The losses that the monsters suffered were something included in the initial costs involved in starting the enterprise. For the first fire, they sent the worst possible Night Rippers.
Old, sickly, unable to fight. Not surprisingly, Asme led the slaughter of innocents. This had its advantages. The pack would get rid of unnecessary ballast, making room for a new litter.
The ruler of the Night Ripper Forest couldn't be more grateful to Ramiel. This one appeared just in the middle of the mating season. Thanks to the man, he doesn't have to get his hands dirty.
However, the greatest benefit to the monsters is the slow depletion of the death merchants' forces. The scales of victory in the battle of attrition are definitely tipping in their direction.
And so Ramiel alternately called his army The Legion Of Death or The Death Merchants. It was his greatest dream since he was six years old. This met an iron wall, however, in the form of Avi's objections, but a minor threat from Sarron solved the problem.
Although the Night Rippers' commanders were anxious to take as many casualties as possible, the one-sided slaughter was like a rose thorn that went deep under the skin of the palm.
Their pride would have been offended if they had stood by and watched their comrades being slaughtered like puny and worthless ants.
One of the eight Night Terrors present took the initiative. Its tails curved into the shape of a crescent moon. At their tips, a huge amount of mana mixed with the element of darkness gathered, forming into the shape of a perfect sphere.
Dark energy particles floated in the air, ignoring all laws of physics and gravity. They lived their lives, heading towards the densest concentrations of the darkness element.
Just a few minutes ago, they were peacefully sleeping in the trunk of a tree, feeding on life-giving mana. Now, lured by an appetizing morsel, they signed a sentence of inevitable death upon themselves.
An imitation of the undisputed ruler of the jungle, they wailed tauntingly. A wild laughter dripping with mockery, like a hurricane, passed along the battlefield. Its spell entered its final phase.
The ball's shape was warped. It resembled an inflated balloon from the inside, which a living being was trying to get out at all costs. Under the influence of the movements of chaotic energy, its walls deformed every few seconds.
Swish
The spell shot towards the bony barrier at lightning speed. Its presence bent the space around it, distorting its predictable trajectory.
The air split in two, giving way to the destructive force. Nothing refused to stand in the way of the ethereal sphere. Everything and everyone valued their lives. Even the dumbest creature would flee in panic. All except one single arrow.
Its shining arrowhead sliced through the atmosphere, leaving streaks like a comet passing close to the sun. The space around her became as light as a feather, but these were only deceptive appearances. If one came at least one meter closer, it would instantly turn into an ice statue.
Boommmmm!
Halfway there, two opposing energies clashed. For a brief moment, the area from the explosion's epicenter became a zone of utmost danger.
Mana raged uncontrollably in the air with a shrill screech, spatial fissures opening and closing. Chaotic energy was literally tearing apart the first shell of the world. The earth was alternately covered by a dark ooze and huge blocks of sky-blue ice. Two contradictory elements competed with each other for dominance in a given territory.
It was a fierce battle in which there could only be one winner.
Caera gazed appreciatively at the clash of the colossi. She is the one responsible for resolving the momentary crisis, although it was pure coincidence.
Amid the din of the ongoing carnage, her alert instincts picked up the impending threat before she realized what was happening. An arrow made of infirnyt left her modest bow, its glory days long behind.
The elfess was impressed with her skills. She didn't expect that a simple spell would have such a spectacular effect for no treasures of the world. It should be mentioned that the skeletons played a large role here, who put their whole soul into the preparation of the arrow.
Their intricate processing of the material doubled the initial power of the weapon. Caera didn't know this little fact and didn't need to know. Sometimes, a sweet lie is better than a bitter truth.
Maybe Ramiel was right? - A brief thought crossed the elfess' mind. This time, a little deception worked in her favor.
From within the Night Terror came a menacing growl. He was furious at the brazen insect that dared to interfere with the spell and, simultaneously embarrassed by the level it presented.
Together with the cool breeze that passed along the monster's back, his hair stood up. As he felt the alpha of the team's gaze fixed on him, he felt a lump grow in his throat. The bitterness of defeat became twice as hard to swallow.
Wr...
A quiet growl was enough to make his heart stop. It was a silent warning of zero tolerance for future mistakes. Another failure would end along with his life.
The Night Terror, responsible for the whole bunch, took matters into his own hands. His mana-covered tails shot like a whip through the air, unleashing waves of dark matter that raced toward the barricade at dizzying speeds.
It wasn't limited to just once. The tails whipped like crazy, sending wave after wave. They only stopped when twenty black sickles swept across the battlefield.
The spell took a bloody toll. It didn't distinguish between allies and enemies. With surgical precision, everything that stood in its path was cut in half.
Slam Slam
Caera turned green with fear. Black as night, her pupils, surrounded by a sea of gold, shrank to the size of a grain of sand. In her irises reflected the sight of ravenous sickles coming at her, intent on cutting off a few unnecessary limbs.
No matter how she looked at it, the specter of doom was inevitable. Compared to the spell's speed, the elfess moved like a snail. The real miracle was that her mind registered the Fear of Night spell.
In a split second, all life flew before the woman's eyes. Although life had given her a hard time, Caera was happy. At least she would soon meet Ramiel on the other side.
Her debut in the dungeon didn't look good. On the first day, she almost killed herself with goblins. Little did she know that after two weeks, the person who had become a beacon that illuminated the gloomy night would have slit her throat... However, in time, everything settled down... at least it has been so far.
Caera closed her eyes as the image of a smiling Ramiel flashed through her mind. She was fully prepared for what awaited her.
The elfess felt the cool blade of the sickle cut a sliver of sky-blue hair.
It is said that if the brain is significantly damaged, a person is deprived of feeling in the entire body. He receives what is called a painless death.
The woman clenched her fists tighter, wondering if death would hurt, but then... well, nothing happened.
The din of battle continued to reverberate in her pointed ears, and the distinctive scent of omnipresent death caressed her nostrils.
Is this what the end looks like? I will forever be trapped at the moment of my death.
Doubts raced through her. An avalanche of thoughts swept through her head like a hurricane.
Uncertain, Caera opened her eyes and nearly died of a heart attack. A sea of scarlet ice held her would-be assassin in an iron grip. A millimeter was missing, and she would have forever said goodbye to her head.
Asme rescued Caera at the last moment, or rather Seraphine did, who told her to protect the elfess.
With centuries of experience, the necromancer knew from the beginning that the attack on the barrier separating the Night Rippers was a deception. It would take more than a flimsy spell to outwit her. It's not at all like she felt bloodlust directed at the helpless Caera.
Asme's breasts trembled subtly, and a thin trickle of sweat ran down her pale cheek. The horned beauty used a quarter of her mana supply to save the skin of her only friend.
" I know I was the one who told you to save her, but you didn't need to use so much mana... From now on, save yourself. It doesn't look like we'll make it in time for the evening tea. "
Asme wanted nothing more in the world than to burn Seraphine alive. Unfortunately, her ardor had to be limited only to beautiful dreams. The necromancer is indispensable if she and Caera are to get out of this alive.
Taking a deep breath, she conceded her point with a smile on her face.
~~~~~~~
The battle had been going on for the best part of four hours. Not a trace of Seraphine's wall remained. The carcasses of the Night Rippers were crumbling everywhere, and the ashen ground turned scarlet under the influence of the bloody sweat.
Monsters continuously flooded the death merchants in waves. After the second one, Asme thought it was over, but the overgrown cats appeared like mushrooms after the rain. Their numbers terrified the woman.
Asme had a strange feeling that she had put a stick into an anthill.
During the sixth, she sent the goblins into battle. The horned beauty wanted to conserve the energy of the prestigious units for as long as possible but was pushed to the wall.
Exhausted by the prolonged battle, the wolves were dropping like flies. Felix was giving two hundred percent, keeping the army in good shape, but about three waves ago, his mana reserves ran out, not to mention nothing about the potions Darwin had prepared. These ran out around the eighth wave.
The situation didn't look good for Asme. Most of the traps she had set were exhausted. Only two wolves and one, The Condemned Sloth, whose hand was heroically lost in the depths of battle, were left alive.
The Night Rippers acted like madmen. They desperately threw themselves into the arms of widespread death. They were guided by only one goal, to take as many lives as possible with them. It didn't matter if they died in the process. If they managed to take at least one individual out of the fight, they would become useful to the pack.
Crack
Rascal's blade cut through the air with a swish. The headless bodies of the Night Rippers fell to their knees before the power of the goblin's great sword. For him, fighting them was like playing with a child. All he had to do was swipe left and right with the huge sword, and the helpless victims themselves pushed their heads under the executioner's axe.
" Hmm ? "
Boom!
The stone wall stopped two tails aimed at the joints of Rascal's joints. The goblin didn't remain a passive spectator before The Night Terror withdrew. The stones forming the curtain moved, devouring the shocked monster alive.
His plan was perfect - to sneak unnoticed between the shadows of his dead comrades, then turn the form of a confident goblin into meat paste.
However, he failed to foresee a small fact. Rascal's knowledge of the element of darkness wasn't zero. He could sense an approaching monster from a distance of a hundred meters. This was all too much for him to prepare appropriate measures.
" You need to do better. "
Ejected by the immensity of the black energy, pieces of rock flew into the air. Shrouded in darkness, the figure of the Night Terror crawled out from under Rascal's trap.
A sliver of dark goo escaped from his muzzle, and his eyes became bloodshot. The goblin's mockery added a small brick to the elaborate tower called humiliation. For the second time today, the overgrown tiger learned the sour taste of defeat. All he wanted was to wipe the sneering smile from the face of the annoying insect.
" Really? Can't you afford anything better? "
Rascal's head tilted slightly to the side. A ball of dark matter passed the ear of the gray goblin by a small margin. Little by little, his head would have exploded like a watermelon that went on a date with a baseball bat.
Another monster jumped out of Rascal's shadow. His gaze lingered on the goblin, tracking even the slightest movement of steel-hard muscles.
Ramiel's loyal soldier reacted by the book. The soles of his feet, coated with a compressed fire spell, kicked the hard ground, detonating the spell.
The jaws of the oversized cat opened wide, showing the world rows of razor-sharp teeth.
Before The Night Terror could fully emerge from the shadows, it first had to face the charging Rascal. The image of a sword blade shrouded in a subtle glow was reflected in his eyes.
With a loud clatter, the monster's jaws jammed around the goblin's deadly weapon, stopping its momentum.
This was the only solution that allowed The Night Terror to escape with its life, but it had certain consequences. Its beautiful snow-white teeth turned into fine powder.
" Tsk... pathetic. "
With lightning speed, Rascal's foot landed on the monster's massive body, sending it several meters into the distance. Broken teeth weren't the only gift the goblin left behind.
At the last moment, it cast a spell similar to its movement technique, with one minor difference, its initial force was twice as strong as usual.
The Night Terror squirmed in pain. He felt pieces of crushed ribs tear the red flesh from the inside with each movement.
His pupils narrowed from the shock he experienced; this was the first time in his life that he had met with overt resistance. Usually, hunts ended in a one-sided massacre, but reality brought the arrogant monsters down to earth, teaching them a lesson for life.
Rascal wanted to end the monster's suffering, but there was a small problem. His companion was doing well, and there was no sign of any change.
" I'm not hiding. I could use a little... " Rascal trailed off as his eyes registered the current state of the battlefield.
" There was no topic... "
He wasn't the only one in trouble.
Asme and Seraphine were fighting two Fears of the Night at once. Going forward, each of the goblins, except for the archer, was facing one of the oversized tigers.
" If I get out of this alive, I must rebuke the Master for a raise... " When Rascal realized how foolish his words were, he felt like collapsing to the ground. In order to get a raise, one must first receive some pay. The second thing is whether he will survive the upcoming battle, which is up for debate.