Chapter 417 (2/2)

The elephant's eyes went wide, and it stumbled as the blades of air sharpened abruptly and exploded in its chest, ripping apart its lungs, and most of the surrounding internal organs. After a brief stumble, the creature collapsed.

Annie sniffed, wrinkling her nose, then continued her retreat, her breathing heavy. It had been quite a while since she had felt this close to danger, felt this tickle of danger so constantly. Her Hunter's Instincts Skill had gained 10 Levels in the past hour, which was a ridiculous amount of growth.

Which, she supposed, was the point of the Raid Dungeon. There wasn't anywhere else where you would encounter so many dangerous monsters, let alone 200 or so at once. Under this immense pressure...

Annie had never felt so alive.

The original plan had been to split their close range forces into three pieces, one acting as a vanguard, splitting the monsters that were rushing forward, the two flanks mopping up the remnants. To no one's surprise, Alana would be alone, acting as the tip of their spear. Aside from the Ghosthound himself, she was the most dependable, and would only break when she died. And Annie had fought against Alana before, that woman was a bitch to scratch, let alone kill.

Meanwhile, the choice of the flanks was much more surprising. The right was Ace, Lucifer, and Drake, while the left would be Thea, Chrysanthemum, and Ptolemy. Rose, Clarissa, and the Ghosthound would stay back and support from afar, while they had largely let Annie move as she pleased. Annie knew the arrangement annoyed Rose, but the other woman grudgingly admitted that Annie could handle herself, unpredictable as her assistance was.

Ace had been the only one to speak out against this plan, pointing out that the left was much weaker than the right, but Rose had been adamant, and after bringing up the issue, Ace had let it drop.

Annie knew why the left was made that way; Thea was slowly becoming a force of nature. As she developed, slowly growing used to her advanced combat Skill, she was rounding out to be a berserker style warrior. Meanwhile, Chrysanthemum might as well be an infinite chasm, for all the success the monsters had against her. She was just as strong as every one of these monsters, if not a bit stronger, and twice as strong. Plus, from Annie's observations, Chrysanthemum possessed just as many impressive Skills as her bounded companion.

Tasting the air once more, Annie swerved and headed back towards Alana's position. Not three seconds as she sensed Alana's frustration, there was a message in the Party Chat.

Close to my limit.

Help is on the way. Hold out 7 more minutes. The Ghosthound's reply immediately came.

Acknowledged. Annie imagined Alana’s stuffy face as she sent that reply, hand salute included and all, and stifled a giggle.

As Annie tasted again, there was a new scent in the air, a new prey. It was a variation on a familiar scent.

Annie pursed her lips. The Ghosthound made minions again. This one was larger than the previous ones, and much less while. More... solid. He had explained briefly to her how they were based on stats, so this one would be... Endurance.

As she thought that, a turtle the size of a car trundled forward, moving at a quick clip, for a turtle. There were a few vines curling up out of its shell, around its neck. Its shell was a deep, black-green, and its skin was the color of old peas. Its golden eyes scrutinized Annie briefly, but then it nodded in acknowledgment and hurried passed. Chuckling, Annie leaped up onto its back, catching a ride.

It only took 30 seconds to arrive at Alana, and it was clear what the problem was. There was a large demon in front of the sun-touched woman, covered in red scales, and with long, clawed hands. It laughed again, and belched out a ball of black fire. Alana spun to the side, grabbing a bronze wolf by the scruff of its neck like it was a puppy and throwing it in the way of the strange fire.

When the flames touched the monster, it began to howl, which lasted all of 3 seconds, before its body was consumed and it was naught but ash. Annie whistled.

Talk about fast acting.