743 – [Akashic Counter] (side: Treant)

I face the Magic Beast King.

Information about my foe instantly flows into my mind.

【[Behemoth]: Rank L+ (Upper Legendary)】
【A colossal beast.】
【When civilisation was waning and the world was wracked by famine, the behemoth offered its body as food to the final country in order to save the life of a girl.】
【The behemoth’s flesh sustained humanity for centuries, saving them from ruin.】
【Future generations doubted the legend, instead considering behemoth to be a deification of the land.】

The Magic Beast King… Apparently its species name is ‘behemoth’. The anecdote sounds outrageous, but considering the size of it, it’s certainly believable.

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[World Eater]
Species: Behemoth
Condition: Spirit, Death God Seed, Violent Beast Metamorphosis
Lv: 150/170 (Lock)
HP: 11494/22811
MP: 9248/22811
Attack: 12317 (13686)
Defence 10037
Magic: 6387
Speed: 1631 (1255)
Rank: L+ (Upper Legendary)

Divine Skills:
[Animal Realm (replica): Lv-] [Human Realm (replica): Lv-] [Asura Realm (replica): Lv-] [Hungry Ghost Realm (replica): Lv-] [Naraka Realm (replica): Lv-]

Characteristic Skills:
[Automatic HP Recovery: LvMAX] [Automatic MP Recovery: LvMAX] [Skin of the Giant Beast: LvMAX] [Grisha Language: Lv2]

Resistance Skills:
[Physical Resistance: LvMAX] [Magic Resistance: LvMAX] [Earth Attribute Resistance: LvMAX] [Fire Attribute Resistance: LvMAX] [Water Attribute Resistance: LvMAX] [Poison Resistance: LvMAX] [Paralysis Resistance: LvMAX] [Confusion Resistance: LvMAX] [Petrification Resistance: LvMAX] [Instant Death Resistance: LvMAX] [Curse Resistance: LvMAX] [Illusion Resistance: LvMAX]

Normal Skills:
[Clay: LvMAX] [Telepathy:LvMAX] [Autoregeneration: LvMAX] [Scorching Breath: LvMAX] [Claw Strike Wave: LvMAX] [Claw of the Giant Beast: LvMAX] [Fang of the Giant Beast: LvMAX] [Violent Beast Metamorphosis: Lv-] [Inhaala: LvMAX] [Flare Ray: LvMAX] [Teeming Reincarnation: LvMAX]

Title Skills:
[Final Evolution: Lv-] [Former Magic Beast King: Lv-] [Former Hero: Lv-] [Gargantuan: LvMAX] [One Who Supports the Land: Lv-] [Subordinate Spirit Beast: Lv-]
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As expected of an Upper Legendary, the behemoth’s stats are far above my own. But, it’s not impossible for me to win. It’s already exhausted as a result of [Death God Seed] and [Violent Beast Metamorphosis].

It seems the boost to its speed and slight decrease to its attack power are due to [Violent Beast Metamorphosis].

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Species: Sephirotic Tree Dragon
Condition: God of Destruction
Lv: 74/155
HP: 8958/10347
MP: 672/2801
Attack: 984
Defence: 3811
Magic: 2246
Speed: 954
Rank: L (Legendary)
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There’s still a world of difference between us. Each of its stats are far above my own. Even its HP and defence are over twice mine.

But while its stats are high, it doesn’t seem to have particularly dangerous skills. [Teeming Reincarnation] is useless against my [Life’s Balance].

『Now for [Undying Regeneration]!』

The blue glow of my body intensifies.

【Normal Skill [Undying Regeneration]】
【Explosively boosts the user’s vitality.】
【When used, the user’s body is covered by blue moss, and their HP is forcibly recovered until their MP hits 1%.】
【The user’s defence is greatly raised, but the other stats are halved.】

Even with my improved HP and MP, if I were to take a direct hit, I could be instantly killed. But as long as I have [Undying Regeneration], I should be able to endure. My [Life’s Balance] skill will also continuously steal MP from the behemoth.

Of course, the mana stolen by [Life’s Balance] is less than that consumed by [Undying Regeneration], so it won’t last forever, but it should stretch out how long I can survive.

『Again that healing… This has dragged on long enough, and I can’t lose more mana, but… Approaching would be reckless. At this range, my [Claw Strike Wave] will work!』

The behemoth raises its four arms and then swiftly rakes its claws through the air. The claw strikes become physical and fly towards me.

『[Paradise Creation]』

Thick stems of flowers and ivy shoot upwards in a mass of vegetation, blocking the [Claw Strike Waves].

【Normal Skill [Paradise Creation]】
【By distributing the user’s HP, plants can be freely grown.】

[Paradise Creation]… I can grow plants at the cost of some HP. It’s useful as a shield, but I could also see it being useful as an attack or to restrain an enemy.

It also has good synergy with my [Life’s Balance] skill.

【Characteristic Skill [Life’s Balance]】
【Life force and mana is drawn from those near the user, becoming the user’s sustenance.】
【The user can control who the skill affects.】
【The strength of [Life’s Balance] is dependent on the difference between the user’s maximum HP and current HP.】

I can use the HP cost of [Paradise Creation] to keep my current HP low, increasing the power of [Life’s Balance]. There is little I can do to actively strike against the behemoth, so it’s good that I can ensure [Life’s Balance] will continue to wear away at it.

『A powerful technique… But your plants do not grow fast. Let’s see if you can block this!』

The behemoth fires more claw attacks at me while charging forwards. Stepping backwards to try to maintain a constant distance, I use [Paradise Creation] to block with another wall of plants.

Their momentum not fully absorbed by the plants, the shockwaves graze me, but with [Undying Regeneration], I can recovery without issue.

『Why…? I should be faster… Are you that much better at fighting…?』

The behemoth glares at me.

Certainly, I am far slower. In addition, my [Paradise Creation] is slower to activate than [Claw Strike Wave]. There’s also no way I could be more talented at combat than the Magic Beast King who won an ancient struggle over divine skills.

【Characteristic Skill [Demon Eye of Cause and Effect]】
【By focusing mana in the eye, a few seconds into the future can be seen.】

It’s thanks to [Demon Eye of Cause and Effect]. However, seeing into the future uses a suitably hefty amount of mana. I’m already burning through my mana with [Undying Regeneration]. If were to use it repeatedly, I’d run out of mana in no time.

[Life’s Balance] is restoring my MP, but there is a limit to how much MP can be recovered within a window of time. I can already feel the recovery effect weakening. The constant decrease to my maximum HP and MP from [God of Destruction] is bad, but thanks to my stat distribution, it’s not a significant downside for this battle. My MP recovery ability is the more significant bottleneck.

Although it appears as though I’m overwhelming the behemoth, if this keeps up, I will be the one to lose to exhaustion first.

But this is fine for now. The behemoth is starting to panic. It’s worried about using up too much mana and not having enough to fight master-dono when he arrives. From the behemoth’s point of view, it’s pointless to win against me if it means using up too much of its mana.

In addition, the behemoth lacks the ability to check its opponent’s status. In this fight, only I have the privilege of being able to see my opponent’s HP and MP and plan accordingly. It has no way of knowing which of us would win a battle of endurance.

The behemoth will panic and change tacitcs. That is what I’m aiming for.

The behemoth leaps into the air, pouncing towards me.

While midair, it attacks with [Claw Strike Wave], and I block with [Paradise Creation].

『I see you can block at range! But you won’t be able to whistand a direct attack!』

I’ve already seen its movements with [Demon Eye of Cause and Effect]. But at this range it’s impossible for me to dodge. I can’t overturn our difference in speed. I’m growing plants with [Paradise Creation], but it won’t be enough to slow it down.

The behemoth’s giant fistts slam into my side. A huge shock runs through me. For a moment, I feel like I’m losing consciousness, but then I grit my teeth and endure.

Then, I wrap plants around the behemoth’s outstretched arms with [Paradise Creation]. The behemoth is far faster than me. It’s faster, but I could see what posture it would be in after striking with [Demon Eye of Cause and Effect].

『The movements of these plants… It wasn’t to block, but to restrain! I see… You foresaw my attack!』

As expected of the winner of a struggle over the divine skills. It saw through my actions with sheer combat experience. It probably inferred my ability to see the future from how I blocked the ranged attacks earlier.

But overly impatient at my apparently impregnable defence, it changed strategy to try to rush the battle.

『But restraints like these are no match…』

『I can already see your defeat with my [Demon Eye of Cause and Effect]!』

『What…!』

I point my foreleg towards the behemoth

『[Akashic Counter]!』

An iridescent shockwave shoots out of my foreleg. All four arms bound by the plants, the behemoth receives the full brunt of the shockwave.

“OOOOOOOOOh!”

Blood spurts from its body. The plants wrapped around its arms are torn off as its huge mountain of a body is sent careening through the air.

【Normal Skill [Akashic Counter]】
【Releases a shockwave equal to the power received.】
【The shockwave passes through physical barriers such as skin with ease, negating much of the opponent’s defence.】
【The shockwave only affects the one who performed the original attack.】
【In addition, in order to use [Akashic Counter], it is necessary to spread mana throughout the body just before reicvingt he attack.】

Compared to [Wood Counter], [Akashic Counter] is harder to avoid as a shockwave, and it is better at piercing the opponent’s defence. In particular, it is spectacularly effective against the defence-specialised behemoth.

It is necessary to spread mana throughout the body before getting hit, and if a mistake is made in the timing the mana would all be wasted. Of course, with my [Demon Eye of Cause and Effect], it’s not difficult to predict the right timing.