Snake Hunt
The arrows were as enormous as the bows that fired them, and the sound they made slicing through the air was no joke either.
Phwak! Sounds like something out of a dark elf's massive ballista echoed from all directions as a hail of arrows rained down. For their size, they flew just as fast as regular arrows—no, even faster. Was it because they had four arms to draw the bow with more power? Either way, there was no dodging arrows shot by elven archery.
Kwang! I deployed mana sense and blocked the incoming arrow with my shield. The impact was deafening. And the power—shit, this was way stronger than I thought. Even with my mana reinforcement specs, it was hard to tank properly, so the others didn't stand a chance.
"Krahk!"
"Kuhuk!"
Those who couldn't block got pierced clean through and dropped like flies. And it wasn't just the lethal hits—the ones who took glancing blows staggered and collapsed right after impact. Just as I suspected, those arrows had some added effect. One hit and you're instantly crippled.
Fuckin' hell.
To find the reverse scale, I'd have to deal with these giants first somehow. I closed the distance to the one shooting at me in a flash and swung my sword hard, slicing into its leg. Their massive size meant it was hard to drop one in a single hit. Defense aside, you needed at least two clean strikes.
Chwaak! While I was carving up one, the others nocked another arrow—or if they had swords, they charged in.
"Hup!"
A few standouts like Mercedes naturally turned the tables and took down giants, but they were the exception. Most were helpless against the barrage of sure-kill arrows and the giants' overwhelming bulk. On top of that, the snake dragon's main body was writhing wildly, sporadically unleashing those early black branch attacks.
Shit, I didn't think I'd have to deal with this crap again here.
I pulled a bunch of iron marbles from my inventory and hurled them at the twisted elf giants. Their offense was brutal, but defense was trash, so even a sloppy scatter should take them out.
—Or so I thought, but these conscienceless bastards had the elves' signature agility too.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
"What the fuck, they dodged that?"
How the hell was something that bulky so nimble? They effortlessly sidestepped the simple trajectories. Some even carried shields among their gear and blocked what they couldn't dodge. Four arms meant archers could wield shields too. Talk about efficient builds.
"What do you think of the elves I created myself, foolish human?"
While I cursed and cleaved another giant, a voice boomed in my head. The high elf king's.
Come to think of it, he'd spoken fine right after turning into a snake. This prick.
"They're on a whole other level from the two elf races born for guardianship and pioneering. These are soldiers made solely for battle."
"Yeah, you asshole, they're on another level of ugly."
"A loser's perspective. Appearance doesn't matter. My elves will set the standard of beauty as the first to take root on a new world."
He sounded way too smug. Made me wanna puke.
"Following forest elves and night elves, I hereby name my new elves rising on this fresh world—Dun Elves."
Couldn't even shut his trap. Wait, his trap? Hold up, why hadn't I thought of that?
Maybe I'd been too fixated on the reverse scale. But weak points weren't just that one.
"Recall all the wounded! Everyone, even those who can't use mana reinforcement! Hell, everyone! And open fire!"
I reactivated mana reinforcement—which I'd briefly turned off—and charged forward sword-first.
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Various attacks flew at me again, but I trusted my defense and barreled straight ahead.
Kwagwak, kwajik, kwagwang! Bolstered by mana reinforcement's protection and the [Iron Wall] skill, I tanked the hits and bulldozed a path with my body. At max speed, I quickly reached the snake dragon's head. I leaped high from there.
Its jaws gaped wide to swallow me mid-jump. A maw that big could gulp me down easy. I'd stashed my wrist magitech for teleport and recall in my inventory and dove straight into its mouth.
Why bother hunting for weak spots? Any living thing's insides are mostly vital areas, right?
No need to time a recall with the bombardment or fuck around with the giants.
Chwajajak! I slid down what I figured was its esophagus, scraping with my sword. Blood and slimy digestive juices sprayed everywhere, soaking me. To protect my gear, I'd unequipped my armor and was basically naked. Normally, you'd dissolve in this crap, but my corrosion resistance was no joke.
Wonder how a snake's guts are structured.
Came in through the mouth, so this was throat or stomach. Wanted to target the heart, but no real way.
Time for the thing I'd prepped in my inventory.
I pulled it out: a makeshift mana bomb woven from magic stones. Meant for jamming into the reverse scale, but this would do.
Pluk! I'd gone as deep as possible, so I slashed a wound and embedded the bomb deep.
"Abandoning your allies to enter my belly—are you so weary of life, nameless human?"
The telepathic voice grated in my skull. Sounded a bit off from before. Caught him off guard, huh?
Hududuk, huduk! Some unknown wall—stomach lining?—spewed pitch-black fluid. Different from the earlier juices. Defense for anything besides giants and branches? Touching it burned like fire. Familiar sensation and pain. Snakes gonna snake—packing its own venom.
"Perish meaninglessly in agony."
Despite the elf king's decree and the flood of poison, I ignored it and armed the bomb. So what if it pierced my poison and corrosion resistance? That's how I'd built it in the first place.
This was my regen versus its venom, my offense versus its vitality.
"Let's see who drops first."
I maxed my endurance with the [All-Out Effort] skill, activated [Iron Wall], and triggered the bomb.
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[Passive Skill: Fainting Resistance Lv.13 acquired.]
[Passive Skill: Combat Persistence Lv.16 acquired.]
My vision went white, senses going haywire from the erupting mana. But I swung wildly anyway, blind as a bat. Everywhere was snake dragon flesh—any slash hit something vital. Problem was, so was my body.
Skills were leveling up nonstop, so I was obviously a mangled mess. The pain sure as hell said so. Wanted to scream, but my throat was fucked—no sound came out. So I ignored it and kept hacking away at whatever was in front of me.
Then sensation trickled back, and a hot gust hit me.
Phwak! I lunged toward it—outside air. I'd slashed through its belly and burst out.
Grraaaaaahhh!!
The snake dragon's deafening screech rattled my ears. While I'd rampaged inside, they'd done damage outside too. I re-equipped my teleport magitech from inventory and requested recall.
Tszzt! That queasy spatial shift feeling, and I was back at one of the alliance camps.
"My god, you look like hell. Potions—someone grab potions!"
I waved off the panicking soldier eyeing my ragdoll body and chugged my own potion. It dribbled out, so my face was messed up too. Limbs intact was a miracle.
"Kuh... ugh, ah, aah."
Body roughly patched, I finally spoke properly. HP had taken a massive hit again. But who cared about that—it'd heal. What mattered was the world boss's HP.
I stepped out to check the snake dragon. In that short time, shit had gone insane outside.
"Holy shit, what the hell is that."
Flames roared across the snake dragon's scored body. Explained the hot air—it was on fire. I asked a camp soldier what happened.
"Started self-igniting outta nowhere just now. Some kinda magic."
New pattern at low HP, probably. Forums said the real fight started after chunking health. Magic defense was solid—we could tank a surprise breath once. But the snake dragon did something totally different.
Not magic—physical.
Kwagwagwang! Flames wreathing its body, it swept its massive form across the earth.