Chapter 276

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Upon coming close to the waterfall, we met up with 5 of Juno’s subordinates, who were camping nearby. They had been keeping watch over the entrance of the dungeon since the incident. 

All of them were former skilled adventurers who were over level 20. Based on the location of their disappearance, the five missing scouts most likely came in contact with the rumored giant monster. 

And so, it was decided that we had to defeat the monster first before we could investigate the dungeon.

The plant went like this. First, I would initiate the first attack from a distance with Glacies Nova and then the other members would cooperate together to draw the enemy’s attention. Within that time span, Kokori-san, an ex-female adventurer who mainly worked as a scout with wind magic “Hiding”, would throw a bottle of Zodiac Poison into the mouth of the giant monster. 

The poison bottle was round, about 30 centimeters in size and would break upon contact with the monster’s teeth. The other members of our party were Hijin-san, a fighter type like Juno, Gozz-san, a tank type, White-san, a wizard type, and Mizuchi-san, a healer type. Our party had the perfect balance. 

Unless something really unexpected happens, I’m sure everything will be fine. 

“Now then, time to start hunting!”

We entered the dungeon, full of spirits but then, something unexpected did happen. 

【Dragon Monster Behemoth (Level 32): A gigantic monster with the characteristics of half beast and half dragon. Regardless of how high level of adventurers you may be, once you witness its majestic presence, it’s best if you run away immediately if you don’t want to die…

List of skills:

Dragon Monster’s Breath Level 7

Dragon Monster’s Eyes Level 8

Dragon Monster’s Aura Level 7

HP: 1523

MP: 1282

Vitality: 1134

Strength: 1421

Intelligence: 1321

Dexterity: 1198

Speed: 967】

I used appraisal on the behemoth that was taking a nonchalant stroll through the vast underground cave from the shadows of the rocks. 

Upon further appraisal, I found out that the skill called Dragon Monster’s Aura canceled not only physical attack but also magical and any status ailment attack. The aura had a temporary cooldown period after the monster unleashed its Dragon Monster’s Breath attack though. 

And Dragon Monster’s Eyes was basically the superior version of Cockatrice’s petrifying gaze attack. Dragon Monster’s Eyes could cause petrification, confusion and fear. Appraisal said that you could avoid the status ailments by avoiding eye contact but it would be quite challenging to achieve that in the midst of battle with such a ferocious monster. 

Up until now, I had been dealing with Cocatrice’s petrifying gaze by consuming paruna detoxifying potion beforehand so I guess I should just follow the same pattern this time as well but… 

I do value my life and even appraisal has warned me so maybe I should run away…? 

I seriously considered running away but the plan was already in motion. And most importantly, we had to search for the missing soldiers.  

I just need to prepare myself for the worst. 

I casted support magic ‘Burning Muscle’ and ‘Stone Skin’ on myself and my other party members while Mizuchi-san casted holy attribute support magic called ‘Blessing’ to boost HP and MP and ‘Holy Aura’ to enhance our defense and attack power against monsters on everyone. 

After confirming Kokori-san, who was holding onto Zodiac Poison (a vital component in our plan), had used ‘Hiding’, I held a bottle of paruna detoxifying potion in my mouth and… 

“We will proceed according to the plan.”

I signaled to my party members in a hushed voice and upon taking the fang from my pocket, I jumped out from the shadows of the rocks, prepared to face the enemy.

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T/N: They’re basically suicide squad (;° ロ°)