I’d thought we’d run into a couple of kesaran pasarans before it showed up, like last time, but it seemed as though it was on its own this time.
Dorothea
Species: Origin Matter
Status: Mad God
Lv: 140/140 (MAX)
HP: 5524/5524
MP: 6535/6535
Attack: 1852
Defense: 3245
Magic: 4999
Agility: 1721
Rank: L (Legendary)
Sacred Skills:
Beast Realm Path (Replica): Lv —
Preta Realm Path (Replica): Lv —
Special Skills:
Grecian Language: Lv 5
Psychic Sense: Lv MAX
Automatic MP Recovery: Lv MAX
Fly: Lv MAX
Time Vortex: Lv —
Mad God: Lv —
Resistance Skills:
Physical Resistance: Lv MAX
Magic Resistance: Lv MAX
Debuff Immunity: Lv —
Fire Immunity: Lv —
Water Immunity: Lv —
Earth Immunity: Lv —
Normal Skills:
Hi-Rest: Lv MAX
Human Transformation: Lv MAX
Telepathy: Lv 9
Mirror Counter: Lv MAX
Illusion: Lv MAX
Regenerate: Lv MAX
Dimension Slash: Lv MAX
Black Hole: Lv MAX
Dark Ray: Lv MAX
Wormhole: Lv MAX
Big Bang: Lv MAX
Title Skills:
Primordial Sphere: Lv —
Final Evolution: Lv —
Former Beast King: Lv —
Former Saint: Lv —
Those sure are some crazy good stats…
I shut my eyes for a second to calm my nerves, took a breath, and then glared at the Origin Matter.
‹I’ve come to release you.›
At my words, the lines flowing across its surface suddenly spiked, then began to move faster. It was getting ready to fight.
‹Allo, Treant! Give it all you’ve got! Don’t let up for even a second!› I called to my friends.
The Origin Matter’s magic stat was so high that Allo would only be able to take one hit, and Treant could only barely endure one as a full-size World Treant. And if I took a full, unprotected hit from its ace skill, Big Bang, it might even wipe me out.
I’d thought through a variety of different measures for dealing with Big Bang, but the best I could come up with was “Well, if we can’t avoid it, we’ll just have to fortify our defenses ahead of time.” Big Bang’s explosion had a large radius, so I’d resolved to defend myself and then get as far away as I possibly could to minimize the damage we took. That was all we could do.
The Origin Matter had seemed reluctant to use Big Bang the last time we fought, so I was hoping it wouldn’t use it repeatedly. But depending on how the Origin Matter used it, Big Bang could end up being a finisher move. Personally, I would’ve preferred not to challenge a monster that was in danger of blowing up at any moment, but I couldn’t see any other way for us to get strong enough to defeat Hecatoncheires except taking on the Origin Matter.
The Origin Matter’s patterns changed again as it released a storm of Dark Rays in our direction. That skill’s power, range, and minimal MP cost was a dangerous combo. It could be fired continuously to blow any enemy out of the sky. The Origin Matter also liked to throw in the odd Dimension Slash here and there to disorient its targets and make them more susceptible to getting caught in the Dark Ray rain.
To take on the Origin Matter, we first needed to perfectly dodge through the many Dark Rays it would fire our way. If we couldn’t, there was no way we’d be able to compete with it. It’d be tough to launch my own attack while I was busy dodging the storm of Dark Rays, but we couldn’t just keep dodging them until it ran out of MP. We’d have to attack at some point.
I’d discussed all of this with Allo and Treant the night before, and we’d worked out the best way to handle the Origin Matter. First, during the opening phase, we’d focus on avoiding the Dark Rays and steadily getting closer without attacking. If we were too aggressive and focused on attacking too much, we’d get hit with the Dark Rays.
I flew around the Origin Matter in a wide circle and slowly closed the distance between us, constantly changing my altitude to avoid the Dark Rays.
As I got closer, the Origin Matter’s strange, glowing brilliance seemed to engulf me. If I got trapped in that thing’s Time Vortex, it was over. I probably wouldn’t get out for hundreds of years, if not thousands.
‹Treant! You’re up!› I called.
‹Y-yes, Master!› Concentrating, Treant conjured one of its glowing green Reaper Seeds and shot it at the Origin Matter. The seed stuck in its surface, then sank inside it.
Nice. That should knock out some of its MP, at least.
Reaper Seeds were more effective the closer Treant was to its target, and the Origin Matter had a far higher magic stat than Treant. But still, if it had any effect at all, it was better to use it than not use it. Considering the Origin Matter’s high HP and MP, and its powerful recovery abilities, I was assuming this battle was going to drag out a while. Even if Reaper Seeds wasn’t very effective, the longer the battle lasted, the better it would be to have used the skill right at the start.
Treant unleashed a second, and then a third round of Reaper Seeds at the Origin Matter as I circled around it. This was the most seeds Treant could maintain at once. The Origin Matter wasn’t moving as it concentrated on Dark Ray, and all three seeds met their mark.
‹But…are they gonna work? You sure they’re not just getting sucked into the Time Vortex?›
‹Y-yes, they feel like they’re working. I think,› Treant replied, less than confident.
Either way, phase one of our plan to defeat the Origin Matter was successful. I swooped around the black orb again, keeping just ahead of the stream of Dark Rays.
Time for phase two.
I continued circling around the Origin Matter at a reasonable distance and concentrated on avoiding its attacks. Now it was Allo’s turn. At this point, Treant was on complete standby. Thanks to the Origin Matter’s various resistance skills, the only skill Treant had that could even do damage was Wind Sphere. We couldn’t get close enough for Treant to use any of its physical counter skills without risking getting damaged by the Origin Matter’s Dark Rays or caught inside its Time Vortex. And considering Treant’s lacking magic stat, Wind Sphere wouldn’t do enough damage to be worth wasting MP on it. Treant did have Heat Beam too, but the Origin Matter had Fire Immunity, so that was out. And if Treant’s Anti-Power or Guard Lost could hit it, I wouldn’t have to worry about its Dimension Slash, and it’d be a lot easier to break through its high defense…but the Origin Matter’s Debuff Immunity ruled out using any sort of status conditions.
Instead, Allo used Dark Kaleidoscope to split herself into three. Then the three Allos all cast Dark Sphere at once, shooting multiple black orbs at the Origin Matter in quick succession. The black orbs slammed against the Origin Matter’s surface and exploded, shrouding it in black light.
Still avoiding the Dark Rays, I took a quick glance at its status screen again.
Dorothea
Species: Origin Matter
Status: Mad God
Lv: 140/140 (MAX)
HP: 3287/5524
MP: 6342/6535
With the Origin Matter’s high defense and max magic resistance, I was afraid Allo’s Dark Spheres wouldn’t do much, but it looked like just one sphere did more than four hundred damage. That was enough to encourage it to start draining its own MP with Regenerate.
I knew the Origin Matter’s attack pattern this time around, which meant I could respond to its attacks with a cool head. And because Allo could attack it without getting close, I could safely keep away from its Dark Rays.
Just as I had that thought, one of the Dark Rays burst right behind my tail… Okay, so I wasn’t completely in the clear, but as long as I was careful, I was sure I should be able to continue avoiding the Dark Rays.
The Origin Matter began to move randomly in the air, clearly not a fan of getting hit with that many Dark Spheres at a time. Some of Allo’s spheres shot past it before dissipating.
“Could we…maybe get a little closer, Master Dragon?” Allo asked, frustrated.
‹Sure… On it.› If we couldn’t drop the Origin Matter’s MP more, we’d run out of MP before it did. I was going to have to use a lot of MP on upping our defenses before it used Big Bang—and on healing us afterward—so I wanted save as much MP as I could here.
I closed the distance between us and the Origin Matter, still circling around it. The Origin Matter’s swirls began to change, and the Dark Ray barrage slowed for a moment. I knew it was gearing up for a Dimension Slash, which meant I had a brief chance to attack.
‹Hold on! I’m gonna dive!› I pointed my nose down and swooped toward the ground in a nearly perpendicular line. A slash appeared in the air just above me. ‹Yes! I dodged it!›
I veered up again and beat my wings to regain some altitude, then swiped at the Origin Matter with my Dimension Claws.
That was the moment.
When the Origin Matter stopped shooting Dark Rays and focused on Dimension Slash, that was the moment I could safely attack it.
My Dimension Claws streaked across the Origin Matter’s surface with a screech. All right. It’s a little scary, but it works!