The giant beast was two hundred meters away from them, but that didn't prevent it from flapping its wings and then firing countless wind arrows. While riding the horses to the side and away from the high concentration of Verdiris, the group dodged the attacks… it was easy for the beast to attack at that distance, but they could only fly so fast.
Before attacking, Sigma looked at the smaller beasts in the distance and furrowed his eyebrows. They weren't moving at all… that was too suspicious. Even if they didn't want to fight and risk their numbers, they could close an encirclement and make sure that one would leave until one of the sides was killed.
"Take the reins and focus on defense…" Sigma said and then grabbed his bow.
While the battle horse didn't increase the attack of bows, at least Sigma could use Power Shot since he wasn't moving his legs per se. Still, the giant beast began to fly to the side once it realized that something was off.
"It is trying to keep its distance…" Sigma furrowed his eyebrows and then said it.
"At least it can't attack while it moves around," Ed said while keeping his Stone Shield raised.
The monster stopped flying after it was right behind the group. Then it began to fire insane amounts of wind arrows again, but the group had already fixed their positions, and Ed blocked them, and his battle horse was trembling a bit.
Still, the attacks ended when Sigma fired Power Shot, which he launched as soon as his arm started to hurt a bit. Still, then the giant bird swung its left wind with all its might and then completely repelled the attack.
"... Let's see what you have there to be able to block my ten seconds-charged Power Shot," Sigma furrowed his eyebrows while thinking.
Elder Verdiris - Lv 145 (Primordial Blessing) (Eroded Mind)
HP: 5750/5750
MP: 6700/6700
SP: 6300/6300
Strength: 70 (+ 200) (+300)
Speed: 130 (+ 200) (+300)
Magic: 230 (+ 200) (+300)
Endurance: 80 (+ 200) (+300)
Dexterity: 130 (+ 200) (+300)
Resistance: 110 (+ 200) (+300)
Status Points: 00
Skills: Iron Claws Lv 70, Iron Wings Lv 70, Iron Beak Lv 70
Spells: Wind Manipulation Lv 220
Passive: Mana Regeneration Lv 84, Pain Resistance Lv 60, Wind Resistance Lv 150
Skill Points: 00
"Something doesn't add up… those bonus parameters are way too high," Sigma thought as he watched the beast attacking again.
"What is wrong? Did you realize something?" Sabrina asked once she saw Sigma acting weird.
"No…" Sigma said while furrowing his eyebrows.
Ed said that the beasts that give birth to others are ten times stronger, but Sigma wondered if that was just the impression of those who couldn't see those numbers. After thinking for a while, he assumed that the bonuses came from the fact that the beast was a primordial beast and had its mind eroded… probably for being controlled and had that dark green aura.
Despite its massive magic level, the beast could only do so much while firing magic at that distance… thanks to that, the group wasn't in immediate danger as they galloped away. Still, they knew that the monster was only being careful because it was being controlled.
"... You are good at sensing things, right?" Sigma asked while looking at Eclair. "Can you tell where the person controlling the monster is? At this rate, I won't have the chance to attack the way I want."
"... Th-the aura… is too large…" Eclair muttered while looking away and stuttering.
"Ha? What aura?" Sigma asked while frowning.
"Don't bully her," Sabrina said while forcing Sigma to look at the giant beast. "She probably is saying that the aura of the monster is too strong and is affecting her senses."
Sigma wanted to ask how difficult it was to say that, but he got his answer, and he had better things to do, so he forgot it. Sigma confirmed again that the other monsters weren't moving at all, so it seemed that the core of the problem assumed that the elder Verdiris would be enough to deal with them.
In any case, Sigma found it hard to believe that he had to wait for the enemy to show an opening. Still, it also seemed that the enemy had no reason to do that… it attacked several times, but its mana was still full, just like its HP and SP… Sigma will have to force the monster to move.
"... What can you do to slow down that enemy?" Sigma asked while looking over his shoulder. "We can't fight a beast like this the normal way."
"At this distance? Not much…" Sabrina said. "I can try to freeze the creature for a short while with wind and water magic if we are one hundred meters away."
"That thing won't let us get close…" Sigma said and then showed the anger on his face.
It was really annoying that the monster could determine the pace of the battle just like that, but there wasn't much that Sigma could do since the beast could fight at that distance, but they couldn't.
"It seems that your arrows are good at absorbing elemental energy. I can use my ice magic to enhance one of them. If you hit the creature, it should slow it down for a short while," Sabrina added.
Sigma considered the possibility if the arrow had enough power, it should ignore the flap of the monster's wings… still, they would have only one chance.
"All right, do it… but don't let the monster notice it," Sigma said.
Sigma had increased his strength and dexterity again, so he should be able to reach the enemy from that distance even without a power shot. The real question was if his follow-up attack would be enough…