Dungeon of Niflheim

397 Chapter 397: Unique monster creation (8)

Kiba flew through the air rapidly, dragging behind him a vast swarm of tens of bat monsters, each one desperate to rip him to shreds and devour his succulent flesh.

The freezing vampire bats in particular seemed even more energetic after getting a small taste. Kiba never thought of himself as prey before but assumed that given his awesomeness he must be super tasty.

He wasn’t exactly wrong either, the higher the rank of a monster the more mana they have saturated within their bodies providing not only great nourishment for those who prey on such monsters but fantastic flavour. Ancient dragon steak for example though impossible to be found in any kingdom or empire is said to be so delicious that one can ascend to the heavens after a small bite.

Kiba was not an ancient dragon so his meat wouldn’t have such an effect, but he was a glacial winged tiger and one with quite high potential at that. The taste of his flesh is therefore quite succulent, more than enough to drive the already frenzied bats into an even deeper frenzy.

Quarrellers shot arrow after arrow and ballista bolt after ballista bolt into the chasing horde, felling bat after bat but the swarm seemed almost endless and Kiba was getting more and more tired not to mention the effects of the poison.

His high pace movements pumped the freezing vampire bat’s poison throughout his blood stream and into his organs.

“Grrrrrrrr!” The moment the poison invaded his lungs Kiba lurched in the air, assaulted by a freezing pain in his chest, his wings then stiffened, slowing his speed right down.

An almost mocking look appeared on the faces of the freezing vampire bats, they knew that their poison had taken effect. It wouldn’t be enough to kill a tiger or even seriously wound it, but it would be enough to slow down its movements.

Thus the bat swarm under the lead of the freezing vampire bats increased their speed and readied their fangs and claws.

.....

Kiba lurched for but a second but that was enough for the frontliners to reach his rear and sink their fangs in deep.

“Roaaaarrrrr!” Kiba roared out in fury, ignoring the pain in his chest and the stiffness in his wings and limbs he quickly rotated his body and viscously bit onto the attacking bats, crushing their skulls with his powerful jaws.

“Roooooooaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr!” Seeing more about to attack Kiba unleashed one of his skills, [Tiger’s roar].

Visible sound waves burst out from Kiba, radiating outwards like ripples on a lake. Those caught in the waves blacked out, their bodies instinctively freezing in the air.

The [tiger’s roar] skill amplified the natural frequency of Kiba’s roar, oscillating in such a way that those who hear it lose control of their bodies as though overrun with fear. Other than dragons, tigers were the only other known species to have such natural skills, a testament to their predatory kingship.

The bats with their advanced hearing capabilities suffered even more than most. The ones closest to Kiba had their eardrums burst and blood drain from their orifices as they plummeted to their doom.

Those further away merely suffered the loss of control for a few seconds but for some that was enough time to crash onto the forest floor, hard. Several damaged their wings, their flying days over, thus easy pickings for the quarrellers who were protected not only by the distance but also the branches and structures of the bunkers. They helped nullify the waves, thus allowing them to escape the damage, something that they and Kiba were very grateful for.

Kiba in his anger didn’t think of his allies down below when he invoked his skill, thankfully they were in the bunkers otherwise he’d be wracked with guilt.

“Grrrrrrrr!” Kiba groaned out as he forced himself to slowly descend near the command bunker. His wounds were quite extensive, opened wider by his aggressive movements and his use of a unique skill. The poison had also tunnelled deeper, his face now looking rather pale and in pain.

Kiba shuffled into the bunker before collapsing on the ground. He looked towards the frost troll lieutenant in an apologetic manner before passing out. He was done with this battle.

“Kiba!”

“Kiba!” Both Nanna and Loki cried out through the dungeon menu, their hearts lurching in pain. Over the past couple weeks the two of them had gotten really close to Kiba and treated him like family, they even slept together frequently. Seeing him covered in wounds and falling unconscious was difficult to watch.

A dwarven priest and frost troll witch doctor both quickly moved to inspect Kiba under the orders of the lieutenant.

The two utilised their mana and inherent knowledge to inspect his wounds and internals before they both let out a sigh of relief.

“He’ll be fine, the wounds look worse than they are. He passed out due to the poison but given Kiba’s natural resistance his life isn’t in any danger.” The frost troll witch doctor gave his diagnosis and the priest concurred.

“Did you hear that Lady Nanna, Master Loki, Kiba will be fine. He just needs to rest and wait for the poison to pass through his system.” The lieutenant soothed the children’s worries with his report as well as his own. Kiba was a powerful fighter and commander of the bestial corps but more than that he was their lord’s mount, his battle partner. If anything happened to him the consequences would be dire, Frost’s wrath was not something he wanted to see/endure.

Angered by the downing of Kiba the quarrellers shot with increased ferocity, ending many of the stunned bats before they could get back up however they couldn’t get all of them.

“Without Kiba it’s going to be a lot harder to take out these damn bats.” The ice revenant by the lieutenant’s side clenched his fists as he cursed. Kiba was the perfect draw and their only flying combatant without him there to draw their ire the bats would spread out, attacking from all angles and cause havoc. The mage castes couldn’t be distracted during their bombardment.

“The elementals need to guard the frontline, stopping any ghosts that get through the bombardment, same with the revenants while you need to be at full strength to handle the wraiths.” The frost troll lieutenant loudly tapped the log he was leaning against as plans flowed through his mind. His forces were already preoccupied, the quarrellers though good would struggle to take down the bats once they split up and focused their attacks on them or the bunkers instead of Kiba.

The physical fighters could take them down but only when they’re at ground level.

The frost toll lieutenant’s gaze drifted towards the bombarded area, he could see the appearances of the reapers and other high tier ghosts, becoming more dense, they were amassing and slowly advancing. Sending a team of physical attackers even if the bats were at ground level would result in no small amount of deaths.

The frost troll was at a point where he had to willingly sacrifice a bunch of his forces in order to take down the enemy, the pressure of such a decision weighed heavily on his mind.

“Haaaaaaa call up the spiders and the boars.” After a few seconds of deep thought the lieutenant gave his orders.

The spiders using their webs attacks would be able to bring the bats down to ground level, allowing the physical attackers to reach them. However the lieutenant didn’t want to risk the bestial corps or the dwarven fighters thus the boars were the best alternative. Holding enough power to kill the downed foes but at the same time being cheap enough in terms of DP and usefulness in future waves that the loss of such monsters would be acceptable, numbers wise.

But in the end the lieutenant was ordering for a group of his forces to willingly enter a volatile battlefield wherein their chances for death were almost guaranteed.

The bats were strong even if they were grounded, a fair match up against the boars but more importantly it was the proximity to the ghosts that was the real threat. The bombardment of ice magic only served to delay their advancement and gradually take out the weaker ghosts leaving the frost revenants and elementals to take on the ones that made it through. Behind them would be where the boars would take on the bats. It’d be foolish to believe that revenants and elementals to block every one of the ghosts, some were sure to slip by.

At that time the boars would be met with slaughter, unable to damage or even defend against their ethereal attacks they’d be akin to defenceless lambs. Their only hope was that they would be able to take out the bats before too many were lost.

“Understood I’ll call them up immediately, they should be there within ten minutes, hold on until then.” Nanna now more composed after hearing of Kiba’s condition replied before moving to inform the reserve forces.

Thankfully Frost thought that problems may arise during the stampede thus he made ample preparations for such scenarios. The vast majority of his monsters were all stationed nearby even if they were no longer part of the shift rotation.