All right! That’s a good sign!
Hecatoncheires held his greatsword in front of him like a shield. I leapt up and struck him from above, knocking back the arm holding the greatsword.
Yes! The mallet’s got enough reach that I can break through his guard without getting close enough for a counterattack!
“Groooooh!” I slammed the Oneiros Mallet down on Hecatoncheires’s abdomen with a loud crunch. Certain I’d done some major damage, I tried to pull the mallet away—only to realize that Hecatoncheires’s many arms had blocked the blow and were now grabbing on to the mallet. I tried to yank the mallet away, but his grip stayed firm.
Ugh…! This dude sucks!
Hecatoncheires’s blade sliced into my neck. I took a chance and opened my wings, letting the impact knock me into the air and away from him. Clamping a hand over my neck, I moved away to assess the damage.
At first, I’d thought he didn’t manage to guard with his greatsword in time, but he must’ve held off on purpose so he could grab me while I was up close! I could’ve done some major damage while I was there, but he hit me right where it’d hurt the most. He’d probably been planning to catch the mallet and drag me in close so he could cut as much HP out of me as he could.
I healed my neck with Regenerate. While Hecatoncheires’s stats outside of his HP and MP weren’t that impressive for a Legendary rank, they were still Legendary rank stats. He didn’t have the ability to drop my HP to zero the moment I let my guard down, but he could still kill me if he managed to land a few direct hits before I got the chance to recover.
Either way, my Oneiros Mallet was the best chance I had at beating him. If I couldn’t find a way to break through his many arms in this fistfight, I’d never be able to beat him.
“Groooaaaaaah!” With a roar, I took two more swings at Hecatoncheires with my mallet.
His greatsword swung toward my neck again too—but I was expecting that.
I swapped to one hand with my Oneiros Mallet and blocked the blow with my forearm. I used Regenerate preemptively to prepare for the attack, but it was still a heavy blow to a major body part. My scales shattered, and my blood sprayed into the air.
D-dang! This guy knows how to handle a sword!
Despite his current deformed appearance, Hecatoncheires had once been one of the most powerful Heroes of all time. My giant hammer could slow him down, but in terms of raw talent with a weapon, he had the upper hand.
Then I guess I’ll just have to smash him to pieces!
Ignoring the threat to my own body, I slammed my hammer down on Hecatoncheires. He returned the favor, slashing at me with his blade. But I knew if I backed off, he’d hit me with a follow-up attack. Instead, I gritted my teeth against the pain and swung my hammer around for another blow.
Again, Hecatoncheires swung his blade to counter me. This time, I leapt back, away from his blow. If I stayed where I was, I wouldn’t have the strength to parry him, and I’d take even more damage. Despite his low attack power, I still had to contend with his ten thousand HP. Even when I was trying to land a bunch of powerful attacks in a row, I needed to back off every once in a while to recuperate.
Hecatoncheires didn’t bother pursuing me, which meant I was safe to use Regenerate.
Then, it dawned on me: He didn’t fight offensively at all.
Although that limited the ways I could attack him, it also meant I could safely take a break to recover. He did manage to hit me with Shadow Dance once, which meant he’d probably go after me with it again if he was sure he’d land an attack, but he likely wouldn’t keep the pressure on for long otherwise.
Even so, I did just give Hecatoncheires a good beating. If that attack took out even 20 percent of his HP, then there was a pretty good chance I’d be able to beat him with this strategy…
Hecatoncheires
Species: Hecatoncheires
Status: Mad God
Lv: 140/140 (MAX)
HP: 9821/10000
MP: 9703/10000
…Welp. Guess this one’s a bust too.
I didn’t mind that much; I’d taken a considerable amount of damage with this strategy as well. And only knocking his HP down by around 5 percent just wasn’t going to cut it. I was sure I’d be able to knock it down a bit more, but Hecatoncheires’s recovery skills were just too powerful. They were likely even more of an issue than his beefy stats. At this rate, he’d kill me before I knocked down even 30 percent of his HP. This guy was beyond tanky.
That was when it all came together for me.
Up until this point, I’d been underestimating Hecatoncheires because of his basic attack sequence, low attack, and his lack of flashy skills. Even against his impossibly high HP and MP, I thought if I worked hard enough, I might manage to whittle down his HP. After all, I’d have plenty of chances to attack, and plenty of skills I could send at him. Because of that, I figured he wouldn’t be as much of a challenge as the other Legendary ranks I’d faced in the past.
But I should’ve been more afraid of this Legendary rank, max-level monster with a surprisingly low attack stat. The more I fought Hecatoncheires, the less I started to believe that I’d be able to take him down.
No…! I can’t give up! Not yet! There are still plenty of other things I can try!
“Groooooaaaa!” ‹Dragon Mirror!›
As I roared, light enveloped my entire body. Then my body began to swell in size. The MP drain of maintaining such a huge body made this transformation all but suicidal against Hecatoncheires’s huge MP reserves. But if I wanted to make even a dent in his HP, I needed a big boost in base attack power.