Eventually, as we finished our meal and decided to continue our journey, we came across a large group of giant insects midway through our journey. The smell of the meat pies that Elizabeth prepared had brought them all towards us rather efficiently.
The map I was slowly making inside of my Grimoire's pages using the scouting abilities of my golems and flying familiars easily told us where to go next, turns out they were just waiting for us.
A group of giant wasp-like insect monsters, with sharp venomous stingers and the ability to fly greeted us at first. And behind them, there were a mix of spiders, scorpions, and a larger, grossly big wasp-like monster with red color.
It seems that the Boss of this Floor had finally showed themselves. Well, that'll make things much easier to deal with. While Hendrick and Woo were still restoring their bodies before I could summon them again, I decided to bring out Saphira and Fang instead, so they could assist us alongside Eleanora.
"SHAAAAAHHH!!!" The giant, red-colored wasp roared furiously, unleashing a magical and dark aura that encompassed the other insects, which were over thirty, at the very least.
[The [Ferocious Red Wasp Queen (C++ Rank)] has activated the [Berserk Pheromones] over her subjects!]
[All of her subjects Stats have increased by +200%, however, they have entered into a maddening, berserk state!]
The Giant Wasps, Giant Black Spiders, and Giant Scorpions charged towards us like a gigantic army of beasts. However, we had our own army as well to clash against these giant beasts and not be overwhelmed.
"Draco! Fenrir!" I ordered.
"On it, master!" Draco roared from within the skies.
"AWOOO! I've got this! Let's go, my pack!" Fenrir barked.
I had already given Fenrir the power to speak by assigning him as my second General and gave him the other half of my Familiars which I had yet to summon, which included Orcs, the smaller Fenrir, and the Orc Shaman Kings too.
CLASH! CLAASH! CLAAASH!
Draco and Fenrir led their battalions into battle. The grizzlies equipped with Claw were the strongest around, managing to tank the hits of the insects and stop their crazed charge in an instant.
By combining their power with the Claws they had equipped, they were able to chip decent damage against the giant bugs, but unlike in the previous floor, none were dying yet against Familiars alone.
Draco led a group of Wyverns to fight from above the skies as well, firing fireballs and dragon breaths, but the wasps that could fly were catching up to them and beginning to attack them.
Fenrir stepped in front of the battlefield bravely, accompanied by Blood as well, and by leading his varied army, magic attacks from the Orc Shaman Kings constantly rained over our monstrous foes.
Meanwhile, the warrior orcs fought bravely, ganging over their foes furiously while riding the F Rank Fenrirs, which were much cheaper to summon and didn't cost any Spirit Orbs either, so they made for good disposable mounts.
Thanks to their ability to easily meld into physical objects due to their spectral type, even the weak Orc Warriors were able to deal decent damage and distract the giant insectoid behemoths.
Meanwhile, the poison the monsters exuded was being greatly neutralized by the Antidotes we drank, whose buffs were boosted by the Lilies I had around us, which were able to easily evade any attacks with their amazing speed but didn't had any offensive capability.
And all of this happened in a matter of just twenty seconds. Once the army of insects was stopped, I led the rest of my party into battle, securing good spots to attack was ideal, fighting messily and getting cornered could prove to be fatal, so using my Familiars as meat shields is always something I'll do.
"Now, attack! While they are distracted by the Familiars!" I ordered, boosting the stats of my friends using a variety of Buff Cards.
"Oh nice, I can even fly with these wings!" Said Chris in surprise, as he had gained wyvern-like wings on his back after absorbing a Buff Card made out of a Draco. His firepower was also strengthened, alongside his Intelligence and Speed. "Eat this! {Spiritual Blazing Spears Rain}!"
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
A rain of enormous spears made of flames surged from Chris wand and his spirit's powers, burning the insects in a large scale from within the skies. I knew that he would be able to fight much better if he could see the battlefield from above, his magic was the best if he attacked from the skies.
"Hahahaha! This is the best!" Roared Erdrich, parts of his body such as his arms, chest, and back grew black and red fur, and his nails became gigantic bear-like claws blazing with flames. His strength had also been increased by a lot.
CLAAASH! CLAAAASH! CLAAAASH!
His slashing attacks already took down one of the giant wasps, bringing the monster down into the floor and devastating it with slashing blows and explosive flames. Of course, I had given Erdrich a Buff Card using a Blazing Bear, giving him a lot of Strength and Vitality, alongside a bear's claws and their explosive flames.
"Certainly, your skills keep surprising me, Blake." Elfriedden said, feeling an incredible magical power surging from within his body. I had given him the Orc Shaman King Buff Card to enhance his Intelligence and Mana the most, which resulted on him being able to unleash utterly devastating icicle spikes all across our foe's range.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOM!
"Hahaha, so cool! My dragon powers are even stronger now!" Erika said, using another Draco Buff Card, she gained even stronger draconic powers, helping her fly in the skies freely while she slashed into pieces giant wasps flying towards her one after the other.
SLASH! SLASH! SLAAASH!
Meanwhile, I quickly decided to boost myself using the Claw Buff Card I acquired first, just to test it out…
As the card dissipated into particles of light, my entire body received the "essence" of the familiar, enhancing my stats through the roof.
[You have absorbed the [Buff Card: Living Demonic Claws (D++ Rank)]! Your HP and STR have increased by +2000, and you can now use the [Life Draining Attack] and [Rotting Wounds] Skills for 10 minutes.]