A Moontlion jumped from its trap and bomb rushed Alex. The monster was peppered with snowballs before it managed to hit the assassin. Amanda armed everyone with some snow, and their entire strategy was the same one would use in a snow fight. Despite that odd situation, it was effective. The Moontlions were used to live in an arid environment, and their outer shells were made to absorb the tiny particles of water that eventually would reach them. Unfortunately for them, their bodies were used to dealing with minimal amounts of liquids. When dealing with anything that went beyond a few drops at a time, the shells wouldn't know what to do with it and just stuff the water inside itself, causing its carapace to bloat and lose most of its defensive properties. After being essentially drowned in snow, the shell of the Moontlion was little more than a sheet of paper.
Daskka flew through the area and, with a flip, cut off the monster's head using her mist tail blade. This is how they were dealing with the Moontlions. One of them would bait the creatures out of the trap. They flooded the bug with water or, in this case, snow, leaving Daskka to deal the killing blow. The main reason the snake was responsible for killing the monsters was her size. Anyone else would have trouble reaching the neck of the bugs because of the mandibles, while Daskka could just fly over undetected. The body of the monster dissolved, leaving behind a pile of gold. Alex reached out, and 200 gold was added to the group funds on everyone's tablet. It was an app that everyone had and helped distribute the money among the people doing dungeons together.
"How is your mana?" Hera turned to Amanda. Since everyone was using the snow she made, they had to let her recharge every couple of fights.
"I'm OK. I think we can do a few more. The idea you gave me helped a lot. Making a bigger pile of snow for everyone is better than doing one for each of us," Amanda replied.
"Great, but I'm sure you would've thought about that too," Hera smiled.
"Maybe, but it would take some time for me to get there."
"The important part is getting there."
"Hey, guys. I think I can see the launch pad," Cris had just moved over a small hill.
Everyone followed her over and could see what looked like a metallic structure in the distance. It should be just a couple of kilometers ahead, but the problem was the number of traps on the way. Just at a glance, there should be around a hundred Moontlions spread around the area.
"I think we need a better way to deal with them," Alex sat down on the floor. They've been walking for a while, making everyone tired.
"Yeah, killing them all will take ages. Do we have a big area spell?" Cris was moving her arms as if she was trying to calculate distance, "What I have won't work for more than two of them."
"I could make an avalanche," Amanda suggested.
"How would that work on the moon?" Hera turned to the mage.
"I honestly have no idea. But most of our spells work just the same. Maybe they are kind of like frogs and can't tell when their temperature changes. Do bugs feel hot or cold?" Amanda was staring at one of the pitfall traps.
"I have no clue, but that actually gives me an idea. Do you think you could make enough snow to cover those things? Like, what if we turn those traps into small lakes? Maybe we can kill them by drowning them. You make the snow, I melt it, and we let it flood," Hera suggested making a small grease fire in the palm of her hand. The spell had reached the advanced tier, and now she could move it much easier. She could even set it up in stages, creating just the grease path before igniting it. Unfortunately, it wasn't actual oil or anything like it. Despite the name and how the fire behaved, it was purely a fire spell that didn't have any other elements involved, so using this to drown the monsters wasn't going to work.
"Maybe I can help with that. What if I make a dust barrier under the water and make a small area that wouldn't be flooded. That way, we can just make them run out of air," Tim was scratching his chin.
"Hang on. All those plans consider that those things need to breathe. How can we be sure of that?" Cris asked.
"That's…." Hera stopped for a moment, "A fair question… I don't know. I mean, bugs need air, right?"
"Yeah, they usually don't have lungs and breathe through their bodies. But we don't have air here, do we?" Alex looked around.
"I mean... We can breathe and talk, but they can't make a sound, so… I don't know," Tim sighed.
"Man, this place can be really cool, but it's confusing as hell," Cris picked a rock and threw it on the ground, hoping to make some noise, but the pebble just hit the floor and bounced off without making a sound.
Amanda walked over to one of the traps, "We won't figure out anything just by talking. Let's see what works and what doesn't. I'll start with just the snow, OK?"
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The group nodded and got ready for a fight. Amanda created a large clump of snow floating in the air, enough to cover the trap about halfway up, and then dropped it at once. For a moment, it seemed like nothing was happening, that was until a hole appeared in the middle of the trap, almost like someone had unclogged the drain. Four massive mandibles appeared and started pulling the frozen water to the center in a frenzy. It was like watching a starving dog being offered food. The dog would just run at the meal and eat while making a mess. Hera and the others just stared at that creature while it ate the snow until there was nothing left. Only then did the Moontlion emerge from its trap. The creature was a bit bigger than they expected, and instead of being gray, it had a slight blue tint to its carapace. Even so, the most strange part was how bloated it looked. It was like seeing a corpse that washed up on the beach after weeks of being underwater. The monster struggled to move, and its weight became too much for its body to hold. Some of the small legs that carried its torso broke off and started to leak water, which the creature promptly started drinking again.
"I mean, I heard about water weight, but that is just ridiculous," Alex gasped.
Feeling weirded out about the creature, Hera just gestured to Daskka to put it out of its misery. The snake understood and got close before using her mist blade to kill it without any flourishes or any moves for the first time. Even she could understand that this wasn't the moment to show off.
"Well... I guess that works," Tim said.
"Yeah, but I don't want to do this… I mean, it felt kind of… mean?" Amanda turned to Hera.
"I agree. It's one thing to kill a monster that's attacking us. Another is to kill something that is struggling to live," Hera scratched her arm.
Alex sighed and walked over to the next trap, "You are just too kind, and I don't mean that in a good way. These are just monsters, and inside a dungeon at that. It's not like they are actually suffering. Also, I'm going to try one thing. Get ready."
Everyone got a bit closer, but Alex waved for them to move away. She followed that up by creating a wind wall right on top of the mandibles of the monster. It wasn't the basic version of the spell but an altered version that focused on making the wind spinning in the wall extremely strong. Before the wall was complete, Alex jumped back and tried to hide so her sneak attack would trigger. The mandibles of the Moontlion were caught in the swirling wind and were ripped apart, pieces flying in different directions. Maddened by the pain, the monster jumped out of its trap and started attacking blindly at anything around it. Hera sent a few poison needles flying while Daskka took the chance to use her mist rope to grab the monster. In some cases, the spell could be used to restrain someone, but when the creature was too strong or too big, it would only confuse their senses.
Cris jumped the monster using her weapon to cut off two of its hind legs, while Tim suddenly appeared on top of the Moontlion's body and cut it open with a single slash of his daggers. It seemed like the new weapons were much better than what he was using before. Alex used a wind blade to push the monster back into the trap to keep using her wind wall to deal some damage, and the impact was enough to push it ever the edge of the pit. When the monster slammed against the spell, more of its legs were ripped apart and flew away in random directions.
Hera was about to trigger her poison control spell when three other Moontlions emerged from the other pitfalls. The pieces of leg and mandible that flew away hit their lairs and awakened them from their slumber.
"Oh, great. Amanda, start making some snow. Cris and Tim play defense. We don't want anyone caught between the two of them. Alex, stop that wall. Now!" Hera ordered everyone.
They all followed the commands right away. In a way, it was almost as if they were compelled by the orders. Not that it would force them to do something, but thathe words were spoken with such a confidence that it felt like the right call. Alex canceled the spell and threw a few wind blades at the incoming monsters. Her target was their legs. If she could cut them off, the bugs would take longer to become a problem. At the same time, Amanda created a large snowstorm covering part of the field. She did her best not to let the snow hit the other pitfalls, but she couldn't control it perfectly. Some of the small snowflakes could end up going towards the other monsters, but that was a problem for the future.
Cris used a type of mana reinforcement in her weapon that made the already sizable Macuahuitl even bigger. She jumped at the first Moontlion, who was still alive even after having its jaws and legs ripped apart. Tim pulled the dirt and dust that were being kicked up and created a stream of pebbles to attack the monsters. He used it almost as if it was a whip, slamming against the incoming bugs ruthlessly. Hera wasn't about to lag behind. She created a poison rain on top of the incoming monsters and started flinging paralyzing bolts at them, followed by a slow spell. All effects overlapped, triggering her [Ailment Mastery] and making the three bugs sluggish and wounded.
As the wind blades that Alex shot off cut one set of the Moontlion's legs, the other two stopped moving forward and started slamming their legs on the ground in an odd rhythm.
"The hell are they doing?" Cris asked as she jumped away from the pitfall and the corpse of the monster she had just killed.
"I have no idea, but I don't think it's good," Amanda replied.
Hera activated her poison control, trying to kill them as quickly as possible to stop whatever they were doing. The monsters spat out some blood and fell to the ground. Even if they weren't dead, it didn't seem like they could do anything else to bother them.
That small hope was quickly destroyed as another two dozens of Moontlions emerged from their pitfalls. All turned towards the group before marching forward.
"Amanda. Avalanche. Now!" Hera yelled.
The mage started preparing the spell while the rest of the party did their best to slow down the incoming monsters. Spells were flung towards every direction while Daskka weaved around the bugs trying to find ways to deal the killing blow and create a small barrier of bodies to protect her owner. After a minute, a large spell circle appeared over an area 500 meters wide.
"Now, fall!" Amanda yelled and brought both her hands down as if she was pulling the snow from a mountain. From the circle, what looked like an endless wave of snow came crashing down in the area, spreading into all directions as it hit the ground and burying all the pitfalls under its weight. The magic seemed to resonate with something in the area, making the circle even bigger and the amount of snow pulled somewhere even greater. For a moment in time, the Sea of Nectar was covered by a layer of snow that could be seen from the earth itself. That is if all this didn't happen inside a dungeon.