As the different guilds made their way toward the Sacred Dungeon, which was located at the center of the Hidden Domain, they kept their guard up in order to prepare for any contingencies.
Even Lux had summoned Diablo and Pazuzu, and they were currently walking by his side to ensure that they would be able to react if their Master was in any kind of danger.
Eiko, who was perched on top of Lux's head, looked left and right with curiosity. She was able to rank up after eating the Beast Cores, which were the remaining spoils of war from the defending Whitebridge City.
Of course, these Beast Cores weren't enough, but after knowing the baby slimes dilemma, Iris used her stash of Beast Cores to allow Eiko to increase her strength before the expedition in the Hidden Domain.
Because of this, the Baby Slime gained many new abilities, including adding two more summons to her squad of slimes, who she named Saber and Cloud.
—--
< Eiko >
"The world is my oyster!"
– Named Slime Monster
– Rating: C
– Progress ( 0 / 20,000)
Health: 7,600 / 7,600
Mana: 32,500 / 32,500
Strength: 92
Intelligence: 650
Vitality: 152
Agility: 92
Dexterity: 92
Special Abilities: Mimicry [EX], Regeneration [EX], Family Bond [EX], Speech [EX], Dig [EX], Storage [EX], Poison Immunity [EX], True Sight [EX], Stealth [EX]
Summon Skills: Summon Blackie (Devil Slime), Summon Whitey (Angel Slime), Summon Rocky (Earth Slime), Summon Maya (Water Slime), Summon Saber (Saber Slime), Summon Cloud (Aero Slime).
Active Skill: Water Bullet, Hydro Ball. Fire Bullet, Fire Bolt, Wind Bullet, Aero Ball, Stone Bullet, Stone Spike, Shadow Bullet, Shadow Ball, Blink, Teleport, Cure, Cure-All, Mad Sprint, Moon Blast, Elemental Shields, Slash, Heavy Slash, Scorching Ray, Fire Wall, Entangling Vines, Locate Flora or Fauna, Sticky Web
Passive Skill: Uncanny Dodge, Very Tough, Guts
Titles: Mama's and Papa's Girl, Treasure Hunter,
Note: This Baby Slime is the real Protagonist!
—-
< Storage [EX] >
– Eiko can devour items and store them inside her body.
– Maximum weight of items that can be stored inside her body is ten tons.
– Can Store Living Creatures for a short period of time.
– Maximum number of creatures that can be stored inside the body is three.
– Maximum duration of storing living creatures inside the body is three hours.
—--
< True Sight [EX] >
– Eiko can see invisible creatures, hidden passages, as well as other creatures, places, or things that wouldn't be normally seen through normal eyesight.
—--
< Treasure Hunter >
Eiko can detect the presence of nearby treasures around her with great accuracy.
—----
"Mumumumu!" Eiko grumbled on top of Lux's head because she could detect plenty of treasures that were spread out within the Hidden Domain.
Unfortunately, she could also sense strong monsters guarding these treasures, so she was unable to get them.
Her Papa also told her that she shouldn't do any reckless actions because the place they were currently at was very dangerous. Because of this, she just stayed put on the Half-Elf's head.
'Don't worry, Eiko,' Lux said through telepathy. 'When we get stronger, we can always return here using the special Teleport Scrolls I acquired long ago.'
'Pa!'
After Lux completed the quest Birth Of An Abomination, he was given several rewards, and among them was the option to choose one among four special rewards that was given to him as a bonus.
These four choices were the Hell Horse, Golden Token of Gweliven, a Monster Egg, and four Teleport Scrolls that allowed him to directly teleport to any places he had visited, regardless of restrictions that were set in place.
Meaning, since he had already entered the Hidden Domain, he could come back to it at any given time in the future.
This would allow him to explore and gather resources inside it, even if it remain closed to the outside world. For Lux, this was one of the reasons why he accepted Cai's invitation to join her faction in coming inside the Hidden Domain.
Suddenly, several buzzing sounds were heard around them and the trees in the forest started to shake.
Lux had encountered a similar scenario back in the Figaro Gardens, and he immediately summoned Ishtar, as well as a dozen Skeleton Grand Archers to intercept the approaching threat that was coming their way.
"Mosquitoes!" Enlil shouted as he hovered above everyone's heads, and spread his arms to create powerful gusts of winds that blew outwards to prevent the thousands of mosquitoes that were flying in their direction to advance.
These were not regular mosquitoes but Rank 3 Mosquitoes that were called Ruthless Venom Mosquitoes.
Just like their name suggests, their bites could inject poison to their targets, paralyzing their entire bodies, which would allow the mosquitoes to suck on their bloods, while their victims watch helplessly as they turn into dried up husks, deprived of blood.
Vall immediately transformed into an Alpha-Ranked Elegant Golden Jumping Spider, and spat webs around them to create a deathtrap to the mosquitoes that had managed to evade Enlil's attacks.
Although a single mosquito was not a threat to them, a swarm of mosquitoes that numbered in the thousands was not something they could easily fend off.
Among these mosquito swarms were hundreds of Rank 4 Mosquitoes, which were called Horned Harlequin Mosquitoes. But that was not all. At the swarm's very core was a Rank 5 Field Monster, which was notorious for destroying entire villages and towns, while commanding its massive mosquito army.
Its name was the Diabolical Doom Mosquito, whose body was covered in red and black stripes, making it look incredibly deadly.
Lux eyed the four-meter tall flying mosquito in the distance as he used his Elysium Compendium to check its information.
—---
< Diabolical Doom Mosquito >
– Terror Mosquito
– Rank 5 Field Boss Monster
Health: 900,000 / 900,000
Mana: 250,000 / 250,000
Strength: 300
Intelligence: 500
Vitality: 900
Agility: 1000
Dexterity: 1000
Active Skills: Poison Sting, Increase Agility, Fury Attack, Poison Spray, Sky Assault, Sting Drill, Hyper Blast, Increase Evasion,
Passive Skills: Enhanced Fortitude, Doom Fervor, Lifesteal, Tactician.
Title: Swarm Overlord
—--
< Swarm Overlord >
– Increase the attack and defense of the swarm under its command by 20%
< Doom Fervor >
– When the monster's Health goes below fifty percent, its attack damage would increase by 50%.
—---
The Diabolical Doom Mosquito didn't personally launch an attack at the Apostles, whose rich blood had attracted them from far away. It used its aerial superiority, as well as its numbers, to attack the humans that were completely outnumbered five to one.
Despite Enlil's and Vall's effort to deter and keep the mosquitoes at bay, the power of the swarm descended upon them nevertheless.
All of the teenagers that had come to enter the domain were the elites of their respective guilds. The majority of them had already fought against Beast Tides, so they already knew what to do when dealing with beasts whose numbers far exceeded their own.
Unfortunately, even with their experience, several of them were still pierced by the mosquitoes needle-like mouths, causing them to get poisoned and paralyzed.
As the corpses of countless mosquitoes surrounded them, their fighting space became smaller, which made the defenders' movements quite sluggish and, in turn, giving the mosquitoes several opportunities to deliver a deadly bite on their blindspots, which caused their defenses to crumble.
Dozens of crippled young men and women were helplessly carried off by the mosquitoes, as their blood was sucked mid-air.
This hellish scene continued for several minutes until more than half of the mosquito swarm were eliminated due to everyone's outrage after seeing their friends and comrades being killed in front of them.
Diablo, whose strength rose by leaps and bounds due to the number of dead creatures around him, created a killing zone that instantly felled any mosquito that came within his range.
Two of the members of the Rowan Tribe had been caught off guard by the mosquitoes and was carried away during the skirmish.
There was nothing that Lux could do to save them, so he just focused on preventing the rest of his team from getting killed.
Cai had already used her Second Gear and transformed into Hildisvíni, whose tough hide prevented any of the mosquito bites from penetrating deep in its defenses.
Several clinking sounds were heard as Keane repeatedly flicked the handle of his sword, splitting the mosquitoes into two halves, killing them instantly.
Eiko had already summoned all of its Slimes as they created a protective perimeter around her surroundings.
Iris had already summoned her Five Beast Companions that ensured that not even a strand of her hair would be touched by the mosquito swarm that came to them en masse.
This gave Lux some peace of mind as he focused on eliminating as many mosquitoes as possible.
He, as well as the strong members of the expedition, was paying close attention to the Diabolical Doom Mosquito that was simply hovering in the sky. They knew that it was only waiting for a perfect opportunity to strike and eliminate the strong fighters that were making it difficult for its swarm to truly gain the upperhand.
Enlil, who kept on creating powerful tornadoes that sucked the mosquitoes mid-air and shredded them into pieces, was the swarm's greatest threat in the battlefield.
However, none of them could approach him because the Elf was a true Master of manipulating the Wind Element. As flying creatures, they needed the wind to navigate in the air, but the Elf had effectively created a protective zone around him that could repel any mosquito that came within a hundred meter distance away from him.
Vall was also another pain in the ass that made the mosquitoes incredibly frustrated. The Spider Boy had created a dome of sticky web around the trees, effectively trapping them, and binding them in place.
He was also very nimble in his spider form, so any mosquito that attempted to approach it would only find themselves cut into pieces by the invisible strings that he had prepared beforehand, making them wary of approaching him.
When the mosquitoes realized that the defenders had already found the right way on how to deal with them, the Diabolical Doom Mosquito screeched and ordered a retreat.
The reason why it retreated was not because it couldn't overpower the teenagers on the ground.
It retreated because the other monsters in the forest had been attracted to the smell of blood and corpses in the battlefield, which made them leave their dwellings to join the fray.
"Sh*t! Everyone, head to the Sacred Dungeon in haste!" Einar, the Barbarian, roared. "Other beasts are coming! If we stay here, we will get sandwiched from all sides! Run now while you still can!"
As soon as they heard the Barbarian's warning, everyone immediately ran towards the direction of the Sacred Dungeon. More than a hundred of them were already killed during the fight against mosquitoes, and more would die if they stayed behind.
Although everyone was running, they made sure that their formation was as closely packed as possible.
The Rowan Tribe, whose role was to guard the rear had no choice but to carry the stragglers, whose stamina wasn't that high to begin with. Most of these people were magic casters and healers, who specialized in the magical arts but didn't excel in physical training.
Fortunately, Lux could summon skeletons and golems. Because of this, their advance wasn't impeded as the skeletons carried those who were unable to run anymore, making them look at the Half-Elf with grateful gazes.
Lux would glance behind him from time to time, because he could feel that several predatory gazes had locked onto his body. Sensing the threat coming from their backs, Orion positioned himself directly behind the Half-Elf, effectively blocking his body from being seen from behind.
A moment later, several roars, shrieks, and growls, were heard from the distance as some of the Beasts in the forests feasted on the corpses of the mosquitoes, as well as the dried up husks of the young men and women, who would never be seen again.
