Snow watched the ever folding problems that fell on her lap. The fog slowly encroached upon the ground, covering it with its presence. Just as the mist washed in, it would pull back, and another group of blue orbs would appear.
Everyone was perplexed by the appearance of the orb and wondering for what purpose it was even there for. The only answer everyone could think about was that it was like a landmine, catching the Players off guard if they stay in the fog for too long.
Even Snow was unsettled by the fog that brought more trouble than she realized.
"We should sweep the ground," Mike said, daring to state the same thing that he had done.
"Let's wait and see." She replied, looking for any clues that would tell her what was going on.
They stood in place for a while, but even when ten minutes to twenty minutes had passed by the orbs didn't disappear.
Just when she decided to finally agree with what Mike had said, shadows danced and squirmed inside the fog itself.
Dairen placed his feet, squinting towards the distance. "Am I seeing things, or am I going crazy?" He asked out of concern.
"I see the same thing." Snow replied. The way those shadows moved reminded her of a worm, but as the figure got closer were creatures that she had never seen before.
Better yet, they reminded her of raptors from ancient dinosaurs that she read about in history books. The body was long, including its neck, she would have guessed it was about the size of a school bus. Short, but sharp claws, decorated its stubby arms, while its sturdy hind legs were covered with scales and blue minerals that jutted out. Its whole spine had blue crystals growing up and down its spine and even wrapped around its face, where the dense boney structure could be seen. Four blue eyes zigzagged in constant movement, searching its surroundings for any prey.
Sharp serrated teeth open and closed, snapping at the air as if it was trying to bite something invisible. Suddenly, the minerals on their body started to glow blue, giving them a chilly look as they rushed towards the wall.
Following close behind, it was a smaller four-legged creature with a horn on its forehead. It crackled and excitedly jumped up and down, weaving in between the Raptor's leg like a puppy. Compared to the crystalized monster, the small dog-like creature was a third of its size, which was about an adult male size. It was like it was a pet, following its master as it jumped onto its back, wagging its tail. It cackled like a hyena, laughing in excitement.
"What is that?" Dairen gaped, his hand created to reach over towards the back, pulling out his bow. "It's like some kind of raptor and its pet?"
Suddenly, the Raptor sent out a blast of energy shot out from its mouth, aiming straight at Snow and Dairen before Snow could even answer. Mike pulled them back and pushed down on their heads. The beam of electric energy whizzed by them, barely touching them. Snow could smell her hair being burnt.
Alarmed at the sudden attack, she was on the floor a bit dazed by Mike's quick action that she forgot to pull up her barrier. When she got up to see the damage, a handful of the Players and Hunters were dead as they were unfortunate enough to be caught up by its attack.
"Crystal Raptors and their damnable pet, Horned Hyenna's." Snow hissed, realizing who and what she was dealing with. "They are known to hunt in large packs."
Alarmed, Snow remembered the Horned Hyena in her dreams. She felt like everything was rocking towards her to the unforeseen future of the wall falling. There was no way she could allow such a thing to happen, for she only just settled in this fortress.
The Crystal Raptor spat out another energy ball that rolled on the ground, bringing to attention that the electric ball came from the Crystal Raptor themselves.
Mike shouted in a hurried tone. "Get ready to engage!" He called out to his alliance.
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His guildmates quickly got into position as mages, archers, and even gunmen pulled up to the front. The other alliances promptly followed as they scrambled into a position to retaliate at the same time as Mike's guild. A hint of competition arose between the guilds in the hope to slay the most monsters for profit.
"Fire!"
A volley of magic, bullets, and arrows flew through the air, embedding itself into the very body of the oncoming monsters. The Horned Hyena's scurried on their master back, trying to dodge the bullets. Many fell dead as their soft flesh wasn't able to hold up against the barrage of attacks.
On the other hand, the Crystal Raptors started to glow blue. Their crystals began to expand quickly, creating a diamond-like armor around their vital areas, but some weren't fast enough to stop the blow and fell on the ground dead.
"Again!" Mike yelled, knowing full well that they needed to kill these monsters that were coming at them with full force.
The wave of monsters rushed with vigor and intent to hunt down every single living being inside the fort. They eventually made it to the foot of the wall. Jumping up with claws extended, crystals forming on its body, it dug itself into the very pillars of the stone wall and began to climb.
"How many of these guys are there?" Mike hissed, he sent out a few electric bolts that didn't seem to do anything to them. Instead, it ate his magic like it was some scrumptious meal as they veered towards him to take some more of his attacks.
"They are feeding off your magic." Dairen shot an arrow from his side, embedding it directly into one of the Crystal Raptor's head that was crawling up the wall like some kind of spider.
Even if the Crystal Raptors had short arms, they grew extra crystal arms that looked like bulking muscles, which allowed them to climb up onto the wall itself. Their hind legs dug into the very walls, allowing them to stabilize the climb.
Snow frowned, realizing that their intelligence was a lot higher than the usual monsters that they have faced. Their crystals changed and morphed into small shields that would block the oncoming barrages, allowing them to escape and climb with more ease. It took a bit more skill to take on the Raptors that were climbing the very wall.
"I can see that." Mike furrowed his brow, he wasn't too thrilled that the Crystal Raptors lapped up his magical energy like it was some kind of snack. He changed his approach to the use of magic. Instead, he summoned up earth magic from the ground, shooting it up like a laser beam.
He didn't stop, moving from one Crystal Raptor to another quickly as he cleared out his area with Dairen, who skillfully knocked out the monster's weak point.
Snow was amazed at Dairen's marksmanship, especially because she knew that he had learned how to shoot before he came to her world. While Mike just had a knack for magic and swordsmanship as if it was his natural breathing. She scanned the battlefield, realizing that these two weren't the only one with skills.
Audrey, a bear-like man, summoned up the golems from the ring, yelled with a loud grunt, pounding his chest. He swung his battle hammer in a wicked arch, throwing the crystal Raptors off the very walls with one hit. His teammates tried to hold the monster back, bringing them down efficiently and quickly as possible.
Rodney, number one guild leader, jumped into the very fray of the monsters, scaling the wall himself. He slew one monster to the next, moving from one to another with a Damascus dagger that glittered with blue blood. One Raptor monster jumped in midair, trying to take him down, but his nimble finger grabbed onto its crystals arm. He swung his feet over, riding the very back.
Daggers raised, he swung it down into the crevices of the plated armor, where a piece of its exposed skin laid. With a vigorous flick of his hand, he stabbed into the soft flesh, tearing into the very bones. With a roar, the Crystal Raptor fell dead onto the very ground.
Gilbert would use his new water magic, swirling into an array of small animals. Scurrying into combat, taking out Crystal Raptors and Horned Hyena's with vigor. His magic was showy in its way, creating an array of watered animals. He was able to control a total of five: a bunny, a fox, a snake, wasp, and a sparrow. They would dart and move around in between the monsters, taking them down one after another.
Snow barely did anything as the guild leaders and their members were efficiently taking down the monsters one after another. At first, they struggled, but the Crystal Raptors and the Horned Hyena quickly adapted, changing forms depending on who it was they were fighting.
Her light magic was simple, putting up shield magic around all of Gold Phoenix's alliance members individually, which was a lot harder to do than creating a big shield that would help buff out the explosive light. It needed a constant energy source to keep the barrier from drying out. It held a lot of the physical hits at bay, allowing them to fearlessly fight against the Raptors.
Snow felt her magic draining quickly, feeling a bit exhausted at the Crystal Raptors, taking a bit of a toll out of her. But that didn't stop her. She saw one of the Crystal Raptors climb up the wall. Rushing in, she swung her claws, embedding into the crystal armor.
Alarmed, out of instinct, she summoned up light magic daggers that floated around her. It embedded itself into the very body of the Raptor. It fell over dead. She pushed with her right foot into the carcass, pulling her hand out of the body itself.
A sudden roar echoed boldly. The crystal Raptors stopped what they were doing and looked over towards the sound. They jumped off the walls, rushing back into the very fog itself, leaving everyone confused and exhausted from the fight.