With Hera's warning, everyone started to gather closer to the tent. They were still giving a wide berth from it, not wanting to be hit by the rain that seemed to hurt anyone except for the caster. Or, in this case, the snake woman who was flying on her griffon. Still, it didn't take long for everyone to also see the Wendigo. A couple of the people fighting had evolved their [Observe] to reach longer ranges, which allowed them to confirm two things. First, it truly was one of the abhorrent creatures whose only desire was to devour everything, but also, the monster was already level 41 and still growing. The army was a good few kilometers in the distance, but even then, people could see how a few of the flying creatures moved in front of the monster only to be eaten by it. Unlike what happened in other rampages, it looked like this monster was accepted as part of their army. Not only that, but the members of the army were willing to give themselves up to make it stronger.
"Do you think the idea is to have it eating the new Forge Lord too?" Vash asked.
Hera's eyes went wide as she turned to the harpy, "I really fucking hope not. Can you imagine? A wendigo that ate two Forge Lords?"
"Two? Why two? I was just thinking about the one that's already here."
"I don't think it would stop there. Not the way those things behave, at least. It would probably keep going and eat everything."
"Oh…. Yeah, that's bad," Vash's face was drained of some of its colors, realizing their danger, "Wasn't there a whole thing about if they got too strong, they might be able to cross doorways?"
"Sort of. That happened during the devil hunt. That was the last time monsters could grow, but even then, that was different from what was going on with Wendigos," Hera continued.
"Really? How so?"
There was a loud shriek as more monsters started to get closer.
"We'll talk later. And be ready to drop this stage. If the Wendigo targets us, I don't think we can handle it."
"Got it," Vash nodded, and they continued their fight. More of the flying creatures appeared, trying to kill them.
The Empress and Nimbus continued their dance, attacking the monsters while under the Elemental Poison Storm to make sure she could kill as many of them as she could. Despite that, the waves of creatures were relentless. For each one that the Empress was able to destroy, another three would take its place, and that seemed to be only increasing.
The sounds coming from the other side of the spire also seemed to be increasing. In the middle of the noise, the Ophidianite was even able to gather that the new Forge Lord seemed to have appeared. To make matters worse, the current one started using one of its few skills to defend itself against flying enemies. Pillars of lava were rising from the caldera, trying to reach those in the sky. Hera and Vash only saw that happening but didn't have to worry about the attacks. Their setup was already too high up for even the tallest of the pillars to reach them.
About 30 minutes passed until the main force of the army arrived, all led by the wendigo. A barrage of spells and arrows flew at the monsters, who started to fall like flies. At the same time, the creatures around the Empress tried to flee. Even if they had no problem throwing themselves against her, for the first time, they showed some version of a self-preservation instinct. With the rest of the monsters running, Hera started to move towards the army, killing any creature she could before they got too far away.
When the larger creatures came close, she pulled back. It was stupid to fight them one on one. The best way to deal with one of those creatures was to lure them towards a larger group of people. Allowing the defenders to overwhelm quickly and with no injuries. Unfortunately, it seemed like those monsters had learned about said strategy. Every time someone tried to lure one of the more powerful beasts into a trap, the creature would pull back.
That didn't mean it was without success. After close to an hour of battle, the army started to diminish. The monsters were no longer rushing at them mindlessly, yet none of them retreated. Not completely. To make matters even more worrying, the wendigo was still around, waiting and stalking the defenders. Every now and then, it would launch an attack on someone. It could be just a small fire bolt. The kind of thing that wouldn't hurt even someone at level 5, or a molten lance capable of killing even a few of the more defense-oriented people in the area. Thankfully, it was very easy to see the kind of attack that was coming, which allowed the target to decide if they would block or dodge. However, slowly, the wendigo started making more complicated moves. It would hide behind other monsters and send the attack using their bodies to hide it. Or, it would try to change the shape of one attack to pretend it was something different.
The creature was still very far from being able to make one skill look like the other, but there was a visible improvement already. At this point, it didn't just feel like they were facing the creature but the future threat. The worst part is that if it had managed to reach the Forge Lord, the creature would have had a lot more experience to evolve its abilities. Then again, that moment of evolution could've been the best chance to kill it without hurting anyone.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
As Hera thought about what the wendigo was doing, someone screamed from behind, "They are asking for help against the new Forge Lord! And there are no more monsters coming. This should be all they have. Clear them out so we can help defend the city!"
"Sure, easy for you to say," Hera mumbled as Nimbus spiraled downwards, evading about a dozen creatures' attacks. Some of the magic attacks exploded as if they were hitting something invisible. Vash was working his magic to interrupt the mana and make the attacks fizzle out. The Empress also had to drop the Elemental Poison Rain since the battle was too hectic for people not to be able to move around the tent freely.
'NIMBUS GO UP!' Dusa yelled out of the Blue at the top of her metaphorical lungs.
Knowing that the diadem would never have that reaction for no reason, the Sentinel flapped his wings as a large white mouth with glowing orange teeth snapped shut right under him.
'What the fuck was that?' Vash was terrified.
"Something that I have no idea how it got here," Hera gasped, looking down. It's been a while since she saw it, and this was the first time the creature was this close, but the wendigo looked like a giant crocodile floating in the air thanks to a set of six magma wings coming from its back. There was something about its mouth that seemed wrong. The teeth were sharper, and the maw was larger than it should be. Not to mention that there were glowing markings around the wendigo's face, neck, and legs. The same marks that the Ember Wyverns had, "Shit, it ate the wyverns!" the Empress yelled to everyone that could hear.
Vash didn't wait a moment to replicate the message using the sound system of his [Personal Stage]. The wendigo roared, trying to catch Hera repeatedly, but Nimbus was too quick for it. Even with all the levels and the skills it had gained from the other monsters, it seemed like speed wasn't one of its main attributes.
'Nimbus, I have a bad idea. Would you be able to be just out of its reach while running away?'
'Unless it has a sudden burst of speed skill, I think I can. What's the plan?'
'I'm going to make it chase us,' Hera replied, preparing a spell. It was a variation of what Blue used to do to attract a monster's attention. In essence, the Empress was changing the effects of a poison needle to create a version of a berserker effect. Something that would make the target see red and tunnel vision with Hera as the goal. Why would Hera be the goal? Because making this effect required a point of focus, something for the poison to make it look clearer. And the easiest thing to do was to make the source of the poison the focus.
After the spell was done, the Empress tossed the needle towards the wendigo. Just as expected, the creature caught it with its mouth. None of the poison needles she used so far were enough to even pierce its hide. And that's why, this time, the spell wasn't trying to reach the bloodstream. Instead, it would dissolve in its mouth like candy. There was a moment when it stared at the Empress, confused. Then it let out a roar of pure rage before the monster started chasing after the Empress with everything it had.
Nimbus started running from the monster, with Dusa helping him not to go too fast so the wendigo felt like it was always just about to get its prey.
"Vash! Tell everyone the wendigo is chasing me. I'm going to be flying around the spire. Ask people to hit it as I go by!" Hera yelled to the harpy, who quickly stopped the music and sent out the warning. Only then did he speak with the Ophidianite
"This is crazy! Is it working?"
"Yup, and we have its full attention," Hera smiled as Nimbus dodged another molten lance. For now, they were still moving around the tent to give everyone a chance to understand what was going on and prepare for the attack.
"How long does the spell last?" Vash asked.
"I don't know. I don't think it lasts that long."
"So you are banking on us killing the wendigo before the spell ends?"
"Pretty much. This thing was too sneaky, and no one was able to hit it properly. I'm guessing it's not that sturdy. Ok, I'm going now. Be safe and run if you need to," Nimbus flew up, picking up some speed and staying above the rest of the monsters; that way, everyone would be able to see them coming and aim properly at the wendigo.
Three arrows and two ice spikes suddenly slammed against the white monsters, dealing some damage to the creature, "Go. We'll look after your teammate!" a harpy and a beast with a pair of winger shoes appeared. Vash seemed much less worried now, and Hera just nodded and started to move.
It took a few passes before all the defenders understood the plan. They would first try to stop the monster, forcing Hera herself to block their attacks. Her route was going all the way to the east side of the spire, then spinning around and heading west, all while keeping to the south side. If she suddenly showed up in the front with a wendigo on her back, she had no idea how people would react.
The attacks were not constant. The Empress had to slow down every once in a while so the monster would be in range, and some people didn't seem to want to risk attacking the Empress, or they were too busy with their own fights. However, in the middle of the 12th pass, one arrow struck the right wound on the wendigo and made it stop moving completely. As the monster fell, Hera didn't want to leave anything to chance. Nimbus was tired, his body was covered in injuries and burns, and the Empress was no better. They were able to avoid getting bitten by the creature, but most of its attacks hit them, even if they tried to dodge. Preparing a 'break combo,' Hera asked Nimbus to dive towards the monster. She tossed a javelin using almost half a million mana in the [Grasshopper Stab]. The impact blasted a hole in the side of the creature's body and sent it even faster toward the magma of the caldera. According to the information they had, no monster could survive that heat. Not even the Molten Elementals or Ember Wyverns. And Hera hoped that this was also the case for the wendigo.
She looked up and saw how the army that was attacking the back was already very thin. Only a few dozen stragglers still came to challenge the defenders. On the other side, people were screaming, trying to stop the Forge Lord, who seemed to be trying to handle things personally.
"Don't let them fight!" some yells reached the Ophidianite's ears.
Hera just shrugged and asked Nimbus to return to Vash and the tent. Whatever was going on back there, it wasn't her responsibility. Besides, she did her part, and considering how tired she was, going there would not add another body to the casualty pile.
Her decision was correct as in just a few more minutes, a very welcome notification appeared for everyone in the room.
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Rampage Quest Complete
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