So, how am I going to take down that Earth Dragon?
Actually, can I even take it down?
It's a defense-specialized monster through and through.
My own stats are pretty lopsided too, but that thing has skills that are massively skewed toward defense on top of all that.
First, it has the dragon's default skill, Scale Counter, which grants high defensive power and the ability to interfere with magic.
On top of that, it has Hard Carapace and Steel Body to further stack on defensive power.
Both are always-active skills that simply increase defensive power.
Because of these skills, its already impressive defense is polished to an even higher level.
And then there's the various resistance skills.
I have zero interest in taking damage.
The most troublesome resistance in particular is Status Ailment Immunity.
It's an evolved version of the Status Ailment Resistance skill that the Fire Dragon also had.
For someone like me who relies primarily on status ailment attacks, this is the worst possible matchup.
As a result, poison, paralysis, and curses don't work at all.
Apparently, curses fall under the category of status ailments too.
Because of that, my Evil Eye abilities are practically useless.
Beyond that, the fact that poison doesn't work is a serious blow.
I've been relying on poison ever since I was born, after all.
Having that taken away is a real shock.
I've been making prey of creatures that had resistances up until now, but in this case, the opponent's defensive power is simply higher.
It's not that damage doesn't get through at all, but it gets healed right back up by its HP High-Speed Recovery.
Status ailments don't work.
And if you're wondering whether physical attacks work instead—forget it.
Even my Corrosion Attack only scratched it, so if I tried to handle it with physical attacks alone, I'd probably need a body on the level of Mother's.
And even then, it's terrifying that I don't know whether I could actually break through that defense.
Even if I did break through and dealt damage, it would just slowly recover thanks to HP High-Speed Recovery.
Tough defense and recovery on top of it—what a cheat.
That means Heavy Attack isn't very useful either.
If neither physical nor status ailments work, then magic is the only option.
Fortunately, there's no resistance to the Dark element that I specialize in.
But in a battle of attrition, it could very well tank my attacks with its high recovery and natural defense.
And if that happens, it might gain resistances mid-fight, flipping the balance between my damage and its recovery.
If that happens, it's game over.
Spatial Magic doesn't have any offensive options.
Dimension Magic, its evolved form, does have some, but it's hard to use at the right moment, so I'd rather not rely on it.
Heterodox Magic is out of the question.
If I used something like Soul Destruction, I'd be completely undermining my own purpose.
Why on earth did D include something like that in the system?
Well, I can more or less understand the reason, but it really makes you question her sanity.
Actually, now that I think about it, the idea of D being sane in the first place is pretty laughable.
She's the kind of existence that seems crazy herself.
Anyway, let's put D aside for now.
Also, if I fire off too many magic attacks, it might gain resistances to them too, so I should assume that half-measures would backfire.
In that case, the most reliable approach would be to hit it with one big finishing move.
Abyss Magic is my only option.
With my current arsenal, it's the only thing that might work.
The problem is how to activate it.
I can't cast Abyss Magic by myself.
I need the power of Parallel Mind.
This time I've decided to recall just one, so activation is technically possible.
But that one would be completely tied up with the casting preparation, unable to provide any other support.
Which means, until the spell is ready, I'll have to face that thing all on my own.
Earth Dragon Kaguna's attacks are straightforward.
Up close, it crushes you physically with its massive body. From a distance, it obliterates you with its breath.
That's all there is to it.
But despite being that simple, it's terrifyingly strong.
The power of its breath is no joke.
It's even more devastating than the Fire Dragon's.
The only saving grace is its low Accuracy skill, but when it fires off a wide-area breath attack, that barely matters.
Its physical abilities are also high.
Simply being huge is a threat in and of itself.
And when that huge thing comes barreling toward you without hesitation, it's absolutely terrifying.
And to make things worse, its speed isn't slow either—somehow it still exceeds 1000, making it far faster than ordinary monsters.
Well, at my speed I could dodge, but one clean hit would probably be the end of me.
And in the midst of all that tension, I have to finish casting Abyss Magic?
What a nightmare.
Abyss Magic, due to the complexity of its spell construction, can't be conveniently pre-made and stored.
If I gathered all my Parallel Minds, I might be able to, but right now I can't bring them all together.
In the end, I have no choice but to build the spell mid-combat and fire it off on the spot.
Difficult.
But not impossible.
After all, I have Universal Thread—a skill that's perfect for holding something in place.
I'll use Universal Thread to its fullest to pin down the Earth Dragon, buy time to prepare the Abyss Magic, and fire it off the moment it's complete.
I can do this.
Heh heh heh.
Just you wait, Earth Dragon Kaguna.
Your days are numbered.
I ventured into the Lower Layer with high spirits.
And there, at last, I found the Earth Dragon I'd been dreaming of.
『Earth Dragon Geele LV24 HP: 3556/3556 (Green) MP: 2991/2991 (Blue) SP: 4067/4067 (Yellow) : 3562/3845 (Red) Average Attack: 3433 (Details) Average Defense: 3874 (Details) Average Magic: 1343 (Details) Average Resistance: 3396 (Details) Average Speed: 4122 (Details) Skills "Earth Dragon LV2" "Scale Counter LV6" "Hard Carapace LV2" "Steel Body LV2" "HP High-Speed Recovery LV3" "MP Recovery Speed LV1" "MP Consumption Reduction LV1" "Magic Power Perception LV3" "Magic Power Operation LV3" "Magic Power Strike LV1" "SP High-Speed Recovery LV3" "SP Consumption Reduction (Major) LV3" "Earth Attack LV8" "Earth Enhancement LV8" "Destruction Enhancement LV9" "Slashing Enhancement (Major) LV8" "Piercing Enhancement (Major) LV4" "Blunt Enhancement (Major) LV8" "Spatial Movement LV5" "Accuracy LV10" "Evasion LV10" "Probability Correction LV7" "Danger Perception LV10" "Presence Perception LV8" "Heat Perception LV7" "Motion Perception LV8" "Earth Magic LV2" "Destruction Resistance LV4" "Slashing Resistance LV8" "Piercing Resistance LV8" "Blunt Resistance LV9" "Impact Resistance LV5" "Earth Nullification" "Lightning Resistance LV3" "Status Ailment Immunity LV3" "Corrosion Resistance LV1" "Pain Nullification" "Pain Reduction LV7" "Dark Vision LV10" "Visual Range Expansion LV5" "Vision Enhancement LV7" "Hearing Enhancement LV5" "Smell Enhancement LV4" "Touch Enhancement LV3" "Vitality LV9" "Magic Reserve LV1" "Celestial Movement LV2" "Fortune of Heaven LV1" "Brute Force LV8" "Toughness LV9" "Taoist LV1" "Talisman LV8" "Idaten LV3"
Skill Points: 31000 Titles "Monster Slayer" "Monster Slaughterer" "Dragon" "Conqueror"』
Apparently together with yet another Earth Dragon.