With the Wizard Lizard and its collection of friendly mage slaves occupied with drenching the gigantic croc in their midst with mana, now seems like the perfect time to rip into the horde. Claws crossed they won't be able to divert their attention towards us whilst engaged in this sort of activity.
[Let's hit 'em hard!] I roared at my pets and opened up the condensed water cannon I'd been working on.
The super dense beam of water blasted out and drilled into the back of a particularly annoying looking giant centipede before I turned the spell to the side and begin scything through the ranks of monsters before me. With an excited grin on his face, Tiny climbed to his feet and thrust his hands forward, unleashing his lightning to the limit.
At the same time, Crinis unleashed her tentacles, allowing the curled limbs to emerge from the very shadows of the monsters before us, grasping them tightly and beginning to rend them apart before they even realised they were under attack.
Gweheheheh!
Yesssssss. Feel our power! Behold our might! Surprise attack right in the commercial district! How you like them apples? Huh!? Bet you don't like it much! You'll regret attacking my colony!
Cackling to myself I continued to play the concentrated beam of water on the monsters before me, sweeping it back and forth in slow arcs that scythe down the monsters in front of us. Spray fountained into the air, covering monsters as far as fifty metres away in droplets of water that left them vulnerable to the oncoming lightning onslaught.
There was something cathartic about unleashing this level of mayhem against an enemy so much larger and more powerful than myself. I couldn't say it was, but a part of me rejoiced in this risk taking behaviour. Exposing myself to danger was becoming habit forming.
At least Tiny was happy…
And he was. As much as the giant bat-faced ape loved to get his fists on the enemy, he also enjoyed a good roasting from time to time. It wasn't quite as satisfying for him, but nevertheless he gained a great deal of joy from it. For her part, Crinis was eerily silent, almost quivering with barely concealed rage as she unleashed her dark arts upon the hapless foes. So numerous were her tentacles that I was forced to try and avoid severing them with my water cannon and direct the spray away.
Our onslaught was so rapid and overwhelming the monsters didn't know how to respond at first, milling about in confusion, turning this way and that, seemingly devoid of direction. And perhaps they were! If the big croc and the Kaarmodo are busy doing the mana thing, then regardless which of them is responsible for voodoo'ing these monsters into line, they aren't getting directions from either of them right now!
This is the time to strike!
[Let's go loud! Tiny, once you're out of electricity, get your fists in there. Try to cover us Crinis, I'm going in!]
Tiny's grin grew so wide every one of his fangs was revealed as he doubled his efforts to output his lightning mana as fast as possible. We might be able to harvest some serious xp if the response is going to be this slow!
I started to step forward whilst maintaining my concentration on the spell. The effective range on the water cannon wasn't as much as I'd like and if I wanted to keep cutting through the monsters then I needed to close the distance. The first targets of our assault were already beyond saving, we need to press forward, deeper into the belly of the beast in order to find more victims.
And that's exactly what we did, with Crinis staying slightly behind to position for our escape, we stepped into the mass of monsters until a wide semi-circle of carnage had been created before us. The notifications of the bushy bearded one rang constantly in my mind and I pushed them to one side. No need to get distracted by that miscellaneous noise, I'll check my status after we get out.
At this point the monsters began to turn and push back into us. The lethargy was gradually falling away from them and being replaced with the more customary aggression and rage as the light returned to their eyes. Growls and roars began to fill the air along with the clicking of mandibles and stomping of feet.
I noticed the change immediately and snapped my mana sense back on. It still seems as if the Kaarmodo is still performing its grand working, the mana continues to flood toward the centre of the horde. The area around here is going to be dead mana-wise after this is done.
I took a moment to consider my options. The monsters are beginning to fight back, which is bad, but the Kaarmodo is still distracted, which is good, the further we push forward the more vulnerable we'll be, which is bad, but the more we push in the more damage we can inflict, which is good.
Gah!
[Keep swinging Tiny! We'll hit 'em for two more minutes and then skedaddle!] I hollered to my pets.
Tiny roared and started throwing his fists around with wild abandon, fresh out of electricity with which to aim at his opponents. Bellowing with anger, the monsters around him turned to engage, trying to bite, claw and beat the giant ape into submission. Reluctantly I let my spell fade in order to relieve the pressure on my sub-brains. After maintaining the water water mana construct and pumping out condensed mana for so long they were reaching their limits.
I did get them to keep the water mana construct formed, just in case.
With the jet of piercing water no longer holding them back, the monsters before us started to collapse towards me, baring their fangs at Crinis and I. Settle down monsters, you're about to catch these (face) hands.
Receive the Severing Bite of my Justice!
CHOMP!
We were in deep now, and getting deeper. More and more monsters were responding to our aggression and piling into the melee that had developed. Crinis did her best to keep us from being surrounded, but as time went on she was forced to dedicate more tentacles to defending herself as foes swarmed around her.
Things were getting dicey. As an evolved rabbit attempted to kick my head in, sending shockwaves through my carapace that were absorbed by my inner plating, I thought that perhaps we were in a little too deep. I twisted my body to avoid the claws of Dragon Wolf hound and severed the rabbit's legs, I decided it was time to enact our exit strategy.
[Tiny! Scream!] I shouted.
Immediately the giant ape through his head back and unleashed his sonic scream. The mind numbing blast of sound exploded outwards, stunning everything within earshot and making my head ring.
[Break free! Time to get out of here!]
Following my own advice, I stumbled only a little due to the stun before I managed to shake off both the effects and the monsters hanging onto me. Satisfied with the havoc caused and the damage inflicted, Tiny and I began to run for the hills.
That's when the magic fence popped up.