than something like Spider's Deadly Venom.
But if you breathe air containing that mist long enough, your body will gradually be corroded by the poison.
Given enough time, even monsters will eventually succumb.
{Experience Points have reached a threshold. Individual Zoa Ele has risen from LV9 to LV10.} {All base stats have increased.} {Skill Proficiency Level-Up Bonus acquired.} {Proficiency has reached a threshold. Skill "Poison Magic LV6" has become "Poison Magic LV7".} {Proficiency has reached a threshold. Skill "Poison Enhancement LV6" has become "Poison Enhancement LV7".} {Skill Points acquired.} {Conditions met. Title "Dragon Slayer" acquired.} {Due to the effects of Title "Dragon Slayer," Skills "Life LV1" and "Dragon Power LV1" have been acquired.} {"Life LV1" has been integrated into "Vital Force LV1".} Now, all that's left is the fire dragon — weakened from being watched by the evil eye the whole time — and three eels.
How should I go about finishing them off?