"Five Deimos-Ranked Beasts this early in the Beast Tide doesn't bode well," the Mayor of Whitebridge City, Garth muttered as he rubbed his chin.
"Indeed," a middle-aged Dwarf wearing a peculiar set of armor replied. "But, it is still within the acceptable grounds."
The middle-aged dwarf smiled as he drank a mug of mead, while paying close attention to the battles that were happening outside the city.
Although he was making sure to keep watch on their surroundings to ensure that nothing escaped his eyes, most of his attention was directed towards the Deimos-Ranked Monster, Ivory Killer Warthog, who was now charging towards a Skeleton, who had performed well at the beginning of the Beast Tide.
Two out of the five Deimos-Ranked Monsters that the scouts had sighted were Alpha Monsters. This was bad news for the defenders, but as long as the two Alpha Monsters were defeated, they would be able to handle the rest.
The Deimos-Ranked Monster that was charging towards Diablo was not an Alpha Monster, but the threat it posed was something that couldn't be ignored either.
"Sir, will you not make a move to stop at least one of the Alpha Deimos Monsters on the battlefield?" Garth asked in a polite tone. "I am afraid that the Elite Teams will not be able to handle them by themselves."
The middle-aged Dwarf drank his mug of mead until it was empty before standing up.
"I guess it can't be helped," the middle-aged Dwarf said. "We can't have too many casualties in this war. I'll handle one of the Alpha Deimos Monsters, you take command of the rest while I am away."
"Yes, Your Excellency," Garth bowed respectfully.
The middle-aged Dwarf smirked before jumping off the ramparts and flying straight towards a ten-meter tall mammoth in the distance.
As a Ranker, it was his duty to ensure that Whitebridge City didn't fall to the Beast Tide. Even so, he was feeling a bit worried because if Deimos-Ranked Monsters had appeared in this stage, it could only mean one thing.
'An Argonaut, and possibly a Dreadnaught-Ranked Monster, is pulling the strings from behind,' the middle-aged Dwarf thought as he smashed his fist on the Mammoth's head, sending it rolling across the ground, screaming in pain.
While the Ranker of the Kingdom was dealing with one of the Alpha-Ranked Deimos Monsters at the center of the Beast Tide, a certain Skeleton Rider and a Warthog clashed for the first time.
Diablo's feet skidded on the ground as he blocked the Ivory Killer Warthog's full charge by himself. The reason why he dismounted from Airon was because he was worried that his Nightmare Horse would be unable to handle the collision and perish instantly.
Airon was only a Rank 2 Monster, and didn't share Diablo's ridiculous buffs. Although he was able to fight alongside his trusted Nightmare against Rank 5 Alpha Monsters, a Deimos-Ranked Monster was a different kind of beast.
One mistake and Airon would be grievously injured, and possibly even killed on the spot, if one of the Warthog's deadly tusks pierced any part of its body.
Due to Diablo's boosted defense, he was barely able to block the Deimos' Monster attack without taking too much damage.
Lux, who was paying close attention to Diablo's health points, breathed a sigh of relief. The damage that Diablo received was minimal, and although it would take him some time to whittle away the Deimos-Ranked Monster's enormous health, the Half-Elf had no reason to worry.
Why?
Because with every second that passed, Monsters and, to a certain extent, Dwarves continued to die in battle.
This unending cycle continued to increase Diablo's attack and defense that allowed him to fight against Deimos-Ranked Monsters.
"Mr. Diablo is amazing!" Colette said as she looked at the Skeleton Rider with sparkling eyes. "Big Brother, was Diablo always that strong?"
"I-It depends on his mood," Lux replied. "Sometimes when he is in the mood, Diablo can be many times stronger than he usually is."
"Wow! That's incredible!"
"I know, right?"
"But, since Diablo is Big Brother's Summon, that only means that Big Brother is even more awesome!"
"Isn't that obvious?"
Matty, as well as the rest of the Dwarves who were listening to Colette's and Lux's conversation, felt that something wasn't right.
However, since Diablo was on their side, they decided to just appreciate the Skeleton Rider's incredible battle against a Deimos-Ranked Monster, that usually had to be dealt with by over a thousand elite members of Aina's Guild.
That was how strong a Deimos-Ranked Monster was. One-on-one battles against them wouldn't work, and only by great numbers would they be able to overcome such a monster, which was considered a Field Boss Monster that could be found in the Apostle Grade Areas of the Kingdom of Gweliven.
After breaking the Warthog's momentum, Diablo fired two bone spears in quick succession, aiming for the monster's eye, but his opponent used its tusks to deflect his attacks with relative ease.
'Now I understand why monsters like these need to be fought by thousands of people,' Lux thought. 'Since its whole attention is on Diablo, it can easily react to his attacks without any problems.'
While Lux was thinking of ways to fight the Deimos Monster, the thirty Skeleton Fighters charged at the Warthog's side and slashed its body.
The sound of metal hitting a hard object spread in the surroundings, but after checking the monster's life, the damage couldn't even be considered a scratch since the skeleton fighter's combined assault only did a measly thirty damage.
What did this mean? It means that the only damage they were able to deal to their opponent was only one point.
The Half-Elf sighed as he looked at the Monster's stats, which made him realize that unless Diablo was able to land a clean hit on its body, its health would remain high even if all the skeletons were to continuously attack its body at the same time.
—--
< Ivory Killer Warthog >
– Overlord of the Forest
– Wandering Field Boss
– Deimos-Ranked Monster
Health: 4,799,970 / 4,800,000
Mana: 300,000 / 300,000
Strength: ????
Intelligence: ????
Vitality: ????
Agility: ????
Dexterity: ????
Defense: 2000
– The Ivory Killer Warthog is an Overlord of the forest. It is usually found in the lush green forests where it forages for food three times a week. Its main diet is composed of tubers and roots. However, when it feels threatened, this monster will not hesitate to attack anyone that it sets its eyes on.
– Its hide is quite thick and most attacks will bounce off its body unless it was imbued by the power of the elements.
– There is a saying that when the Ivory Killer Warthog had set its sights on its target, the poor creature will only have a few seconds to escape before the Warthog's tusk impaled their bodies.
—--
"Aina, Diablo can't fight that beast alone," Lux said with a serious expression on his face. "The best he can do is fight the Ivory Killer Warthog into a stalemate. If you are fine with that, we can continue to remain here in the walls and just focus on attacking the monsters that have broken past their battle."
Lux didn't tell Aina that Diablo could probably defeat the Warthog if he was given more time. What the Half-Elf wanted to know was how Aina would deal with this kind of situation. Depending on her answer, he would change his strategy to match her decision.
"I appreciate the efforts that you and Diablo had done for our guild," Aina answered as she gazed at Lux with the same calm expression on her face. However, her eyes were anything but calm.
Lux could feel the burning determination in them, which made him realize that the doll-like beauty in front of him wasn't a herbivore.
"Do not underestimate us too much," Aina stated. "My guild isn't weak."
After saying her words to Lux, the Warrior Princess faced her guild members and gave her orders.
"Battle Formation!" Aina ordered. "Arrowhead Formation!"
""Yes!""
The temporary gates of the Earthen Wall opened allowing Eternal's melee fighters to charge towards the Warthog that was busy exchanging blows with Diablo.
Just like an arrow that was released from the bow, the warriors formed four arrow heads as they charged at their target.
This was a purely offensive battle strategy that Aina had created in order to fight against Deimos-Ranked Beasts that could also be found inside Dungeons. The purpose of this formation was to deal as much damage as possible to a monster, while it was being tanked by the Shield Warriors in front.
Since Diablo was holding the beast for them, they could now attack it without any worries.
"Shield Warriors, follow up with the Tower Formation!" Aina ordered. "Make sure to deploy your Shield Walls as soon as possible and block the other monsters from attacking our warriors! Mages, use Ray Type spells and focus on targeting the monster's eyes.
"Healers, place your buffs on the Shield Warriors! Do not, under any circumstance, use heal on the Skeleton. Anyone who uses Heal on Diablo will be immediately expelled from the guild. Do I make myself clear?!"
"""Yes!"""
Lux was amazed because in just a short period of time, the entirety of Eternal was mobilized to attack the Deimos Ranked Monster in front of them.
He almost laughed out loud when Aina reminded the Healers to not heal Diablo under any circumstances. He had completely forgotten that his Skeleton Rider was weak against Life, Fire, and Holy Magic.
If not for Aina's reminder, he believed that some of the healers would accidentally heal Diablo, which would make his Named Creature curse them under his breath.
