Tactics in Poor Taste
『Guru.』
Oni-sensei-shapeshifted boss made a familiar low growl while taking a stance.
The thing before me is a fake who can't use most of his Skill Abilities.
Nothing but an imitation created from my memory of the real thing.
But
But!
『Guru.』
"Uooooooaaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
The swiftness, intensity, and weight behind every single one of his attacks do not fall behind the real thing in the least!
Each and every strike is lethal. This one may be fake but its strength is legit.
His straight punch is capable of pulverizing mountain, even the me now would have lost most my HP if I got hit. Three strikes and I'm out.
His kicks are even worse. The moment I lost my footing even for a little, he would mercilessly unleash chained kicks far more powerful than his punches. I'll be out of commission with just one of those.
If I didn't immediately react with Mana Control to flick his hands away whenever I showed an opening, he'd grab and crush me or throw me into the horizon.
He's utterly invincible on the offensive side. Alma Papa is probably the only one that can match Oni-sensei.
On top of all that, his evasion and defense are also the topmost of notch.
Trying to land a punch without any trick will net me a counter pretty much instantaneously.
Yet, he'd go on the offensive before I made an attempt to feint as if he knew beforehand.
Yet again, he'd also foresee if I moved efficiently and immediately parry or dodge my attack.
Truly the strongest. He's like the very image of my ideal 『I'm OP!』 in the flesh.
There would be absolutely no winning this if our Attributes were equal. My base Attributes are around 3000 right now, slightly below Oni-sensei.
I've buffed them to around 10000s with Energy Control to barely just keep up.
...How in the hell? Oni-sensei only has around 3500-4000 base Attributes, and he can't use most of his Skill Abilities right now.
Yet he's on par with someone with nearly triple his stats.
I am absolutely confident it won't even be a fight if our positions were swapped. There's just no making up a gap that big.
If I were forced to fight, I'd try to brute force it by buffing my Attributes.
Or maybe with the help of support items, and all kinds of unfair tricks. Yet, this Oni-sensei don't even have an item, let alone a weapon.
His experience in battlefields must be what enables him to bury such a hopeless moat.
Dunno how many strong foes he vanquished, how many times has he swung those fists, and how long has he lived, but all that experience is too dense to be depicted on Status screen.
...Nobody could have won if he added Skill Abilities on top of all that. Demon King might have made it, but it can't be an easy victory.
Watching this thing exerting all that power like it's his own is peeving me.
Not like I'm one to talk with my External Status support...
Normally, I naturally don't use items or vicious Mana Control during my practice with Oni-sensei. I'd drive a pile or two at most.
The goal was training my close quarter combat ability, not winning after all.
I mean, even if I did resort to cheap nasty tricks, Oni-sensei would probably just swat them all down.
But that's with him freely using his Skills.
It should work just fine against this fake who can't use powerful Skills like True Beast Release.
『Guru!』
"Raa!!"
I swiftly deployed a thick mana shield matching the fake's attack.
Average fighters would have their fists broken yet the fake kept hitting the shield without caring.
W-what an amazing attack. The impact transmitted to me feels like I'm blocking a cannon bombardment.
My mana is decreasing rapidly every time an attack connects. My shield won't hold up for long.
Not like I'm gonna keep tanking like an idiot though.
『!?』
Oni-sensei (fake) frowned a bit. That's a rare expression.
I transformed the shield mana property from metal-like hardness to ductile softness while he was attacking.
I transformed the shield shape into an ivy and made it coil around his arms.
He immediately tried to peel it off, which I responded by making the mana sticky.
There's no tearing that off. You're only gonna get it stick even harder.
Now's my chance!
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
My preparation for high powered pile bunker alarmed the fake. It tried to jump away from me.
Good intuition you got there. Saw that coming miles away tho'.
『Guga...!!? Gugugu...!!』
Yep. It's everyone's favorite electricity conversion. One pattern? Leave me alone.
Oni-sensei would have just brushed it off if that hit his skin, but by piercing needle-shaped mana inside its body to send electricity from the inside out, it looks to be working well.
Electric shocks stiffens the body. I'm well aware just how much that robs you off bodily motor functions.
And that's exactly why this attack won't miss!
I closed in on the immobile fake and drove a high powered pile bunker!!
『Gugaa!!』
!!
The high powered pile's explosion echoed throughout the boss floor.
The impact sent the fake flying to the wall.
Same goes for me which got blown away into the opposite direction's wall.
『Gagwa!!』
"Guaa!!"
The fake and me fell down the ground while spitting blood.
...Oy oy, are you for real. He forced his body to move through the electric shock and kicked me as I drove the pile on him...!
I had a mana armor on me to defend against the high powered pile explosion, yet one kick was all it took to blow through my entire HP and deal damage directly on my real body.
I might have died then and there if not for my HP buffer.
Despite the differences in Attributes, hitting vitals would still deal damage.
This fake... No, Oni-sensei can seemingly pinpoint his opponents' vitals without a sweat. He went straight for my internal organs.
Looking back, the real Oni-sensei almost never aimed for my vitals.
I only realized after fighting this fake, that he always made sure to hold back when he hit my face so I still got a sliver of HP left.
Heck, shouldn't this fake hold back too if he was made based off my experience.
That counter was a real desperate attack I never saw Oni-sensei did.
<<The only thing that cannot be fully replicated is Skill Abilities that are never witnessed. Its strength is perfectly replicated to a point. Its memory is not based on information from the target either. It is replicated fully from the shapeshifted being itself.>>
...Eh? So you're telling me this fake has Oni-sensei's memory?
<<Affirmative.>>
....Oho. I see, oh I see.
.....
Forgive me, Oni-sensei.
『Guru!』
He shook his head and brushed off the dust off his body before rushing my way.
I took a combative stance while drinking a heal potion.
I hold my hand out at the incoming Oni-sensei.
"Eat this!!"
『Guru!?』
I grabbed a karaage from Item Screen and threw it at Oni-sensei.
『!! Hagu!』
...Oni-sensei caught the karaage at his fastest speed yet in this battle. This thing really went and replicated sensei's ravenous appetite.
I feel kinda bad watching him chewing with such relish, but I can't afford sympathy here.
I kept hurling karaage all of which he caught with his mouth.
I remember Oni-sensei eating the karaage I had too when we first met.
『Hagu... Ga...』
Oni-sensei stopped moving right as he chowed down the last karaage.
Blood seeped out of the holes on his face as he collapsed.
I had loaded every single karaage with a trace amount of mana, life force, energy blend which recombined in his body and used it to drive a pile bunker from inside.
He'd have sensed it if I loaded a huge amount of mana in one karaage, but he never suspected a thing when only a small amount came from many.
This would have never worked if this fake didn't have Oni-sensei's perception of 'Karaage tastes good'.
This probably works on the real thing as well but I don't wanna win like this.
I had no choice this time due to my situation. But the act of eating food should be something you have a peace of mind about, I loathe the idea of poisoning food.
I want to beat the real Oni-sensei fair and square... Dunno how long will that take though.
Oni-sensei's body turned back into mist which then dispersed away.
Mist filled the room once again.
But then it started to converge into one lump again. Time for the next shapeshift it seems.
There's gonna be three in total, right?
<<Affirmative. The first is 'Individual with the highest battle prowess you have encountered', the second is 'Individual you hold the dearest and don't want to hurt most.'>>
Eh, what, that's nasty as all hell.
It's super clear who's it gonna be even before it comes out of the mist.
The mist reconverged into a humanoid outline again.
The body is small and slim, someone I used to see almost every day ever since I came to this world.
Short shoulder-length black hair.
A perfectly proportional body despite being slim.
Her light purple pupils are looking straight at me. Her black sword is drawn out.
".......Are you for real man......."
I facepalmed and sighed on reflex.
Ah dammit, I won't be satisfied with just one or two punches if this dungeon's designer is also the one who came up with this magic beast.
Damn, dammit!!
"Alma...!!"
"...Hikaru."
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