"Shit! Get back, NOW!!! That's a Hypersonic Bat!" Exclaimed Lector, grabbing his bow and drawing out an arrow as the Monster hovered up in the air, staring down at Trey, who was laying on the ground, unconscious.
It was bigger than the Sonic Bats, its body longer and more slender, and its wings were narrower and sleeker.
Based on my Appraisal, its not that much more durable than the Sonic Bats, but its much, much faster.
And that sonic screech was definitely a hell of a lot more powerful than anything we faced on the lower floors.
As the Monster began to swoop down, I swiftly shuffled across to the side of the tunnel as Lector stepped forward, a sharp crackle ringing out as he placed the arrow on the bow and drew back the bowstring, lightning crackling around the arrow as he took aim.
"[Lightning Arr-...]...damn it, move out of the way, quickly!" He yelled at the Lancer, who was frozen in fear and blocking Lector's view, obstructing him from getting a clear sight of the Monster.
The Hypersonic Bat let out a sharp screech as it shot down with immense speed, zipping straight towards the Lancer, who stiffened before swinging his spear across wildly in alarm.
His swing came to an abrupt halt as the Monster grabbed the handle of the weapon with the claws on its left foot, a startled yelp ringing out as it proceeded to pull the Lancer up and off his feet, before it flung him away with a rapid twist of its body.
The Monster sent him hurtling across to the right of the space, a crash ringing out as he slammed against the wall, getting knocked out upon impact as the side of his head hit the rocky wall with a thunk.
"You damned-...!" Began Lector, before he was cut off as the Detector and Healer suddenly turned around and ran away in fear, pushing past him and knocking him off-balance right as he fired the arrow, upsetting his aim.
The arrow whizzed through the air and grazed the top of the Monster's right shoulder, before it turned its gaze towards Lector and let out a furious screech, narrowing its eyes at him before it shot forward, zipping past me.
Huh? Did it not notice me?
Lector sprang back and began to draw out another arrow, but the Hypersonic Bat was quick to unleash another sonic screech, severely dazing him as the blast of sound struck him, trails of blood running down his ears and nostrils as he stumbled back shakily, his eyelids fluttering as he desperately tried to maintain his consciousness, before collapsing onto his knees and falling over with a thud.
I quickly and quietly slunk towards the Boss Room as the Monster approached Lector's unconscious body, its focus entirely on him.
I got lucky that it didn't notice me, Lector's arrow enraged it and drew all its attention to him, maybe my dark outfit helped me blend into the shadows too.
Whatever the case, I can't waste this opportunity!
As the Hypersonic Bat began to bend down towards Lector, drooling hungrily, I took a deep breath to compose myself, before chanting as I exhaled slowly...
"
As the black, smoke-like jaws of energy burst forth from my right shoulder blade, I sent the jaws zipping out towards the Monster as fast as I could, aiming to tear its head clean off of its shoulders.
As the jaws closed in on it and started to snap shut, my eyes widened in disbelief as it reacted in the instant that the fangs of the jaws came into contact with the sides of its neck, leaping up and forward before roaring in pain as I chomped off a shallow chunk off its upper back.
Blood streamed down its back as it caught a glimpse of its spine, before I quickly raced away as it spun around furiously and unleashed a devastating sonic screech, just barely evading the attack as I leapt off to my right.
As I narrowly dodged the ringing blast of sound, clouds of dust rising up in its trail, I spun across towards the entrance of the Boss Room, just in time as the Monster came flying back out of the tunnel and into the space, before firing out another sonic screech at me.
But this one wasn't as wide or as powerful, I sprang off to my left to avoid it, puffs of dust rising up across the ground as the wave of sound barreled across the area.
I see, it can't fire off those sonic blasts at full power in quick succession, that's good.
Damn it, I'd have liked to have inflicted at least a little bit more damage with Devour, but still, it's definitely in a lot of pain, and the wound is bleeding pretty profusely.
If I can drag this out, it'll steadily get weaker and weaker the more blood it loses.
Uh-huh, yeah, I'm well-aware of that.
Even so, I've got plenty of tricks up my sleeve...and with no conscious witnesses around, I don't need to hold back!
"
A slightly dazed, disoriented look appeared on the Hypersonic Bat's face, as I drew out my short-sword and shot towards it, leaping forward as I closed in and whipping my blade across at its neck.
The Monster quickly spread out its wings and zipped up into the air, a shallow cut appeared across its right side as my blade grazed it, drawing out a few trickles of blood as it flew up and got some distance, growling threateningly as it eyed me warily.
Lethargy, one of my Sloth Skills.
For the cost of 15 MP, it unleashes a wave of energy across a twenty-five meter radius, any living creature besides me that gets hit by the wave of energy are struck with a sharp spike in fatigue.
Specifically, it adds fatigue equal to approximately ten hours with no sleep. So, the more exhausted a target already is, the more effective this Skill is.
Of course, I can't use it around allies since they'd get caught up in it too, but since everyone else is either unconscious or ran away, I have no reason to hold it back.
The only downside to this Skill is that it's got a thirty minute cooldown period, so I can't cast it again until the cooldown runs out.
Still, with the effect of Lethargy stacked on top of its increasing blood loss, I'd wager it's a good ways away from being at its best. This is bound to be a tough battle regardless, but I have a chance.
I can't hesitate or doubt myself for even a second, the only way I'm surviving is if I win this fight. I can do this, I can kill this thing...
"You may be stronger than I am, but don't think that means I'll just roll over and die! You're nothing more than fodder for me to use to boost my stats!" I smirked tauntingly, before adding with a lick of my lips, "Ohh, what a lucky turn of events this is."