Chapter 417 (1/2)

After determining what the main goal of the villagers was during the monster horde distraction, Annie returned to help the rest of the group. Thank god she did, because by the time she had arrived, Randidly had been forced to use spells to intervene multiple times, mostly relying on his new spell that created a hand of lava that reached up out of the ground and physically grabbed a monster, burning away its skin and keeping it still as the molten rock and metal cooled.

It honestly intimidated the surrounding monsters too, so it was the perfect Skill to use to buy time. And in that time, Annie arrived, prepared to give the team some breathing room.

Hissing, she narrowed her left eye and loosed an arrow, that ricocheted off the battered helmet of two stories tall ogre, and then shot an azure tiger in the forehead, dropping it. Blood continued to drip from the cut she had received, over her other eye, blurring her vision. Luckily, it seemed she hadn't lost all of her razzle-dazzle.

After bellowing in fury, the ogre readjusted its helmet so its beady eyes could see out, and then looked around, his wrath scouring the area for a target. But Annie was already was gone, flipping away. With the brief distraction, Alana disengaged from a huge serpent, smashed back a weird, tentacled creature, and then exploded in a burst of sunlight, illuminating the darkened area. Immediately, the ogre seemed to remember its previous opponent that had covered its arms and legs with wounds. But it was too late, that moment of distraction had revealed an opening, and Alana shoved her burning sunspear into its heart. Then she shoved it forward, blocking another monster's advance, and leaped several meters backward, to gain a few seconds of respite.

But by then, Annie was moving, her tongue flicking out, tasting the air. She could feel the scents of her companions, and of the horde of monsters that was pressing forward, causing their group immense pressure. The air was thick with such scents, the vibrancy of their emotions thickening the trails, but Annie's Skill was growing by leaps and bounds, and she was able to keep them all straight if just barely. Plus, the emotions gave her a clue who she needed to assist next.

For good measure, Annie put 4 arrows into the back of a giant toad's head and then headed towards the left flank, which contained the most panic of all the scents. That was Ptolemy, but he would only feel fear if someone else was injured, so...

Just like the rest of the group, Annie had been initially very interested in the quest, given the flat percentage, it would grant at the end. Plus, this was a great bunch of free experience. Instead of seeking out, they simply had to wait by the village, and the monsters would come towards them. But although they had casually been referring to these monsters as Raid Boss class, that was ultimately inaccurate. The fearsome power of the Raid Boss partially lay in its ability to procreate and create an army that would come and wipe out a village.

These monsters came ready-made to wreck the village, they were just much easier kill than the army because there was only one of them. But that didn't mean that they were any less dangerous than an entire army.

Still, considering the level of their party, taking them out was child's play. Unless you were alone, facing 6 of them at once, with 10 more waiting behind, to strike at your weaknesses. Although they were powerful, their group was giving ground; there were simply too many high caliber monsters at once.

Annie leaped to the next tree, wiped the blood out of her eye, and then drew her bow. Ptolemy was standing some distance away, healing a large gash on Thea's shoulder. From her, Annie could only feel fury and hatred, as she watched her bear standing up to a centipede and two-headed goat, bellowing its defiance. Then animals hesitated, intimidated by what was in all likelihood a Skill, and a well leveled one at that. It gave Ptolemy the precious few seconds he needed to heal Thea, and then unleash a fireball on a hawk that was circling above, sending it squawking to the ground harmlessly to dodge.

Annie loosed an arrow, pinning its wing to the tree then knocked another arrow, turning towards the other looming monsters.

Give some ground, the message from Rose arrived, and huffing, Annie use her Split Shot Skill to send an arrow the split and smashed into both the centipede and goat's faces, stunning them. Chrysanthemum turned and retreated, allowing Ptolemy to land a precious few healing spells on her, and after Chrysanthemum was clear, Annie's mouth curled into a wicked smile.

”The Cold Sleet before Stillness,” Annie whispered, shooting an arrow into the sky, and watching as her Mana dropped to almost nothing. Instantly, she turned away and lopped off, pulling out a Mana potion to drink, not even bothering to watch as the dozens of magical arrows descended from the sky, crashing into the monsters standing in the area, ripping holes in their flesh and spreading a deadly, creeping numbness through the area around the wounds. It wasn't a super destructive move, but it was the Skill of hers that had the most debilitating effects. The coldness acted like a poison, that would slowly consume the body of the monsters, making the entirety of them numb.

The left flank then would have a few minutes, but...

THere was a trumpet-like call as a six-tusked elephant charged forward, rushing forward in the wake of her Skill. Grimacing, Annie spun around and raised her hands to her lips. Slowly, evenly, without any rush, she drew out a long, thin wisp of breath she extracted from herself, feeling her Stamina drop to almost zero as well. Then she snapped it in a practiced manner, straightening it, then flexed it, turning it rigid. Then she put the breath arrow on her bow and shot it towards the elephant which was only a dozen or so meters from her now, rampaging.

”The Last Gasp.”

The smokey arrow shot forward, smashing into the face of the elephant, blinding it briefly, before it swirled up and rushed into the elephant's nose and mouth. There it would slither like a serpent until it reached the lungs, and then...

Pop.