In close combat, physique is an extremely important factor.
Reach, toughness, the weight of a single blow… it affects almost all the elements necessary for fighting.
It’s not as simple as “the bigger, the better,” but being bigger is generally advantageous.
It’s the same in the natural world, and the reason why Demon Beasts with high Beast Ranks are strong is probably largely due to their size.
In that respect, the “Ancient King” is the strongest of the Ten Kings, and is so huge that it’s incomparable to other creatures.
It’s more than twice my size, even though I’m supposed to be a King Beast, so that’s saying something.
Its close combat ability, backed by its overwhelming size and top-tier Stats, is nothing short of incredible.
Every time it swings its arm, the ground cracks, and a single sweep of its tail splits mountains.
Every single one of its actions is a cataclysm.
The expanded range of its bite is especially noteworthy.
Challenging this thing in close combat is like jumping into a storm with your bare body.
“(But, the eye of the storm is calm, isn’t it?)”
—Gooooooool!
Right next to me, a thunderous roar like a lightning strike resounded.
It was the sound of the “Ancient King’s” scythe-like claws tearing through the air, and the sound of the wind pressure carving scars into the earth.
“(Lightning Strike!)”
—Bariiii!
This time, it was a genuine thunderclap.
The lightning I shot—the lightning spear—hit its scaleless abdomen.
By narrowly avoiding these fierce attacks, I was able to establish close combat.
The ease of evasion is an advantage of being small.
I really wanted to stick to its back instead of just dodging every time, but I tried that once and got a painful counterattack.
It seemed that the “Ancient King” had the ability to ‘transform’ any opponent it came into contact with, without question.
So, I’m reducing the opportunities to touch it while counterattacking with quick Lightning Strikes.
At first, I was using a bamboo spear, but for some reason, Life absorption didn’t activate against the “Ancient King,” so I switched to this.
Well, its skin is also unusually hard, so the Lightning Strikes are being deflected anyway.
“(Tch, Super Leap!)”
“Gugaaa!”
I quickly dodged a stomp, but without creating distance, I moved to a blind spot at close range.
The “Ancient King” irritably spun its tail, but I avoided it with a jump.
“(Staff of the Gods, Slash!)”
“Grrr, rua!”
“(Daaaaamn it! It’s still not working at all!)”
Along with my fall, I unleashed a Dragon Saw Slash, but the result was no damage.
Rather, the weapon’s blade was chipped, and I was forced to use Super Leap in mid-air to avoid the counter-biting attack.
“(I thought it was strange that I couldn’t absorb Life with the bamboo spear, but even the defense-ignoring Dragon Saw isn’t working. It’s not just Toughness. Is it a Skill that nullifies damage… or something?)”
Seriously, trying to avoid taking damage while making sure only you don’t get hurt is despicable… but I don’t have much time to joke around.
I have to seriously think of a way to break through, or the “Ancient King’s” attacks, which have effective power, will eventually kill me.
“(Well, what I can think of is a Skill.)”
Because the sensation was different.
If it was just that its Toughness was on another level, it should have felt hard.
But what I felt just now was a more fundamental, inviolable response.
It was as if the power of my attack was being forcibly nullified.
That can’t be explained by just having high Toughness.
And to begin with, it’s abnormal to be unharmed by an attack with Storm Strike and defense-ignoring properties.
It’s highly likely that I won’t be able to break through with brute force. The Colorless Royal Authority: Timeless Radiance is an exception, but if I use that, I need to be prepared to take the Royal Authority as well.
“(Utsusemi, Compact Swing!… The impact is no good either. Hmm… ‘Invariance’, perhaps?)”
I think while recalling the “Ancient King’s” Fangs.
Making its own body or Life invariant, or something. That would also explain why Mana doesn’t decrease with Mana Eclipse.
‘Bite’ and ‘Transformation’ don’t seem to be used for defense either.
“RuuoooOOOOOO!”
“(Crap, Weapon Storage!)”
The “Ancient King’s” hammer tail was swung down.
Just as I was about to dodge it, my body hit something.
My evasion was delayed by something invisible. I have no choice but to defend.
“(U(Update)!, Replicant Form!)”
While collapsing the “Ancient King’s” footing with my Mana Crystal modification ability, I imitated the bamboo spear, the hardest of my weapons, and thrust it towards the hammer tail.
It’ll be tough to take it head-on, but if I can match it with a Parry, I should be able to mitigate it.
“(And then, Thunderous Cycle of Rise and Fall!)”
In addition, I’ll apply the enhancement from my Unique Skill.
A moment later, I was hit by a tremendous impact.
It wasn’t a complete nullification like with the Fangs, but the tail attack also had defense-ignoring properties.
Combined with the King Beast’s top-tier Power, I was barely able to deflect it. The bamboo spear was also broken in half.
“(Guh!)”
Groaning from the impact that had pierced through, I transformed my body and retreated from the spot.
The invisible something that was hindering my movement was in the form of pillars lined up, and if I was calm, it would have been easy to slip through the gaps.
“(My Life isn’t damaged, good.)”
I create distance while being careful of the invisible pillars, and organize the situation.
The bamboo spear was destroyed in one hit, but at the same time, it had reduced the power of the attack.
“(It was just a stopgap in the experiment, but Shape Lock is surprisingly useful.)”
I recall the ability I awakened with True Evolution.
‘Lightning that defines shape’.
That was the explanation, but in short, it was an ability that suppressed deformation.
For example, if used on water, it would solidify like jelly, and if used on a solid, its strength would increase slightly. The melting point would also increase slightly.
The effect I used with Thunderous Cycle of Rise and Fall just now was also this.
The bamboo spear isn’t a mineral, so I can’t use Electrification, but Shape Lock doesn’t have any restrictions on its target.
“GyuoOOOOOOO!”
“(Super Leap!, Sun Laser!)”
I jumped over the “Ancient King’s” Charge and bite, and unleashed several Mana beams on its back.
But there are no wounds.
The estimated ‘Invariance’ power is incredible.
“(Wait a minute.)”
As I felt a sense of unease, a follow-up attack with the hammer tail was unleashed.
This time, I could have avoided it, but I deliberately took it because there was something that bothered me.
“(Replicant Form, Shape Lock, Parry!)”
I imitated the bamboo spear and defended against the tail strike.
However, unlike before, the bamboo spear hardly mitigated the power and was easily broken like a toothpick.
The power was almost the same, and it gouged into my body.
“(That hurt! It changes too much with just Shape Lock!)”
Even if I take into account whether or not I collapsed the footing, this is strange.
The amount of force applied seemed the same.
“(The increase in strength was small, but is this… a compatibility issue?)”
The principle behind the “Ancient King’s” defense-ignoring is the forced transformation.
If it applies force, no matter how hard something is, it can’t resist that transformation.
But my power to define shape might be able to resist the forced transformation.
Because its base Power is too high, the bamboo spear broke both last time and this time, but if I can nullify… or reduce the defense-ignoring, I can change my fighting style.
“(Challenging a King Beast is originally for the sake of mastering my Unique Skill. It’ll be a tightrope walk, but… I’ll try out the new possibilities of my Unique Skill.)”