Chapter 57
“Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!”
The Rock Centipede darted between the boulders and charged toward us at tremendous speed.
“It really is gross... All those legs... Ugh.”
Luche murmured softly as she stared at the Rock Centipede’s legs.
“Stick to the plan, Luche.”
“Y-Yes!”
I raised my shield and crouched down.
Luche kicked off the ground and leapt onto my shield.
“〈Shield Bash〉!”
I launched Luche into the air with my shield.
She leapt over the Rock Centipede’s head as it charged straight at us, then landed on its back.
That was the Rock Centipede’s greatest weakness.
It had few effective attacks against enemies riding on its back.
Its huge, pointlessly long body was a major disadvantage.
“All right, I’d better buy some time myself.”
I started running with my back to the Rock Centipede, keeping an eye on Luche out of the corner of my eye.
As she ran, Luche leapt parallel to the ground and spun rapidly.
“〈Acrobatic Flurry〉!”
Her knife swiftly slashed across the Rock Centipede’s body.
All three strikes landed perfectly, sending fluid flying from its body.
“Bzz! Bzzzzzzzz!”
The Rock Centipede let out a scream-like cry.
Normally, no 〈Dream Lord〉 would take all three hits from 〈Acrobatic Flurry〉 head-on, suffer massive damage, and be unable to retaliate.
But because of its enormous size, the Rock Centipede took every attack from an enemy on its back directly.
On top of that, its limited means of attack made it difficult to retaliate effectively.
“One more! 〈Acrobatic Flurry〉!”
“Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!”
More fluid sprayed from the Rock Centipede’s body.
――――――――――――――――――――
Monster: Rock Centipede
Lv: 60
HP: 69/156
MP: 71/71
――――――――――――――――――――
All six hits had landed.
The Rock Centipede’s HP was already below half.
Everything so far had gone exactly as I’d planned.
“All right, Luche! Retreat once, just like we planned!”
“Yes!”
Luche kicked off the Rock Centipede’s back and escaped onto a nearby boulder.
The footing was unstable, but Luche had 〈Acrobatic Footwork〉, which let her run smoothly even along the ceiling.
Without losing speed, she raced across the boulders and quickly got away from the Rock Centipede.
“Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!”
A moment later, the Rock Centipede stopped, toppled onto its side, and began thrashing violently.
After thrashing for several seconds, the Rock Centipede got back up and scanned its surroundings.
“Screeeeeeeee!”
A magic circle appeared around its head.
It fired countless stone bullets at Luche’s back.
The Rock Centipede’s magic Skill, 〈Rock Blast〉.
It was fast, had a high rate of fire, and hit hard.
It was a vicious attack Skill.
...Though that was only true outside the deepest part of the 〈Centipede Tunnel〉, where there were so many obstacles.
After running along the wall, Luche darted behind a boulder.
The Rock Centipede fired at the boulder where Luche was hiding for a while, but soon had to stop using 〈Rock Blast〉.
The Rock Centipede glared at the boulder where Luche was hiding for a moment, then quickly looked away and charged toward me.
The Rock Centipede had no chance of catching Luche if she focused on running away.
It seemed to realize that after seeing how nimbly Luche had just moved.
In terms of raw stats, the Rock Centipede was faster than Luche.
But in this place, packed with obstacles, its huge body could never catch Luche as she darted wherever she pleased with 〈Acrobatic Footwork〉.
The terrain here was a fatal mismatch for the Rock Centipede.
If it weren’t for all these boulders, it would probably be feared as one of the most vicious 〈Dream Lords〉.
Actually, perhaps the first thing they’d need to address was how easily someone could deal massive damage by climbing on its back and spamming combo Skills.
Even in the game, enemy players often cheered it on, saying, “It doesn’t put up much of a fight, so it should try a little harder as a 〈Dream Lord〉.”
“Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!”
The Rock Centipede chased after me.
Unlike Luche, I couldn’t run along walls, and my Speed stat was low.
I couldn’t shake the Rock Centipede by simply running normally.
It would catch me in an instant and crush me in its massive jaws.
Of course, that was only if I ran normally.
This place was full of boulders that could serve as obstacles.
I kept their positions in mind and took a winding route that made the Rock Centipede’s long body catch on the narrow, elongated boulders.
“Bzz!?”
The Rock Centipede, which had been chasing me, stopped partway through.
One of its body segments had caught on something.
It quickly picked up speed again and resumed chasing me, but soon its body jerked sharply once more.
With this method, even a Heavy Knight could outrun the Rock Centipede.
If I failed to make it catch on a boulder, it would catch up right away, so getting used to the route was important.
The embarrassing way its body segments kept snagging and slowing it down was another reason the Rock Centipede was treated as something of a joke.
While I kept leading it back and forth over the same ground, I managed to reunite with Luche.
“Elymas-san, I’m ready to launch whenever you are!”
“Good. Let’s finish it here.”
Just like before, I launched Luche toward the Rock Centipede with 〈Shield Bash〉.
Luche leapt over the Rock Centipede’s head, landed on its body, and ran along its back, wildly swinging her knife.
“〈Acrobatic Flurry〉! 〈Acrobatic Flurry〉!”
As before, she unleashed a three-hit combo twice in a row.
Sickly colored fluid sprayed from the Rock Centipede’s back.
Its countless legs stopped moving, and its belly hit the ground.
It slid a short distance, scraping the ground as its momentum dragged it along, then came to a complete stop.
【You acquired 2,379 experience points.】
【Your level increased from 49 to 54.】
【You acquired 5 Skill Points.】
We’d successfully defeated the 〈Dream Lord〉... the Rock Centipede.
The result was exactly as expected.
It helped that the monster’s weakness was easy to identify, and that we had the Skills to exploit it properly.
“I think it’s because of how we beat it, but... the Mithril Golem was stronger.”
Luche murmured with a wry smile.