Chapter 102: Hanji
We arrived at the foot of the steep, rocky mountain said to be the dwelling place of “Hanji.”
We decided to call this mountain Spiky Mountain.
“Well, I’m going. Fiss has reached Level 60, so I don’t think she’ll be easily defeated, but please wait for me carefully.”
“Okay, please finish it as quickly as possible,” Fiss replied.
I left Fiss in a nearby mountain, which was within the Ferocious Beast Zone, and I dashed towards Spiky Mountain.
When I reached the foot of the mountain, the Mana concentration was drastically higher than in the Ferocious Beast Zone.
I didn’t have any solid proof until now, but it seems certain that this is the dwelling place of “Hanji.”
“(I can’t see the summit…)”
I looked up at Spiky Mountain, which stood tall, piercing through the clouds.
Then, I thrust Forest Shackles into the mountainside, which was more like a wall than a slope, and began to climb at full speed.
For me, who has surpassed Level 200, gravity is no longer a burden.
The clouds covering the mountain quickly approached, and I entered them without slowing down.
Thanks to Clairvoyance, I wasn’t confused by the haze and continued straight towards the summit.
“(Oh, is that it?)”
I broke through the clouds, and finally, I could see what seemed to be the summit.
A sharply protruding tip. And near it, several rocks jutted out like thorns.
“(This is… Hanji’s Zone Control!)”
From the oozing Mana, I realized that these were not natural formations.
The rocky thorns that had formed as if the rock surface was fraying. That was the characteristic of the Zone Control I was about to face.
The strength of the Zone Control I felt was on par with the Red Lizard.
A territory far more solid than that of the Hydra or the Queen Ant had been established.
“(This is perfect for a test of strength. ‘Convergence’ release.)”
The effect of range suppression was released, and the Armory expanded.
It came into contact with the Zone Control around the summit, scattering shockwaves around.
The shockwaves reached me, but they weren’t enough to stop me.
I rampaged through the falling, broken rock spears.
“(It won’t be easy to overwrite, huh?)”
I focused on the sensation of the Zone Control.
As I had expected, the opponent was formidable. In a Zone Control battle, we would be evenly matched at best.
“(If this were before the fight with the Red Lizard, that is.)”
After that battle, the Armory had grown a stage further.
As a result, the four additional effect slots now had ‘Sharpness’ for increased sharpness, ‘Technique’ for enhanced Weapon Skills, and ‘Collection’ for stealing Mana.
And in the remaining slot—,
“(—’Suppression’ granted!)”
I added the newly acquired effect.
~Zone Control Details~
Your Zone Control is the Armory.
Within the Armory, everything turns into a weapon.
Additional Effects: ‘Sharpness’, ‘Technique’, ‘Collection’, ‘Suppression’
Candidate List
Suppression (NEW) Corrects the dominance of the Zone Control.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Instantly, the previously balanced Zone Control became overwhelmingly dominant.
It was as if the opponent I was pushing against had suddenly let go.
This was the power of ‘Suppression’.
It could increase the dominance, that is, the strength of the Zone Control.
“(Alright, I’ll use this momentum to take down the Demon Beast itself!)”
I climbed the mountainside with even more momentum.
And then, a Feral Beast appeared.
From a cliff far above me, just before the summit, an Old Gargoyle emerged.
Its limbs were thin, and its stone skin was withered as if eroded by wind and rain.
“Geguguguge!”
“(Whoa!)”
But its Mana was immense.
The rock arrow Skill it released upon its appearance was on a completely different level in terms of power, speed, and number of attacks compared to a Dire Beast.
Nearly twenty rock arrows flew towards me, shattering the rock thorns without losing any speed.
“(It’s too early to use Air Jump… Last Stand!)”
At the moment of impact, I activated the Stance Skill.
I took three or four of the rock arrows head-on, which were trying to shoot me down, but I didn’t take a single step back.
“(Here’s a return, Shoot!)”
While taking the attack, I immediately counterattacked with the Poison Bow and Explosive Arrows I had prepared.
The rock spears that had been blocking my line of sight had just been destroyed by the rock arrows.
“Gagage”
The Old Gargoyle saw the arrows flying at super speed and lightly moved its fingertips.
Then, the rock surface at its hand peeled away, and a giant rock tower was created, blocking the line of fire.
It was easily five times thicker than the other rock thorns, and it was broken from the base by the direct hit of the Explosive Arrows. However, the Old Gargoyle itself was unharmed.
I finally reached the point where the Old Gargoyle had been after passing through the dust, but it was no longer there.
“Gyogagegyo!”
“(Tch, a restraint, how skillful.)”
The Old Gargoyle had taken up position tens of meters away from the rock wall. That is, in the air.
At the same time as the rock tower was destroyed, it had taken flight by moving its three pairs of bat-like wings.
What the Old Gargoyle used was a Skill that turned the rock thorns growing everywhere into chains, restraining the enemy.
I was now entangled in multiple layers of chains.
Whether it was the effect of the Skill, the rocks of the Feral Beast Zone, or the influence of the Zone Control, each one was incredibly hard.
Even with the Stats of a Feral Beast, I wouldn’t be able to break free by force.
“(Well, restraints are pretty much meaningless for a slime… but, since I have the chance, I’ll try out a new weapon.)”
While watching the rotating saw that the Old Gargoyle had launched bounce off my body surface, I decided on my next course of action.
On the way to Spiky Mountain, I had mostly left the fighting to Fiss, and even when I had to step in, things were settled without me having to mimic a weapon.
So this would be the first time I would be using it in actual combat.
I recalled the secret weapon that had not seen the light of day since its prototype, and with an eager feeling, I used the Skill.
“(Alright, let’s go long-range. Replicant Form, tenfold activation!)”
With a glare, ten eyeballs appeared on the surface of my body.