484 – Fraudulent Battle

Joining the three dragonfish, two more dive down from the sky… I see, I’m starting to understand how they fight.
They confuse their opponents with wide-range illusions, while at the same time replenishing their numbers by calling for more B+ monsters.
It’s a rather dirty way of fighting.

For now, I’ll keep cutting off their fins with [Dimension Claw] to stop them from flying.
Moaning, the dragonfish rapidly fall.
They have [Autoregeneration], so their fins will probably heal rather quickly, but this should be enough to keep them immobilised for a while.
I should keep an eye on each of them to spot good times to hit them again with [Dimension Claw].

It would be hard for Aro and the others to take on this many B+ ranks by themselves.
I need to reduce their advantage of three-dimensional movement as much as possible.

If I didn’t have complete resistance to illusions, this fight might have been a bit dangerous.
As I am now, I can react and shoot down the dragonfish as needed, but if we had fought them while I was still an ouroboros, it could have easily ended with our annihilation.
This is a match than can’t be safely fought without an L rank monster.

Most likely, there’s another monster hiding nearby.
Whatever that monster is, it’s responsible for this fog, it’s creating illusions to help the dragonfish, and it called for more allies.
It’s probably an evolved dragonfish.
From the sound of the cry, there’s no mistaking that they’re related.

As an evolved B+, it has to be A- at the lowest.
I need to be careful.
For anyone other than me, a surprise attack from it could easily prove fatal.

I need to keep Aro and the others from being pushed back by the dragonfish, while also being vigilant against a surprise attack and sniffing out the enemies’ boss.

…For now, all I can sense is the dragonfish.
It must be rather skilled at hiding.
I couldn’t pinpoint the source of the cry from earlier, due to the way it echoed in the fog.

As I move to extract the treant, it uses [Tree Spiritisiation] to flutter out of the hole.
Flapping its wings in a way reminiscent a chicken, it then returns to tree form midair… That skill really can be used in unexpected ways.

Glancing at the black lizard, I see her continuing to shoot [Clay Gun] at a dragonfish even as it closes in… That must be the illusions at work again.
At the black lizard’s level, the charge of a dragonfish can’t be dodged unless she has a considerable distance.
I quickly sweep my arm down, cutting through the tail and gills of the dragonfish with [Dimension Claw].

“GioOO!”

The dragonfish squirms on the ground.
Realising that she’d lost her sense of distance, the black lizard scurries backwards.

…It seems the illusions are using the fog as a trigger, and are fundamentally different from my [Mirage].
There’s no way I could manage an illusion on this wide a scale.

The enemy can’t be hiding using illusions.
If it was, I would have quickly spotted it with my complete illusion immunity.
Is it keeping its distance? There’s a slight variation in the thickness of the surrounding fog… I wonder if I can use that as a hint to find it?

I can’t let my guard down while there’s still an unknown enemy.
It would be nice if I could draw it to me and then hit it with a counter…

No, that can work! I’ll fight illusions with illusions of my own.
In a matchup of the same kind, whichever side’s more skilled should win.
I am the [Dream Dragon] oneiros, after all.

“Givaavaa!”

Two dragonfish dive towards me.
On my back, the treant hits them with [Heat Ray], but they ignore it and continue their charge.
They must have guessed that as long as there’s distance between us, they’ll only be unilaterally cut down with [Dimension Claw], and so are prioritising taking me out.

That’s perfect, I’ll use this chance to try my idea! Probably, whatever’s lurking nearby is watching us and has realised my strength is abnormal.
Still, it hasn’t fled, likely because it thinks it has a chance to beat me.
The other possibility is that it’s unable to flee for some reason… But, either way, it shouldn’t have given up on victory.

So, if I show it a opportunity, it should come out on its own accord.
I’ll lure it in, then nail it with a counter.

『I’m going to pretend to be hit, so don’t worry! I’m luring out the enemies’ boss!』

I alert Aro and the others.
If I were to suddenly pretend to be hit, it’d cause a greater panic in my allies than the enemies.

『I hear you, master-dono! Even though master-dono will pretend to have been killed, we should not lose our concentration! Don’t allow your focus to wane on the opponent in front of you!』

So that the others don’t miss it, the treant repeats my message for me.
Huh, it understood surprisingly well.
Since evolving, the treant might have gotten a bit smarter, too.

“GivaoaAA!” “GivaeaaAh!

The two approaching dragonfish open their mouths wide as they plunge toward me, displaying their array of sharp teeth.
As I step backwards to dodge, I use [Mirage] to manipulate the surrounding light, producing an image of them tearing through my flesh.

“GuoOOOOOO…!”

To heighten the illusion, I toss out the Sword of Disaster from my hand.
I could’ve just pretended to lose it with [Mirage], but I was thinking of dropping it anyway.
Not only does [Ideal Weapon] need mana to maintain, but so does using [Dragon Mirror] for to keep up my bipedal form.
For the cost, the Sword of Disaster is a little weak.
It has the ability it has to apply status conditions too, but it’s still more power than I need.
Although the skill seems interesting, so I’d like to try raising its level if I can…

『Master-dono!? Are you okay!?』

I hear the treant’s voice.
N-no, you definitely heard what I said, right!? I guess it could be a little shocking to see my blood splatter like that, but as the one who explained to everyone else, I’d rather you didn’t flip-flop so easily.
Aro’s also looking at me anxiously.
The treant’s concern might have drawn her attention.
I-is everyone going to be okay…?

But, it seems I’ve successfully drawn out the target.
It’s faint, but I can finally sense the enemy approaching from behind.
It seems it was hidden underground.

A tornado suddenly appears and assaults my blind spot.
It looks similar to the ones Aro uses, so it’s probably [Gale].
Gathering the black light of [Gravidon] in my mouth, I twist around to dodge the tornado.
If it’s hidden underground, then I’ll blast the whole ground away!

I release the [Gravidon].
Grains of sand on the ground float up towards the black sphere as it shoots out.
The [Gravidon] impacts the ground, causing it to contort for a moment, before suddenly a huge quantity of sand is thrown into the air.

A wall of mist seems to seep out of the thrown up sand.
This sand might be the source of the fog.

From inside the mist, about the same size as me, a strange monster emerges.
Four long necks sprout from its body, each of which ends in an ogre-like face.
I’m taken aback for a moment, but it’s then I realise it’s wrong.
This monster’s just a fraud.

The four-faced monster’s appearance quickly warps and fades, changing into that of a huge shellfish.
Countless tentacles squirm from gaps in its shell.
I-is this the dragonfish’s boss?