I Am the Weakest Cat, but If I Keep Evolving, Can I Become the Strongest? - Episode 27: Retreat

Episode 27: Retreat 

▽ Episode 27: Retreat 

I hit the Undead Dragon with two shots of [Thunder Cannon]. 

They were pretty effective. 

For the decayed and softened body of a Dragon, lightning shouldn’t be something it can just ignore. 

Even so, I felt like I hadn’t even shaved off a third of its HP (not that I know if such a concept even exists). 

I had no choice but to cancel [Wonder Time]. 

That skill is ridiculous. But it continuously consumes MP, so it can’t be used permanently. 

Since I have to save MP, I can’t rely on it entirely. 

The Undead Dragon attacks. 

From here, I have to dodge using my own skill. 

A sweeping attack with its large claws. 

It doesn’t seem to have high agility. So with my species of War Thunder Cat, I can dodge it with ease. 

I leap. 

I jump onto the foreleg it used for the sweep— 

I get blown away. 

The air pressure from its overwhelming strength sends my light body flying. 

I spin rapidly in the air. 

My vision spins. 

I can’t breathe. 

My organs are spinning around and I feel sick. 

My brain is being shaken. 

This isn’t the time to be spinning like this. 

“Nya ([Short Warp]).” 

I forcefully teleport myself to the ground. 

At that moment, dark spears were raining down from above. 

It must be able to use dark-element magic too. 

“Nyao ([Acceleration]).” 

I burst out of the area of the “rain of spears” in one go. 

I close the distance to the Undead Dragon in a flash. 

The enemy is already in a biting stance— 

If I charge in like this, I’ll end up inside its stomach (assuming its stomach hasn’t rotted away). 

Even so, its breath stinks. 

Not just bad breath—it’s the stench of rot. 

“Nyau ([Another Point]), nyaaa, nya ([Dig]).” 

I quickly dug through the ground at the Undead Dragon’s feet. 

Its jaw lowered downward. And with just a jump, I was able to dodge the biting attack. 

As a follow-up, I activated [Dimension Wall]. 

I kicked off the vertical transparent wall, accelerating even more in mid-air. 

I got above the Undead Dragon’s head. 

“Nyaaaaaao! ([Scratching])” 

It activated. 

Giant invisible cat claws wildly unleashed a storm of claw strikes down onto the ground. 

All of them exploded against the giant body of the Undead Dragon. 

I see now. 

Apparently, I misunderstood how [Scratching] works. 

It’s a skill that should be used against huge enemies. 

The Undead Dragon groaned slightly. 

It wasn’t from pain— 

It probably just reacted with a groan because of the strange sensation in its body. 

Still, I managed to rack up a fair amount of damage. 

But it’s still not enough to kill it. 

Using magic repeatedly and using [Scratching] drained my stamina. 

I’ve also used [Battle Fur], so… I’m reaching my limit in many ways. 

This is probably time to retreat. 

At the very least, I’ve got a chart for how to conquer it later— 

――I got blown away. 

Intense pain. 

It felt like all the bl00d drained from my body. 

My consciousness definitely blacked out for a moment. 

What just happened? 

Understanding comes late. 

I was hit by its tail. 

A strike from a blind spot. 

My [Instinct Detection] didn’t make it in time. 

It must’ve been an active skill of some kind. 

Like [Sonic Whip]— 

A move where you strike the target with your tail at invisible speed. 

My bones were broken. 

I can’t go on anymore. 

The Undead Dragon is preparing a follow-up attack— 

Charging breath inside its mouth. 

“Nyao ([Home Gate]).” 

I went home. 

In a nearly hopeless state. 

▽ 

It wasn’t that I let my guard down. 

I just didn’t know. 

I did assume that there were other users of active skills besides me. 

But even if I assumed an “undodgeable attack” could come, there’s nothing I can do about it. 

Looks like I still can’t win

The opinion that I should wait until Rank V was probably correct. 

Even now that we’re the same Rank, there’s a huge gap between me and the enemy. 

Well, this was within expectations. 

I thought I could escape better. But since I’m still alive, I guess this counts as a good learning experience. 

So there was an active skill like that, huh. 

It hurts. 

Ideally, I wanted to defeat it now so I wouldn’t have my Rank V options limited. 

Since I can’t beat that thing now, I won’t be able to choose a magic-based evolution. 

That was something I wanted to avoid. 

Because I had no image of myself beating the Undead Dragon with a magic specialization… 

“Nyan.” 

My bones are broken. 

Like this, I can’t even hunt. 

I’ll have to move to a lower-Ranked area. 

I need to lay low and wait for my body to recover. 

However, I must be careful. 

Those who descend from the same Rank range are more likely to be targeted by enemies of that same Rank range. 

You can tell. 

If something seems off in the lower layers, you can deduce that someone must’ve descended. 

And for monsters that descend like that, we understand on an instinctual level that they can be easily killed. 

That’s why they get targeted. 

There are few monsters who can evolve through a breakthrough like mine. 

For monsters who’ve been stagnating, an “inferior” one appearing in their Rank is a guaranteed tasty target. 

Even so, I walk. 

Thankfully, at least I can walk without issue. 

The bone that got broken was near my shoulder. 

Every step I take, a sharp pain runs through me. 

How can it be that I’m walking, and yet it feels like I’m running? 

Lame. 

I fled to a Rank II area.