Reincarnated as a Dragon's Egg - Chapter 750: [Feline Alibi]

Midair, I return to my apocalypse form. The ball of [Dite] shoots from my hand, flying towards Baal.

The flames explode in a wide burst, engulfing the ends of Baal’s legs in hellfire.

“OOOOOOOOOOh!”

Baal roars.

The next moment, his legs scatter through the air. He must have cut them off with [Severing Thread] to stop the inextinguishable flames from spreading.

『I hope you don’t think you can get away from me without your legs!』

I shoot a [Dimension Claw] at Baal. A huge gash carves through his human face. Without giving him a chance to recover, I swoop down and strike him with a direct claw attack.

His toad tongue stretches out and wraps around my right foreleg.

“GuuOOOOOOOh!”

I push through and hit Baal with a third claw attack.

Go. Down. Now!

『Impossible… I’m supposed to reign forever…! Why am I being attacked like this! This shouldn’t be possible…!』

Two magic circles appear near Baal. It’s [Fire Sphere] and [Aqua Sphere]. It seems he plans on using another steam explosion to blast himself away and create some distance.

But unless you catch your opponent by surprise, any self-destructive action is just the vain struggles of the defeated… Baal might not have forgotten his own words, but it seems he’s out of other options.

『That only works if you have some HP left!』

I put strength into my left foreleg.

Baal’s human face is crushed. His cat and toad faces are focused on casting magic. All of his spider legs have been cut off and are still unusable.

Even as a maximum level Upper Legendary, he shouldn’t be able to survive taking repeated direct hits from an apocalypse in close combat.

My full power swing… is repelled by something. It looks like a claw, but much thicker and stronger than the claws of his spider legs.

『As I thought, you were still hiding something…』

『Be erased!』

Baal’s [Aqua Sphere] and [Fire Sphere] collide. The expanding vapour explodes.

I try to block with the [Mirror Counter] I had prepared, but it is easily shattered. My wings absorb some of the blast, but are then blown behind me. A cloud of dust rises.

My wings are broken, the bones exposed. But this level of damage isn’t an issue. I’ll be fine again with just a [Autoregeneration].

I wasn’t able to finish him off, but I was still able to deal a lot of damage. The situation has taken a turn for the better.

On the other hand, Baal won’t have the same level of conceit. He’ll use everything at his disposal to eliminate me.

Suddenly, I sense something approaching. Twisting my neck, I cover the area in [Scorching Breath]. Something catches fire and burns to the ground.

As the smoke fades, its identity is made clear.

It’s a soft, black film… The same membrane I saw scattered over Alban and the surrounding land. Probably, this is the web of those spiders!

【Normal Skill [Monster Hotbed]】

【Captures the souls of humans who die in agony and reincarnates them as loyal soldiers.】

【The monsters produced by [Monster Hotbed] begin at maximum level, and cannot gain experience.】

I sense innumerable presences approaching from within the dust. Countless human-faced spiders almost as large as me appear.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Species: Fear Spinner

Condition: Kin

Lv: 135/135 (Lock) (MAX)

HP: 3453/3453

MP: 2379/2379

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

It looks like he put a lot of MP into them. Each has stats almost as high as that of a Legendary. It’s an absurdly cheat-like ability.

“OOOOOOOOOOO!”

“OOOOOOOOOOO!”

“OOOOOOOOOOO!”

I use [Scorching Breath] over a wide area to keep them in check, then kill those closest to me with [Wind Slash].

It certainly is a cheat-like ability, but I don’t think something like this will make much of a difference. It’s annoying, but the toad’s tongue is far more of a threat than all of these spiders combined.

『Didn’t you want to enjoy an even fight? You’re getting desperate, aren’t you Baal!』

As I roar, something strange catches my attention. The visibility is poor and I’m surrounded, so it makes sense that I can’t sense Baal. But even so, it’s odd that I would lose track of such an imposing presence.

Rather than using any other skills, Baal went for that point-blank steam explosion. If he wanted high firepower at close range, I’m sure there was a more focused skill he could have used.

Something feels strange in the arrangement of the human-faced spiders. They’re moving like they’re being commanded, and yet there’s one spot in their formation that feels like a gap in their strength. I could only explain this as the intuition I’ve gained through my accumulated battlefield experience.

I twist around as I fire a [Dimension Claw] into the wrong-feeling area.

As though space itself has shifted, Baal suddenly appears and dodges my claw attack. He must have seen me begin to swing.

Magic spheres are floating already-prepared above each of his heads. The spheres fly towards me at once, but his attack is rushed. I easily dodge them.

『Why… How did you see through it on the first time?!』

The reason I couldn’t sense his presence was because he finally decided to use the skill he’s been holding in reserve.

【Normal Skill: [Feline Alibi]】

【Isolates the user from the world, causing all attacks to pass through without harm and deceiving all kinds of perception skills.】

【However, activation consumes a large amount of MP.】

It’s a skill that completely erases the user’s presence. Apparently Baal reduced the visibility with his steam explosion, sent his foot soldiers to keep me occupied, then used that skill so that he could sneak into range and get a perfect attack. From the skill name, it probably belongs to the cat head.

It’s supposed to let him evade all attacks. The only reason he was forced to move was because [Dimension Claw] attacks the space itself.

With those stats of his, if I were hit by a surprise triple magic attack, I’d have been killed before I could even realise what was happening. It’s nothing short of a miracle that I was able to notice him.

『Was a feeling of unease produced by the folded space…? Is it because you also have space-type skills? Even with my power, can I not control it perfectly?』

The three heads grind their teeth.

『Baal, what number challenger am I now?』

Bulging blood vessels appear in his foreheads. It doesn’t look like he thought he’d be pressed this hard. He was probably planning on casually enjoying the fight while relying on [Feline Alibi] as a certain kill if needed.

『Your cards are all used… You’ve used over half your MP too. Even when you threw away your complacency and tried to kill me with everything you’ve got, you failed disgracefully. I’ll end this now.』

『Threw away my complacency, you say!? Being able to choose how I fight is my right as the strongest. You think you’ve seen my limit? Nonsense! Not once have I fought seriously. With a minuscule effort, I lead monsters to destroy humans and brought the world under my control! But now, to eradicate you, and for that purpose alone, I shall use my full strength!』

On either side of his body, thick bestial arms emerge. He was already a strange-looking monster, but his appearance now is absurd.

Probably, those arms are his favoured way of using [Dimension Claw]. They’re clearly a lot more powerful than his spider legs. These hidden arms are probably his ultimate insurance.

『For someone with so much leeway, you sure act sneaky.』

『Sneaky? For one so trascendental as myself, there is no need to fight lesser beings on equal footing!』

『So then how do you feel now that all your cards are revealed?』

Baal is silent for a moment. His eyes are peering around as restlessly as ever, but even so, I feel an intense rage behind them.

『I’ll grind you to dust!』

As though melting into space itself, Baal disappears. Instantly, a strong claw attack runs through my flank.

He erased himself with [Feline Alibi] and hit me with a [Dimension Claw] from one of his bestial arms. As I jump to the side, five more claw marks carve through the ground where I stood. One of the human-faced spiders is caught in the attack and bursts like an overripe fruit.

If I moved a moment later, that would have killed me. It feels like I’ve driven him into a corner, but being unilaterally attacked while his very existence is erased is not good.

But, as long as I can get through this, he should truly be out of options.