Chapter 212: Mist Ball

The one who made the first move was the Mist Ball. It manipulated the mist to conjure numerous pebbles before launching them all at once towards us. It was as if a hail of mist bullets rained down in a shotgun blast. The attack came so swiftly that if Karl hadn’t shielded us in the nick of time, the three of us on the rear would have been directly hit.

“Grrrr…?”

Still, while it was a challenge to dodge them after seeing them, they seemed to lack any significant power. They couldn’t even scratch Karl’s scales, let alone his wing membranes and the damage was almost negligible. Karl who was expecting a more powerful attack was puzzled by the light damage.

But just because the power is low, it would be foolish to be attacked without defense It was time to take action!

“First, let’s disturb the air currents. Star Magic Circle, Remote Activation, Wind Pillar.”

I created five Wind Pillars in a position that would block the Mist Ball’s escape route. If it tried to escape, it would have to face the wind magic it was weak against. Moreover, this would also serve as a test to see what would happen when the mist it relied on was disturbed.

As I had expected, the Wind Pillars disturbed the mist surrounding the Mist Ball. I had hoped this would render it unable to use the mist, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. The creature began producing its own mist through its [Mist Magic] and manipulating it to its advantage.

Furthermore, it was creating a poison mist. Contact with that mist would result in poisoning. The ability to induce status ailments made it an even more troublesome foe.

However, the combined use of [Mist Magic] and [Mist Manipulation] must have been draining its magic power significantly. Even if it had a powerful move, it wouldn’t be able to use it repeatedly. I wanted to draw this into a battle of attrition, but…

“Haha! Here I go!”

“Well, it was bound to come to this. No helping it then. Karl, support Jigoro from above. I’ll apply various enhancements to everyone, while Iris and Shiitake, you try different things to find an effective attack.”

“Grrrrr!”

“Understood!”

“Right on~~!”

Asking Jigoro to wait and see was out of the question. So, while I boosted everyone with [Enchantment], I left Jigoro’s support to the other two and the dragon. Karl immediately took to the skies and positioned himself above the Mist Ball before attacking with a swipe of his tail. At the same time, Iris launched Shiitake’s alchemy items like a trebuchet.

At first glance, the Mist Ball hovering idly in the air didn’t appear to be very agile. But that wasn’t the case. It seemed to have tiny air vents on its surface, allowing it to release mist and move nimbly through the air. In this way, it fluttered around and narrowly avoided Jigoro’s claws again and again.

“Ugaaaaaah! Annoying!”

“Grrrrr…”

Jigoro and Karl were visibly frustrated by their continued failure to land a hit. Moreover, the Mist Ball was skilled at launching mist balls almost without any motion while dodging, forcing the two of them to either evade or block these attacks. The initial placement of the Wind Pillars had limited the Mist Ball’s movements, but without them, this monster would have been even more troublesome to deal with.

“It seems like our attacks are hitting, but they don’t look very effective…” Iris said.

“Hmm, looks like we really need to hit it with wind element attacks~~. If it’s wind we need, then it’s time for this ‘Kamikaze Bomb’ to shine!” Shiitake added.

Compared to the attacks from Jigoro and Karl, the projectiles thrown by the other two were lighter. The Mist Ball was aware of this and continued to focus on evading the attacks from Jigoro and Karl which actually allowed many of the thrown items to hit the monster. Yet, none seemed to inflict great damage. It became clear that exploiting its weakness was the only way to inflict visible damage.

What Shiitake pulled out then was an alchemy item she had named the “Kamikaze Bomb”. I was asked to help make it, so I was familiar with the ingredients. It was a bomb that used wind element magic stones, created using the staff’s effect, and explosion element magic stones to enhance the potency of the gunpowder, thereby increasing the blast radius… Wait, it increases the radius?

“Here you go, fireworks~!”

“Aaaaagh?!”

“Grrraaaagh?!”

Shiitake’s “Kamikaze Bomb” indeed inflicted serious damage on the Mist Ball, as evident from the reduction in its health bar, marking it as the most effective attack thus far.

However, due to the unexpectedly wide blast radius, Jigoro and Karl were caught in the explosion. Karl’s tail was merely scorched at the tip, but Jigoro took the brunt of the blast and was sent flying in a funny way as if in a gag manga. Yet, he managed to regain his balance mid-air and used his limbs lac a cat to land before immediately dashing towards the Mist Ball again.

“Oops, that was wider than I thought, eh?”

“Focus on killing the enemy, not us!”

“Nahaha, sorry about that! Make sure to dodge better next time.”

“There’s a next time…?”

“The enchantment is complete. Now I can join in too. Magic circle, remote activation, spell adjustment, Stone Wall.”

Putting aside Shiitake who showed no remorse at all. After I finished enhancing everyone, I created a stone wall in the path of the Mist Ball. The creature, which attempted to escape by emitting mist after the explosion, collided with the wall with a thud and bounced back. Its nature really did seem to resemble a rubber ball. It had a very interesting ecology.

“Here we go! Let’s do this, Karl!”

“Guoooooo!”

Jigoro seized the moment when the Mist Ball bounced back and pierced it with his sharp claws before throwing it at Karl. And as if he had been waiting for this, Karl swung his tail and slashed deeply into the Mist Ball. Its health dropped significantly, leaving it on the verge of death. Just one more hit!

Whoooooooooooooooosh!!!

The cornered Mist Ball released a dense mist that turned our entire field of view into a blanket of white. I didn’t know whether this was a desperate attempt to fight back or an attempt to obscure our vision and escape, but clearing the mist came first.

“Magic circle, remote activation, Storm… What is that?”

As I dispersed the mist with magic, two shadowy figures flanking the floating Mist Ball came into view. They were the same grayish-white as the mist, but their size and appearance were strikingly similar to those of two individuals I knew well.

“Those are Jigoro and Karl-jun… aren’t they?”

“Did the mist create copies of them~~?”

That’s right, the figures formed from the mist were precise replicas of Jigoro and Karl. The two fakes stood before us as if protecting the Mist Ball. The ability to manipulate mist to this extent was truly astonishing.

“As if I’d lose to a fake!”

“Guooooooooo!”

Angered by the sight of their doppelgangers, the real Jigoro and Karl leaped at their respective counterparts. The fakes, whose movements matched those of the originals, met their attacks head-on. Jigoro’s fist seemed to collide with the fake’s, but the fake’s arm dissolved into mist up to its shoulder.

The same happened with Karl; the part of the fake that he bit off reverted to mist from the neck forward. Although the rest of the fakes remained intact and mobile, their inability to maintain form made them less than formidable obstacles for Jigoro and Karl.

It was all too anticlimactic. There had to be some trick involved, without a doubt.

“What’s this? What’s with this damage?”.

“Gyaaaaaah?!”

As suspected, there seemed to be some sort of setup at play. Jigoro and Karl gradually began to suffer damage. At first, it seemed as though they might have been poisoned, but there were no signs of status ailments on either of their markers. This meant they were being harmed by some other means, and there was only one possibility that came to mind.

“…Acid Mist?”

“Are you saying they’re being dissolved by acid?”

I confirmed Iris’s question with a nod. The Acid Mist spell of the [Mist Magic] could indeed inflict gradual damage. Although I didn’t use [Mist Magic] much due to its lower instant firepower, I would be quite the annoying opponent if I could just master it…. I felt a little frustrated.

As Jigoro and Karl reeled from the unexpected damage, the fakes with their scattered parts reassembled and attacked again. Perhaps since they could be easily dispersed, they could just as easily reassemble.

“Damn annoying!”

“Goaaaaaaah!”

Jigoro unleashed his skill to generate thunder and flame, while Karl barraged the fakes with spells, yet none of it had any effect. Their attacks did punch holes through the fakes, but these gaps sealed up immediately. It seemed the only way to break the deadlock was to defeat the source of it all, the Mist Ball.

“I think that’s the best approach. I’ll focus on healing, so Iris and Shiitake, please somehow whittle down the main body.”

“Leave it to… well, I’d like to say that, but it’s really wary of us, isn’t it? I wonder if we can hit it.”

The Mist Ball seemed cautious of the one who had previously blown it away with a bomb and continued to move slowly in the air. It was like a boxer who was always ready to move his body up and down in order to respond quickly. Another direct hit would be difficult.

“In that case, we have no choice but to go for a more indirect approach. Start your attack.”

“Aye-aye, sir~~.”

As Iris and Shiitake’s items flew toward the Mist Ball, it dodged every single one. Its ability to evade the relentless onslaught from Jigoro and Karl demonstrated it had the power to embody the saying, “If it doesn’t hit you, it doesn’t matter.”

Meanwhile, the two main fighters struggled against the fakes. It didn’t matter if they were punched, slashed, stabbed, or blasted with magic, the fakes would revert back to their original form, and touching them meant taking acid damage. Attempting to approach the main body only resulted in being aggressively pursued and overwhelmed. Ultimately, the only option left was for Jigoro and Karl to keep the fakes at bay.

However, the acid attacks also had the effect of diminishing the durability of our weapons and armor. The longer the battle dragged on, the more disadvantageous our situation became. Therefore, it was up to us, the rearguard, to break the deadlock.

“Is it impossible to offset the damage with my [Soul Magic]? We need to hurry… Star Magic Circle Activation, Wind Blade.”

“Ehh~~? Are you seriously telling me you dodged all of that?”

In addition to Iris and Shiitake throwing their items, I started my attack with [Storm Magic]. However, the Mist Ball moved skillfully and narrowly avoided each attack. Shiitake, tired and annoyed, expressed her frustration.

I shared her feelings but complaining wouldn’t defeat our opponent. Still, it puzzled me why the Mist Ball, which could use skills other than [Mist Magic], didn’t use other spells. For example, creating barriers with [Water and Ice Magic] would have allowed it to dodge with ease. There must be a reason why it didn’t do so even under so much pressure. What could it be?

“…Is it dedicating all its magic power to creating and controlling the fakes? To the point where it has no leeway to perform any other actions?”

Upon reflection, this made sense. The Mist Ball was maintaining two fakes larger than itself at the same time, and they were engaged in fierce battles with their originals. It was unrealistic to expect it to have any more magic power to spare. In fact, considering the distance between Jigoro and Karl, it was probably in a dangerous situation and could barely dodge their attacks.

Then, a single strategy came to mind. It was a do-or-die approach, one that wouldn’t work a second time if it failed, but there was no choice but to proceed!

“Iris, Shiitake, this is the moment to stand firm. We’ll overwhelm it with sheer numbers now. Throw everything you’ve got at the monster.”

“It’s like, if it hits, we win, right? Let’s go all out!”

“If you shoot enough, you hit the target, right?”

At that moment, it was decided that victory would depend more on quantity than precision. Agreeing on this tactic, the two of them began throwing items one after the other. If they couldn’t hit their target with the precision of a sniper, they would resort to a Mafia movie-style barrage to force a hit as the second phase of their plan.

“I’ll go on the offensive with an area-of-effect attack. Star Magic Circle Activation, Wind Wave.”

To further increase the intensity of their attack, I resorted to area-of-effect wind magic, which was a known weakness of the Mist Ball. Although the trajectory of Iris and Shiitake’s items would be disrupted, the unpredictability of their movements would make them harder to dodge, which was a plus.

In fact, the wind-swept projectiles changed course and began to approach the Mist Ball. In its current state, even a graze from one of them might be enough to bring it down. Now was the chance!

“What?! No way!”

“It’s using [Soft Body] now?!”

Just before a direct hit, the Mist Ball contorted its body to dodge, much like it had escaped Iris’s restraints before. It was a true emergency evasion skill.

“This is it! Activate [Floating Skull]!”

The Mist Ball, which could perform high-speed maneuvers by emitting mist, contorted its body in an emergency dodge. This was the limit of its dodging ability. Therefore, any attack launched at this point was almost certain to hit.

As soon as I conceived the plan, I stealthily moved the [Floating Skull] behind it. This preparatory step was, in fact, the first phase of the strategy.

A feeble wind ball launched from the skull caught the Mist Ball. Though its power was minimal, the magic of an element it was weak against was sufficient to deplete its remaining health. The Mist Ball lost its tension and collapsed to the ground with a thud, and the fakes it had been sustaining, which Jigoro and Karl were dighting, dissolved back into mist and vanished.