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CHAPTER 250 – CURU’S CHALLENGE AND ADVANCED DUNGEON CONQUEST 5

—Curulario’s Perspective—

「Whoa—no surprise it’s an advanced boss… That attack power is brutal. And its defense is way tougher than I thought…」

Just what kind of technique did Master Drake use to break through this rock-solid defense and defeat it in five minutes flat…?

No—now I get why he set the one-hour time limit after seeing Aquilaleo’s attack strength.

So that’s it… The real challenge is a no-damage kill.

Even when I land a direct hit, I’m barely scratching it. Against a boss that can one-shot me, clearing the challenge in my current state seems impossible.

The only thing I might be able to rely on is poison’s continuous damage, but—

Huh? Poison…?

Come to think of it, what level is my 【Poison Attack】 right now?

I’ve been so focused on getting through this that I completely forgot to check. But if I want to turn things around, it’s probably a good idea to take a look.

・【Poison Attack Lv. 9】: Coats claws, fangs, tail, or spikes with poison. On a successful hit, it has a chance to inflict poison status. The chance of inflicting the status and the poison’s continuous damage scale with skill level.

It’s two levels higher than before. I guess it’s partly due to the number of experience points I’ve gained soloing the dungeon, but I’ve also been using this skill nonstop against a higher-ranked enemy since entering the 40th floor. The numbers don’t lie. I figured I’d maybe gained a level or so, but turns out my growth rate’s better than I thought.

Let’s see… what about Paralysis Poison?

・【Paralysis Poison Attack Lv. 7】: Coats claws, fangs, tail, or spikes with a paralytic toxin. On a successful hit, has a chance to inflict paralysis. The chance and paralysis duration scale with skill level.

This one’s gone up a lot too, probably because I’ve been using it together with Poison Attack the whole time.

Still, Aquilaleo hasn’t been paralyzed once so far… Is my skill level just not high enough? Or am I just unlucky? Maybe it has resistance to paralysis?

Let’s check the rest of my skills—wait, huh? What’s this??

「Wha!? Hold up—what the heck is this!?」

I was mid-battle, so I skimmed through the skill list—and my eyes landed on something I’ve never seen before. The shock made me blurt out loud.

・【Poison Synthesis】: Adjusts the components and ratios of toxins produced within the body to synthesize and generate new forms of poison.

The moment I understood what this skill does, I got this deep, instinctive sense of just how useful—no, how limitless it could be.

The more I think about it, the more wild ideas keep bubbling up.

Dots started connecting into lines, lines crisscrossed into shapes—and those shapes stacked into something three-dimensional. That strange sensation of seeing new potential unfold before me.

A world I’d never seen started expanding in vivid color.

—And that new world rewrote my entire sense of values.

If the enemy’s that tough, that just means more chances to run real tests. I can experiment with the ratio of poison to paralysis, choose different types of toxins… no, that’s just the beginning. If I combine the new synthesized elements themselves, I could start multiplying the number of poisons exponentially. And if I change where I apply the poison, maybe even the same type will have totally different effects… O-okay! Time to try this out—

It took a while to check all my skills, but thanks to the camouflage barrier, Aquilaleo still didn’t know exactly where I was.

I synthesized a poison tuned for stronger paralysis and weaker lingering damage. Then I applied it to my tail while staying hidden behind the camouflage.

I severed the tail and sent it around to Aquilaleo’s blind spot, silently aiming for the right moment… and strike.

The tail hit right behind its left knee—exactly where I aimed.

Suddenly, Aquilaleo buckled and dropped to one knee, its eyes wide with confusion, like it had no idea what had just happened.

What is this!? …This is amazing. Way too much fun!!

The effect was even better than I expected, and my brain was practically high on the flood of endorphins bursting from this new kind of thrill.

I see it—my path forward. The ideal version of me.

The day I can stand beside my master. The role I’m meant to play.

Everything in front of me became sharp and vibrant. The fog I didn’t even realize was there is completely gone.

This moment… I’ll never forget it.

Right here, right now—is the birthday of my new self, the one who has awakened as a true Debuffer.

「Aha♪ Don’t die too quickly, okay? I wanna take my time—slowly, thoroughly soaking you in toxins to the marrow, and testing all kinds of fun effects~」