"Huh? The monster didn't emit any mana?" Raeny said, poking its dead corpse a couple of times with a confused look.
However, that was not the time for such thoughts—things had gotten a bit too serious.
"Move back," Neraxis said in a cold voice, slightly startling the others.
Aella noticed his behavior and frowned before walking up to him. "What's up?"
Instead of humoring her, he merely pointed in the direction of the boss monster—particularly at the fact that it was staring right at them.
And from the looks of it, the monster had known they were there for quite some time.
It used a summon to draw us out... Neraxis grumbled inwardly. A monster queen had the handy ability to create offspring, and at the same time, it could craft them purely out of mana.
That also meant that, aside from direct offspring, obtaining mana from a living monster was simply not feasible.
"Don't do anything stupid for now—come closer," he stated, watching as the rest of his shaking party members approached.
Noticing the urgency of the situation, Raeny spoke up. "Now what?"
"We wait for our cooldowns to end. It doesn't seem like it's going to attack us," Neraxis replied immediately.
[I wouldn't be so sure,] Evangeline said, urgency clearly present in her tone.
He picked up on that in an instant. In the far-off distance, he noticed a swarm gathering.
A bunch of Venomous Wasps was strewn all across the rift, hovering just below the ceiling.
Yet, they weren't attacking—only growing in number.
Obviously, the peace wouldn't last long.
Neraxis grumbled and took a step forward, and immediately, the multiplication of the Venomous Wasps halted.
But as he stood still, it once again resumed.
"It wants us to come to it," he announced as his team began slowly moving behind him.
Their steps were shaky and indecisive, yet they still trudged along.
Yet the question that hung in the team—the one weighing on their minds since the very start—was:
"...Are we going to die?"
Neraxis turned toward the person who said that. It was Aurelia, tears streaming down her face.
His attempts at building morale crumbled in an instant—just like that.
[They're still kids—wet-behind-the-ears types, you know?] Evangeline remarked, and he nodded.
I know. That's why this is so much more difficult...
"Aurelia," he called out to the crying girl.
"W-What?" she replied through sniffles.
But Neraxis was not planning to die today. "We aren't going to die. The monster only looks intimidating. Plus, we have yet to use our main skills, right, Raeny?"
"...That was my main skill," she replied while fidgeting.
It didn't help to know that they were right before the boss monster either. Even while taking slow, small steps, they got there rather quickly.
Cosmic Cascade is off cooldown, but... it's definitely not going to be enough, he thought, taking a glance at his status.
Stigmata: [Fragment of Calamity {0%} (Seals Unlocked: 0->1)]
[Eve of Ruin {G->F}]*
[Stellar Dominion {A}]
[Restorative Cut {E}]
[Vampiric Dominion {A}]
--Fragment of Calamity Skill Tree (1/???)
[Simple Horizontal Slash]
The skill Evangeline had taught him was put into a separate category altogether, while stat-wise, only stamina had increased.
This fight would be difficult—the most difficult he had faced to date—and would probably remain so for a while.
That is, if he managed to make it out alive.
All around them were monsters, yet none were attacking—merely blocking all their escape paths.
And in the very middle of it all was the massive Venomous Wasp Queen. There was a little crown etched into her forehead, signifying her status.
A lot of weak spots, but even if we do manage to get the upper hand, she can always just summon more wasps...
"Neraxis..." Raeny's voice rang out from behind, and upon turning toward her, he noticed the shaking of his entire party.
"It won't do us any good worrying about it anymore. Let me try something first," he said and stared into the boss monster's eyes.
There were a few suspicions he had, but the main one was: "Can you understand me?"
He awaited a response, but none came. It was still merely staring at him with its massive, creepy eyes.
So it's simply following its sadistic instincts, then. He mused before flicking the air and summoning his sword.
His little stunt finally managed to show a slight reaction, as the Venomous Wasp Queen's eyes twitched—if only for a moment.
Nonetheless, that gave him at least more confidence.
The rest of the wasps were slowly closing in on them, but before they could, he would finish it off.
An E+ rank monster it may be, but it was not a fighter-type boss monster. Therefore, it was significantly weaker—might even be weaker than the Venomous Wasps it spewed out.
Neraxis went back to his party and told them his straightforward plan.
"It's not a strong monster, only durable. Use your strongest attacks on it the moment I tell you to."
"But... what abo—" Aella tried speaking, but he quickly interrupted her.
"Follow the plan. The remaining monsters will disappear once their queen dies."
"No more questions, please. Focus," he added, turning to look at the boss monster.
Taking a deep breath, Neraxis began walking closer until, finally, the monster was within range of every single one of his skills.
He used them all in order: Aura of Vulnerability, Mark of Decay. However, just as he was about to use his main damage skill, Cosmic Cascade, the Venomous Wasp Queen boss suddenly jumped up with its massive spider legs.
And before long, it began flying.
However, his skill was long-ranged for a reason, so without wasting any time, he used it.
The light quickly converged, and immediately, the wings were blown off, and its spidery legs were nearly halved.
It let out loud screeches that attracted the attention of every single monster present, and soon, they too began attacking him.
But so far, his plan was going as intended. By drawing the attention of the monsters, he could let his team handle the rest.
Or so he initially thought. The moment he turned to face them, all but Aurelia were frozen in fear—surprisingly.
She began casting her light spells, sending waves of spears right at the wasps, but perhaps due to her panic or unease, most of her attacks missed. The ones that landed weren't exactly super effective.
However, every little bit helped, as Neraxis began fending off the swarm of monsters.
Occasionally, he let a Venomous Wasp hit him—in preparation for his final gamble.
A few of the monsters from his side flew over to the rest of his team, but thankfully, Raeny and Aella awoke from their stupor, helping the nearly exhausted Aurelia out.
His vision was starting to blur, and blood was practically seeping out of him as though he were some kind of fountain.
But in the end, that was exactly what he was aiming for.
Just as his Mark of Decay was 7 seconds from running out, he swung the sword around in a circle, cleaving most of the Venomous Wasps in half, while only slightly pushing back others.
Yet, that was enough to provide some room for him.
Locking his gaze on the boss, he used Sword Dash, swiftly appearing before the monster.
At the same time, he used Horizontal Slash, enhancing its power further.
Lastly, Vampiric Dominion's Blood Rend.
Neraxis's hand strained as he controlled the massive amount of skills he had used at once, aiming directly at the boss monster's two ugly eyes.
Before long, the attack—which he could barely see now—connected. But despite the resistance he was expecting, he sliced through the boss monster as though it were made of butter.
However, it was not over yet. Even though he had sliced off its head, it appeared to still be alive.
Three seconds on Mark of Decay. He counted down in his mind before slashing with all his strength exactly three more times. Immediately, he unleashed his final skill.