Chapter 42
Carpe was the first to recover from the panic.
"Woah. That startled me."
His body froze when what he thought was impossible actually happened.
But thinking calmly, this giant bug in front of him wasn't a formidable enemy.
Compared to Mainades and the backing spirits he encountered in the pit dungeon, the bug in front of him was embarrassingly weak.
Of course, that was only in terms of physical strength... If you consider the visual aspect, the story would be different.
Unfortunately, the world was still rampant with lookism.
"Huuu."
He took a deep breath, and the cold air in the cave filled his lungs, clearing his mind.
Alright. I'm good now.
Looking at it with a cool head, it wasn't as vicious as he thought, and its gigantic size made it feel unreal.
Instead of a creepy bug, it felt like he was dealing with just another monster.
However, that only applied to Carpe.
I closed my eyes. I really did. I'll cover my ears too. Damn it, I can't cover my ears because I'm in spirit form!
"...Are you watching some horror movie?"
I wish it was just horror. That thing is just rated R!
And Hanzo was in a worse state than Cheonma.
"I... I... can't. Bugs are a no-go."
Even while muttering like that, Hanzo was making hand seals and using evasion skills left and right, and Baekseol was following her master around in confusion.
...He seemed determined to maintain his concept even if his mental state was shattered.
"Ninjutsu! Cicada Molting!"
He was gone. It seemed he had already entered his own world.
At least with Cheonma, minimal conversation was possible, but with Hanzo, even that seemed difficult.
It was as if he had some kind of mental trauma related to bugs.
It seemed like he would need more time to come to his senses.
"Come to think of it, her scream earlier was a bit strange..."
Actually, it wasn't just a bit strange, it was very strange.
Where did her pleasant low-pitched voice go? She suddenly turned into a soprano.
"Anyway, I'll worry about that later."
Right now, he had to get rid of that bug in front of him.
"Hmph. Is this all you got? Hap!"
Tina was doing a good job of holding it back even alone.
She easily deflected the Giant Slatter's antennae attacks with her sword.
It seemed that its combat abilities were somewhat lacking, as it had put all its points into its visuals.
Kang!
However, Tina's attacks weren't that effective either.
The seemingly hard shell wasn't just for show, as Tina's sword strikes only made it flinch momentarily without causing much damage.
"There must be a weak point somewhere..."
Ugh. I'm telling you in advance, but I don't know about that one either. It's something I never even imagined fighting.
"Well, I figured as much. I'll handle this, so just take care of your mental state."
Fortunately, Carpe had an item that could help him find a way to defeat it.
"Let's see."
Carpe activated the 'Dragon's Eye' towards the Giant Slatter, and the creature's information was immediately revealed.
Ding
[Boss: Giant Slatter]
[HP: 99% MP: 100%]
[Skills]
Lightning Speed (7-star, Boss-exclusive skill)
Hard Shell, Soft Inside (6-star, Boss-exclusive skill)
Body Slam (2-star)
[Equipped Items]
None
"Oh?"
Boss-exclusive skills, huh.
Come to think of it, he vaguely remembered Cheonma mentioning something like that.
The Auto Magic Shield with the abnormal cooldown that he saw when fighting Mainades was probably one of those.
When he touched the skill section, a detailed description of the skill appeared.
[Lightning Speed Lv. 1 (Master) - 7-star]
This is a skill exclusive to the Giant Slatter. When HP falls below 30%, it enters phase 2, increasing movement speed by 200%.
Movement on walls and ceilings becomes possible.
[Hard Shell, Soft Inside Lv. 3 - 6-star]
Hard on the outside, soft on the inside. While becoming vulnerable to physical and magical penetration, physical and magical defense are greatly increased.
90% reduction in physical and magical damage.
30% vulnerability to penetration damage.
50% vulnerability to attribute penetration damage.
"Penetration damage..."
He found a weakness, but it wasn't much help.
Carpe didn't have any penetrating weapons or skills at the moment.
"Tsk. Should I just brute force it?"
With the 90% damage reduction from the shell skill, pure magic damage wouldn't be very meaningful, but... he had to try something.
"Lightning Arrow!"
Kwag!
The Lightning Arrow exploded on the Slatter's back.
However, as expected, it only flinched for a moment and didn't seem to take much damage. The Lightning Arrow only left a slight scorch mark on the shell.
"How much damage did it do?"
Carpe used the 'Dragon's Eye' on cooldown while progressing through the Sea Cave dungeon.
And through several experiments, he discovered that the Dragon's Eye had a very useful way of being used.
Real-time information updates.
As long as the Dragon Eye's information window wasn't completely closed, it would update and show the opponent's information in real time.
In other words, he could check the current remaining HP in real time.
Just like now.
[Boss: Giant Slatter]
[HP: 98% MP: 100%]
"Huh?"
Its HP had decreased by 1% since he first saw it.
With a 90% magic damage reduction, just from one Lightning Arrow?
"Maybe this... Hyang-ah."
"Kyuu!"
"Squirrel Thunder!"
"Kyu kyu kyu!"
Kwaaang!
When the Calling Thunder struck the boss monster's back, its HP decreased by another 1%.
"What the..."
Despite having a 90% damage reduction skill, each hit dealt 1% of its total HP.
If there were no damage reduction, it would only take about 10 magic attacks to finish it off.
Carpe came to a conclusion.
"It seems its defense is high, but its HP pool is low."
Based on the given circumstances, he couldn't help but think so, but this was actually Carpe's misconception.
The Giant Slatter's HP pool was similar to or even slightly higher than that of boss monsters of the same level.
The reason why a single magic attack with 90% damage reduction took away 1% of its total HP was simple.
It still hurt like hell!
It was simply because Carpe and Mukhyang were so abnormally strong.
"Elemental Arrow's cooldown is about 5 seconds, so..."
Assuming he shoots 100 arrows, that's 500 seconds.
Less than 10 minutes. He also had plenty of MP potions, so he didn't have to worry about running out of mana.
And with Mukhyang and Tina's attacks, it would actually be much faster than that.
However, this was assuming the boss monster took every attack he shot.
"Lightning Speed. That skill is the problem."
A whopping 7-star boss-exclusive skill.
And its ability was vicious. It was already fast enough, but in phase 2, its movement speed would increase by 200%.
"It'll be hard to hit once it enters phase 2."
It was obvious that it would be moving around freely, ignoring walls and ceilings.
Naturally, the hit rate would plummet.
'The best scenario would be to take away 30% of its HP in one shot...'
It might sound like a pipe dream, but he had a plan.
Hard Shell, Soft Inside.
He believed the answer lay there.
"Tina! How long can you hold out like that?"
"I can do it all day, my lord. I will never allow it to approach you."
"That's reassuring. Alright, I'll leave it to you."
Carpe nodded at the reliable, hero-like line.
First, he had to reduce its HP to near 30%. The plan would come after that.
"Lightning Arrow!"
"Kyuuu!"
Boom! Kwaaang!
Magic was fired at every cooldown. The Slatter was so big that even just shooting randomly hit it every time.
"Keeek!"
The repeated 1% shocks irritated it, and the aggro almost shifted towards Carpe, but...
"Where are you looking?!"
Tina's sword grazed the Slatter's antennae, and it became enraged again, charging towards her.
It was quite different from users who relied entirely on aggro-related skills like 'Taunt'.
"It's this way!"
She had fought on the front lines against backing spirits in the Prestige War 800 years ago, where the fate of the world hung in the balance.
Even without skills, holding back a low-intelligence monster like this was not difficult.
"Invest 15 in Magic."
[Magic stat increased by 15.]
Boom! Kwaaang!
With the stat investment, the damage that was dealing 1% per hit started taking away 1.5%, sometimes even 2% of its HP.
After about 5 minutes.
The plan was going smoothly, and the monster's remaining HP was now exactly 33%.
Huu. Whatever your plan is, it seems to be working.
'Huh? Are you okay now?'
Yeah. It's bearable when I squint.
It seemed like he still didn't have the courage to look directly at it.
The boss skill is Hard Shell, Soft Inside? Wow, this is going to be a pain in the ass without penetration damage... Why is its HP pool like that?
'I was a bit scared because of the 90% reduction, but after hitting it a few times, it seems manageable.'
...Yeah. You were that kind of guy, right.
'Anyway. We're almost at the end, so watch.'
Carpe shouted towards Tina.
"Tina! Is there any space between its shell where you could stab your sword?"
"...My sword, you say?"
Tina carefully examined the Slatter's shell at Carpe's question.
And soon she nodded.
"It seems possible. However, due to the structure of the shell, I don't think I can inflict a deep wound. The tip of my sword might be able to dig into the flesh a little, but..."
"No, that's enough. Then keep drawing its attention."
"As you command."
"Phew. Alright, then."
Carpe took out the 'Green Skin Slayer' from his inventory and equipped it.
...Aha. I see. It's doable.
Cheonma, who understood Carpe's intentions, also nodded.
Carpe took a short breath.
And from out of its sight, he jumped forcefully towards its back.
"Keeek?!"
However, the Giant Slatter was a bug, an insect.
It could sense the location of objects with its highly developed antennae, even without seeing them.
The moment Carpe jumped, the subtle vibrations of the air were transmitted through the antennae.
And the moment the Slatter tried to turn its body towards Carpe.
Carpe's gaze was not on the boss monster but somewhere else.
Hanzo.
To be precise, it was on Baekseol, who was floundering next to Hanzo.
"Stop hesitating and shoot!"
Just like Mukhyang, RASEE's pets were generally highly intelligent.
It wasn't just about being as smart as clever dogs or cats in reality.
RASEE's pets had the intelligence to actually understand human words and intentions.
That's why Baekseol could accurately grasp what her master's companion was saying and take action.
Pang!
The air cannon fired from Baekseol's mouth exploded right next to the boss monster's antennae.
"Keeek?!"
Confused by the intense air vibrations, the Slatter was thrown into disarray, and Carpe took advantage of the opportunity to land safely on its back.
"Hap!"
And he accurately stabbed the Green Skin Slayer between the gaps in the shell.
However, as Tina had said, there was a point where the sword got stuck in the middle of the shell, preventing it from penetrating all the way.
The tip of the sword had only managed to pierce the flesh slightly.
But that was enough.
Carpe jumped off the creature's back, leaving the sword embedded, and shouted.
"Hyang-ah!"
"Kyu!"
At Carpe's signal, Mukhyang activated Calling Thunder.
A bolt of lightning struck precisely into the sword Carpe had stuck.
"Kyaaaak!"
The sword tip acted as a lightning rod, causing the Calling Thunder to wreak havoc inside the boss monster.
[Due to the effect of Hard Shell, Soft Inside, 30% additional damage is dealt.]
[Lightning attribute damage. An additional 50% damage is dealt.]
[Giant Slatter has been inflicted with the status ailment 'Paralysis'. Lasts for 5 seconds.]
The status ailment 'Paralysis', which caused stun and additional damage, was triggered.
"Invest 5 in Magic."
[Magic stat increased by 5.]
And Carpe additionally invested in the Magic stat just in case.
"Lightning Arrow!"
"Keeek!"
The arrow of lightning that Carpe shot traveled through the sword stuck in the creature, once again scorching the inside of the Giant Slatter.
Thud.
[You have defeated the Giant Slatter.]
[Level up! Bonus points have been awarded.]
[You have reached level 20. One Beginner Skill Pack has been sent to your inventory!]
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