Chapter 207: Back to the Catbs (3)


    Rushing through the darkened hallways, Frey, who was at the forefront of the group, swiftly threw a fist out into the darkness. In turn, her attacksnded on a dark figure among the shadows.


    "Hyahh!" she shouted out. "And... Take this!"


    [ Brawler Skill - Frontal Collision ]


    "...g..ah..." Muttering out in a distorted and iprehensible voice, the figure that Frey hadnded her hit on slowly disappeared away.


    "...phew! One down and..." Upon noting that the figure had turned into grey-ash, Frey nced around the area as she then saw that the rest of the group were still fighting against the unknown type of monsters.


    "Ugh... Why the hell are there suddenly so many of them?!" Ethaniel cried out as his sword swung in ateral direction, quickly striking down the few amounts of mobs in front of him. "So tedious... Just give me a break!"


    "A break?" Reru clicked his tongue as he shed at the monsters around him. "Clear out the damn wave of monsters and follow my lead if you want a damn break! Clearly, turning left at every intersection isn''t cutting it!"


    "What are you trying to tell me here?" Rustly frowned. "If we took the right path back then, we''d have found more of these guys!"


    "H-Hey... You two..." Hikari muttered out. "How about discussing this after the fight? We''re tight on the numbers as it is..."


    Before the fight had urred, the group had wandered off through the catbs like normal. However, as they took a turn through the few intersections that they had passed, figures of the shadow began to appear out of nowhere, soon initiating attacks against them.


    "Where the hell did theye from?" Crowelin gritted her teeth as she swung her hammer down to the ground, greatly disrupting the earth''s bnce. In the next moment, from behind her, a ball of fire rushed towards the darkened figures that dispersed away like the wind as it touched them.


    "I don''t know..." Raina frowned. "And it seems that they''re rather persistent withing back over and over..."


    "I''ve never seen these guys in all my years of living!" Yer cried out. "Just who are these guys? Have theye to invade our homes?!"


    No matter how many times the group had killed the foes in front of them, the mobs continued to return over and over as if nothing had happened. Even if they were easy to kill and their movements were dull, with the sheer amount of monsters that appeared before them, it wasn''t easy to escape.


    "M-Master... I''ve never seen anything like this while we were here!" Kon uttered out. "What do we do? If we continue on like this... Our resources will be drained!"


    "For monsters to suddenly appear out of nowhere like this..." Shinto clicked his tongue as he cast out his basic attacks over to the mobs, steadily conserving his resources while he was at it. "...do we just stop fighting and make a run for it?"


    With the same situation as the endless amounts of rats that appeared when they first arrivedIt felt as if it was the same circumstance. However, unlike the brutal and powerful Farchu, these mobs were extremely weak in strength yet durable. Not to mention, they could return from the dead like it was nothing.


    "Run? Against foes like this?" Reru scoffed. "These guys only know how to revive! Are you saying you''re struggling against mobs like this?"


    "I-I mean, Reru... If you noticed," Erith stated. "It''s not a matter of struggle or not... It''s a matter of overwhelming numbers. Though not as much as the Farchu, it is still somewhat of a precedent that they''re blocking our way."


    "Meh... There''s got to a way to just destroy them all and done with it," Reru seemingly shrugged. "There should be the main body to all this... Or the main controller of these lifeless guys."


    "And where would that be?" Frey questioned as her fist struck at the foes in a frenzy. "All I see is darkness and darkness, one-two too many monsters and... More darkness!"


    "...the main body should be somewhere," Shinto nced around the area with his enhanced vision. However, from the end of his sight and his surroundings, there wearn''t any signs of a being that would be called the ''main body''. it was the same for whether or not there would be a puppeteer pulling the strings of the mobs among the crowd. "...none in sight."


    "Like I said, darkness and darkness!" Frey cried out. "What''s worse than having monsters way over your level? Having monsters below your level but are overwhelming you with numbers!"


    "Bah... There''s no time!" Rustly clicked his tongue. "Ignore what Reru says. We''re running! These guys don''t do anything to us, so there''s no harm in just charging through them!"


    "H-Hey! Rustly! Didn''t you hear what Erith said?" Frey inquired.


    "Just st through them or something! I don''t know! Do something!" Rustly replied.


    "Um..." Raina muttered out. "I could possibly make a path for us but... I don''t have enough firepower to blow through to the end."


    "Who says you''ll be doing it alone?" Shinto asked. "I still have my skills ready for use. If ites to that, then I''ll help, though we''ll only be able to create a small interval for escape."


    "Whatever''s good right now!" Raina stated.


    "Right," Shinto nodded his head. "Ethaniel, Frey and the rest can divert aggro away for us, so we can have an easier time to attack."


    "Ahem... You have another person that can help you!" Hikari stated as she pointed over towards Crowelin who had been distracted in preventing the mobs from reaching towards the group. "If Crowelin joins you two, the firepower would be enough to not only push them back but to disrupt their bnce."


    "You say that but..." Shinto uttered out in reply as he turned to the focused Crowelin. "If we have her help us, Frey, Ethaniel and the slimes won''t be able to keep up with these numbers."


    "I can help with that," Hikari stated as her staff slowly waved around. "Go grab Crowelin and I''ll start with my skill!"


    "...if you say so," Shinto nodded his head as his eyes moved towards Crowelin. In the next moment, he shot out a skill towards her[ Mark of Umbra ], in turn, making her feel a sudden warmth from the shadows.


    "...?" As it was the first time that Shinto had used the skill on her, Crowelin was taken aback by the feeling. Quickly, she turned towards the back of her. "H-Hikari? Why did you use your skill" Soon stopping at her sentence midway, she noted that the warmth came from Shinto instead. "...oh?"


    "Help us out here by disrupting their bnce," Shinto calmly stated as he turned back towards the front of him. "Raina, we can begin."


    "Right... I''m on it!" Raina nodded her head as her''s and Shinto''s staff protruded forward. Meanwhile, Crowelin rushed forward towards the mobs and began to initiate her skills.


    ...


    "Alright... I''ll start too," While the group began their chants against the immortal monsters, Hikari who was in the middle of the group raised her staff high up into the air. "O'' light of Raphael, the one who shines down upon us..." muttering out her chants, a bright light began to flicker around. "Cast upon judgement into light!"


    [ White Priest Skill - Holy Light - Judging Rays ]


    Upon the end of her chant, the surrounding area began to dimly light up. At that moment, small sparks of light began raining down onto the enemies making their way forward over towards the group.


    "...ga...h?" The monsters curiously looked up into the sky as they saw light shining down upon them. In the next moment, the mobs suddenly stood in ce as their bodies slowly dispersed away.


    [ Holy Light - Judging Rays ] [ 240 MP ] [ Cooldown: 4 Minutes ]


    Calling upon the holy light, the white priest rains down a rain of holiness onto their enemies. At the same time, dealing weak light magic damage equal to 45% over the next 10 seconds.


    If the target is considered/judged as [Evil] or above, the enemies will also have their light RES lowered by 10% during the duration of the skill.


    ...


    "Hyaahh!!" Frey continued to throw her fists at the enemy, quickly pushing them back. Meanwhile, Ethaniel and the rest of the slimes were attacking against the mobs when suddenly, a loud shout rang through the area.


    "Everyone! Get ready!" As Shinto''s voice resounded, a me filled with divinity shot forward towards the front area of the mobs, quickly turning all of the monsters into grey-ash. At the same time, the grounds of the catbs began to heavily shake.


    "Move, move!" Crowelin shouted out as her hammer continuously attacked the ground.


    "...on it!" Frey and the rest who had been fighting quickly jumped back as they hurriedly made their way over towards the passage created by Shinto and Raina, thus they sessfully escaped from the predicament.