Is it Wrong to be a Monster in a Dungeon?

by Link The Hero of Light

I've been reborn in a magical world...as a dragon! How am I supposed to survive in this big, scary dungeon? I have to figure out the rules to this QUICK, or I'll have to kiss my second life goodbye!

7. I'm going outside!

I eat.

And eat.

And eat.

I'm no longer making any effort to hide it.

I bite down heartily and suck up the insides.

So that I can eat it all up.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Satiation LV 3] has become [Satiation LV 4].

I went on a rampage in the Lower Stratum.

Weak monsters, strong monsters, I hunted them down equally.

In the process, I had an unexpected reunion.

Earth dragon Kagna.

The second earth dragon I met in the Lower Stratum.

Huh? You wanna know if I fought it?

Buddy, take a look at its stats and then try asking me that again.

Earth Dragon Kagna (Danger Rank S)

Status

HP: 4,198/4,198 (green)

SP: 2,798/2,798 (yellow) : 2,995/3,112 (red)

MP: 3,339/3,654 (blue)

Skills:

[Earth Dragon LV 2]

[Imperial Scales LV 9]

[Hard Armor LV 8]

[Steel Body LV 8]

[HP Rapid Recovery LV 6]

[MP Recovery Speed LV 2]

[MP Lessened Consumption LV 2]

[Magic Power Perception LV 3]

[Magic Power Operation LV 3]

[SP Recovery Speed LV 1]

[SP Lessened Consumption LV 1]

[Terrain Enhancement LV 8]

[Destruction Enhancement LV 8]

[Piercing Enhancement LV 6]

[Impact Super-Enhancement LV 5]

[Magic Power Attack LV 1]

[Terrain Attack LV 9]

[Hit LV 3]

[Danger Perception LV 10]

[Heat Perception LV 6]

[Earth Magic LV 2]

[Destruction Resistance LV 9]

[Cutting Super-Resistance LV 2]

[Piercing Super-Resistance LV 3]

[Impact Super-Resistance LV 6]

[Shock Super-Resistance LV 4]

[Terrain Nullification]

[Fire Resistance LV 3]

[Lightning Resistance LV 7]

[Water Resistance LV 3]

[Wind Resistance LV 5]

[Heavy Resistance LV 2]

[Status Condition Super-Resistance LV 8]

[Pain Nullification]

[Pain Super-Mitigation LV 3]

[Vision Enhancement LV 3]

[Night Vision LV 10]

[Vision Expansion LV 4]

[Auditory Enhancement LV 1]

[Ultimate Life LV 2]

[Magic Hoard LV 3]

[Instant Body LV 1]

[Endurance LV 1]

[Herculean Strength LV 9]

[Stronghold LV 2]

[Monk LV 2]

[Sanctum LV 1]

[Acceleration LV 1]

Skill Points: 31,200

Titles:

[Monster Slayer]

[Monster Slaughterer]

[Dragon]

[Champion]

No way in hell!

This thing's defense is way too perfect.

It's basically a walking castle.

To start with, we've got the default dragon skill, Imperial Scales, which grants high defense and magic-canceling power.

Then, throw in Hard Armor and Steel Body for even higher defense.

Both are constantly active skills that simply raise your defense.

And then, there's that huge mess of resistance skills.

I don't think I could put a dent in this thing.

The most annoying of those resistances is Status Condition Super-Resistance.

It's an advanced version of the Status Condition Resistance skill the fire dragon had.

My main weapon is status condition attacks, so this is the worst possible scenario for me.

And it's level 8, so pretty much no status condition is gonna work.

Poison, Paralysis, Curse, the whole shebang.

Oh yeah, apparently curses are categorized as status conditions.

Which means most of my Evil Eye skills won't do anything, either.

For the first time, my opponent's defense is just too damn high.

It's not like I wouldn't be able to do any damage at all, but whatever I do manage would be healed up by HP Rapid Recovery in the blink of an eye.

Status conditions won't work.

So what about physical attacks? Well, that's even less likely.

My meager attack power could never break through that fortresslike defense.

Even if I managed to break through its defense that way and do some damage, it'd still heal pretty quickly thanks to HP Rapid Recovery.

It seems pretty unfair for something with that high defense to also have a recovery skill.

Thanks to that, attacks from my Heavy Evil Eye won't mean much, either.

If physical attacks and status conditions won't work, then magic is my only option.

I guess I should count myself lucky that it doesn't have a resistance for my best kind of magic, Dark.

But if I try to shave it down with that, its recovery and high defense might help it survive.

In which case, it might acquire the resistance skill partway through the battle, and its recovery could even start to outweigh the damage again.

If that happened, that'd be the end of it.

But, well, my magic stats are pretty crazy high, so I do think I could wear it all the way down.

The problem is, it could end up destroying me before I finish the job.

Looking at its skills, I'm guessing that Kagna's strategy is to use the brute strength of its enormous body.

It does have the breath attack from the Earth Dragon skill and some low-level Earth Magic, but other than that, it doesn't seem to have any major attack-based skills.

You could even say that those are its only long-distance attack options.

But wait! Don't be so hasty.

Because it's so giant, its body itself is basically one big weapon.

I mean, picture it.

A huge dragon charging at tiny little me, wanting to crush me underfoot.

Yikes.

This is all assuming there's only one opponent.

Earth Dragon Gehre (Danger Level S)

Status:

HP: 3,556/3,556 (green)

SP: 4,067/4,067 (yellow): 3,562/3,845 (red)

MP: 2,991/2,991 (blue)

Skills:

[Earth Dragon LV 2]

[Imperial Scales LV 6]

[Hard Armor LV 2]

[Steel Body LV 2]

[HP Rapid Recovery LV 3]

[MP Recovery Speed LV 1]

[MP Lessened Consumption LV 1]

[Magic Power Perception LV 3]

[Magic Power Operation LV 3]

[SP Rapid Recovery LV 3]

[SP Minimized Consumption LV 3]

[Terrain Enhancement LV 8]

[Destruction Enhancement LV 9]

[Cutting Super-Enhancement LV 8]

[Piercing Super-Enhancement LV 4]

[Impact Super-Enhancement LV 8]

[Magic Attack LV 1]

[Terrain Attack LV 8]

[Dimensional Maneuvering LV 5]

[Hit LV 10]

[Evasion LV 10]

[Probability Correction LV 7]

[Danger Perception LV 8]

[Presence Perception LV 10]

[Heat Perception LV 7]

[Motion Perception LV 8]

[Earth Magic LV 2]

[Destruction Resistance LV 4]

[Cutting Resistance LV 8]

[Piercing Resistance LV 8]

[Impact Resistance LV 9]

[Shock Resistance LV 5]

[Terrain Nullification]

[Lightning Resistance LV 3]

[Status Condition Super-Resistance LV 3]

[Pain Nullification]

[Pain Mitigation LV 7]

[Vision Enhancement LV 7]

[Night Vision LV 10]

[Vision Expansion LV 5]

[Auditory Enhancement LV 5]

[Olfactory Enhancement LV 4]

[Taste Enhancement LV 3]

[Longevity LV 9]

[Magic Hoard LV 1]

[Ultimate Movement LV 2]

[Fortune LV 1]

[Herculean Strength LV 8]

[Sturdy LV 9]

[Monk LV 1]

[Talisman LV 8]

[Escape LV 3]

Skill Points: 31,000

Titles:

[Monster Slayer]

[Monster Slaughterer]

[Dragon]

[Champion]

So, like, Kagna was, oh, I dunno, with another dragon.

Seriously, what the hell?

Unreal.

Who does that?

Of course I immediately ran away with Teleport.

I had no other choice, obviously.

I mean, how was I supposed to win that?

As if Kagna the walking fortress wasn't enough, Gehre's Dimensional Maneuvering skill solidified it as a speed type.

They might as well be carrying a sign that says DO YOU WANT TO DIE?

No waaay.

Earth dragon Gehre was a pretty sleek-looking creature, similar to Glaurung.

It was huge, sure, but unlike the stout build of Kagna, it had a sharp, fast-looking form.

As a bonus, its high perception and Evasion skills mean it would probably be really freaking hard to hit.

Gehre has pretty high defense, too.

Not as high as Kagna, of course, but it's got support skills, and lots of resistances, with HP Rapid Recovery to boot.

So even if I did manage to hit it, it probably wouldn't be hurt very much.

What kinda sick joke is this?

And that physical attack power is nothing to sneeze at, either.

Especially those blade things on its front legs.

I get the feeling I'd be sliced in two if it hit me with one of those.

Zipping around at high speed and swinging those blades…yeesh.

And of course, it's got the standard built-in breath attack.

Still, its defense isn't as high as Kagna, so I do think my attacks would connect if I managed to hit it.

Its speed is high and all, but I'm no slouch, either, and I've got higher Evasion and Hit power.

If I'm smart with my strategies, I could probably beat it in a fight.

If it was on its own, that is.

With both of them, Kagna could block all my attacks while Gehre goes on the offensive.

A pair that covers for each other's weaknesses, like an invincible spear and shield combo.

They'd be difficult enough one-on-one, but both at once in such an ideal combination? Forget about it.

Anyway, I marked 'em both, so I'll wait for them to split up before I make a move.

Marking is one of the effects of Solomon. It lets me mark targets on my map.

As long as they're marked, I can find their whereabouts no matter where they go.

Although if it's somewhere I don't know, the information is vague, like "somewhere around here."

My map of the Lower Stratum isn't filled up yet, but Kagna's and Gehre's markers stick together like glue.

It doesn't look like they'll be splitting up anytime soon.

Also, when I mark something, I can check its status whenever I want.

So if I keep an eye on that, I can teleport in and attack if I catch them at a weak moment.

Not that I'd imagine a pair of earth dragons to have "weak moments" very often.

By the way, turns out it's impossible to prepare a spell beforehand, teleport, and then immediately release the spell on a target in front of you.

Even if you construct the spell beforehand, it falls apart as soon as you teleport.

It's because of the nature of Teleport, not the user's skill at constructing spells, so there's nothing I can do about that.

Anyway, until those guys split up, I'll go level up somewhere else.

There should still be at least one other earth dragon in the Lower Stratum, so maybe I can take care of that first.

Revenge on Glaurung, for example.

Thinking back, Glaurung is the whole reason I'm scared of earth dragons to begin with.

It might not be bad to banish that trauma by beating it.

One-on-one, I think I could probably beat Kagna or Gehre.

In which case, since Glaurung seems to be a loner, couldn't I beat it, too?

Hmm. Not a bad idea.

Anyway, it'd be dangerous to jump into battle without any preparation, so first I'd like to get a look at its stats.

Judging by Kagna and Gehre, earth dragons aren't the kind of opponent you should just jump in and fight without a plan.

Besides, if I remember correctly, Glaurung was a higher level than Kagna.

I have to gather some data and come up with a strategy.

Which brings us to the present, back in the Lower Stratum.

I'm currently located near that memorable spot where I first fell down here from the Upper Stratum.

I could've just teleported directly to the bottom of the pit, but it'd be scary to run right into Glaurung if it's there, so I went for a place a little ways away.

As it turns out, that was a good call.

Basilisk (Danger Level S)

Status:

HP: 3,994/3,994 (green)

SP: 3,926/3,926 (yellow) : 3,958/3,958 (red)

MP: 3,011/3,011 (blue)

Skills:

[Imperial Scales LV 7]

[HP Rapid Recovery LV 4]

[MP Rapid Recovery LV 3]

[MP Minimized Consumption LV 3]

[Magic Power Perception LV 7]

[Magic Power Operation LV 7]

[SP Rapid Recovery LV 4]

[SP Minimized Consumption LV 4]

[Status Condition Super-Enhancement LV 8]

[Strong Acid Enhancement LV 7]

[Heavy Super-Enhancement LV 6]

[Destruction Enhancement LV 9]

[Piercing Super-Enhancement LV 4]

[Impact Super-Enhancement LV 10]

[Shock Super-Enhancement LV 10]

[Magic Power Attack LV 7]

[Deadly Poison Attack LV 10]

[Paralysis Attack LV 6]

[Strong Acid Attack LV 8]

[Heavy Super-Attack LV 8]

[Dimensional Maneuvering LV 1]

[Stealth LV 10]

[Camouflage LV 8]

[Silence LV 10]

[Odorless LV 7]

[Hit LV 10]

[Evasion LV 10]

[Probability Correction LV 8]

[Danger Perception LV 10]

[Presence Perception LV 8]

[Heat Perception LV 10]

[Motion Perception LV 10]

[Heavy Magic LV 5]

[Shadow Magic LV 4]

[Destruction Resistance LV 6]

[Cutting Resistance LV 9]

[Piercing Resistance LV 9]

[Impact Resistance LV 9]

[Shock Resistance LV 5]

[Earth Resistance LV 8]

[Dark Resistance LV 1]

[Status Condition Super-Resistance LV 9]

[Pain Nullification]

[Pain Mitigation LV 9]

[Vision Enhancement LV 7]

[Night Vision LV 10]

[Vision Expansion LV 7]

[Auditory Enhancement LV 5]

[Olfactory Enhancement LV 4]

[Taste Enhancement LV 3]

[Longevity LV 9]

[Magic Hoard LV 1]

[Ultimate Movement LV 2]

[Fortune LV 1]

[Herculean Strength LV 8]

[Sturdy LV 9]

[Monk LV 1]

[Talisman LV 8]

[Evasion LV 3]

Skill Points: 37,000

Titles:

[Monster Slayer]

[Assassin]

[Monster Slaughterer]

[Champion]

This guy looks like serious trouble.

I'm in one of the extra-wide passages in the Lower Stratum, but this thing's huge, long body makes it look tiny and cramped. It's an enormous snake monster, easily a dozen feet long.

It slides along unbelievably smoothly, considering how huge it is, without a single sound thanks to its Silence skill.

Oh, great.

This thing's worse than Kagna or Gehre.

I'd definitely die if I tried to fight this thing. No, thank you.

Actually, I mean, I don't think I would necessarily NOT be able to do it, but my odds of winning are probably around half at best.

I watch from just within Appraisal distance as the snake slithers away.

It's heading for the pit I was about to go toward.

It'd be bad news if I followed it and ended up getting into a battle, so I think I'll give up on the Glaurung recon mission for now.

I guess there are still monsters beyond my imagination here in the Lower Stratum. It was good to be reminded of that, probably.

Once it's been long enough since the snake passed by, I'll activate Teleport and go back home.

Even for me and my Height of Occultism skill, it takes a little while to use Teleport.

That thing had tons of perception-type skills, so I'm just gonna wait until it's definitely far enough away that it won't pick up on me using magic.

Boom!

I kinda hear, like…battle sounds?

Slowly peering in the direction the giant snake went, I can see it fighting something verrry far away.

This is the perfect time to use Telescopic Sight!

The image of the giant snake's desperate battle expands to fill my vision.

Then I catch my breath.

It's a dragon.

Darting around, manipulating the earth…an earth dragon.

The snake's body undulates at an unexpected speed for its huge size.

It uses its giant weight and the pull of gravity to slam into its opponent with frightening force.

But the dragon dodges it easily, slipping across the ground and the air alike.

Spears of earth burst up from the ground, wounding the snake.

Its high defense prevented them from penetrating its skin, but they're still definitely doing damage.

The snake tries to dodge the spears, but they burst out of the ground wherever it touches. With its giant body, it's impossible to avoid them all.

The only way to avoid the attacks of this earth-controlling dragon would be to flee into the air.

But just as I think that, rocks fall from the ceiling.

This is a labyrinth, after all. We're surrounded by earth on all sides, and to this dragon, all of it serves as a potential weapon.

Then the earth dragon uses itself as a weapon, too, charging at the snake.

Those fangs, those claws, and that tail as sharp as a sword.

The serpent is overwhelmed, completely at the mercy of the dragon.

Watching this scene unfold, to me, is beautiful.

That dragon is even stronger than I imagined.

There have been many times when I've thought I couldn't possibly win.

The Black Dragon, T.

However, although I was frightened by their strength, I never yearned for it.

Right now, I am truly yearning for that dragon's power.

I want to surpass it, even.

Even I don't know where this urge is coming from.

But for some reason, I feel like I need to fight it.

I'm not strong enough just yet.

But it's not a height that's beyond my reach.

So I'll keep leveling up and rise to the challenge.

The giant snake gets hit with a breath attack and falls to the ground.

Remembering the fear I felt at that time, my body trembles again.

But it's not just fear this time. Part of me is trembling with excitement.

The dragon tramples on the corpse of the snake.

I burn that powerful image into my brain before teleporting away.

I want to carve it into my brain until the day I finally challenge it.

The creature I have to surpass.

The source of my trauma.

The earth dragon Glaurung.

---

Dragon shock!

I know it sounds ridiculous, but I'm totally in post-dragon shock.

Once I got back home, the terror sank in, and it took me a whole half a day to recover.

Seeing two earth dragons together when they're already strong on their own…yeah, that had some impact, but I was still fine.

But earth dragon Glaurung is another story.

How am I ever gonna fight that?

That giant snake, which I already thought was too strong for me, got totally crushed with virtually no effort when it fought Glaurung.

What's so scary about that? All of it.

The effortless movements that easily dodged all of the serpent's attacks.

Sure, those movements were pretty fast, but even more dangerously, they were precise.

It enacted the optimal evasive action at every given moment, smoothly incorporating its skills along the way.

Unlike the way I bulldoze through everything with the sheer power of my skills, this was more like watching a martial arts master who's honed his movements for many years.

Those magnificent moves had nothing to do with skills or stats. It was pure artistry.

On the flip side, there was the nasty attack method that worked in time with those movements.

Attacking at the same time as dodging.

Not only that, but on top of the flawless "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" strategy, there was the nightmarish assault of magic chasing the opponent down at the same time.

Isn't it kind of unfair to use Earth Magic inside a labyrinth?

A labyrinth has earthen walls and ceilings, not to mention the ground, you know?

If all that was weaponized and came after you all at once, there's no way you could dodge it.

Since I have Foresight, I might be able to get by, but I'm not confident I would last very long.

So attacks that come from all sides and leave you no place to run, coupled with flawless evasion based on sheer technique.

Most importantly, there's Glaurung's own judgment, which commands all that power.

Not to mention, I have no way of telling, since the snake never landed a single attack, but because it's an earth dragon, I'm sure its defensive power is ridiculous.

There's not a single weakness to be found.

How am I supposed to beat that?

I just can't picture myself winning a fair fight against that thing.

Hmm.

In that case, maybe I should come up with a way to make it an unfair fight?

I continued leveling up for several days in the Lower Stratum as I tried to think up strategies to beat Glaurung.

Right now, I'm in my home, lying in wait.

A group of monsters my Detection picked up on is heading directly this way.

Considering most Upper Stratum monsters run away as soon as they see me, it's very unusual for some to be approaching me.

They're clearly coming this way on purpose, targeting me.

But I suppose I know why.

And I know exactly what they are, too.

The group appears.

Leading the way is an incredibly huge monster.

Arch Wyvern (Danger Level S)

Status:

HP: 4,466/4,466 (green) +1,400

SP: 4,267/4,267 (yellow) : 4,262/4,262 (red) +1,288

MP: 3,182/3,182 (blue) +1,400

Skills:

[Imperial Scales LV 1]

[HP Rapid Recovery LV 5]

[MP Recovery Speed LV 7]

[MP Lessened Consumption LV 7]

[Magic Power Perception LV 7]

[Magic Power Operation LV 7]

[SP Rapid Recovery LV 2]

[SP Minimized Consumption LV 2]

[Status Condition Super-Enhancement LV 3]

[Destruction Super-Enhancement LV 2]

[Cutting Super-Enhancement LV 4]

[Piercing Super-Enhancement LV 8]

[Impact Super-Enhancement LV 3]

[Shock Super-Enhancement LV 1]

[Magic Power Attack LV 6]

[Magic Warfare LV 4]

[Mental Warfare LV 7]

[Deadly Poison Attack LV 10]

[Poison Synthesis LV 5]

[Telekinesis LV 2]

[Dimensional Maneuvering LV 8]

[Hit LV 10]

[Evasion LV 10]

[Probability Super-Correction LV 2]

[Danger Perception LV 10]

Presence Perception LV 10]

[Motion Perception LV 10]

[Destruction Super-Resistance LV 1]

[Cutting Super-Resistance LV 2]

[Piercing Super-Resistance LV 2]

[Impact Super-Resistance LV 4]

[Shock Resistance LV 9]

[Status Condition Super-Resistance LV 8]

[Heresy Resistance LV 5]

[Pain Nullification]

[Pain Super-Mitigation LV 2]

[Vision Enhancement LV 10]

[Clairvoyance LV 2]

[Night Vision LV 10]

[Vision Expansion LV 7]

[Auditory Enhancement LV 7]

[Olfactory Enhancement LV 2]

[Tactile Enhancement LV 7]

[Ultimate Life LV 2]

[Magic Hoard LV 8]

[Ultimate Movement LV 1]

[Fortune LV 1]

[Fortitude LV 2]

[Stronghold LV 2]

[Monk LV 7]

[Talisman LV 8]

[Escape LV 1]

[Satiation LV 4]

Skill Points: 34,500

Titles:

[Foul Feeder]

[Kin Eater]

[Monster Slayer]

[Poison Technique User]

[Monster Slaughterer]

[Monster Calamity]

[Human Slayer]

[Champion]

So strong?!

Why does this Wyvern have higher stats than an earth dragon?!

Okay, well…yeah.

I guess I was expecting this.

This thing looks like a pale, smaller version of the Black Dragon. It's probably just one step away from becoming another one, so of course it's not gonna be weak.

That's right.

The group of monsters coming to attack me are Wyverns, just like me.

Behind the Arch Wyvern, there are three Greater Wyverns, which are about a size smaller than their leader.

Greater Wyvern (Danger Level B)

Status:

HP: 2,845/2,845 (green) +189

SP: 2,833/2,833 (yellow) : 2,839/2,839 (red) +786

MP: 2,101/2,101 (blue)

Skills:

[Dragon Scales LV 8]

[HP Rapid Recovery LV 1]

[MP Recovery Speed LV 2]

[MP Lessened Consumption LV 1]

[Magic Power Perception LV 6]

[Magic Power Operation LV 5]

[SP Rapid Recovery LV 1]

[SP Minimized Consumption LV 1]

[Destruction Enhancement LV 8]

[Cutting Enhancement LV 8]

[Piercing Super-Enhancement LV 1]

[Impact Enhancement LV 5]

[Status Condition Enhancement LV 9]

[Mental Warfare LV 4]

[Deadly Poison Attack LV 5]

[Poison Synthesis LV 2]

[Dimensional Maneuvering LV 2]

[Hit LV 10]

[Evasion LV 10]

[Probability Correction LV 5]

[Danger Perception LV 10]

[Presence Perception LV 10]

[Motion Perception LV 10]

[Poison Magic LV 8]

[Destruction Resistance LV 6]

[Cutting Resistance LV 6]

[Piercing Resistance LV 8]

[Impact Resistance LV 9]

[Shock Resistance LV 5]

[Status Condition Resistance LV 8]

[Heresy Resistance LV 1]

[Pain Nullification]

[Pain Mitigation LV 8]

[Vision Enhancement LV 10]

[Telescopic Sight LV 7]

[Night Vision LV 10]

[Vision Expansion LV 5]

[Auditory Enhancement LV 4]

[Olfactory Enhancement LV 4]

[Longevity LV 6]

[Magic Hoard LV 2]

[Instant Body LV 6]

[Endurance LV 6]

[Herculean Strength LV 6]

[Sturdy LV 6]

[Monk LV 1]

[Talisman LV 2]

[Acceleration LV 6]

[Overeating LV 9]

Skill Points: 29,500

Titles:

[Foul Feeder]

[Kin Eater]

[Monster Slayer]

[Poison Technique User]

[Monster Slaughterer]

This one's probably the strongest of the greater ones.

Sure, after seeing the arch's status, this seems like no biggie by comparison, but it's still rather strong.

If they fought one-on-one, the fire dragon would probably have the advantage because of the fire weakness, but overall, I'd say their power's on roughly the same level.

And the other two are similar in stats, so basically, I've got four dragon-class monsters on my hands.

On top of that, they've got a ton of small wyverns and some adult wyverns milling around, too.

Ah, and even a few of the rare Poison variety.

Ooh, there's a few infant dragons, too! Now, that takes me back.

They're sooo weak.

I feel like just a light push would be enough to kill them.

Gazing off into the distance, I think about how far I've come from being one of those.

Oh, right.

Sorry, I got sidetracked for a second there, since I wasn't really expecting this big of a crowd.

But I did know this would happen.

That a bunch of Wyverns would come to attack me eventually.

Why?

Because I've been picking a fight with their boss.

It all started when I was fighting the fire dragon and was surprised to find myself thinking of it as "irritating."

Basically, I was being controlled.

To be more exact, it was more like the preliminary stages of control, or like I was unconsciously being fed thoughts that weren't my own.

Apparently, since the Black Dragon is a "king" and all, he has a skill that lets him control his troops.

And so, I started to feel the effects of that skill, if only a little.

As it turns out, he doesn't control all his troops, just the ones that reach a certain level of strength. And I guess I crossed that line somewhere along the way.

I think the reasons he couldn't completely control me are my high resistance stats and the fact that I have Heresy Nullification, probably.

Honestly, I would never have noticed if it weren't for the weird feeling I got while I was fighting the fire dragon, and I had no awareness that I was resisting it.

Those are just my best guesses.

Anyway, basically, he was trying to manipulate me.

So obviously he's not just gonna sit there and take my rebellion.

Which means that he's dispatched something like assassins to take me down.

If he showed up in person, I'd definitely lose.

That's why I built my home in a space between the Middle and Upper Stratums where The Black Dragon can't enter.

He's strong enough to stomp a fire dragon without even thinking about it, but because he's so huge, he can't enter such a small area.

The Arch Wyvern that's before my eyes right now is damn big, too, but apparently, it can barely squeeze through this passage somehow.

Now then, we've got a huge Wyvern army here, with four dragon-class hotshots in the lead.

From the outside, you'd probably assume I'm in hot water.

But think about it. If I knew these guys were coming, do you really think I'd just sit here waiting without making any preparations?

These guys are Wyverns.

And I'm a Wyvern, too.

So of course I'm not gonna sit here and not set up any traps!

The Arch Wyvern slowly shifts into action.

I predict its movements with Foresight.

Then dodge.

The arch's fangs pass right through the spot where I was a millisecond ago.

Yikes!

So fast?!

Well, I guess this is the monster with the highest speed stat I've ever Appraised.

Plus, its Hit is maxed out, and Probability Super-Correction is at level 2.

Without my quadruple combo of Thought Acceleration, Foresight, Evasion, and Probability Correction, those fangs probably would've gone right through me.

Damn, that's scary.

But no matter how fast it might be, it's still slower than me.

Even with the arch using Magic Warfare and Mental Warfare to increase all its stats, I'm still much faster.

Plus, my Magic and Mental Warfare skill levels are higher anyway.

In fact, my Magic Warfare has even evolved into Magic Divinity.

Magic Divinity is a way more powerful version of Magic Warfare, of course.

On top of having a stronger effect than its weaker version, it even increases the rate at which magic stats go up.

Thanks to that, my already ridiculously high magic-related stats are now at truly unfathomable levels.

Heh-heh-heh.

The arch's physical power is a threat, sure, but not if it can't even hit me.

As I dodge it, I see the greater wyvern starting to move out of the corner of my eye.

Ah, I guess I should probably take this more seriously.

Knowing that the traps I set up all but guarantee my victory, it's a little hard to feel any tension.

Plus, I've gotten strong enough at this point that I no longer have to worry about getting obliterated if a single attack hits me.

My raw physical stats are already high now, and I've got Magic Divinity, Mental Warfare, and Dragon Power all pushing them even higher, sooo…

If I really wanted to, I could make them even higher with the Wrath skill I picked up, but that seems like a little much, y'know?

I mean, the Wrath skill increases my physical stats by a huge amount.

How huge, you ask? Well, at skill level 1, it already raises them just about as much as my level-9 Mental Warfare skill does.

And it doesn't even consume MP or SP.

However, when I use it, I automatically take on the status condition Madness.

Thanks to Heresy Nullification, Madness doesn't totally take over me or anything, but I still don't really want to use it ever again.

I wonder if I could be both a magical and physical type?

Anyway, taking Perseverance into account, my real HP easily surpasses 10,000.

Nothing could possibly destroy all that with one blow, or at least, I'd like to think so.

Anyway, this arch definitely can't.

Its strongest attack has to be Deadly Poison Attack level 10.

But like I said, I have Teleport, so I can get away easily enough.

Sure, physical attacks from a giant monster like that are scary, but since I've got the upper hand in speed, it's not even gonna graze me.

Other than that, the only real threat is if a big group attacks me all at once, but I've got my traps to take care of that.

Now, let's test out my new trap, "Welcome to the Sauna."

The arch wyvern is stepping into it right now.

But this is just the beginning.

The arch's weapon of choice is Poison Magic, one of my own favorites.

Depending on the situation, it could even become a fixed turret.

Although in my case, my poison resistance is high enough that it wouldn't do much damage anyway, so it's no big deal.

In a normal fight, yeah, a dragon-class monster is horrifying.

But this time, it messed with the wrong opponent.

After all, I know most of this thing's attack patterns already.

Think about it.

Think of all the strategies I've cultivated over time.

It's only natural that our strategies would overlap.

"I already know your every move before you do it!" Like that kinda thing.

I might have even been able to win in a fair head-to-head battle.

Not that I would bother risking something that dangerous.

I brush against the arch, rendered immobile by Evil Eye.

Then I use Dimensional Magic: Range Teleport.

This is a trap I came up with to use against Glaurung.

Ultimately, I decided it wouldn't work on a dragon's high resistance and Imperial Scales.

The Arch Wyvern's resistance isn't nearly as high as my magic is powerful.

The arch is teleported along with me.

Our destination: above the magma lake in the Middle Stratum where I fought the fire wyrm.

Welcome to the hot, hot sauna.

Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

How do you like the view of the fiery red-hot magma?!

Must be awful for a wyvern whose weakness is fire!

Even I'm uncomfortably hot!

But this should be much worse for the arch than it is for me.

Below is the ocean of magma, so falling would undoubtedly mean certain death.

I'm small in size, so I can land on one of the little islands scattered about.

But the arch's body is around fifty feet long.

None of the rocks down there is big enough for something so huge to land on.

On top of that, this environment will drain its HP just by being here.

I spent a long time building up my Fire Resistance skill, but the arch doesn't have it at all.

Since it has HP Rapid Recovery, its HP's not really going down, but it's still gotta hurt.

So now its HP Rapid Recovery is essentially useless.

Sure, it's using Dimensional Maneuvering to support its huge body in midair, but now it has to face off with me, a highly disadvantageous opponent, in a field of flames, its biggest weakness.

Talk about a checkmate.

Heh-heh-heh. Regret your foolishness for challenging a clearly superior monster as you perish!

Now, time for the Repellent Evil Eye!

Repellent Evil Eye is the evolved form of Heavy Evil Eye. Now, instead of just dragging an opponent down, I can pull it in any direction I choose.

And not only can I pull—I can also push with it.

If I use this pushing power on the space surrounding me, I can even make a sort of barrier around myself.

Although, since the air and stuff also get pushed away from me, I can't use it that way for very long.

Also, it may have evolved and gained more functions, but its strongest forte is still pushing downward.

So I aim that downward force at the arch and push with all my might.

As if it weren't struggling enough to keep its huge bulk in the air already, now I've added even more gravity.

You can fall if you want, okay?

C'mon, the worst that could happen is that you'll die.

Now then, hurry up and fall so you can serve as EXP for me, please.

The arch wyvern somehow holds out with its Dimensional Maneuvering.

Really? Can't you just fall?

It's not like I'm gonna let you get away.

I use a Black Magic spell, Black Bullet.

Black Magic is the even more evolved form of Dark Magic.

Namely, this one—Black Bullet.

It's the enhanced version of the Dark Magic spell Dark Bullet, and as the name implies, it fires a jet-black ball.

Along with the Dark attribute, it also seems to have the Shock attribute, so it explodes when it hits its target and does extra damage.

By the way, since it's a high-class magic, it's much more powerful than it looks.

The Black Bullet hits the arch and it's HP decreases.

All right, let's wrap this up.

I fire a barrage of Black Bullets without mercy.

Will it fall into the magma first?

Or will it run out of HP first?

What's it gonna be?

The arch is doing its darndest to survive.

Oh yes, it's trying hard.

It withstands my attacks, uses Healing Magic to fix itself up, and even acquires the Dark Resistance skill.

I gotta admit, this thing has guts.

Good effort, buddy.

Now die already, will ya?

My Black Magic reaches level 3 from the constant barrage, so I use the new spell.

This one's called Black Spear.

It's the spear version of Black Bullet, so it also causes Piercing attribute damage.

The Black Spear goes right through the battered body of the arch taratect.

Finally, the giant wyvern, whose stats exceed those of an earth dragon, breathes its last.

My level goes up by 4 all at once.

I peel off my molted skin.

All right, all right. Better collect the corpse before it falls.

I grab the falling arch and teleport back.

Honey, I'm home!

I'll have to enjoy this meal later.

Well, "enjoy" is probably a stretch. It's definitely gonna taste awful.

Yep, that's right. Your captain disappeared with me and came back as a corpse.

I can understand the remaining wyvern's troops' panicked reactions.

Okay, you there, my good pal Greater.

Sorry, I know you're busy being scared stiff right now, but would you like to go to the sauna, too?

One Greater Wyvern, into the sauna!

From there, I simply repeat the same strategy I used on the arch.

The Middle Stratum, which once caused me so many hardships, now serves as the key to my greatest trap yet, eliminating the wyvern troops without mercy.

I finish off all three Greater Wyverns with the same method, then wipe out the rest of the bunch by firing magic at random.

The stats of the adult wyverns and stuff barely crack a thousand.

As I am now, they're nothing but small-fry to me.

Huh? Infant dragons?

They died just from the shock waves of my other attacks, so what?

The arch, the three greaters, the grown wyverns, and miscellaneous extras all go down before you know it.

Between the handful of bigger game and the large number of small-fry, I end up making out with a huge amount of EXP.

Thanks to that, I'm leveling up like crazy over here.

Ba-ha-ha! I can't stop chuckling.

With a nasty trick like this, I can beat all kinds of bigger game without a problem.

Well, I guess I had some extra advantages this time, but still.

It's just like the old saying goes, really.

You can never be too prepared!

---

I'm currently conspiring to defeat Glaurung to rave reviews.

Today, I've returned to the place where I first encountered Glaurung, the bottom of the huge pit with bees buzzing around.

To do what, you ask? Why, to exterminate the bees, of course.

See, I've been thinking. If I set foot on the ground to fight Glaurung, I don't stand a chance.

This isn't a complicated metaphor or anything. I literally mean that if I touch the ground while fighting Glaurung, I'm going to lose.

Because the ground is one of an earth dragon's most basic weapons.

Can you imagine earth spears and junk suddenly popping out of the ground underneath you?

Not only that, but it can also block attacks using walls of earth and stuff like that.

So I decided I wouldn't feel safe unless I stay off the ground.

I know, I know, what are you gonna do then? Well, I'll just stay in the air! Duh.

Lucky for me, I have the Dimensional Maneuvering skill, which lets me run around freely in the air and the flight skill.

I can hold up a respectable air battle.

And what better place to engage in that sort of battle than in the center of a spacious area where I can keep my distance from the walls?

This pit is wide enough that I can keep a decent amount of space between the walls and me, effectively negating the threat of Earth Magic.

It's the perfect place for our fated battle.

However, there's just one little problem.

Yep, you guessed it: those stupid buzzing wasps.

The last thing I need is for these idiots to try to interfere while I'm focused on my battle with Glaurung.

So, with the double purpose of eliminating a nuisance and earning EXP, let's start exterminating some wasps!

JAB!

Uh, ow?!

I've been stabbed?!

In the back, I've been stabbed in the back?!

Excuse me, the starting bell didn't ring yet, asshole!

Ow, ow! Thanks to Pain Mitigation, it actually doesn't hurt that much, but it's bringing back some real traumatic memories of the time I got stabbed like this before and almost died!

I smack the bee on my back and smash it against the ground.

Ugh. What a pain.

Who would've thought a stupid wasp would pull off a surprise attack on me, even with my Detection skill?

Although that being said, my HP barely went down, and it's already healed back up with Auto-Recovery.

Pretty crazy that this almost killed me before, huh?

It opened up a nice big air hole in my back, and since I didn't have HP Auto-Recovery back then, my only chance at survival was leveling up and molting. That brings me back…

JAB!

Again? Seriously?!

Since I have Pain Super-Mitigation, too, now, it hardly hurts at all, but that doesn't make it any less annoying!

It's a pain to keep throwing them around, so I just use Flame Control to cook it alive.

Man, but if it happened twice, it's totally gonna happen a third time, huh?

How are they even getting to my back without setting off my Danger Perception anyway?

Oh, maybe because they're not actually registering as dangerous?

I guess it's not technically doing any real damage, so I'd be hard-pressed to call it "danger."

Ah, in that case, maybe the bees aren't even registering as enemies to me anymore?

I mean, they really are just fodder to me now, so I guess that's not wrong…

JAB!

Cut it out already!

Seriously, this is kinda weird, right?

How can they sneak up on me so easily without even having Stealth or anything?

Sure, I might be kind of an idiot, but this is still weird.

Is there some kind of hidden advantage outside of the regular system at work here?

No, that can't be… Right?

Anyway, damage or no, it's still pissing me off.

So it's time for an impromptu extermination!

I fly through the air.

I fire magic at every bee in sight and use my claws to slice up any that get too close.

Wow. I'm taking them down like nothing.

Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Behold! These wasps are like garbage before me!

Oh? I haven't seen this kind of wasp before.

According to Appraisal, it's called a General Killer Wasp.

Oh-ho-ho. This must be the next rank above the captain wasps.

Looks about as strong as a snake, maybe?

Well, it's no match for me as I am now.

Thinking back, when I first fell into this hole, most of my stats were barely halfway into the double digits.

If this guy had shown up back then, I might've been in trouble.

But tough luck for you, pal! I've advanced light-years beyond the weakling I was before!

Specifically, my stats are about a hundred times stronger!

Seriously, just looking at my stats alone, it's crazy how much stronger I've gotten.

If you take my skills into account, too, it might even be more than a hundred times.

Pretty impressive growth rate, if I do say so myself!

So, I'm sorry to ruin your dramatic entrance and all, but I'm gonna have to shut you down right there, Mr. General.

Oh, wait, here's another one.

I guess I must be getting close to the hive now, huh?

I do see some kinda object up above me.

Actually, it's more of a building than an object, huh?

I guess that makes sense, since the bees that live in it are almost ten feet long.

It's waaay huge.

I wonder if there's a queen bee–type of figure in there…

Well, I'm gonna knock down the whole damn nest anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

Do your thing, Black Magic!

The beehive collapses, taking the surrounding bees with it.

As it goes down, I mercilessly rain more magic on it for good measure.

You think there would be honey, but nooooo. Useless insects.

Now, all this destruction might draw Glaurung's attention, so I better get outta here.

I'm not ready to fight it just yet.

---

Now that I've leveled up a bunch, it's the perfect time to take on the challenge.

To challenge my trauma, earth dragon Glaurung.

Now I'll just check my status one last time.

Black Wyvern LV 26 Nameless

Status

HP: 3,592/3,592 (green) + 1,700 (details)

SP: 2,413/2,413 (yellow) (details) : 2,413/2,413 (red) + 1,700 (details)

MP: 12,110/12,110 (blue) + 1,700 (details) (blue)

Skills:

[Imperial Scales LV 3]

[Flight LV 7]

[HP Rapid Recovery LV 7]

[Height of Occultism]

[SP Rapid Recovery LV 1]

[SP Minimized Consumption LV 1]

[Destruction Enhancement LV 6]

[Cutting Enhancement LV 8]

[Status Condition Super-Enhancement LV 1]

[Magic Divinity LV 2]

[Magic Power Conferment LV 7]

[Mental Warfare LV 9]

[Energy Conferment LV 5]

[Dragon Power LV 7]

[Deadly Poison Attack LV 6]

[Poison Synthesis LV 10]

[Medicine Synthesis LV 7]

[Utility Flame LV 6]

[Flame Control LV 10]

[Telekinesis LV 1]

[Throw LV 10]

[Expel LV 2]

[Dimensional Maneuvering LV 8]

[Stealth LV 2]

[Camouflage LV 1]

[Silence LV 8]

[Tyrant LV 1]

[Concentration LV 10]

[Thought Acceleration LV 9]

[Foresight LV 9]

[Parallel Will LV 7]

[High-Speed Processing LV 6]

[Hit LV 10]

[Evasion LV 10]

[Probability Correction LV 7]

[Wind Magic LV 4]

[Earth Magic LV 10]

[Terrain Magic LV 1]

[Heretic Magic LV 10]

[Shadow Magic LV 10]

[Dark Magic LV 10]

[Black Magic LV 2]

[Poison Magic LV 10]

[Healing Magic LV 10]

[Spatial Magic LV 10]

[Dimensional Magic LV 4]

[Destruction Resistance LV 5]

[Impact Resistance LV 5]

[Cutting Resistance LV 5]

[Flame Resistance LV 2]

[Wind Resistance LV 2]

[Earth Resistance LV 8]

[Heavy Super-Resistance LV 1]

[Deadly Poison Resistance LV 3]

[Paralysis Resistance LV 6]

[Petrification Resistance LV 5]

[Exhaustion Nullification]

[Acid Resistance LV 6]

[Faint Resistance LV 5]

[Fear Resistance LV 9]

[Heresy Nullification]

[Pain Nullification]

[Pain Super-Mitigation LV 2]

[Five Senses Super-Enhancement LV 1]

[Perception Expansion LV 5]

[Night Vision LV 10]

[Clairvoyance LV 8]

[Jinx Evil Eye LV 6]

[Inert Evil Eye LV 5]

[Repellent Evil Eye LV 1]

[Celestial Power]

[Ultimate Life LV 3]

[Instant Body LV 7]

[Endurance LV 7]

[Fortitude LV 2]

[Stronghold LV 2]

[Escape LV 7]

[Demon Lord Seed]

[Perseverance]

[Pride]

[Wrath LV 2]

[Satiation LV 7]

[Sloth]

[Solomon]

[Conviction]

[Corruption]

Skill Points: 0

Titles:

[Foul Feeder]

[Assassin]

[Monster Slayer]

[Flame Technique User]

[Poison Technique User]

[Flame User]

[Monster Slaughterer]

[Ruler of Pride]

[Ruler of Perseverance]

[Ruler of Wisdom]

[Dragon Slayer]

[Ruler of Sloth]

[Monster Calamity]

That's a whole lot of growth, but my magic-related stats are especially crazy.

Height of Occultism is terrifying.

To be honest, though, I'm still not positive I can break through the earth dragon's staggering magic defense.

But with these insanely high stats, I'm sure I can at least do some damage if I just keep casting magic.

On the defensive front, I've been smacking myself around with Earth Magic to acquire and improve my Earth Resistance.

I mean, my defense is so low that it kinda feels like trying to put out a wildfire with a water gun, but it's got to be better than nothing.

Then there's my new Sloth skill.

As you can probably guess, it's another one of the Seven Deadly Sin skills, like Pride.

This skill is gonna be my trump card in my battle against Glaurung.

Pride is a support skill that's pretty much useless in battle, and Perseverance is a defensive skill.

By the same token, the Height of Occultism skill I got with Solomon is helpful for attacking, but Solomon itself is still a support skill.

Speaking of Solomon, I appraised Name and Naming.

Name: is a term that refers to the "name" of an individual, or to be more precise, the name inscribed onto their 'soul'. Individuals who have a name are referred to as Named while those who don't are called Nameless. Named beings typically have much stronger wills as well as more diverse and complex emotions compared to a nameless being of the same age.

Well, that did explain why those named monsters seemed more intelligent than the ones that were nameless. Hang on, since I don't have a name in the system does that mean I had a strong sense of self to begin with? Is such a thing possible? Well, I'm not particularly religious anyway.

Naming: Refers to the act of an individual receiving a name. There are three known methods for this process.

Equal Naming: An act of naming that establishes an equal relationship between the namer and the named. This type of naming either consumes no energy to perform or costs so little that it's considered "safe" and the power received in return can be considered minimal. Examples of this are parents naming their children.

Master-Subordinate Naming: A type of naming that establishes the named as being subordinate to the namer. This act consumes an amount of energy-magicules if the namer is a monster or spiritual force if the namer is human or demi-human-proportionate to the strength of the being receiving the name. If the namer names someone too strong or names too many people without a long enough recovery time there is a high chance that the energy expended in the process of naming will never fully recover. The benefit to this rather risky process is the power that the named individual receives. Someone named in this way forms a powerful soul bond with the namer, possibly even inheriting some of their abilities, and in the case of monsters and certain demi-humans, they can even evolve.

Named by the Masses

On extremely rare occasions an individual can receive a name through the collective belief of a large amount of people. Individuals named in this way receive all of the self-image and power enhancing properties of a name but without the need of ever forming a close bond with another person.

Huh, might have to be careful with this naming stuff.

Back to my skills, I think Sloth is the first one that's a proper attack skill.

With this broken skill, I can penetrate Glaurung's defenses.

In fact, without it, I don't think I could challenge it at all.

I spent quite a lot of time in the Lower Stratum raising my level, but even among all those powerful enemies, the strength of earth dragons is still a cut above.

And among those earth dragons, Glaurung is the strongest by a long shot.

I don't think I'd stand a chance without all the preparations I've made.

Now I'm waiting in the pit.

All my senses are focused on awaiting its arrival.

My Danger Perception activates.

All the hair on my body bristles.

I remember this feeling.

I could never forget it.

I don't think I ever will.

Slowly, I turn around.

Earth Dragon Glaurung (Danger Level S+)

Status:

HP: 4,663/4,663 (green)

SP: 4,570/4,570 (yellow) : 4,569/4,569 (red)

MP: 4,076/4,076 (blue)

Skills:

[Earth Dragon LV 3]

[Divine Scales LV 2]

[Heavy Armor LV 1] [

Ultra Steel Body LV 1]

[HP Rapid Recovery LV 8]

[MP Rapid Recovery LV 5]

[MP Minimized Consumption LV 5]

[Magic Power Perception LV 10]

[Precise Magic Power Operation LV 1]

[SP Rapid Recovery LV 7]

[SP Minimized Consumption LV 7]

[Magic Warfare LV 9]

[Magic Power Super-Attack LV 1]

[Mental Divinity LV 1]

[Energy Super-Attack LV 3]

[Terrain Attack LV 10]

[Terrain Enhancement LV 10]

[Destruction Super-Enhancement LV 3]

[Cutting Super-Enhancement LV 10]

[Piercing Super-Enhancement LV 8]

[Impact Super-Enhancement LV 10]

[Dimensional Maneuvering LV 8]

[Stealth LV 10]

[Camouflage LV 3]

[Hit LV 10]

[Evasion LV 10]

[Probability Super-Correction LV 4]

[Danger Perception LV 10]

[Presence Perception LV 10]

[Heat Perception LV 10]

[Motion Perception LV 10]

[Earth Magic LV 10]

[Terrain Magic LV 10]

[Seismic Magic LV 2]

[Shadow Magic LV 10]

[Dark Magic LV 7]

[Destruction Super-Resistance LV 1]

[Cutting Super-Resistance LV 4]

[Piercing Super-Resistance LV 3]

[Impact Super-Resistance LV 5]

[Shock Super-Resistance LV 1]

[Terrain Nullification]

[Fire Resistance LV 6]

[Lightning Resistance LV 8]

[Water Resistance LV 5]

[Wind Resistance LV 6]

[Dark Resistance LV 4]

[Status Condition Super-Resistance LV 7]

[Pain Nullification]

[Pain Super-Mitigation LV 7]

[Vision Enhancement LV 10]

[Telescopic Sight LV 8]

[Night Vision LV 10]

[Vision Expansion LV 7]

[Auditory Enhancement LV 10]

[Auditory Expansion LV 3]

[Olfactory Enhancement LV 7]

[Tactile Enhancement LV 7]

[Ultimate Life LV 3]

[Ultimate Magic LV 1]

[Ultimate Movement LV 3]

[Fortune LV 3]

[Fortitude LV 3]

[Stronghold LV 3]

[Deva LV 1]

[Sanctum LV 2]

[Escape LV 3]

Skill Points: 41,100

Titles:

[Monster Slayer]

[Monster Slaughterer]

[Dragon]

[Assassin]

[Champion]

[Monster Calamity]

The dragon appears.

It's as majestic and imposing as ever.

My trauma.

Crazy.

It's got all the strengths of Kagna and Gehre, and then some.

This dragon seriously has no weaknesses.

More defense power and defensive skills than Kagna.

More speed and speed skills than Gehre.

And on top of that, higher magic ability than Kagna or Gehre could ever dream of.

Worst of all, it's even mastered Dark Magic, one of my chief attack methods.

Its Dark Resistance is really not a good sign.

Glaurung's a perfect all-rounder.

Flawless attack, flawless defense.

No weaknesses to take advantage of, no weak points to aim for.

You could basically call it the ultimate life-form.

Ha-ha. Honestly, at this point, I just have to laugh.

Ahhh, what a relief.

The fear I felt that time was real.

The fear I felt that time was right.

Earth Dragon Glaurung, you're strong.

Scary.

And yet, I'm happy.

Ahhh, so happy.

I've grown strong enough to fight an opponent I could only hide away from in terror before.

With perception skills like that, you must have noticed I was there back then, right?

You noticed, but you overlooked it because I was too small and insignificant to bother about, didn't you?

I'm going to make you regret that arrogance.

Thank you.

You taught me the fear of death.

That's why I am the way I am now.

I ran away from you, ran and ran and ran, and now here I am.

So thank you.

And now, die.

I'm going to bury you myself.

By doing so, I will overcome my fear.

I'm not going to flee from you anymore.

My long life of running away ends right here and now.

I open with a Black Spear.

Glaurung avoids it with ease.

Then it counters with a breath attack.

I avoid it with ease.

Each of us understood that the other would dodge the attack.

It's like we were testing each other's feelings.

The events unfold as if we had arranged them beforehand.

After we exchange these initial attacks like greetings, the real battle begins.

Just as I planned in advance, I use Dimensional Maneuvering to rush up into the empty air of the pit.

That way, I can keep away from the ground and render Glaurung's Earth Magic useless.

Glaurung does have Dark Magic, too, so it's not like it can't use magic at all now, but this gets rid of its home-field advantage for a fair fight.

Glaurung seems to understand this and kicks off the ground to follow me.

As I hop through the air, I shoot Black Bullets at Glaurung.

Paying no mind to how much MP I'm using, I fire away like a machine gun.

And yet, like an expert player of bullet hell games, Glaurung easily dodges around the hail of projectiles mid-approach.

Thanks to Divine Scales, a high-class version of Imperial Scales, the power of my magic is drastically reduced.

Still, with my magic attack power, it should at least deal a little damage.

If it hits anyway.

Glaurung has exceptionally high evasive power.

I don't just mean skills. There's also the dodging techniques Glaurung has honed over countless years of battle.

Its movements are honestly elegant.

I was confident in my evasive abilities, too, before, but seeing Glaurung's with my own eyes, I realize my evasion just depends on the brute strength of my skills and stats.

After all the tough fights I've been through, I was starting to think of myself as a super-experienced fighter, but I guess my movements are still ultimately those of an amateur.

I mean, I definitely don't have any martial arts knowledge or anything.

In terms of pure stats, my speed is much higher, but Glaurung closes that gap with actual technical ability.

If my magic lands a hit, I'm sure it'll do some damage, but chances are Glaurung will recover from it before I can land another one.

There's only one tactic I can take right now.

I have to make Glaurung think I'm worth fighting at full strength.

If Glaurung goes all out in this battle, my shot at victory will come into view.

Because as soon as that happens, my second, invisible form of poison will start to eat away at Glaurung's body.

Glaurung prepares an attack.

My Foresight skill tells me it's about to use Breath.

Glaurung's breath attack flies at me.

I use Short-Range Teleport.

Landing directly on Glaurung's head.

As the defenseless head continues to emit the breath attack, I fire a Black Bullet at it.

It lands a direct hit, forcing Glaurung's mouth to close.

The mouth that's still producing Breath.

With nowhere else to go, the breath attack explodes in Glaurung's own mouth.

Apparently, a dragon's breath attack isn't just the Attack attribute of that dragon.

Because although Glaurung has Terrain Nullification, its HP decreases.

Combined with Black Bullet, I did a pretty decent amount of damage.

Short-Range Teleport takes a few seconds from preparation to invocation, so I can't just use it constantly, but if I prepare it in advance like this, I can pull off a decent surprise attack.

Although I'm sure Glaurung will be on guard about it from now on, so it won't go quite this easily.

Even as the mouth explodes, the tail attacks me like it has a mind of its own.

This tail is going to be a real pain.

I avoid it as it lashes out like a whip.

The powerful whooshing noise it makes as it flies just past my face makes me shiver.

Considering my HP and MP, I don't think I would die from a single hit.

Still, it's so powerful that I can't help picturing myself being sliced in half by that awful tail.

Following the tail, a front paw comes swinging at me, so I jump back.

Putting some distance between us, I fire a Black Spear as a feint.

Glaurung stops for a moment to avoid running into it.

Glaurung's HP recovers at a rapid rate.

So fast.

Just as I thought, defeating it by whittling down its HP would be next to impossible.

As I sigh inwardly, several black balls appear around Glaurung.

Is this the Dark Magic spell Dark Bullet, maybe?

Spurred on by Glaurung's will, the Dark Bullets come flying at me.

I could dodge them, but then I'd make an opening for Glaurung, who's speeding toward me along with the spells.

Time to fight darkness with darkness!

I activate the same spell, canceling out the approaching Dark Bullets with my own.

At the same time, I avoid Glaurung's gnashing fangs and fire a Dark Bullet as a counterattack.

However, Glaurung's paw knocks the bullet away, and the tip of its tail whips toward me at the same time.

Giving up on attacking for now, I focus all my power on dodging.

I flee even higher into the air.

Close combat is definitely not ideal for me here.

Glaurung has all kinds of attack methods—fangs, claws, that tail, and even a body slam with that enormous body could be dangerous if Glaurung felt like using it.

It's like its whole body is weaponized.

We're nowhere near the ground, and that last round proved that Glaurung's Dark Magic is no big threat, so my best bet is probably to keep as much distance between us as possible and engage in a long-range battle.

Just as that thought crosses my mind, Glaurung's mouth creaks open.

Then, with almost no charge time at all, it fires a No Motion Breath.

Wha—?!

I didn't know you had that move!

I invoke Repellent Evil Eye and generate a repellent force all around myself.

The pseudophysical barrier it forms protects me as I hurriedly dodge to the side.

Glaurung's breath passes by narrowly, practically grazing me.

No, not practically. It did graze me!

That was close! Too close!

Because it wasn't charged up at all, it wasn't very powerful, but a direct hit would probably still do some damage.

Damn. I might not really have the advantage in a long-range fight, either.

Since Breath is some kinda pure energy, not really physical, I guess my pseudobarrier won't really work to fend it off.

Dammit, my Evil Eyes are practically useless here!

I've been using all my Evil Eyes on Glaurung since the battle began, of course.

But none of them seems to be working very well.

It's not that there's no effect whatsoever, but it's not enough to be significant.

I can barely tell if Jinx Evil Eye has lowered Glaurung's stats by even 1 percent, and judging by Glaurung's movements, I doubt Repellent Evil Eye's gravity attack is causing it any trouble.

Inert Evil Eye?

That one's probably least effective of all, isn't it?

I definitely can't picture Glaurung being paralyzed.

Ugh, my attacks don't hit, and even when they do, they hardly do anything!

Seriously, I knew this, but what an aggravating enemy.

Fleeing farther upward, I keep firing magic.

Glaurung chases after me, fighting back with Breath.

Our firefight of Breath and magic continues.

Glaurung avoids my magic.

Then a waterfall of poison rains down on the dragon.

I made it by using Poison Synthesis at its max production amount, multiple times in a row.

The rain of deadly and paralyzing poison is blown away by a single blast of Breath.

The drops of poison scatter harmlessly.

I didn't really have high hopes that it'd do damage, but blowing it all away that easily? No waaay.

Glaurung keeps shooting more breath attacks up toward me.

I avoid the antiaircraft fire with the help of Dimensional Maneuvering.

I fire Black Bullets toward Glaurung.

Glaurung uses Breath to eliminate the Black Bullets.

Then, ignoring the aftermath, the dragon charges right toward me.

Shit!

I barely manage to avoid a fang attack.

It grazes me slightly, decreasing my Satiation stock of HP.

That was close.

Okay, gotta focus.

Glaurung and I both still have energy to spare.

The battle is far from over.

Both of us are fighting ferociously.

However, the stalemate continues.

I have high enough evasion power to dodge Glaurung's attacks, and even if I get hit once in a while, I recover quickly.

Glaurung is so focused on catching up to my speedy evasion that it can barely attack.

It's not that neither of us has any way of winning.

Glaurung's winning move would be its max-power breath attack.

If Glaurung uses all its power, its breath attack would be even more powerful than the time that it destroyed my home in a single blow.

A hit from that would be enough to turn even me into dust.

Even with Perseverance invoked, if I get hit with that once, I'll keep getting roasted until I completely run out of strength.

But Glaurung isn't firing that.

Since it takes so long to charge Breath to its maximum power, it creates a huge opening, making it that much easier to dodge and counterattack.

That's why Glaurung's using only single-shot Breaths without charging them up.

A single-shot Breath is no slouch, either.

But it's inevitably got a shorter range and less power.

I've been able to dodge all of them so far, and even if it hits me, it'd be far from a fatal injury.

So even though we both have moves that would clinch our victory, we're not actually able to use them.

So naturally, the battle's getting dragged out.

We exchange feints with the occasional serious attack, carefully avoiding letting the other take charge, keeping our eyes out for an opening.

As it stands, I'm at a slight disadvantage.

My attacks don't work at all.

They do hit on rare occasions.

But even then, they don't leave any lasting damage.

Any damage they cause is healed almost immediately.

Even if I hit a few times in a row, Glaurung withdraws for a moment or even attacks to stop me from firing, buying it enough time to recover from my attacks.

As a result, despite how long and hard we've been fighting, Glaurung's damage is still at 0.

On the contrary, its resistance has actually increased.

Glaurung's Dark Resistance, which started out at 4, is now at 5.

At this rate, the already small amount of damage I'm dealing will get even smaller.

On the other hand, if any of Glaurung's attacks hit me, I'll be in trouble.

A single blow isn't enough to deplete all my HP and MP, of course.

But Glaurung's attacks are definitely powerful.

If I get hit with a single attack, it'll easily send my small body flying.

As soon as that happens, there's a good chance it'll create an opening for Glaurung to attack even more.

If that happens, I'll be toast.

The difference in our chances is too large.

I specialize in evasion, but if I mess up even once, it could easily end up in victory for the dragon.

I have no intention of going down so easily, of course.

But the scary thing is that it's not entirely impossible.

On top of that, this situation can't go on indefinitely.

After all, this pit isn't endless.

I keep fleeing higher and higher.

Naturally, that means I'm getting closer to the ceiling.

Once I reach the ceiling, I'll have nowhere left to run.

Not to mention that the ceiling is also made of earth.

Anywhere there's dirt means we're in Glaurung's domain.

So not only will I be out of places to run, Glaurung will have the home-field advantage again.

So on top of being at a slight disadvantage already, I'm gradually being driven into a corner.

Naturally, this fact is drastically increasing my tension.

Sharpening my senses.

I focus on the images Foresight projects for me.

In the slow-motion world of Thought Acceleration, I heighten all my senses, taking care not to miss even the smallest piece of information.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Thought Acceleration LV 9] has become [Thought Acceleration LV 10].

Condition satisfied. Skill [Thought Acceleration LV 10] has evolved into skill [Thought Hyper-Acceleration LV 1].

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Foresight LV 9] has become [Foresight LV 10].

Condition satisfied. Skill [Foresight LV 10] has evolved into skill [Future Sight LV 1].

At this exact moment, my skills evolve.

Perfect timing.

The already-slow-motion movement of the world gets even slower.

The sporadic images Foresight showed me become constantly visible.

I can see it. Glaurung's next move.

And now, with Thought Hyper-Acceleration, I can see what's coming after that unfolding in slow-motion.

Like a game of chess.

The flowing combo attack of claws, fangs, and tail, which I'm sure Glaurung intended as a killing move, is easy to dodge for me now.

Damn, I'm good.

If Glaurung wants to land an attack on me now, it'll have to move at a speed beyond my perception, right?

This is good.

That's it. Go ahead and come at me. I don't feel like anything could hit me now.

Dodge. Dodge. Dodge.

Evade. Evade. Evade.

And as I go, I keep firing counterattacks.

Before, the dragon had a slight upper hand in evasion, but now the scales are tipped in my favor.

Even though Glaurung was able to dodge my attacks with its expert techniques before, now that my skills have evolved, I can see right through its movements.

I already had the overwhelming advantage in speed.

Glaurung's ability to make up for that by dodging my attacks with sheer ability was, in a word, incredible, but now that I have skills that give me an additional advantage, the dragon can't handle it so easily.

Glaurung's HP slowly begins to go down.

Sensing the increase in my evasion and hit rate, Glaurung is starting to get desperate.

With Thought Hyper-Acceleration, even that emotion is an opportunity for me.

And I'm not lenient enough to let a mental gap like that slide.

Heretic Magic spell: Phantom Pain.

Glaurung reacts with visible surprise.

That's only natural.

With Glaurung's high level of Pain Super-Mitigation, the dragon probably hasn't experienced intense pain like this in a long time.

And the illusion of pain created by Heretic Magic can't be relieved by a Pain Mitigation skill.

I know that for a fact, since I experienced it myself with the pain Detection caused me.

Well? How do you like your first taste of pain in who knows how long?

Glaurung grits its teeth and withstands the pain.

Heretic Magic is fairly easy to resist if you set your mind to it.

A monster like Glaurung with immense mental power should be able to shake off the effects of the magic after a moment.

But a moment is all I need.

Glaurung's next action totally crushes my expectations of victory.

Come on, now.

That definitely can't be right.

If I can come up with a plan, it wouldn't be that surprising if Glaurung actually did.

But what Glaurung does is far beyond anything I anticipated.

In fact, it catches me totally off guard.

In the worst possible way, too.

See, you get skill points when you level up.

But apparently, there are other ways to get them, too.

Looking at the skill points of, say, an Arch Wyvern which should be roughly on par with my own species, I clearly have way less.

The difference in our stats can be explained away by the difference in how long we've lived.

Even without leveling up, your stats go up gradually just by going about day-to-day life.

Unlike wild monsters, I've been actively working on leveling up, which is why I've grown rapidly in a short amount of time.

That's why my stats outside my level haven't gone up as much.

But I don't think other monsters go out of their way to fight other than when hunting food.

So they level up more slowly.

I don't know how long that arch had lived, but judging by the difference, I'm guessing it was a fairly long time.

Which means if you live for a long time, maybe you get a certain amount of skill points, too?

Otherwise, I have no idea why there would be such a large difference in our skill points.

Unless there's some other condition for acquiring skill points that I don't know about.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is this: Since earth dragon Glaurung has probably been alive for a ridiculously long amount of time, it has a ridiculous number of skill points.

Like most of the monsters I've seen, Glaurung has probably never once used those points.

I don't see any skills that look like they were acquired with skill points, and most of all, Glaurung's got that massive stockpile of points just sitting around, so I think that's a safe assumption.

Seems like a waste to me, but it's not like I can tell other monsters to use their points, and their not acquiring extra skills works out in my favor, so I never really worried about it.

But now…Glaurung's skill points have decreased.

Not just a little, either. Glaurung has used practically all of them.

The 41,100 points the dragon started out with have dwindled to a mere 100.

And seeing what skills were acquired makes my breath catch.

[Fire Magic LV 10] [Flame Magic LV 10] [Inferno Magic LV 1] [Flame Enhancement LV 1] [Flame Resistance LV 1] [Black Resistance LV 1] [Space Perception].

My weakness is fire, and Inferno Magic is the highest form of Fire Magic there is.

Then there's Flame Enhancement, the advanced version of Fire Enhancement.

In order to avoid being hurt by its own magic, Glaurung has improved the Fire Resistance it already had by acquiring Flame Resistance.

Black Resistance to counteract my main weapon, Black Magic.

Space Perception is probably to deal with my teleportation.

All these skills have been chosen specifically with me in mind.

Glaurung acquired them for the sole purpose of defeating me.

After spending such a long time piling up these skill points, the dragon used them all on me.

And on top of the ones acquired with points, there are the skills Glaurung's gained in the process of our fight to the death.

[Concentration LV 1] [Prediction LV 1] [Parallel Thinking LV 1] [Arithmetic Processing LV 1] [Heresy Resistance LV 1]

Glaurung must have been thinking very intently about how to get out of this crisis alive.

Of course, there's no way those skills will evolve all the way up to my golden combo of Thought Acceleration and Foresight over the course of this battle, but that doesn't change the fact that Glaurung just became a lot more dangerous.

With the addition of Heresy Resistance, too, it might be safer to assume Heretic Magic won't work at all now.

This is bad. I mean really bad.

Up until now, I've faced enemies with an advantage over me several times.

But I've never had one come up with a countermeasure specifically for me.

Glaurung was already a strong opponent with various advantages.

And now that opponent has taken countermeasures against me.

Inferno Magic level 1, Scorched Earth.

It's a wide-range spell that covers the ground in flames, transforming it into a hellscape.

Since it's been activated in midair, Glaurung's body is being treated as the ground instead, flames surging across it.

Unlike a nullification skill, resistance doesn't mean you won't take any damage.

Even if it's from your own spell.

Flame Resistance is the evolved form of Fire Resistance.

It's impressive to have gained such an advanced skill so quickly, but that's still not enough to reduce the damage to zero.

Now, Glaurung is literally on fire as it seeks a chance to attack me.

Thanks to its Rapid Recovery skill, its HP isn't going down very quickly.

But still, its body is slowly being burned by the flames.

Maybe if I keep running away, Glaurung will eventually just destroy itself?

Nope. I know it's not gonna be that easy.

The fire disappears. That's inevitable, since Glaurung probably canceled the spell.

Glaurung's HP starts to rapidly recover.

Over the course of our fierce battle, the dragon's HP Rapid Recovery skill has leveled up, too.

Now its HP's getting restored so quickly, it makes you wonder if Healing Magic is involved.

Ugh. Growing in the middle of a battle like this? Who do you think you are, the protagonist?

Only the protagonist is allowed to have such a cool moment of development like that, you know.

No fair! This is totally cheating. Seriously, gimme a break.

Glaurung puts one foot on the wall.

A moment later, the wall is burning up.

Flames spread across the walls of the pit at a frightening rate.

It's like the entire hole is on fire.

Glaurung runs along the burning wall.

Rapidly arriving at a spot diagonal to where I am in the air, the dragon charges right at me.

Bringing the blazing wall along with it.

A chunk of the blazing wall detaches from the surface.

Excuse me! Why would you cause a natural disaster like that so casually?!

I escape upward, but below me, Glaurung's created a bridge of burning earth.

I guess since Glaurung can make spears of earth, it's only natural it can increase the scale of that to make a bridge…?

Yeah, right!

Seriously, what the hell?!

Glaurung runs around the walls, building one bridge after another.

As if closing off my escape routes.

Burning earth is starting to fill the air.

The structure is almost like a spiderweb.

Glaurung sprints at a high speed across the countless burning bridges.

Despite the extra weight I've been inflicting on the dragon with Repellent Evil Eye, it doesn't seem to be moving a single bit slower.

Glaurung runs across the bridges and leaps into the air. Claws at the ready.

There's nowhere I can go below me. My only choice is to flee higher.

Glaurung soundlessly lands on another bridge and starts to charge again.

It jumps at me from another spot. I dodge.

It lands and, with some MP recovered, starts increasing the number of bridges again.

The flaming earth seems to chase me higher and higher.

The heat from the flames alone threatens to decrease my HP.

Then those flames start to attack me as if they have a will of their own.

Glaurung's fire magic lights up the air as if to close off any chance of escaping.

You're supposed to be an earth dragon!

How come you can use fire even better than a fire dragon, huh?!

Without any space to fight back, I run around fleeing from the pursuing fire.

A bit of flame brushes my body, and I catch fire.

I immediately produce medicinal water with Medicine Synthesis, putting out the flames.

At the same time, the medicine recovers some of my HP.

That's right—I don't have to douse myself in poison and cause damage to my own HP anymore!

Plus, even after reaching the Upper Stratum, I've been practically bathing in magma to increase my fire resistance!

Oh, the ceiling.

I've finally reached the ceiling, the literal end of the road.

Glaurung's flames are covering the ceiling now, too.

I've got nowhere left to run.

I glance at Glaurung's stats.

Not yet. It's still not quite there yet.

I'll have to face off with Glaurung in this cage of burning earth.

Glaurung starts to attack.

Gathering my resolve, I avoid Glaurung's attack and land on a bridge.

With nowhere else to run, this is my only option.

In the next moment, Glaurung brings a breath attack down on me and the bridge alike.

I dodge it.

Behind me, I hear the sound of the bridge collapsing.

But I have no time to worry about that.

Flames burn my body mercilessly.

Even with Rapid Recovery, my HP is going down at a pretty fast rate.

I want to put it out immediately, but Glaurung refuses to give me a chance to do so.

Avoiding the dragon's attack, I start Medicine Synthesis, but Glaurung bears down with another attack right away.

As if our positions have now been reversed, I half jump, half fall down between the bridges, with Glaurung chasing close behind.

I plunge my way through the burning earth, the fire scorching my body.

While I dodge Glaurung's attacks desperately, I resign myself to being hit by the rest of the flames.

I activate Medicine Synthesis to try to heal my wounds and put out the flames, but the fire immediately spreads across my body as if mocking my efforts.

Crap. I'm freaking out.

I can't focus enough to use Teleport in these circumstances.

This is bad. My HP's going down.

My Satiation stock runs out.

But Glaurung's attacks still don't let up.

My HP reaches 0.

Perseverance activates.

My MP starts to decrease little by little.

Thanks to the combination of HP Rapid Recovery and the MP recovery effect granted by Height of Occultism, the damage I take is reduced somewhat while Perseverance is in effect.

Still, my MP's definitely going down.

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh craaaap!

But just in the nick of time, it's working!

Glaurung's movements rapidly deteriorate.

The strengthening skill it was using comes undone.

Its momentum from moments ago is totally gone now, its movements slowing to a stop.

The poison I've been preparing all this time has finally put Glaurung's life in checkmate.

The poison known as Sloth.

Sloth: Drastically multiplies the amount of decrease in surrounding system numerical values, excluding the user's.

In other words, the decrease of HP, MP, and SP have increased for every living thing in the area except for me.

HP and MP have automatic recovery.

But there's no such thing for SP.

The more Glaurung fought against me, the more it used up its strength and the faster its SP decreased.

Since fighting in midair requires constant use of Dimensional Maneuvering, and having Mental Divinity active continuously consumes SP, it was easy to make Glaurung fall victim to Sloth.

And without Appraisal, Glaurung had no way of noticing.

Only when it's gone so far that the body begins consuming itself has the dragon finally recognized its own starvation.

Glaurung has almost no SP left now.

The battle is over.

I destroy the burning bridges around me with Black Bullets.

Then, keeping away from the flames surrounding me, I activate Medicine Synthesis to put out the flames on my body.

Glaurung can't move anymore.

It has no strength left to move.

Its HP hasn't changed yet, but if it runs out of SP, its HP will run out, too.

And now, if the dragon moves even a tiny bit, it'll use up the last of its SP.

At this point, I can basically do whatever I want to Glaurung.

Heh-heh-heh. It was a lot harder than I was expecting, but it still ended just the way I planned for.

I knew from the beginning that it would be impossible to reduce Glaurung's HP to 0.

Dragons' magic-canceling scale skills are extremely inconvenient.

And if I tried to physically attack Glaurung, I feel like I'd just hurt myself more.

Glaurung's defense power is far, far higher than my attack power.

Besides, Glaurung is a hardened warrior who can avoid all my attacks with ease.

So I gave up on the dragon's HP altogether.

If I couldn't reduce its HP, I'd just have to reduce its SP.

And the key to that was Sloth.

The fourth broken skill I've acquired.

I picked up Sloth as soon as I evolved into a Black Wyvern.

Honestly, I didn't really understand the description, so I didn't think much of it at first. But when I got it and tested it out, I was surprised by what a perfect skill it was for me.

With Jinx Evil Eye, not only HP but all other stats go down more quickly.

That didn't have much effect on Glaurung, but for any opponent without Status Condition Resistance, I can basically win with this nasty combo alone.

Even against enemies that it won't work on so easily, if I just get them to fight me with their full strength, it'll eventually become a powerful disadvantage.

It's only because Glaurung fought so desperately that the dragon used all its strength and I managed to make its SP go down so quickly.

If Glaurung had been more relaxed, the outcome might've been different.

The fact that the dragon never paused or let down its guard is exactly what led to its downfall.

A pretty dirty strategy, if I do say so myself.

On top of that, forcing it to use Spatial Maneuvering made its SP go down that much faster.

I didn't just choose this pit as the site of our battle so I could keep Glaurung from using the earth as a weapon. It was also to force the dragon to expend more SP.

Although, thanks to Glaurung's unexpected resourcefulness, that first part ended up failing regardless.

Anyway, now that Glaurung can't move, I can fire as much magic as I want.

Will I run through its HP first, or will it run out of SP first?

What'll it be?

Mentally wearing a smug smile, I look down at Glaurung, still lying on a burning bridge beneath me.

Glaurung slowly raises its head.

Our eyes meet.

I can't believe it.

Its eyes are astoundingly clear. Calm, even.

What's with those eyes?

I beat you, you know.

At least act frustrated about your loss!

As if in defiance of my rage, Glaurung slowly lays itself down on its side.

Only its head stays in place, looking straight at me.

Then, something strange happens to Glaurung's status as I Appraise it.

The text displaying its skills starts to turn gray.

That can only mean Glaurung's turning off its skills.

If you turn off a skill that's normally activated, it turns gray in your Appraisal results.

Glaurung's skills turn gray one after another.

The Divine Scales skill that caused me so much trouble.

All its resistance skills, too.

Still surrounded by flames, the rate of Glaurung's HP reduction rises sharply.

"I'm not going to resist," is that what you're saying?

What's up with that? Seriously…what is this?

Who said you could just decide to be satisfied?

"I fought my hardest, so I have no regrets," is that it?

Is that what you're trying to say, huh?

Don't give me that crap.

Come on, get desperate here. Beg for your life or something. Struggle a little.

How can you just throw away your life so easily?

Once you lose your life, that's it. You know that, right?

I know that might not be convincing coming from me, since I've been reincarnated and all, but normally, when you die, that's it.

Why am I struggling so hard to refuse to let it end, then?

Or could it be you know that in this world, dying doesn't mean the end, and that's why you can be so calm about it?

If that's the case, that just pisses me off even more.

Ugh, forget it already.

I'll kill you if you want to die so badly, then.

I activate all my Evil Eyes.

Glaurung's body crumbles, without the slightest hint of resistance.

The Divine Voice (temp.) announces my leveling up, but it rings hollow in my ears.

I finally won against the opponent I was so eager to defeat, but it left a terrible aftertaste.

It's been several days since I defeated the earth dragon Glaurung.

Now, I'm out underneath a blue sky.

For the first time since I was reborn as a dragon, after a great deal of time and effort, I take in the sun's rays.

It's thanks to the humans who ran away after I healed one of their party members.

I used the markings I put on them to finally navigate to the labyrinth's exit.

A lot has happened in this dungeon.

I can't say most of those memories are good ones, either.

Like the time I almost died, or the time I almost died, or the OTHER time I almost died!

So now I finally get to say my good-byes to this awful place!

Farewell, not-so-beloved birthplace!

Well, if anything happens, I can always teleport back here, so I do kinda have a feeling I'll be back at some point.

But now, brand-new gourmet experiences are calling to me!

Wait for me, delicious mysteries!

Now, how am I going to get into a human settlement without causing a panic?

That's the next problem I have to solve.