NOVEL WEB Chapter 44 - Wolfbat Event Part 4
Throughout the fight, Dan had been accumulating mana, and even as he had been watching and commanding his monsters, a part of him had been creating new creatures. Dan didn't plan to edit his normal monsters further. He could do so, but he wanted his future dungeon to have different levels of difficulty. He would have normal beasts that could prove dangerous to commoners and would also help populate his dungeon. Then, he would have enhanced versions of beasts and monsters, much like his common rank monsters were. These beasts and monsters would have abilities that they could use but would still be considered common rank.
Then there would be the actual D-rank monsters. They would be a clear upgrade to the common rank monsters and would be the actual challenge against D-rank adventurers. Additionally, Dan wanted his dungeon to have some level of variety. This meant that if he gave his common rank monsters the abilities and improvements he had given his D-rankers, it would increase the spike in difficulty while not keeping any new surprises. So, he had decided to leave the common rank monsters as they were, except for the change he had made to the doe’s.
Now, as much as Dan wanted to admire the looks of his new D-rank monsters, he was still limited by his current rank. His new rank did increase his processing power, and he now could pay more attention to more things at the same time, but sadly, there were still limits. And currently, he had reached said limits. Not only was he communicating with his monsters and paying attention to most of the fights at once, but he was also spawning new creatures and attempting to update them with directions as they approached the fight. It would still take some time before they truly engaged, but it was better for them to have the knowledge than not. So, considering the fight was about to get even more serious, Dan focused back on the active battlefield.
With Hawk the Eagle and Itsy the Spider dead, the enemy boss was starting to approach Ingot and his party. Dan needed Ingot's party ready to receive the boss in the best condition they could. The party still had two wolfbats harassing them and could probably remove one, but at the cost of even more mana. So, Dan ordered Chomp and Jamole to help Ingot's party. Meanwhile, he also ordered Eagle the Hawk and Kinetic to go eliminate the wolfbat that was engaging the main battlefield. Additionally, he began to order a retreat for the rest of his monsters as he wanted to avoid as many casualties as possible. At this point in the battle, Dan's main bosses were just there to stall the enemy boss while the other D rankers he had created made their way to the battlefield.
With those orders given, Dan just watched as the boss slowly approached Ingot’s party, which was still dealing with their two wolfbats. Thankfully, it wasn't for long as Jamole and Chomp appeared and quickly helped dispatch the two wolfbats. Jamole pierced one, taking the already injured creature out of the fight entirely, while Chomps swallowed the other one as it became distracted by the sudden appearance of the mole. Annoyingly, Chomp wasn’t able to kill its prey in one gulp, and as the worm headed back underground, Dan still felt the worm take internal damage from the battling wolfbat.
With that out of the way, however, Ingot’s party was able to take a brief reprieve, though not for as long as Dan wanted them to. The death of the two wolfbats seemed to anger the boss, and Dan felt the boss enhance itself further as it rushed forward, but thankfully, it was not as fast as before.
While that was happening, the fight on the main battlefield ended when Eagle and Kinetic took down the already injured wolfbat whom Dan's many monsters had assaulted. The battle hadn't been without many losses, but it was now won, and his monsters began to retreat to Dan’s core.
Back at Ingot’s party, the boss arrived and, with one solid strike, sent the large bear tumbling backward. The bear hadn't even seen the boss coming and was surprised, almost losing consciousness. At the very least, Fir hit Ingot with a Healing Beam, repairing some of the damage. However, that highlighted the elk even more, and the boss switched targets as it went for her. The boss was never able to hit Fir as a barrier appeared in front of the elk, even if it cracked and broke with the second punch. Dan felt that it had taken a good amount of mana from Fur and began to worry that the boss would take out their healer. Thankfully, before the huge wolfbat was able to strike again, George infused all of his mana into one final smash, his fist glowing with power as he struck the boss wolfbat.
It was the first hit to have been made against the boss, and it had done a good amount of damage, sending the boss tumbling as it took the punch. The boss roared in pain as it turned around to face George. The exhausted gorilla couldn't do much, so the wolfbat rushed forward, its clawed fist slamming through George's chest. The boss, obviously angry at being hit for the first time during the battle, took extra time as he tore George apart. The extra time it spent doing that let Ingot enter the fight as it slammed into the wolfbat, and both of them tumbled onto the ground. Dan felt Ingot pour even more mana into his enhancements as he took hits from the wolfbat and, in turn, tore it into the thing's flesh with his claws and maw.
Even then, Fir showed her value once again as she struck Ingot with beam after beam, keeping the bear in the fight. The boss wasn't oblivious to the elk's doings, and they all felt the rush of power as the damn thing infused even more power into itself as its claws tour into Ingot's body, ripping the bear in half. Then, in a flash of movement, it appeared in front of Fir once again, a punch flying in the air to remove the elk from existence. Thankfully, it was still oblivious to Fur, who collapsed onto the ground as he poured every last bit of mana into the barrier to stop the wolfbat from hurting Fir. Things got more desperate as the wolfbat’s increase in power allowed it to break the barrier in one punch, and Dan then felt Fur use all of his life force to create yet another barrier, stopping the second punch from striking Fir but causing himself to drop dead on the ground. The only good thing was that the increase in power had taken a good toll on the wolfbat boss as it definitely did not have endless energy. Dan knew they were making progress, but he was worried that his other D-rankers wouldn't make it in time before the enemy killed all of his bosses.
The rest of the battlefield had calmed down just a bit as his monster retreated. Additionally, the wolf that Itsy had targeted succumbed to her venom while standing back with his other compatriot, who had been saved. Her fellow compatriot didn't last long either as Jamole struck once again and was then assisted by Eagle the Hawk as Chomp had taken too much damage from the wolfbat she ate to be useful in the fight.
With the only remaining enemy being the boss, Dan decided to recall Kinetic, Eagle, and his two underground bosses. If possible, he did not want to lose any more bosses and would rather leave the rest to the D-rankers that were on the way. The only exception being the approaching jaguar.
Xinos had been waiting the whole fight. He knew he was an assassin, and if he had struck back when the boss was at full strength, he would have just been killed without doing much damage. Or if he had done much damage, there was a good chance that the boss would have regenerated. However, as the jaguar saw the boss starting to weaken, he decided to attack. Just like he had done to the large scorpion bear monstrosity, his moment came when Fur gave all his life energy to create the last barrier. As the barrier came up and the wolfbat punched, Xinos jumped forward, imbuing all his mana and making him glow in that same dark, glinting metal-like energy of death.
Xinos tore into the thing's back, tearing away its wings and clawing chunks of flesh from its body while infusing his necrosis into it. All the while, Fir turned and hurriedly began her retreat as the wolfbat turned its attention to Xinos.
The jaguar had done a lot of damage but not enough to kill the thing. However, it had been enough to exhaust it further, and it took longer than usual for it to make it to Xinos, who had jumped away. Sadly, the jaguar did not have any more mana and simply stood there holding a pose of bravery as it waited for its death. A death that arrived sooner rather than later as the boss tore into the jaguar, ripping him apart. Thankfully, in its anger, it spent longer than necessary squashing his boss's body, allowing Fir to escape.
Once it regained its mind, the wolfbat boss looked around the battle before roaring, and it once again began its march toward Dan. Not that Dan cared. The thing wouldn’t survive his four teams of D-rank monsters approaching its location. In fact, the last thing the damn thing saw was four yellow and blue lightning bolts strike its head before four piercing green hawks poked further holes into its body. Then, as it lost consciousness, its limbs were torn apart by giant slashes of wind from some eagles before four large worms swallowed its cut body parts.