38 : Go Ahead – 4

“Hmph!”
“Whoops”
If it was just a regular Poisonous Bite Rat, I could directly skirmish with it, but considering how huge this rat was, I’d simply get crushed in the blink of an eye.
Because of that, I had no choice but to jump to the side and avoid the giant rat’s attack.

“Appraise”
At the same time, I appraised several things.
The room was… in a square with each side being 25 meters in length. It was about 10 meters tall and there were many dangling meat fern flowers hanging from the ceiling, but all of them appeared to be chewed through half way.
There were no obstacles nearby either. Though in place of a bed, dangling meat fern flower vines looked to be woven into a make-shift nest.
Now, the most important detail was the stats on this oversized rat…

△△△△△
『Leader Of The Poison Rats』・Venomulard　Level 15
HP: 18328/18328
▽▽▽▽▽

“Ah, okay. It’s definitely a boss.”
“Mm, this strange sensation… Did you perhaps steal a look?”
Frankly speaking, this is bad.
In『CNP』, levels weren’t to be relied on so they’re not worth the concern, but its large health pool, title, and unique name meant that this giant rat… no, Venomulard, wasn’t your average monster and that much was obvious.
To make matters worse, it somehow perceived the appraisal I’d done through the『Appraisal Loupe』, yet it didn’t pursue me and just stood there staring at me in suspicion.
It was clearly a formidable enemy that couldn’t be compared to those ordinary rats from before.

“『Taruwiveno』”
In any case, looking at the cards I was dealt, what I had to do didn’t change.
As soon as I evaded its first attack, I had charged up all 13 of my eyes.
With my sights set on Venomulard, I activated my『Magic Eye of Poison・１＋』

“Mmu…”
A status effect, namely Poison (30) had appeared on top of Venomulard’s head.
The curse concentration in this area was 12, so if I fired off『Magic Eye of Poison・1＋』from all 13 eyes, the total poison afflicted should’ve theoretically been 169. Taking that into consideration, only 1/5 of it seemed to have displayed any effect.
As expected, the『Leader Of The Poison Rats』would naturally have resistance to poison.

“Insect, you dare to assail me with poison…”
Even then, it wasn’t as if the poison was all nullified, so it was still possible to win with this.
That’s what I’d thought at the time.

“Hmph!”
“Hah?”
Venomulard unleashed a shout of conviction and the poison status effect was simultaneously lifted from him.

“Naive. Poison is meaningless before me.”
“You’re kidding…”
It would appear that Venomulard was able to dispel the poison status I applied on him with just a single move.
Of course, it shouldn’t be possible to cleanse the poison freely. There should be some limits to it.
Whether Venomulard used sorcery or an item, I don’t know which it was, but there should be some kind of cost or risk to it.
Though… whatever it was, it was probably far less costly or risky compared to just sitting there and taking the poison.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth it to use.

“My turn now.”
“Nn”
Venomulard stretched open his mouth.
If you know what a Poison Spitting Rat is, you can tell exactly what’s to come.
And so, I bent my knees in preparation for it.

“Eat this.”
“Bring it…”
A dark green liquid comes flying out of Venomulard’s jaws.
At the same time, I propelled myself off the floor as hard as I could.

“Nhnn!?”
If the venom that spewed out from Venomulard was consistent with the Poison Spitting Rats’, I would’ve dodged it without issue.
However, Venomulard’s attack was unlike the Poison Spitting Rat’s venom… If anything, it seemed to be an upgraded version of it.
The venom from Venomulard shot up to where I was and exploded right in front of me.
It sprayed and scattered in every direction.

“Ugh…”
“Not a direct hit, I see.”
To paint it in words, if a Poison Spitting Rat merely shot out it’s venom, this would be akin to a bombardment by a cannonball filled with explosives.
I only got hit by just fragments of the venom, but it deleted almost 10% of my HP bar and now, Poison (12) was displayed on me.
If I were to get hit directly, I’d most likely be dead instantly.

“No matter.”
“This again!”
Venomulard opens his mouth for a second time.
I’ve pretty much given up on the long-distance approach at this point.
My attack method,『Magic Eye of Poison・1＋』could easily be dispelled.
His attack method could spell instant death upon a direct hit and even if it wasn’t, the shelling of venom would still shave off a substantial amount of my HP. All things considered, It wasn’t even a contest.
Therefore, I hastily fluttered my wings and landed before flinging myself over to where Venomulard was.

“Hmph!”
As I was in mid-jump, I pulled out my rat flail, accelerated, and bashed Venomulard’s head with it.
Despite doing so.

“That stings, a little.”
“Tch…”
Venomulard managed to accurately determine the trajectory of the flail with his 4 eyes and lowered his head while raising his arm to absorb the blow, easily defending against it.
If I had scored a good hit on his head, I’m sure it would’ve dealt a little bit of decent damage, but his arm… was firmly protected behind a layer of fur and flesh. On top of that, it has practically no effect when he’s poised and ready to take on the attack like that…
I’m almost completely in checkmate as of now.
Since my attack options were basically all useless, I can’t see myself having any odds of winning this at the moment.

“Shame, this is as far as you’ll go.”
“Wha!?”
The despair only gets worse.
A deep green light dwelled in the Venomulard’s front and middle legs.
He slams them down on the floor and… Venomulard’s surroundings were now enshrouded in a dark green mist, obstructing my vision.

“It’s poison…”
The numerical value of the poison I was just inflicted with was increasing.
It appears that it was a type of sorcery which poisoned those that were in range.
However, even if I comprehended it, I didn’t have time to make my next move.

“Hmph!”
“Rgh!?”
Venomulard swiftly pivoted to the side.
He didn’t grab me with his arm, but rather, his tail pelted my abdomen dead center and I was blown away by the impact.
Then, before I could even pick myself back up.

“It’s over.”
Venomulard lunges towards me, slamming down his forefoot which in turn pulverizes my skull, killing me instantly.