Chapter 253
Thanks to the Spirit King, we can now dispatch spirits to the area to gather information.
"It will take time for the scouts to return. In the meantime, we will do what we can.""Are you sure? There's still a chance this could all be a false alarm.""Don't say such things when you clearly don't believe it yourself. If it turns out to be nothing, then so be it. The worst thing we can do now is assume nothing is wrong and do nothing."
The influence of divine words is truly terrifying.
The Spirit King actively offering to help—such a thing was impossible in FBO.
"Indeed.""First, information. Liberta, tell me everything you know about Azhdaha.""I have information. However, please keep in mind that the Azhdaha I know and the one we might face now could be different.""Of course. I will consider it as one piece of information. But I won't take your knowledge lightly.""Understood."
During the game era, the Spirit King was a support-type character.
In other words, if he were on your side, he'd be considered a cheat character.
Most of his power is devoted to maintaining the world, but even accounting for that, his combat specs are exceptionally high.
Even in this state, he possesses strength equivalent to Class 9.
Within the spirit world, he can pseudo-reach Class 10 specs.
Such an entity is offering to cooperate.
There's no reason to hide anything; in fact, I might as well spill everything and drag him into this fully.
"Azhdaha—that monster is a being known as a calamity. Its level is estimated to be around 420, Class 9. Even if not at full power, its stats are such that such a margin of error is negligible."
I pull out everything I know about Azhdaha from my memory and put it into words.
The verification teams who fought it multiple times speculated that it hadn't fully acquired all EXBP.
They prepared tanks and attackers, verified both damage dealt and taken, and estimated its stats.
"Skill composition: 60% curse-type debuffs, 20% attack skills, 10% body enhancement skills, and the remaining 10% split between recovery and defense skills."
Its skill composition is completely laid bare.
Total number of skills: 40.
Fully acquired skill slots up to Class 9.
It's truly a composition befitting an avatar of destruction with no holds barred.
"Out of the 24 curse-type skills, 22 are active, with two passive skills: Curse Mastery and Dark Magic Mastery. All 8 attack skills are active. For body enhancement skills, 3 are active, and it has passive resistance to status ailments."
It's a curse-specialized boss to the extent that it serves as a reference for players creating debuff-focused characters.
With the boss's 1.5x stat multiplier, its strength becomes even more vicious.
"And the biggest problem lies in its four key skills. One is the always-active recovery skill High Regeneration. This skill restores 1% of its HP per minute.""Considering Azhdaha's level, its vitality is enormous. Even a small recovery amount would be immeasurable per instance.""Your Majesty, if what Liberta says is true, we would have to fight while under curses, making it unlikely we can attack at full strength. Reduced power attacks and regeneration—this combination is nothing short of grueling.""On top of that, it has eight heads, so attacks come from eight directions simultaneously. Eight actions per turn—it's downright ridiculous."
It debuffs us while dealing fatal blows, and it's in a constant state of regeneration. It's absurd, and having eight attacks breaks all balance.
"The second is a regeneration magic for head regrowth. While using this, one head dedicates itself to it, so it's a chance, in a way.""If allowed, the number of heads will return?""Is it possible for its mana to run out?""Dark, do you think we'd get that lucky? Azhdaha can prey on the curses it spreads to recover its own mana. Moreover, when one head consumes a curse, the mana recovery applies to the entire body, so all heads regain mana fully.""Grr."
Even if we painstakingly cut off a head, it regenerates, which is no joke.
Azhdaha has no instant-death resistance.
But even if I use my main attack skill, Neck Hunt, to sever one, it won't die.
Trying to target the heart is futile because the main body is protected by eight heads.
"Moreover, the remaining two defense skills are extremely troublesome. One, Metal Scale: a pure defense boost. It reduces action speed but increases defense by 50% for one minute.""So it becomes even tougher.""There's a five-minute cooldown after each use, but dealing enough damage within that window is difficult in our current state.""Liberta, what is the other defense skill?"
The main body itself is incredibly tough, and half-hearted attacks won't deal significant damage.
But the enemy spreads curses, inflicting continuous damage on the entire party—the worst possible malicious action.
Dark crosses his arms, frowns, and mutters about whether we can win with a grim expression.
The Spirit King asks about the remaining skill.
"It's a defense skill called Substitute, which transfers damage to another entity."
So, I mention the skill I personally find most troublesome among Azhdaha's arsenal.
This Substitute skill only exacerbates its malicious actions.
"Azhdaha doesn't act alone. It summons minions called retainers to surround it.""But we don't necessarily have to defeat them all, right? As long as we secure a path to some extent—""Certainly, if that were all, we might manage. We could use Amina's song to lure and separate the retainers, or use taunt skills to avoid fighting them. But we can't ignore them because they are the targets for Substitute. All damage dealt to Azhdaha is transferred to the retainers.""Wha— What?"
It's no wonder Dark is stunned.
Among the Grand Quest bosses, including Azhdaha of the southern continent and the monsters of the other continents, all are malicious, but in terms of survivability, Azhdaha is by far the highest.
"In other words, we can't deal proper damage until all retainers are defeated?""From your tone, Spirit King, it seems you yourself have never fought Azhdaha?""Correct. It was the Spirit King two generations ago who fought it."
Even among players, its performance was unpopular.
It was far too tedious to defeat.
"That was over a thousand years ago. Few spirits from that time remain, but thanks to records left by spirits, I am aware of its existence.""I see."
And if it's tedious, gamers will naturally seek efficient ways to defeat it.
"How was it defeated back then?""I heard the gods' chosen apostles cooperated to defeat it.""Much like now, it seems.""Indeed, that's the case.""To understand any discrepancies with the information I have, may I see those records?""I grant permission. I will take you to the records room later.""Thank you."
The internet slang "delicious kabayaki," heard in the divine prophecy, originated from this process of trial and error.
"Let me summarize. For now, we will assume we are fighting Azhdaha. So, first, the method of defeat—"
With a certain level, certain equipment, and the ability to execute certain actions, it can be defeated easily.
That's optimization.
Azhdaha has also been subjected to this.
"The procedure is simple: annihilate the retainers to prevent the use of Substitute, and while Metal Scale is not active, deal damage exceeding the recovery of High Regeneration to whittle down its life. That's all.""Easier said than done. It won't just stand there defenseless. It will resist and attack. If we could somehow handle the curses, that would be a different story."
At first glance, Azhdaha seems to have no weaknesses, but that's not entirely true.
Fundamentally, curse-type or debuff skills can generally be nullified with resistance skills.
"We can do it. Nullify the curses."
However, the enemy is completely superior.
Half-hearted armor or skills alone won't nullify them.
The enemy has passive skill enhancements and vastly superior stats.
But high difficulty doesn't mean it's impossible.
"And I have just the right material in mind."
Whether it's luck or misfortune.
From a bird's-eye view, it's clearly misfortune piling on misfortune, but let's think of it positively as a blessing in disguise.
"Such convenient material isn't in the spirit world—""It's not in the spirit world. It's outside—the monster that gave us the reason to flee into the spirit world.""You can't mean—""Yes. The monster with terrifying resistance: Jelly Cloud Rainy, commonly known as Rainy Devil."
Whether this is karma brought by Nell or the destined trouble of a reincarnator, it doesn't matter. If a means to victory is within reach, we must strive to grasp it.
Dark is shocked, and the Spirit King nods in understanding.
"We defeat it and create curse-resistant equipment."
To defeat a Class 9 monster, we defeat a Class 8 monster.
It's not something a Class 4 human should say, but if there's any possibility, we must make the most of this coincidence.
World monsters, once they move, are unlikely to be encountered again.
Rather than gambling on that probability, we must defeat it now, at this moment.
"Can we defeat it?""There is a way. But I need your cooperation.""Speak. I will judge whether it's possible, but I will help as much as I can."
The casual, relaxed leveling ends here.
From now on, we enter serious leveling mode.
I'll show you the true determination of a gamer turned efficiency fanatic.
"Then, I won't hold back."
Even I don't want to die yet.
There are still so many things I want to do.
I take out a memo pad and start writing down everything we need with something like a pencil.
I list blacksmiths, craftsmen, tailors, alchemists, and the equipment I want them to make.
Then, I detail the steps needed to gather materials.
So that anyone can achieve similar results, efficiently clear dungeons, and gather materials in the shortest time.
A roadmap for mass-producing meta equipment, obtaining higher-tier materials, and using them to create even better meta equipment—all for optimization.
"For now, this—""This is hardly a 'for now' amount."
The Spirit King accepts the memo sheet, now densely filled with my wish (full effort) listing, with a wry smile.
"It's just for now. After all, the goal of this roadmap—"
The driving force of a gamer is the passion to conquer no matter what.
Having poured that fuel into the effort, I now clench my fist.
"—is the complete conquest of Azhdaha."
t/n if you have time pleace check out this series . https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-reincarnated-gamer-rises-to-the-top-with-infinite-level-up-after-being-reborn-as-a-doomed-minor-noble-i-used-my-game-knowledge-to-earn-a-ridiculous-amount-of-exp-and-shattered-the-destruction/
or this one https://www.novelupdates.com/series/as-a-frontier-noble-i-was-researching-the-truth-at-the-magic-academy-when-i-became-too-exceptional-and-ended-up-as-the-nations-trump-card/