Gulnur and Violette set out for their patrol, the former constantly asking questions of the latter. Violette was reticent to answer at first, scared telling someone else about herself would be weird.
But she quickly caught on that Gulnur was only trying to become good friends with her and eventually opened up. Unfortunately, the boy was being so loud that most monsters fled them before they even got near.
Occasionally, there would be a bat that flustered overhead them, but it was always too high for Gulnur to reach, and Violette didn't want to fight unless necessary.
The bat would flutter around for a bit, then leave. This scene repeated a few times, all during their patrol round, and Violette was starting to find it weird.
Gulnur was so preoccupied with trying to befriend her, that he paid it little attention. But Violette was weary.
It was always the same bat, too, as she had slowly become accustomed to its mana signature. She eventually killed it, lest there was something else going on.
She fired a high-powered water jet at it, clipping one of its wings and bringing it down. When the bat collided with the ground, it died on impact.
As soon as it died, a strong pulse of mana permeated the area. Even Gulnur felt it, and he went on high alert instantly.
Another pulse radiated towards them, this time a little stronger. Gulnur's face paled.
"We need to head back to camp and wake the others up!" he shouted, turning around to head back to camp.
Violette asked no questions and followed behind him. She wondered what had him in such a panic until a third pulse hit them.
*You are affected by drowsiness.*
She opened up her status window to look at the mental statuses as she kept running. Her jaw dropped.
Mental Condition: Drowsy (10% reduction in agility, 10% chance to lose concentration during sustained actions)
This was terrible!
They both ran with all their might towards the camp, as they both messaged the rest of the party to get back online. The first responses came from I'die and Astaroth, who had been off for hours now, and probably were rested enough to hear their phones beep.
The first one online was I'die, who had his computer still running, ready to go, right next to his bed. Soon after came Astaroth, who had jumped into his pod, still in his underwear.
When he connected, Violette and Gulnur were just arriving at the camp. Behind them, a gargantuan swarm of hideous-looking brown bats.
The bats had enormous ears and beak-like mouths that looked to be made of soft tissue. But the biggest foe was what flew over them.
Flapping its gigantic wings over the swarm, a much larger bat, this one completely black, with a white muzzle. Its eyes were two small red beads shining in the night.
When the monster noticed Astaroth and I'die had appeared, it opened its maw, and a silent screech echoed through the air. Astaroth saw the pulse of mana, through his mana vision, as it passed through him.
*Mind Over Body activated. Drowsiness resisted.*
When he saw the notification, he turned his eyes to the party window. I'die had also resisted it, but Violette and Gulnur were both affected.
And by the small number over the bow, he could guess it had hit them more than once. He didn't know the effects yet, and he didn't care to find out either.
He focused his eyes on the gigantic black bat and scanned it.
Somnus Bat:
Level: 50
Grade: Elite (Zone Boss)
HP: 127'950
MP: 11'770
By the name alone, Astaroth could guess that a dragged-out fight against this monster was a bad idea. He would need to go all in from the start, and hope Phoenix would do the same.
And if that enemy alone wasn't enough, there were close to a thousand of the smaller bats flocking the skies. He scanned them too, to know how strong they were.
Their levels ranged from forty to fifty, and they weren't particularly resistant, but by the amount of MP they had, he guessed they could fire magic attacks.
His thoughts were confirmed when a bat came at him, opening its maw up. A pulse of magic came flying out, almost like a sonar pulse, and hit him directly.
*-297*
*Mind Over Body passive activated. Resisted dissonance status.*
Although the damage he took was dismal, the fact it could also apply a debuff was a terrible thing. With the number of bats flying in the air right now, they could rapidly overcome their numbers with all the status ailments they could inflict.
After firing its magic attack, the bat extended its claws toward Astaroth, aiming to claw him before retreating. The poor monster never had that chance, as Astaroth stepped aside before slicing its wings off.
His war axe was now gleaming in the moonlight, blood dripping off the blade. The bat screeched in pain before he delivered a finishing blow to its head.
That was the moment Athena logged back in. When she saw the situation, she instantly understood where the clicking noises had come from during her patrol.
Her eyes scanned the battlefield rapidly, and she spotted the boss monster. She ignored the smaller ones, focusing all her attacks on that one.
With the number of bats in the sky, it was a waste of time for her, who had no AOE attacks, to go after them. It was better for her to focus on that single target.
Astaroth smiled at her tactical thinking. He melded with Luna and started firing spell after spell at the bats.
He went for wider-range spells, this time, and fired some fireballs that exploded on contact. They did not do enough damage to kill the small monsters in one hit, but were enough to bring them down, where Genie and Gulnur made rapid work of them.
Phoenix was the last one to appear, and she immediately started burning the smaller bats to ashes. This was a true AOE mage's capability.
The decrease of pressure on Violette allowed her to concentrate more on attacking, and a blizzard quickly started raging high in the sky.
'Time to get serious,' Astaroth thought, as he messaged in the party chat.
pαпdα-ňᴏνêι·сóМ 'We need to all hit the big one together. Don't worry about the smaller ones for now.'
After typing that, he closed his eyes and murmured, 'Moonlit Sanctuary'.
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