I extinguish the fire clinging to my body with Medicine Synthesis.
A sigh of relief.
My depleted MP begins rapidly recovering.
Arava can no longer move.
There's no power left to move with.
Her HP hasn't changed yet, but once her SP runs out, her HP will follow suit.
And at this point, even the slightest movement could drain what little SP she has left.
At this point, it's pretty much do whatever you want with her — boil her, bake her, take your pick.
Hehehe.
She made me work harder than I expected, but the outcome went exactly as planned.
From the start, I knew it was impossible to whittle Arava's HP all the way down.
The scale-series Skills that dragons possess to inhibit magic are just too incompatible with me.
Trying to go physical is no better — punching her would only leave my hand throbbing.
My attack power is overwhelmingly outclassed by Arava's defense.
So I gave up on HP.
If HP won't budge, just drain SP instead.
And the Skill that makes that possible is Sloth.
My fourth broken Skill.
I got it not long after it evolved into Ede Cyne. Honestly, I didn't really understand the description, so I didn't think much of it at first. But once I tried it, I was shocked by how well it synergized with me.
If I use the Curse of Resentment Evil Eye, not only does HP drop, but other Status values decrease significantly as well.
It barely affected Arava, but against an opponent without abnormal-condition resistances, this combo alone would be enough to win. That's how vicious it is.
On top of that, combined with Teleport, I can force a one-sided war of attrition on my opponent.
I constantly monitor their Status through Marking, then pop in and out with Teleport to disrupt their rest, and patiently wait for their SP to drain away.
Actually, that was exactly the strategy I planned to use against Arava.
The Spatial Perception Skill she picked up almost ruined everything — it made Teleport too risky to use casually. That was a close one.
Of all the Skills Arava acquired, Spatial Perception might have been the most troublesome one.
The reason I was able to drain her SP so quickly was because Arava gave it absolutely everything she had.
If Arava had held back even a little, the result might have been different.
Because she left no openings whatsoever, she lost.
Even I have to admit, that's a pretty nasty way to fight.
Now then, Arava — have you composed your haiku?
Allow me to administer the final blow.
It's about time to bring our battle to a close.
If she can't move, I can rain magic to my heart's content.
Will her HP drop to zero first, or will her SP run out first?
Which will it be?
I look down at Arava from above with a venomous grin.
Arava slowly raises her head.
Our eyes meet.
My heart skips a beat.
Those eyes — they were startlingly clear.
What's with those eyes?
You lost to me.
At least look the part of a loser — show some anguish, would you?
As if brushing aside my bitter words, Arava slowly lowers her body.
Only her head remains raised, turned straight toward me.
And then, something anomalous occurs in Arava's Status, which I'd been Appraising.
Her Skill text begins turning grey.
This means she's deactivating her Skills.
When an always-active Skill is turned off, its text appears grey in Appraisal.
Arava's Skills turn grey, one after another.
Including the Heavenly Scale Skills that tormented me so thoroughly.
And all of her various Resistance Skills too.
So you're not even going to resist?
What's that supposed to mean?
What the hell is this?
Why are you looking so damn satisfied?
Because you gave it your all, you have no regrets? Is that it?
Don't screw with me.
Be more shameless about it.
Beg for your life — say you want to live.
Struggle. Claw. Fight.
Why are you so ready to throw your life away?
Once you lose your life, it doesn't come back, you know?
Sure, I can't really talk since I've been Reincarnated, but normally, when you die, that's it — game over.
How can you face the end so gracefully?
What does that make me, the one who's desperately clinging to life, refusing to let it end?
Or what — is it because death isn't the end in this world, and you know that, so you can afford to be noble about it?
If that's the case, it pisses me off even more.
Fine. You want death? I'll give you death.
I release all of my Evil Eyes.
Curse of Resentment. Stillness. Repulsion. And Death Annihilation.
Arava's body, without putting up any resistance, crumbled to dust and vanished.
《Experience Points have reached a certain threshold. Individual, Ede Cyne, has increased from LV19 to LV20》 《Various basic Status values have increased》 《Skill Proficiency level-up bonus acquired》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Ki Battle Method LV9" has increased to "Ki Battle Method LV10"》 《Conditions have been met. Skill "Ki Battle Method LV10" has evolved into "Battle God Method LV1"》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Rage LV2" has increased to "Rage LV3"》 《Skill Points acquired》 《Experience Points have reached a certain threshold. Individual, Ede Cyne, has increased from LV20 to LV21》 《Various basic Status values have increased》 《Skill Proficiency level-up bonus acquired》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Death Annihilation Evil Eye LV3" has increased to "Death Annihilation Evil Eye LV4"》 《Skill Points acquired》 《Experience Points have reached a certain threshold. Individual, Ede Cyne, has increased from LV21 to LV22》 《Various basic Status values have increased》 《Skill Proficiency level-up bonus acquired》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Psychokinesis LV1" has increased to "Psychokinesis LV2"》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Repulsion Evil Eye LV1" has increased to "Repulsion Evil Eye LV2"》 《Skill Points acquired》 《Experience Points have reached a certain threshold. Individual, Ede Cyne, has increased from LV22 to LV23》 《Various basic Status values have increased》 《Skill Proficiency level-up bonus acquired》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "HP High-Speed Recovery LV7" has increased to "HP High-Speed Recovery LV8"》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Thread Talent LV8" has increased to "Thread Talent LV9"》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Slashing Resistance LV5" has increased to "Slashing Resistance LV6"》 《Skill Points acquired》 《Experience Points have reached a certain threshold. Individual, Ede Cyne, has increased from LV23 to LV24》 《Various basic Status values have increased》 《Skill Proficiency level-up bonus acquired》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Blunt Strike Resistance LV5" has increased to "Blunt Strike Resistance LV6"》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill "Fear Resistance LV9" has increased to "Fear Resistance LV10"》 《Conditions have been met. Skill "Fear Resistance LV10" has evolved into "Great Fear Resistance LV1"》 《Skill Points acquired》 It was a terrible victory — one that left a bitter aftertaste.