Chapter 549: Day 5,031 (3) – Battle Of Attrition

Chapter 549: Day 5,031 (3) – Battle Of Attrition

The ground shook as the Beam Of Destruction swept past me and struck the ground. I looked up at the sky at the platform made of the Infinite Block floating away and grimaced. The partial level 7 Molten Millipede was gathering energy for another long-distance attack once more as debris rained down upon me.

Michelle kept pulling it back as countless lesser monsters got in my path, slowing me down. The battle had gone from one of traps and decoys, to one of attrition. Even though the summoned level 7 monsters was less powerful than the actual version, which was why I called it a partial summon, Michelle was controlling it.

Human level intelligence made it a much greater threat. Despite the actual version shouting out through the energy it exuded into the air, it was still a monster that relentlessly attacked. That made it predictable and simple to defeat.

What Michelle was doing right now, would make anyone but myself weep tears of blood from frustration. Michelle was clearly going all out, with her retreating strategy and having a mobile circle I needed to reach. I was glad it was this difficult, and hard to win.

If I was having this much trouble, then anyone else with a similar strength to mine would have a similar level of trouble. I kicked away some crab like monster as I felt more mental attacks ping off my defenses. I still hadn’t been hit seriously at least. Just light attacks, that had hit my armor, or debris from explosions and that one minor stab wound.

My hands tingled a bit but were fine from having blocked so many low level attacks. Even combination attacks, were enough to punch through the layer of energy I exuded from my hands. Still, it did drain my reserves.

I had about half my energy remaining, despite not using any skills. Once my energy was out, that would be the end of this fight in my mind. I needed to end it before then. I kept moving forward as rapidly as I could. More beam attacks came at me. Mixing up the levels to throw off my danger sense and keep me confused.

Unfortunately, I could see the energy density of the beam attacks, knowing which ones I could block and which ones I needed to dodge. The Molten Millipede reared up and launched another one as well. I quickly dodged around the attack, even as it tried to track me. The monster could only turn so much while using it.

The flowers that used to be part of the terrain were almost all gone. Crushed and destroyed in this battle. I was catching up to the platform. It was time to cross the final gap. I kicked off the ground. Air Burst. Air Burst. I used a rapid zig zag pattern to quickly throw off all the monsters that kept converging on me.

The Molten Millepede spun around and interposed itself between me and the platform. Air Burst. I went around it, as it tried to slash at me with its feet, and crush me with its burning carapace. It was an amusing attempt to get me, but nowhere near enough. Acid Shot x10.

Better to make sure it dusted as I went past. Air Burst. Dodging around a flock of massive birds, I was about to land on the platform, when a monster dressed in clothes jumped at me. A mimic that looked like a human from a distance.

Acid Shot. Air Burst. I felt a surge of energy near me, that I had been waiting for. Air Burst. More swords appeared around me. I had blinked purposely at that one moment, so I knew this attack would come. Acid Shot x20. I touched down on the platform.

“Halt!” Captain Francis called out. Michelle let out a tired sigh, as the platform began to descend. The rest of the monsters were released and turned to dust.

“Neat tricks,” I told her.

“I can’t take all the credit. The decoy location was their idea,” Michelle gestured at the group of summoners and Governor Richard who were staring at me with wide eyes.

“Eh, that was a pretty good trick. What do you think?” I asked Michelle as we touched down on the ground. The Infinite Block compacting itself back up to be stored.

“They were competent, but overall I would rate their performance as a seven out of ten,” she replied.

“Oh, that much?” I asked with a slight smile.

“Good combinations, distractions, and overall teamwork, but a poor understanding of high-level combat. Their choices for monsters to use were sub-par for facing someone like you. The mental attacks pointless, and their ability to control monsters mediocre, to dodge your attacks or produce acceptable feints” I nodded at all of this.

Also, I didn’t want anything growing inside me ever again. That was incredibly creepy and not an experience I ever wanted to repeat. I still shuddered at what had happened at the top of the first tower I had climbed.

“Yes. That was how I kept the Molten Millipede going for so long and the rest of the monsters. But it is a huge weakness, unless I am on the airship,” she replied.

“A resonance-based attack,” I said and she nodded at that.

“On a mobile platform, not so bad. But that just means I have to protect the entire airship. Which I will do, but if we move on a platform, it can be concerning,” Michelle replied.

“What about you Doctor? Have fun?” I asked.

“I am just glad no one was seriously hurt,” he said. I let out a mock gasp and clutched my chest. “That is just a tickle. You resisted all the curse damage, since you didn’t want a life potion,” he replied.

“Fair. It was a good trick. Layers?” I asked Michelle.

“Not simple. I can’t keep summons there, and the exit points have to be set beforehand. You noticed the surge in energy at the end as well,” she replied.

“Yes I did. You tried to fix that?” I asked.

“A bit. I just didn’t have the monsters aim at you when as they emerged. They emerged, then targeted you. A small but important difference. Danger sense is very overpowered,” she replied.

“It is. But you clearly have gotten better aiming and with feints. I felt the heat from those Beams of Destruction,” I said.

“But I couldn’t track you. Too fast,” she muttered.

“Dodging is superior to blocking. And attacking is superior to dodging,” I replied. It was my combat philosophy. Trying to block too much and get fancy with things was a hassle. Dodging was far superior to blocking. Also it wasn’t a full level 7 monster. If it had been, then I would have been forced to block like the actual thing.

“Any luck on working out why it is a partial level 7 summon?” I asked Michelle.

“No. It is probably something inherent to a level 7 monster. Unless we have a lot of spare crystals, running tests isn’t possible. There are just too many variables. From the summoning sphere, the monster itself, to the environment, there is a whole host of possible issues. Still, I think it is a limitation of ritual summoning,” she replied.

“It isn’t carrying the full endowed name of the monster through either,” Captain Francis added.

“I noticed that as well. You think it could be an issue with the summoner?” I asked Michelle and she frowned at that. It was an impolite question, but one that needed to be asked.

“Perhaps. Like I said, there are too many variables, and we would need to run a lot more tests. Tests we don’t have the resources for right now. Until I can grind level 7 monsters, it is better to just collect data as time goes on,” she added.

That made sense, even if it was annoying. While she had a lot of level 7 Molten Millipede crystals, it was better to save them. Unleashing ten of them at the same time for a single minute, was much better than having one for ten minutes. Keeping a bunch in reserve was important as part of Michelle’s overall combat potential in case something occurred in the future.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.