Chapter 411: Group Attack

“BuruuwaAAAAAAAA!”

A round depression forms on the surface of the giant slime, and the roar comes from that. Even I experience such fear that my body freezes up for a moment. The eye sockets of the skeletons inside it seem to stare at me resentfully.

The giant slime advances towards me. It’s slow. But, between the five giants and the five Rogueheils, it’s all too troublesome an opponent.

【[Gigant Slime]: A- rank monster.】

【A monster with an incredible appetite.】

【It eats everything that catches its notice.】

【The souls of those it eats do not return to the cycle of reincarnation, and continue to suffer inside the [Gigant Slime].】

They’re bringing out an A- rank monster like it’s nothing! It doesn't look like I'll be getting away easily this time.

“GOOOOOO!”

The ugly giants with squashed faces race ahead of the gigant slime. The Rogueheils crawl along the ground, moving to encircle me.

【[Eating Troll]: B- rank monster】

【The evolved form reached by particularly brutal and ruthless members of the oni family.】

【The rulers of the Black Forest.】

【Its thoughts are always consumed by rage and frustration.】

【It has been passed down among adventurers that it is better to die than to be caught by one.】

A-all of them are B-!? How about Rogueheil’s body doubles…?

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Species: Doppel Shoggoth Ooze

Condition: Doppelganger

Lv: 75/75 (LOCK) (MAX)

HP: 53/53

MP: 8/8

Attack: 248

Defence: 258

Magic: 461

Speed: 437

Rank: B-

Characteristic Skills:

[Slime Body: Lv-] [Tentacle: Lv5] [Poison Sash: Lv6] [Digestive Juices: Lv5]

Resistance Skills:

[Physical Resistance: Lv2] [Magic Resistance: Lv2] [Poison Resistance: Lv2] [Paralysis Resistance: Lv4] [Curse Resistance: Lv5] [Confusion Resistance: Lv2] [Sleep Resistance: Lv4] [Petrification Resistance: Lv2]

Normal Skills:

[Colour Change: Lv5] [Life Drain: Lv5] [Grapple: Lv4] [Ooze Bomb: Lv5] [Plague Breath: Lv4] [Autoregeneration: Lv5]

Title Skills:

[Final Evolution: Lv-]

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…They’re at least a lot weaker than the main body, but they’re still max level B- ranks… Their HP and MP aren’t very high. Probably, they only get the amount given to them when they split off.

As the skill explanation said, with just that much health, they should break apart with a single hit… Of course, that’s only if I can actually hit them.

I shoot [Wind Slashes] towards the two lead trolls. Against B- opponents, a single hit from a [Wind Slash] should be enough to deal a debilitating wound.

The two trolls are cut by the blades of wind, and their flesh is chewed up. They fall to their knees and stop moving.

Great, these sorts of enemies I can defeat in an instant… No, that’s wrong!

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Species: Eating Troll

Condition: Metallised (medium)

Lv: 69/69 (MAX)

HP: 317/483

MP: 174/192

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Species: Eating Troll

Condition: Metallised (medium)

Lv: 68/68 (MAX)

HP: 317/483

MP: 174/192

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Looking closely, I can see that the flow of blood has stopped, and the section where their flesh is cut is covered in a strange layer of metal. That metallised status conditions must be the result of a skill that raises defence at the cost of mobility! I wanted to quickly shave away at their numbers, but they had to have an annoying skill!

While my focus is on the trolls, the Rogueheils have surrounded me. It seems like it would be easy to forget which is the real body, but one of them is faster than the rest and keeping its distance from me. It seems he doesn’t want to take the front line himself.

Leaving the main body behind, the four Rogueheils rush towards me. I have to burn them away. My skills that can affect a wide area are [Scorching Breath], [Plague Breath], and, by releasing a shockwave, [Return to Ground]. With the ceiling this low, I can’t use [Return to Ground]. In other words, my only choice is to rely on [Scorching Breath].

I suck my breath in and accumulate magic power in my abdomen. At the same time, the four Rogueheils’ bodies become bumpy. The body doubles don’t have [Ooze Machine Gun], so it has to be [Ooze Bomb] this time. If they’re shooting a single shot each, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.

While exhaling [Scorching Breath], I swing my neck in a circle. To close off my blind spots, my partner diligently looks around.

As though in response to my breath attack, four lumps of slime shoot towards me from different directions. At the same time, the Rogueheils scatter. For those who don’t want to take any real damage, breath attacks are their natural enemy. I wanted to crush at least one, but it seems forcing them away is the limit.

At this rate, I’ll gradually be worn down… Behind the curtain of flames, I try to devise a plan. As I thought, should I try to accumulate damage on those trolls…? But they have a skill to turn their flesh into steel, so they’re tougher than their rank would suggest.

Should I go for Rogueheil’s body doubles first? But they’re rather fast in their own respects. Catching them would be difficult while they’re using the trolls as decoys and flitting around. But if I leave them be, they’ll find gaps to exploit and attack me.

I’ll leave the trolls until they get close, and then wrap them up with [Scorching Breath] to force them to use their metalicisation, which will temporarily stop them… In the meantime, I’ll chase down the Rogueheil body doubles to land certain hits… No, but then… As I’m thinking, a sudden chill runs down my spine, and my body goes numb and stiff. With difficulty, I move my eyes, and see the Rogueheil main body at the corner of my vision. All the eyes over his body are wide open and staring at me.

It’s the Demon Eye skills that only the main body has! He has [Terrifying Demon Eye], [Petrifying Demon Eye], and [Demon Eye of Insanity]. Probably, this one is [Terrifying Demon Eye]. He can use it even without eye contact, damn it…!

“GuoOOOOOh!”

I emit a burst of magic power and shake off the effect. As it can be activated easily, it seems the restrictive power is comparatively weak. Even more so with my higher stats. If I brace myself, this much is…!

Suddenly, something comes flying towards me. It pierces through the wall of flames and knocks me away. For a moment, my vision goes black. It had an incredible force behind it.

I spread my wings as far as they will go to increase my air resistance, and thrust my claws into the ground. I stop after only being thrown back a few metres. If my body hit the wall, I’d take more damage than I needed to, and my stance would have been completely lost.

This was… The gigant slime?

In the open field of view, I see a huge tentacle extending from the gigant slime towards me. In the end, I can’t ignore it. This difference in numbers could easily be fatal to me.

I dodge to the side to avoid the thick tentacle that comes after me. The wall and floor are scraped away, leaving thick gouges. That slime’s stats are entirely focused on its HP and attack power. In term of pure power, it’s even above me.

You can’t survive in this world through min-maxing, but as a single component it a group battle, it can be terrifyingly effective.

『Hyoohhyohyo! You felt that one, didn’t you? Well done, gigant.』

Roguheil’s [Telepathy] reaches me.