Editing Skill Tree Goddess:Volume1 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 6===

“O-okayyy…”

The dancer, whose brown skin shined beyond her seashell bikini and fluttering skirt, smiled and took a step forward.

Juina Melonsut couldn’t hide her nerves as her long fluffy hair blew in the wind.

“I’ll get started. If I can draw aggro and lure it into the cave, we win. So you start attacking once it’s following me.”

Meanwhile, the enormous dragon stirred at a mere 400 metora away.

It seemed to be tilting its head.

And once it spread its wings wide…



''Boom!!!



The space burst.

It was now right in front of them.

With its jaws opened wide and thrust forward.

…Had its giant wings beat at the air, propelling its 50-metora body forward all at once!?

After approaching them in an instant, the SS-rank dragon unnaturally spread just its right wing.

“Wait, a slap!? Are you kidding!?”

…Weren’t its wings more sensitive and needed to be treated with care!?

That wall of a strike carried the momentum of the dragon’s approach.

It was nothing more than luck that allowed Gilbezos to tackle Dancer Juina out of the way and roll to the side. If he hadn’t managed it, the top half of her body would have been turned to mincemeat and scattered into the air before she could even feel the pain.

It had rushed forward.

The wind and vibrations produced by its great body sent the two of them rolling far along the ground.

The attack that just barely missed the two of them instead hit the brick wall that had been behind them. The tower-like grain silo was blasted to pieces. And the dragon must have been in a bad mood because it didn’t stop there. It opened its jaws toward the remnants flying through the air next to it.

''Flash!!!

A brilliant streak of light surged out. The silo, which had to weight a few dozen tona, was instantly annihilated. The air was scorched along a path diagonally up from the ground and continuing far into the distant sky.

“A dragon breath…at extreme close range!?”

And this wasn’t like with Balsta. Instead of a single line of destruction, tens of thousands of fist-sized blasts of light were scattered out in a fan shape.

It was a scattershot.

A large rut was torn into the dried field. After its straight-line dash, it didn’t bother decelerating and used every part of itself – its claws, its flapping wings, and its swinging tail – to change direction. The other type referred to “other forms of natural disaster and destruction”, so the bearded man launched a spear of hardened rock slat at the Uroboros-form’s back, but the dragon evaded the ultra-heavy projectile so it wasn’t even grazed.

It was a little over 300 metora away.

Its bat-like wings beat at the air as it dodged left and right to avoid projectiles and, once it found an opening, it charged toward them!!

“Whoa, a major attack already!?”

Gilbezos leaped over the ground to dodge. But the fierce attacks would never end like this. This was a completely different type than Balsta who sniped them with long-range breath attacks!



It used its large wings to charge 300-500 metora in a straight line.

It would trample its prey, pass them by, and once far enough away, use sharp side steps to evade.

Once it was ready for another charge, it would wait for an opening.



…It was the perfect pattern. It could repeat the same thing over and over and be a real threat. The biggest problem was how the charge also took the dragon away from you afterwards. That left no room for using close-range attacks with swords or spears. And magic projectiles weren’t any use when it could easily avoid those with its rapid side steps. Of course, matching the dragon’s timing to aim for a cross counter with the dragon’s great mass and speed would be far too reckless. If it continued charging even if it took some slight injury in the process, it could trample these humans underfoot.

It could win a crushing victory by literally crushing them.

They couldn’t hope to guide it into the cave like this.

Whether they forced it or whatever else, they couldn’t do anything unless they first ''stopped'' that thing’s swift movement!

“Penelope! You’re a boxer, right!? Do you have any physical skills you can use!? Something with enough oomph to stop that SS-rank dragon!?”

“…”

“Hey, Penelope!!”

No response.

That boxer girl would challenge any opponent head on with only her fists. But now she was cowering. Her eyes were opened to the limit and trembling. There were even tears in the corners.

…She had been ''swallowed up'' before she could even fight.

“Mister! Change of plans! I don’t think we can cover you long enough for your long incantation!!”

“I get that, but what else am I supposed to do!?”



'''Status Effect Fury Magic

:'''Repeat Command

::'''Increased Odds for All Randomized Skills

:::'''Apply Magic Effect to Weapon



The short boy manipulated the Skill Tree near the goddess’s chest and drew the sword at his hip. This was the combination he had used in the forest to knock someone out with 100% success with even a slight hit from his weapon.

Yuileen, the SS-rank Uroboros-form dragon, watched him from a distance.

Not the human group as a whole. It was clearly observing Gilbezos Overridge’s face.

(Here it comes!!)

The dragon crouched low and spread its bat-like wings wide.

It took its first step.

Its 50-metora body compressed the air as it charged forward. A 100% chance of fury? Against that wall of a wing slap and the extreme close-range scattershot breath? Attempting a cross counter against that massive foe with only a puny sword was nothing but suicide.

“''But it’s not my sword''.”

The SS-rank giant dropped to the ground.

This too was probably a remnant of when this had been a farm. A broken wooden fence and pointy sticks could be seen between the brown and withered crops. They were likely originally meant to keep animals out.

“I don’t need a cross-counter. If there’s a trap in your way, you’ll step on it yourself!!”

The dragon tripped and fell, its jaws jutting forward and tearing a large gouge in the ground. However, its momentum remained and it slid toward Gilbezos. At 50 metora, that was frightening enough on is own. Penelope was still trembling and too scared to fight or even move, so Gilbezos tugged on her hand and rolled out of the way.

A cloud of dirt filled the air.

The brown remnants of crops rained down on their heads.

But that was a hit.

Only one was enough.

As long as this one instance of fury rendered the dragon unconscious, they could trap it inside the Seal Talisman made by the Saint!! Gilbezos forgot to even get up from the ground as he reached into his pocket.

But…

“…?”

Something wasn’t right.

The attack had definitely hit and the repeat castings of 100%-odds fury would have sent the blood rushing to the dragon’s head, yet Yuileen only tilted its head.

And it moved!?

“Dammit!!!”

Its thick tail- no, was that a roundhouse kick with its powerful leg!?

It was a pure striking type physical attack.

Which may have been lucky actually. In his arms, Penelope reflexively held her arms up to guard. The older girl’s front surface faintly glowed for a moment and the gale-like force of the massive sweeping blow was deflected straight up.

“Wow. Did you redirect that attack, Penelope!? That was a dragon atta-”

“Ggh, agh!?”

His reflexive joy was interrupted. Penelope’s face twisted in agony as her right arm swelled unnaturally large from wrist to elbow. It grew purple before his eyes.

…''Was it broken? Yes, that hadn’t been the striking type. It had been the slashing type using the sharp claws that could also be used to kick off the ground. Had she misread the type and failed to fully negate the physical damage!?

Or maybe the dragon had extended its claws at the last second to change the type of physical attack. If so, the dragon’s ability to switch types gave it an overwhelming advantage.

Only Goddess Seliphenia remained calmly on her feet. With her back straight.

“Oh, dear. The dragon recovered from the status effect somehow.”

“What the hell!? If it had a skill like that, you should’ve told me!!”

“I’m only guessing. After all, I can’t see skills that come from recovery items that don’t rely on LAW or the Skill Tree.”

“…?”

A recovery item?

If the dragon had used one, it must have eaten something when it fell and its jaws tore into the ground.

Had one of the dried and withered crops there had that effect? But hadn’t those been abandoned because they weren’t any good? Well, maybe what worked for dragons didn’t work for humans.

And after nearly passing out from a single attack, even that SS-rank would ''be cautious of Gilbezos even if it didn’t understand what had happened.'' He wasn’t going to get a hit in like that again.

“Still, it’s good you kept its attention that long.”

He heard a voice.

It was the bearded man.

“You gave me the time I needed to finish my lengthy incantation! Habangalay!!”

He launched a white mass around two metora long. That was rock salt. Salt damage belonged to the other type since it was “another form of natural disaster or destruction”. He targeted the two horns on Yuileen’s head. Just one would be enough. The attack struck the horn above the right eye – the same one with some brown withered plant tangled around it.

And a moment later.



A roar.



The world itself rattled.

It was a sudden change. A vortex of hostility.

The dragon’s wings spread wide before Gilbezos and the others’ eyes. But this time it wasn’t to charge forward. It slammed the air down into the ground, forcing its 50-metora body upwards.

It flew.

Its countless scales shined a rainbow light as the sun shined down on them.

…''Its behavior pattern had changed?'' But why!?

“Does this mean its horns really are its weak point?” shouted the bearded man. “The attack must have panicked it!”

Was that really it? It bothered Gilbezos how attack focused the dragon had become. If this was about having its weak point attacked, wouldn’t its actions show some fear or panic it couldn’t quite hide?

The dragon didn’t run away. Even though they had pinpoint-targeted its weak point. It kept its wings spread wide as it made a U-turn and once more faced Gilbezos and the others on the Sky Territory.

Its jaws spread vertically and then small cracks spread across its face as it began to open horizontally as well.

The high-speed approach followed by a powerful attack had been terrifying, but now that the dragon was at a distance, the scattershot breath would pour down on them like rain. If that covered the entire area, there would be no escaping it.

And that was what happened.



''Crash!!!



Except it wasn’t a downpour of light. Countless pointy gray spear-like things poured down instead. Just as Gilbezos realized they were spikes made of rough stone, the sharp downpour pierced the ground all across the area.

“Gh…?”

At the very last moment, he managed to get one step outside of it. The bearded man hadn’t made it in time, so he sent out a rock salt spear as a cross counter. However, that only struck the SS-rank’s surface before being easily deflected.

“Bh.”

This reaction was completely different. It hadn’t taken any damage at all.

Those rainbow-colored scales weren’t just the result of reflecting the sunlight. Yuileen had changed its own coloration. It was an ability.

Meaning…

“Its type…''changed''?”

The stone spikes were an earth type scattershot breath.

The countless sharp stone spikes tilled the dead farm from one end to the other. Tens of thousands of blades dropped down at once.

Gilbezos Overridge fell to his knees with his eyes still turned up to the sky. For some reason, he couldn’t gather any strength. It took him a while to even notice his right flank had been pierced by a stone spike. One more than three metora long.

They…weren’t going to last. Penelope had broken her arm. The bearded heavy gunner mage had been bloodied by the scattershot breath. Where even was Juina the dancer? A priest who was still active appeared to be forcing his injured body around to cast healing magic on the others, but it wouldn’t be enough. Another scattershot breath would reach them before the entire party had recovered.

The Saint’s Jewel?

That would heal 50% of their HP and MP, but what good was that? Was it even possible to defeat that monster!?

“Oh, no…” gasped the bearded man, lying on his side. Although he may have meant it as a shout. “Its eyes. That damn thing…is looking to the temple city. Cough. There are 700 thousand people living there!”

“…”

Gilbezos Override reached for a Saint’s Jewel.

Still holding his sword, he gripped the five centemetora translucent orb and twisted with his other fist. Like he was squeezing a lemon.

He used it.



'''Fire Type Magic – High

:'''Repeat Command

::'''Group Targeting with Magic

:::'''Repeat Command MP Cost 0



A deafening boom erupted forth.

A fireball large enough to blot out the sky appeared far overhead and crashed down into the top of flying Yuileen’s head.

This was the slaughter magic the goddess had recommended for use against a group of 5000 in the forest. The scale was a little smaller here since the target was a single dragon, but it was big enough.

Gilbezos didn’t hesitate to use it and slam the dragon down to the Sky Territory’s dead farm.

Shaking and rumbling.

Gilbezos’s body…moved. The Saint’s Jewels had been ten per customer, so he still had nine left. That wasn’t nearly enough, but he tossed them to his nearby party members, starting with Penelope who had broken her arm failing a block. Come to think of it, hadn’t he said he would handle healing before the battle started?

The bearded man used his and crawled to his feet, but turned to Gilbezos in disbelief.

“What…did you just do?”

What good was answering that? Gilbezos saw movement. As powerful as the attack had been, the SS-rank was still moving. The earth type’s weakness was wind type, so as powerful as that fire type magic had been, it wasn’t the right type.

This wasn’t over yet. S-rank Balsta had been a status quo monster that would injure but not kill, creating a decoy enemy the king could point to. But this was different.

SS-rank was a step above that.

This was a true monster that really would slaughter them all if they screwed this up.

“Dammit, what exactly are we supposed to do? I don’t care if it’s a legendary hero or a mysterious Hibagon, can’t someone conveniently show up now to save us!?”

Some nearby bushes rustled.

The next thing he knew, a long-eared high elf girl poked her head out with a bow in hand. She looked to be around 17 and her name was Sayuran Cuchanbern.

“Do you require some supporting fire? You need only provide me with a target.”

“…Explain yourself. Starting with why you’re here.”

“I have remained by your side this whole time as a representative of the high elves. What of it?”

The (probably much) older stalker was blunt about it.

And she continued with no expression on her face.

“Among high elves, a debt of life can only be repaid with a life. We owe you a large debt, so we cannot let you leave empty handed after saving the entire tribe. Now, honored guest, give me a command equal to the number and weight of the lives you saved.”

“Isn’t that great? You just found an ethical way to have an elf slave.”

…Gilbezos really wished the goddess wouldn’t describe it that way since he would never be able to look that 9-year-old boy in the eye.

“Then there’s something I want you to do more than using your bow.”

“Wearing a cute and sturdy collar?”

…Don’t you start sounding so eager about it too.

“Just to be certain, are the high elves on the human side or the monster side here?”

“I would say that we are on the elf side, but if you must look at it that way, I am disinclined to say I am on the human side.”

“''Then can you tell how that dragon feels''?”

The high elf stared into the distance.

At Yuileen, the SS-rank Uroboros-form dragon. She seemed to be trying to read the giant monster’s emotions from the wavering of its eyes and the dilation and constriction of its pupils rather than from its cries.

Yes. The dragon was certainly a threat to the city, but they didn’t know what it was after. Since they couldn’t defeat it by ordinary means, it might be safer to fix whatever the root cause was.

And the high elf spoke on the dragon’s behalf.



Return…her…to…me.

I…cannot…bear…it…any…longer.

Return…my…daughter…to…me.



Gilbezos was astonished.

Had he made a fundamental misunderstanding here? No, there had been hints.

If this dragon was really so violent and unmanageable…

“I thought it was weird.”

Gilbezos was glaring at the filthy dried plants tangled around the sinister horn growing from the giant dragon’s brow.

No, that wasn’t what it was.

“That’s a ''crown of flowers'' on the dragon’s horn. Who put that there!?”