Great, so here we are, five… Well… Four, if you were to ignore Odeta who was busy with the boss, against what is basically a literal army of rats.

[Name: Dungeon Rat

Race: Monster

Stats:

6 Strength

8 Dexterity

3 Endurance

2 Magic]

The good thing was that all of them were weak, the bad thing was just that they outnumber us probably a few thousand to one.

I suppose in these kinds of situations, there's only one thing to do…

"Edir, get behind us! Katsuki! Use [Fire Blast]!"

Katsuki was already chanting the spell even before I finished my words.

"Heat and flames burn my enemies, render them all to ashes and witness my burning passion! [Fire Blast]!"

I also went ahead to cast my [Fire Blast] spell at the same time, resulting in two cones of fire shooting out to envelop the area in front of us in red hot flames.

The rats that were engulfed in the fire let out screeches of pain as they were set alight, their fur catching fire like they were soaked in kerosene.

The ones that were on fire ran around in a blind panic, knocking into the other Rats which set them on fire as well, starting a chain reaction that quickly spread into the crowd.

But just as I thought that they would continue spreading the fire in a panic, they suddenly reigned themselves in and the ones on fire ran towards us as though they were trying to use themselves to burn us.

Most of them died before they reached us but I ended up having to use [Breeze] to blow several of them back before they could reach us.

I'm guessing the Rat Broodmother used its unique skill to take direct control of them, forcing them to ignore the pain to rush us.

Seeing that we had taken out the ones that had been on fire and cleared the way, the other Rats began scurrying towards us like a wave.

Both Katsuki and I used our [Fire Blast] again but the Rats weren't as concerned about the fire as compared to before. Even as the fire engulfed them, they showed no signs of panic or pain and simply continued their frenzied dash towards us while being pushed from behind by their brethren.

I instructed my Shadow Summon to move in front of us while I prepared several [Earth Ball] spells to try and create a shin high wall around us.

It certainly would not stop the Rats' advance but the main aim of the wall was to slow it down enough that the fire would kill them before they manage to get past it, seeing that they would need to climb over it.

My Shadow Summon smashed her shield onto the ground before swinging her arm outwards, the shield crashing against the horde and sending a large number of Rats flying away.

Unfortunately, there were just too many Rats as the gap was quickly filled up and they started swarming towards her again.

She swiped her shield again like a broom, knocking the next wave of Rats away just as they filled in the gap.

Before she could swipe her shield the third time however, the Rats grabbed onto her shield and started climbing on top of it.

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She attempted to shake them off by slamming her shield onto the ground which worked for a few of them but it also gave the other Rats the opening they needed to reach her feet and start climbing up her legs.

She tried to brush the Rats off of her but the combined weight from all the Rats soon pulled her down and they started gnawing on her body.

My summon flailed her arms wildly in an attempt to free herself but there were just too many of them and she was soon drowned in a mound of Rats.

That was right before Katsuki and I casted another [Fire Blast] that consumed both the Rats and my summon.

The Rats were all burned by the fire while my summon managed to survive thanks to her higher Endurance stat.

It quickly got back up on its feet again to start sweeping its shield once more, trying her best to keep the Rats away from us as Odeta continued to hammer away on the rock ball behind us.

The Broodmother seemed to be learning from the fight since instead of directing the smaller Rats to rush towards my Shadow Summon again, it was not attempting to go around her to get to us.

My summon tried her best to clear out as many of the Rats as possible, but some still managed to slip past her defences to rush towards us.

Edir took care of the stragglers with her bow and arrow, which I felt was quite impressive since she could hit those small moving targets without missing a single shot.

But because we had to clear out the Rats that were streaming towards us, my summon was soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of Rats and got pulled down onto the ground again.

This time, instead of trying to bite out her throat right there, the Rats retreated and brought her along with them, moving her out of the range of our [Fire Blast] before they tore out her throat and devoured her.

Not that there was anything to eat since she was literally made out of shadows anyway so she just dissipated.

The good news was that I managed to complete my little rock wall that surrounded us in a semicircle which forced the Rats to take a second or two to climb over.

It might not sound like much but I also got an idea while building the wall.

I casted [Aqua Ball] in quick succession and began tossing them at the Rats, dousing large groups of them and creating equally large puddles on the ground that soon formed into a giant puddle in front of my rock wall, the wall preventing the water from spilling over to our side.

Pretty sure anyone can tell what I was trying to do here.

Katsuki continued to blast them with fire while Edir fired her arrows methodically, the both of them working together to keep the others at bay while I finished my preparations.

Once I was satisfied with the state of the ground, I shifted to casting a [Static Bolt] at the large puddle of water.

I was curious if the paralysing effect would affect the entire group or if the effect was only single targeted.

The moment the spell hit the water, it exploded into a shower of sparks, carrying its electrical current all around the puddle and shocking the Rats that were unfortunate enough to stand on it.

I watched as the Rats affected by the current were paralysed and unable to move, all of them stuck there while writhing on the water. I did notice that the Rats that jumped onto the water after the spell was cast were only shocked by the electricity but not stunned like the rest.

Ohhh~ Seems like it's possible for different spells to be used and for their effects to stack.

I wonder what would happen if you were to get hit by every kind of status effect in existence?

Like could you be frozen, poisoned and paralysed all at the same time?

Actually… There shouldn't be any reason that it wouldn't, but I'll just make a note to try it out in the future.

"Katsuki, Edir! I'll stun them while you take care of them!"

"Yes, Mistress!" Both of them answered at the same time.

I started throwing more [Aqua Ball] spells at the horde to increase the area before casting my [Static Bolt] on the water to paralyse them.

Katsuki would then use her [Fire Blast] to cull their numbers while Edir would use her bow and arrow to shoot the ones at the edges.

The Rats quickly learned of my tactic and tried to avoid the water, but everytime they tried to flank around us, I would expand the pool of water with [Aqua Ball] and repeat the process again.

I chanced a look behind to see how Odeta was holding up and I found her still pummeling away at the rock that continuously regenerated itself whenever she managed to create a dent in the rock.

She growled in frustration at her lack of progress and resorted to using her [Body Current] to continue attacking it.

It seemed that with her increased strength, she could at least damage it faster than the rock could repair itself, prompting her to redouble her efforts in breaking the rock open.

I was about to turn back to focus on the smaller Rats when a loud 'crack' reverberated from the rock, a hole forming on the surface and splitting off a section of the rock.

Odeta was about to reach in to grab the rock to pry it open when something shot out from inside the rock towards her.

She managed to avoid getting her shoulder impaled by ducking away from the hole, revealing the object to be a clawed hand.

A wave of small Rats then exploded out from the crack in the ball to jump at Odeta, the Amrap roaring out in rage as she tried to throw the Rats away from her.

I shot an [Aqua Ball] at her, blasting the Rats that were on her body away before I shot a [Spark Strike] at them that electrocuted them to death.

Odeta nodded at me before turning back towards the hole she made in the rock, her brows furrowing when a figure climbed out of the hole… Followed by another one… And another one… And another one…

A total of ten Rat Shadow Stalkers climbed out from that hole…

Goddammit…