Chapter 195 - 189 : [Arghus’ Potential Disperser]

[[ Arghus' Potential Disperser (Lesser rank) : Simple Grade

Weakens the ability of the target to gather energy. Effect different based on the ability of the target.

Under level 10: Attack power is weakened by 10% while Main attributes are weakened by 10%.

Duration : 5 minutes.

Level 10 and above but under level 15: Attack power is weakened by 7% while Main attributes(apart from Vitality) are weakened by 5%.

Duration : 2 minutes.

]]

Unlike most regular potions Sato had seen thus far, [Arghus' Potential Disperser] didn't focus on increasing the strength of the user. Just like its name implied, the gas that had diffused into the kobold chief's system was a potential disperser that weakened the abilities of its target. While it was of a Simple Grade, it was quite impressive that it had effects on creatures above level 10. Usually, most Simple grade potions didn't have such effects against level 10 and above monsters. This was due to the low quality of the ingredients and concoction method. Even the higher grade Advanced potions had their limits. However, [Arghus' Potential Disperser] had broken this law.

Being made by a master of alchemy, Sir Arghus, it was termed as one of his greatest work for its amazing effects even. Sir Arghus had created a new path in alchemy that enabled certain potions to be able to 'jump levels' to affect a much higher ranked creature or monster. [Arghus' Potential Disperser] was one of his greatest creations in this area and it had the ability to eliminate the combat strength of a great being turning them from a King class individual to nothing but a regular mortal. A King class individual was a tier 3 being! Even in a kingdom, they were just a few dozens of these guys and nothing more. Of course, compared to the original version this one wasn't as perverse and was a lot weaker. However, it was made with the same procedure as the original - the Arghus way- but with low quality herbs as compared to the original set. Nonetheless, it was quite effective against monsters under level 15. For this drug alone, Sato had spent a lot. It was one of the trump cards for this raid and with its amazing effects, the chances of success were boosted by 10%.

"???!"

Though the gas was odorless and colorless, once within the system of the target, it worked fast. The kobold chief had slowly begun to feel its strength waning as muscles felt a bit heavy than usual. It didn't know what had happened but it could easily guess that it had something to do with the gas that had been released before.

The kobold chief glanced at Sato with hate with a slight feeling of apprehension and fear. This was because it had never felt something like this before. Nonetheless, it refused to retreat because even though its strength had weakened a bit, it was still stronger than Sato. A tiger would never shy away from a rabbit just because of a few tricks.

"Roar!"

The kobold chief re-enacted its charge once more and with the distance between them being shorter than before, it didn't take long for it to reach Sato.

Truth be told, Sato didn't depend on the attribute reduction to face the Kobold chief but rather the attack power reduction. Compared to the effects of having 5% removed from all Main attributes, 7% off of the Attack power would be much better. This is mainly because usually, Main attributes are smaller in number than secondary attributes. With the already small value present, taking out 5% wouldn't make much of a difference but since secondary attributes were already larger, taking out an equally larger percentage would have a much better effect. But of course, the 5% reduction in Main attributes still had its uses even if it was small. At the very least, the kobold chief's comprehensive strength would weaken even more. This way, tanking the monster would be a lot easier, though it would still be difficult.

Seeing the familiar bone spear approaching him, Sato didn't retreat but faced it head on. With his HP higher than before and also with Fudo in the background, Sato had a lot more confidence in facing the kobold chief in a direct battle.

"Ha!"

With a low yell, Sato brandished his sword at the spear. The point he targeted happened to be the weak point in this attack. It wasn't a coincidence rather, Sato had managed to calculate the point this time around. This was because the Kobold chief was irked after having its strength weakened, so its attacks were a lot worse than before. It should be recalled that its fighting skills and spear arts were already terrible to start with much less now. Hence, it wasn't difficult for Sato to spot the weak-link and strike it in time.

*Clang*

Sato's [Astral Blade] collided against the bone spear and shifted it away from himself, to the side. Normally, this would have been impossible even with his precision strike. At best, he would barely deflect the spear but this time, he had outrightly done so. The kobold chief was already weaker than before, its fighting abilities had dropped to a red zone and Sato had used precision strike. All these points added together made him temporary overpower the Kobold chief and deflect the attack with a single strike.

Sato didn't stop with just deflecting the attack. Like before, he slashed down at the kobold chief once he had succeeded in blocking the attack. The Kobold chief never expected Sato to be capable of dodging its attack just as before so it was too slow in reacting even with its higher attributes.

-67 (898/1500 Kobold chief's HP)

'Run.'

After landing a hit on the Kobold chief, Sato immediately began to move away, heading towards a different direction. Fudo also did the same thing and didn't bother questioning Sato's decision because he could easily guess the reason why.

'The others should be there already.' Sato thought. The meeting point that they had decided on wasn't actually here, where he faced the Kobold chief, but elsewhere.

There was a reason that the team had decided to face the Kobold chief at another location and not at the Kobold settlement. This was to create an advantageous battlefield for themselves. Originally, Sato was supposed to have lead the monster there in the beginning but in the end, he didn't. Instead, he waited till everyone was ready and done with their side missions be he did so. The reason was none other than the kobold chief being too strong and quite smart. If it noticed something was wrong in time, who could tell whether it would escape or not. If they missed this opportunity, drawing it out again from its hiding spot, the kobold settlement, would be very difficult. Hence, till everyone was gathered, Sato didn't bring the kobold chief to that spot; well, that was until now.

"Roar!"

The constant frustrating roars of the kobold chief sounded out at intervals as the monster slowly closed in on him.

With Fudo's timely assist and the effect of [Arghus' Potential Disperser (Lesser rank)] still active, Sato and Fudo were able to reach the selected location within a few seconds. On the system interface, was displayed a countdown timer with less than 2 minutes to go.

The determined battlefield was a levelled land that was surrounded by a few small hills, turning it into a valley. It wasn't that large but it spanned at least 200 metres wide, making it a good enough place for a tough battle. It was an isolated environment and looked like the perfect spot to hold down the fort. In this place, they could fight till their heart's content without fear of getting spotted by anyone, whether human or kobold.

"Over here." Sato heard someone cry out. Turning his head over, his eyes happened to land on a player, one of his to be precise, Katsuo. As the tallest in the team, it wasn't difficult to spot him from a couple of metres away much less now he as just a few metres.

Right beside Katsuo was Yato, Xue Yan and Seiichi. Sato guessed that Lu Zhen was also present but had entered stealth mode. Sato nodded at them all as form of greeting and alertness. With the team gathered now, they could officially begin the raid.

From the earlier calculations and predictions they had made, the combined team of Soran's God Retaliation squad and Azure Dragon's team would be able to last against the kobold horde for at least 3-4 minutes. Factoring in the time it would take for the kobolds to find this spot, it would be a total approximate of 5~7 minutes. A safe judgement would be 5 minutes. In other words, Sato and his team had 5 minutes to not only beat the kobold chief but also escape the 10th floor. To succeed in this, they needed to beat the boss in 2-3 minutes, which also happened to coincide with the duration of [Arghus' Potential Disperser (Lesser rank)]. This sounded easy but it was actually difficult. Though the monster had lost quite a bit of HP, it was still a force to reckon with. The good thing though was that they came prepared.

"Activate the array."