Just then, a new red panel popped up beside him as the mechanical voice echoed within his head.
[Alert!!!
Wave One Boss Detected.
Boss species: Iron-fanged Rat (Mutated).]
The boss rat let out a low growl.
Grrrr!
But then, to his surprise, multiple smaller rats began squeezing through the portal.
"What?"
Ray just grabbed his head. Not only had the boss monster entered earlier, but it had even come with a small army.
This was not something he faced in the past.
Ray focused on the smaller rats as their numbers continued to grow.
Only when ten rats had jumped behind the boss did the portal disappear.
Silence settled within the cave.
Ray's eyes grew cold as he motioned back to the snakes. "Back to the barrier."
But the very next moment, the boss rat crouched down.
With a massive roar, it charged forward with waves of smaller rats behind it.
The slowest yellow snakes at the front were crushed apart like brittle twigs.
One was flung against the wall. Another got ripped apart by the iron fangs.
Multiple rats jumped on the last two.
Snap!
In a moment, all the connections broke within his head.
"Damn, too many losses."
Ray did not flinch. He pointed at the boss. "Emerald, hold it."
The only complete group hissed together. All of them rushed to the boss's legs.
Grrrr!
Growling, the boss bit a chunk off another snake. It shook its head as if celebrating another kill.
But that did not stop the others. Each of them coiled around all four of the boss rat's legs.
The boss tried to shake them off but failed.
Ray smiled. These things had the strongest coil strength.
Frustrated, it growled and bent down.
Right at that moment, he clapped. "Got you. Now."
Just then, two black snakes shot out from the shadows. Hissing, both snakes aimed for the big red eyes.
At the last moment, the boss tilted its head.
Still, one of the snakes managed to bite off the left eye, while the other barely missed, only biting the rat's cheek.
Squeakkk!!
The big rat started to squeal.
Ray shouted at the black snakes, "Run."
The moment both snakes fell off the boss's face, the boss rat, in anger, slammed itself to the ground, trying to bite them.
But the small black snakes had already slipped through a small crack in the rock.
Ray clapped his hands as the boss turned to stare at him.
He stared back and closed his fist. "Strangle."
In that instant, all the emerald snakes shifted from the limbs to the body. One wrapped around the boss's neck, and two coiled between its legs, each biting into the hind leg.
In pain, the boss tried to roll over the ground, crushing the unlucky one under its weight.
It did not stop there as it rolled multiple times across the cave floor.
Ray watched as the emerald scales shone within the cave. The three remaining snakes had already locked themselves onto the boss.
Still not giving up, the boss squeaked and turned to look at its group, only to freeze.
Ray shifted his gaze. Around half a dozen smaller rats were crushed near the incline as they struggled against the group of brown snakes.
Almost all of them had blue veins running over them. Just then, the last black snake once again launched at another rat. It bit the rat and disappeared into the shadows.
Panicked rats rushed to the incline, desperately biting at the brown snakes in their way, but these rats were much smaller than the seven that had entered at the start.
None of them was strong enough to rip through the brown snakes. Just as a rat managed to scratch one, the brown snake moved back over another, and the second snake blocked them.
From time to time, different brown snakes took the brunt of the attacks. None of them rushed forward to attack.
In desperation, another rat tried to leap over the blockade, only for a coiled green snake to shoot up and block its advance.
As both the green snake and rat fell, a couple of massive brown fangs struck them.
The small slippery snake easily passed through the gap, while another squeaking rat met its end.
Finally, at the front, other black snakes joined the fray and managed to bite the last rat, leaving it to gawk desperately at the brown-scaled wall.
Ray turned to the boss monster. The monster had already entered a frenzy, slamming itself against the rocks.
Too bad the emerald snakes were coiled into gaps that did not take much impact.
Still, Ray remained focused on the boss.
Even in its last struggle, the boss was slowly moving toward the incline.
He was once again surprised by its strength. The one he faced in the past was much weaker than this.
Ray turned to the incline and shook his head. This boss rat was too strong for the brown snakes. He could not let it move any closer.
He turned toward the last three brown snakes and ruthlessly pointed at the boss. "Attack!"
Three bloodied snakes hissed and slithered toward the beast.
He coldly stared at the blood trail and then turned toward the corner where the last barely alive yellow snake wiggled.
After a second, he shook his head. "Nah, let's wait."
One after another, brown snakes rushed in to latch onto the boss.
They even succeeded, but another one got crushed under the boss as another connection snapped in his mind.
Now with five snakes on it, the boss continued to struggle, but at a much slower pace.
After a long time, the boss rat became too weak to move as blue veins spread all over its body.
But it was not without loss. Two more connections snapped as one brown and one emerald snake remained wrapped around the rat's limp body.
The boss rat looked at him and whimpered one last time as the light faded from its only eye.
Ding!
Just then, white light engulfed the entire cave, including Ray.