The Exiled First-born of the Noble House. Rising to the Top With the Worthless Skill [Null Poison] - CH 265

Humanoid Rhinoceros Beetle

The guard skill that Ralf had been secretly practicing inside the dungeon, [Divine Protection].

Even from behind it looked sublime but not just that, it wasn’t just flashy but also incredibly powerful.

I can tell how amazing that skill from simply looking at the fact that he had completely negated the beetle’s mana slash attack with what was an ordinary iron shield.

According to Ralph, [Divine Blessing] can not only used in just this way, but can also counteract all kinds of state abnormalities if it is activated in advance.

It makes you wonder if this skill could also work similarly to my [Null Poison] skill but, since [Divine Protection] quite literally negates everything that could ‘effect’ the user it would also make the bonus effects of the poisonous plants disappear as well.

Also, the stamina cost of it was apparently extremely huge, which was quite apparent as Ralf was currently breathing heavily after using it just once.

I honestly had no idea how this was a ‘common’ skill but, perhaps it’s precisely because of such demerits that that’s the case.

——–But, now’s not the time to be analyzing Ralf’s skill.

“Ralf, good work. As expected of our [Holy Knight].”

“Haah, haaah, I don’t even have the energy to feel happy! Let me catch a quick breather and then I’ll join you guys in battle again, so please handle it till then.”

I gave Ralf a quick pat on his shoulder, and then passed by him alongside Snow, and entered the main area where the Humanoid Rhinoceros Beetle was enshrined.

This area was about 20m in width, which was quite big for an area in the middle of a cavern.

The corridors that we had been walking through until now had hard rock-like ground but, here it felt like the ground was made of softer soil again, and further beyond I could even see grass in the area.

Rather than the unpleasant presence coming from the humanoid Rhinoceros Beetle, it was the ‘thing’ kept hidden behind it that really had my attention………..

Looking at the changes in the cavern around us, I had an intuition that the fruit of Skill really might be here——-that was what my gut was telling me.

But before anything, we needed to defeat the Humanoid Rhinoceros Beetle else nothing would matter.

The Humanoid Rhinoceros Beetle was covered in bluish, glossy, hard armour-like skin, and its limbs and body all had a thick muscular shape to them. Although I wondered if it really was actual muscle or simply shaped like it.

It’s legs had curved spikes growing out of them, probably to make sure that if it landed a kick, the target would get stuck on to those spike and become unable to run away.

And on its head was the one long sharp harp, the same one that had fired the mana slash earlier. And right now, it was glaring at me with its sharp eyes.

“This monster……..I have heard of it. It’s name was, if I recall——-Heracberg. It is said to be one of the three rulers of the great forest of Roza. I never thought it was actually real but, judging by its features, I’m sure this is the same monster.”

Looking at the Humanoid Beetle, Fecilia shouted so, having perhaps recalled hearing about it.

A monster that is said to be one of the three kings of the great forest of Roza, eh?

Henjak hadn’t told me anything about this but, from the way Fecilia said it, I guess it was considered more of a legend than actual fact.

I assume Henjak didn’t tell me because vague and unclear info is not valuable and only creates panic and confusion.

Regardless, it’s a strong one. In both name and reality.

I began focusing closely on every little movement it made, every action it did——–and began getting ready to use Bors’ fighting style.

Snow quickly moved right behind me, and then we ran straight towards the Heracberg in a straight line.

My main job right now is to buy time until Ralf has recovered.

I’ll make it focus all of its attacks on me and have Snow deal damage whenever an opening showed up, and not give it a chance to gather mana in its forehead.

Just like how I did with the octopus monster, I activated all of my skill and faced it at full strength.

Until now, the Heracberg continued to simply observe us without so much of a quiver but, the moment I made it inside its range, it instantly launched its attack.

It’s stance was something similar to a style my father had once shown me, [Karate] I think was what it was called.

…………A monster’s trying to use martial arts now?

It’s body was unwavering, and its stance had no openings, I almost found it beautiful how perfect it was.

And as soon as I was entirely in its range, it launched a thrusting attack at a rapid speed.

It wasn’t a crude large sweeping attack like most monster do. Instead, it was an instant burst from a passive stance straight into the attack.

Even with my dodging focused style, I would have gotten hit perfectly, if not for the fact that I had seen this fighting style from my father—–and because I knew how it worked, I saw it coming just it in time to move away to just barely avoid the thrusting attack.

The form my father had shown me back then was a sloppy one, clearly made by an amateur who had only dabbled in this martial arts style but, after all this time, him showing me even that level of form had borne fruit right now.

A vast majority of fighting styles were made by humans through heavy research and experience to compensate for the fact that a basic human was not very strong when compared to monsters.

I don’t know how and from whom this Heracberg had learned this fighting style but, in the end its form was also a dull one, lacking in proficiency and the insight needed to truly master this martial art.

But because it possessed such overwhelming amount of physical strength, even a basic understanding of such techniques would turn it into a truly fearsome monster to fight against………

Once I get a full grasp of all its katas, I should be able to easily read through its attacks.

No matter how fast it can do the motion, if I know what attack is coming next, I can always dodge it.

Since its fist was also covered in the same glossy blue shell, the sensation was closer to having an iron ball being launched at you but, since I focused entirely on dodging, I continued to avoid all its attacks.

I made sure to not give it any chance to gather mana in its horn either so everything seemed to be going my way but, unfortunately I wasn’t able to create openings for Snow to attack either.

I was constantly looking for moments to create such openings but, since I was focused entirely on dodging, I couldn’t break Heracberg’s pace either.

Even though I continued to dodge all of its attacks, it’s expression remained the same and if it stays like this, it will become another battle of attrition like with octopus monster and of course, I’ll be the one to run out of stamina first.

While I began to slightly panic over what to do as I continued dodge the iron fists of the Heracberg, suddenly, from behind me, diagonally to my right, something flew straight at the monster.

“[Lightning Barrett]. I told you I won’t make the same mistake as with Octopus monster again, didn’t I? Don’t try and take it on all by yourself, and please depend on us as well.”

“Like Fecilia-san said, we can continue suing magic from a safe spot here! So Chris-san, please create opportunities for us to fire magic.”

…………..how dependable.

Hearing their words, my impatience disappeared and the confidence came back.

I shouldn’t focus on creating openings for Snow but instead create situations for those three to use magic easily instead, and in turn, their magic will create the opening for Snow to attack.

Fecilia’s [Thunder Barrett] did hit, and while only a little, it did cause damage so this was clearly the best way to approach this fight. (T/N:I don’t know why the name of the magic changed here either but I’ll stick with the raws.)

This decreases the burden on myself as well, and now I can focus on creating a line of fire for those three to blast it with their magic.

——Alright. Until Ralf returns, let’s have some fun with you, Heracberg.