749 – Baal’s Trap
“Ngueeeh!”
The crushed toad’s face screams. My tail strike and [Dimension Claw] have done a lot of damage.
I know it’ll soon be undone by [Autoregeneration]. But for the moment, I don’t have to worry about that annoying tongue. It’s simply too fast for me to deal with. The number of attacks Baal can launch at once now is also reduced.
I don’t have time to carefully strategise. If both of us were to fight at our best, I’d quickly lose to his higher stats. No matter how risky it is, I need to keep pressing the attack while I have an advantage, scoring as many hits in close quarters as I can.
Using [Dite], I produce a ball of black flames above my head. Opposite me, Baal produces a sphere of flames and a sphere of darkness. [Fire Sphere] and [Dark Sphere].
The reason he’s not using [Aqua Sphere], despite clearly wanting to create some distance, is probably because only the toad head can use it, and right now that head is incapable of precise control.
Our opposing magical spheres collide, exploding between us. The power of mine appears slightly stronger. Baal is blown backwards by the explosion. I cut through the flames in pursuit.
In pure magical strength, Baal is stronger than me. But even though his three heads increases the number of attacks he can make, the power of each shot seems a little weaker when he fires them simultaneously. My apocalypse-exclusive [Dite], is powerful enough to push past two of his magic attacks.
『Do you still think you’re superior, spider monster?!』
『You fool… I lured you in!』
He’s a poor loser… But he’s not wrong. Without his toad head out of action, I came out ahead in a clash of magical firepower. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t thinking of what would come next.
Four of Baal’s spider legs are swinging up towards me.
At the same time, his human head is shaking left and right. I see a faint cross-shape reflecting the light between us. He’s using [Severing Thread].
He rode the explosion of our colliding magic to escape backwards, and prepared to counterattack against my charge.
Should I fall back or not? The answer’s obvious.
“GuoOOOOOh!”
Kicking the ground I twist in the air, evading his [Severing Thread] while lunging forwards.
No matter what, I can’t let this battle become stable. The more time that each of us have to put into our attacks, the more it’ll become a simple battle of stats. I need to keep fighting without letting up for even a second. Even if I end up dying to his counterattack as a result, it won’t change the fact that it was my best shot at winning.
『You fool! I’ll turn you into scrap meat!』
Baal’s front legs move in different directions. It’s a quadruple [Dimension Claw]. After restricting my range of motion with the slower [Severing Thread], he plans on scoring a certain hit with [Dimension Claw]!
I fold my wings and pitch forwards, rolling through the air towards Baal.
I feel claws cutting through the periphery of my body. My scales are crushed and torn. Sharp pain runs through me from several points.
But the wounds are miraculously shallow. I lost a few fingers and bones, but [Autoregeneration] will take care of the damage in no time. The power behind this [Dimension Claw] was much weaker than before.
He probably only wanted to threaten and prevent me from charging forwards. As a result, the [Dimension Claws] came were a moment too late, and their power wasn’t maximised.
I’ve once again closed the distance. But Baal is by no means weak at close quarters. Even though his body shape isn’t well suited for a fistfight, his physical stats are high, and his three heads allow him to use supporting magic.
As I dive towards Baal, I activate the magic I’ve been preparing. Four masses of light rise from magic circles around me, each forming into the shape of inhuman knights. It’s my [Curse Knight] skill.
【Normal Skill [Curse Knight]】
【Solidifies mana into the form of a knight bearing a powerful curse.】
【When the knight is struck by an impact or successfully attacks an enemy, it explodes, scattering a curse through the surroundings.】
【In addition to applying the Starvation and Frenzied status condition, if the target’s magical strength is low, the curse can cause death or allow the target’s body to be puppetted.】
The four knights gallop through the air, charging at Baal from different directions.
Each of them are capable of tracking their target independently. Their attack power is also by no means small. The status effects will no doubt be resisted, but even so, their effectiveness should be fiendishly high.
They’re of course effective at medium range, but I think their true worth will shine best when used in conjunction with close combat like this. Even Baal should struggle to deal with the four knights while also fighting me in close quarters.
『Troublesome skills…!』
Baal cuts through one of the curse knights with [Severing Thread] and kicks away another with his leg. But the third and fourth impact his body, exploding in bursts of pale flames.
The lips of his human face move slightly. It looks like he’s keeping the movement to a minimum so I wouldn’t notice it, but that was the preliminary motion of [Severing Thread]. It seems he allowed the third and fourth curse knights hit him so he could focus on intercepting me. He plans on counter attacking with [Severing Thread] in hand-to-hand combat.
But he’s still taking me lightly if he thinks he can hide the activation of his skill!
I tilt to the left to dodge his [Severing Thread] while reaching out to tear his human face with my left foreleg. But a gash appears in my raised foreleg, cutting cleanly from between my claws to the base of my ankle. The sharp pain turns to heat and resonates deep in my body.
What Baal wanted to hide wasn’t the timing of his [Severing Thread], but the trajectory! The incongruence I felt at his earlier movement was because he wanted to obscure his aim. Knowing that an obvious feint would be seen through, he hid a trap in the details of what he was obscuring.
I’ve fallen a step behind. But this is also proof that he’s no longer treating me as his plaything and finally starting to take this seriously.
So what if my foreleg is cut in two! I tighten the muscles of my foreleg to hold the two halves together, hastily repairing with [Autoregeneration] as I continue my swing to tear through his human face.
As expected, it seems he thought I would lower my left foreleg and attack with my right. He defencelessly receives my claw strike across his face.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOh!”
The human face howls.
This must have hurt him. The damage is one thing, but the mental effect must be significant too. I outwitted his toad face while he was still underestimating me to take it out of action, and then forced my way into close range where I was able to deal heavy damage to his primary head.
My follow-up claw attack is blocked by several of Baal’s spider legs. I want nothing more than to keep up the attack, but overturning the difference in speed and number of attacks isn’t so easy. Several of the legs scratch my body.
But, the damage isn’t as much as I was expecting. It feels like his claws are smaller than when I was hit by [Dimension Claw] earlier.
Like with the magic earlier, is his damage being divided when he attacks with multiple of his legs at once? Alternatively, is he holding back for some reason…?
I’ve already taken a look at his skills, so I’m probably overthinking this, but it’s possible that there’s some application not covered by the skill names or explanatory notes, or a combination that I’m overlooking. Of course, I don’t think there’s a reason he’d go so far to hide his weapons…
“Geeeeeeeeeh!”
The toad’s face that I had thoroughly destroyed with [Dimension Claw] has fully regenerated. I only just managed to deal heavy damage to the human face, yet the situation has already taken a step for the worse.
The toad’s tongue eagerly flies towards me. It wraps around my left foreleg and pulls it to the side, throwing me off-balance. This tongue is seriously difficult to deal with. No matter how many times I see it, it’s so fast and precise that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to dodge it.
At the same time, several of Baal’s legs chase towards me, intent on tearing through my body. Just barely, I manage to block with the claws of my left foreleg, receiving the remainder with my shoulder to minimise the damage.
『[Gravity]!』
A black magic circle expands out from Baal. He’s going to suppress me with [Gravity]…! I’m in enough of disadvantage physically as it is, so I don’t stand a chance of winning in close combat while my foreleg is restrained and while fighting against his [Gravity].
But if I retreat, I’d be giving him time to safely heal the damage to his head. It would also be near impossible for me to escape the [Gravity] without exposing myself to attack.
Either option puts me in at a huge disadvantage. Even if I were to use my own [Gravity], the difference in our stats would just be magnified.
But, I’ve already thought of a countermeasure. If I was forced to reset the situation every time he uses [Gravity], I’d be bearing a massive disadvantage. Even if I need to gamble, I can’t let him continue to hold onto such an advantageous card.
『[Hellgate]!』
A black magic circle expands out from me, swallowing Baal along with my surroundings in black flames. The flames form into giant skeletal swordsmen, their hollow eyes fixed on Baal.
【Normal Skill [Hellgate]】
【A type of spatial magic. It calls out to the world of the dead to immolate the enemy with hellfire.】
【The hellfire does not affect the caster.】
【Raising the skill level will expand the scale of the effect.】
【The attack power is high, but an equivalent cost is required.】
It’s a costly skill that even burns through my HP. If I’m attacked while casting it, I could be killed in no time.
But the area of effect is larger than [Gravity], and it allows me to create a field where I have an advantage. Even though he’s deployed [Gravity] here, Baal shouldn’t be able to stand and fight.
『Cheh!』
The toad head turns away, releasing the tongue from my arm. The tongue quickly wraps around a distant building and pulls. Baal’s huge body soars through the hellfire.
『Are you running!?』
I kick off the ground, chasing Baal.
My foreleg is blocked by several of his spider legs. But my claws are able to grip hold of him. Now I’m being pulled along with him.
He’s escaped the range [Hellgate], but even so, I was able to catch him before he could fully heal with [Autoregeneration].
『Caught you, you spider bastard!』
『Stubborn…!』
Baal lifts his other front legs to try to strike me. But before he can, my left foreleg catches his human face. I feel the lower half of his face crumbling under my blow.
That must have done good damage. I try to swing again for a follow-up, but my left foreleg barely moves. Looking down, I see a black thread coiled around it.
He must have attached it to me when I hit his face.
『This kind of thing…!』
I try to break free, but it’s stronger than I expected. My arm doesn’t move at all.
『Too bad. My thread won’t be broken so easily.』
One of his spider legs supports his human head, moving his mouth. The thread that spits out sticks to my chest, right foreleg, and hindlegs. My freedom of movement is taken from me, my limbs instead moving as Baal wishes.
“Guuh…!”
I try to whip my tail at him to attack, but it too is quickly wrapped in thread. As I become completely unable to move, Baal’s toad head stops pulling with its tongue. My body tumbles limply to the ground.
Baal’s three heads look down at me. His crushed human face reforms, transforming into an evil smile.
『Repeated attacks are necessary for you to have a chance of defeating a stronger opponent like me. I recognise your bravery to be able to do such a thing. But, of course all I must do is set a trap with your strategy in mind. That is my right as the strongest.』
My body stands itself up. It’s his [Marionette] skill. It’s the same skill that Atlach has, that lets her control those she restrains with threads.
This guy… He’s not just strong in terms of stats and skills. Even among all the opponents I’ve fought so far, he’s a top class tactician too.
He seemed conceited, but he has the strength to back it up, and he fights while keeping his cards hidden as an insurance.
『You made me take this a little seriously. To think I would need trickery… I acknowledge that you are decently strong. Well… at best, you’re about the third strongest of those who have challenged me and fallen.』
Baal’s three heads each produce magic spheres. [Dark Sphere], [Fire Sphere], and [Aqua Sphere].
At the same time, I use [Dite] to produce a ball of hellfire. Baal’s three mouths open in mocking laughter.
『What do you plan on doing with that? Do you intend to cancel out my magic? Or will you aim at my body? Either way, there’s nothing to fear from your magic now that you’ve lost control of your body…』
As Baal says, my [Dite] would be parried and I’d be torn apart by a direct attack immediately afterwards.
『Oh, are you going to hit yourself to burn away the threads? Hmm? If you don’t take me by surprise, such self-destructive action is simply the vain struggling of the defeated! You’ll be throwing away your HP and MP, and presenting me with a huge opening. Of course, I’m ready to tear you to pieces with my eight legs.』
Baal’s three magic spheres fly towards me.
Baal is not only clever, but also maliciously arrogant. He predicts his opponent’s intentions and presents them with hope before crushing it at the last moment. He has the intelligence to pull it off.
If he also had [Status Inspection]… Or if [Spirit Servant] had totally deprived him of his will, it would have been impossible for me to turn the tables.
I use [Dragon Mirror] to shrink myself down, turning to my baby dragon form. The threads are no longer binding me.
【Characteristic skill [Dragon Mirror]】
【Warps surrounding light and space to change the user’s appearance.】
【Enemies can be lured in, and the user’s presence can be muffled.】
【In addition, by combining it with other body-altering skills, the MP consumption can be drastically reduced.】
Keeping the ball of [Dite] flames floating above me, I slip between two of the magic spheres and charge towards Baal.
『You…!』
『Too bad for you! Your threads can’t hold me!』
If Baal knew I had such a powerful counter for his threads, he wouldn’t have tried to trap me, or presented such an opening after restraining me. He allowed me to activate [Dite] right in front of him, and pointlessly used all three heads to fire magic.
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