One of them, we might be able to handle if we work together well. Two of them, however… Things are going to get a little tricky then…
I quickly called up one of my Shadow Summons and directed it towards the second Rat Shadow Stalker while I directed my party.
“Odeta! Concentrate on attacking the first one! Katsuki, support her!! Edir, focus on helping my summon with the second one!”
All of them answered affirmative to my orders, though Edir was a moment slower since she was obviously not used to my command yet.
The first Rat Shadow Stalker was forced to focus its attention on Odeta as the Amrap engaged it in close combat.
She threw several punches at it and landed a few blows on the rat before it raised its arms in defence.
It tried to scratch her in between one of the punches, only to stop quickly and pull back its arm to allow a small, poisoned needle to fly past where its arm had been, courtesy of Katsuki.
It turned towards Katsuki and bared its teeth, furious that she would try to attack it from behind.
Odeta let out a warcry which served to direct the Rat’s attention towards her instead of Katsuki who was trying to move to a better flanking position to attack.
For that split second that it was distracted, the Rat received a punch across its snout from the Amrap, knocking a few of its teeth loose before causing it to stumble a step back.
The duo had relatively good cooperation since they have fought side by side before so they were at least able to adapt to each other relatively well.
Odeta tried to do another follow up punch but the Rat Shadow Stalker caught her wrist and snarled at her, its mouth opening wide to try and chew on her face.
The Amrap responded by punching its jaw with an uppercut, snapping its jaw close and knocking it back a step before she threw her elbow across its snout to knock it further back.
The Rat recovered almost instantly, using its mantle to block a few throwing knives that Katsuki threw at it before pulling them out to throw them back at her.
Putting her exceptional dexterity to use, she caught all the blades mid air before tossing them back towards her target again, the Rat unable to do the same since Odeta redoubled her efforts in trying to smash its face in.
The Rat ended up ducking its head to avoid the daggers which nearly allowed Odeta to knee it in the face in that position as it avoided the blow by mere inches by tilting its head back.
For now, that fight over there seemed evenly matched but Odeta clearly had a bigger advantage since Katsuki was backing her up.
As for the other Rat Shadow Stalker, I managed to get the jump on it as it was not expecting an enemy to appear out of the shadows and start attacking it.
My summon leapt out of the darkness and stabbed a shortsword made using my [Shadow Forge] into the Rat Shadow Stalker’s side before pulling out and leaping back. The rat roared out in rage, hurt but still very much alive even as its crimson blood splattered on the Dungeon floor.
It then leapt towards my summon, only to be impeded in its advance by Edir’s arrow that would have landed in between its eyes had it not stopped itself at the very last moment.
I watched as my summon took advantage of that opening to slash its sword at the Rat, only for the monster to swat the blade away with the back of its hand by hitting the flat of the sword.
The Rat then thrusted its hand towards my summon’s neck who only managed to move out of the way at the very last moment and received a gash along her neck as its claws swept past.
My summon then brought her knee up to try and kick what I assume to be the Rat Shadow Stalker’s solar plexus but the monster simply blocked it with its palm, trapping her there to smash its head against hers.
It then tried to slash at her throat again but it was too focused on my summon that Edir managed to land a hit on its arm with her arrow, the projectile piercing through its wrist to remain stuck halfway through its limb.
To be able to shoot its wrist at this range when it’s moving so fast… I can’t tell if it’s luck or skill on her part.
I followed up with shooting a [Static Bolt] while the Rat was occupied with trying to pull out the arrow on its wrist, stunning it for a brief moment as soon as the spell hit.
That was all the time my summon needed to plunge its short sword into its throat.
I was expecting that to be a fatal blow or something but I noticed that the Rat managed to move its neck out of the way at the last moment so the blade only nicked the side of its neck. It only looked like the blade had gone through its neck because of the angle we were looking at it from.
The monster responded to that quickly by thrusting its own claw through my summon’s neck, killing her instantly.
Great…
The Rat Shadow Stalker then snatched another arrow that Edir fired and snapped it in between its fingers before snarling at us.
I wanted to call up another Shadow Summon but it closed the distance between us in an instant, its claw already stretching towards my neck.𝑂𝗏𝐿xt.𝐂𝒐𝗆
I reacted instinctively by using the back of my fist to hit its wrist to divert its attack away before taking a step back to lower my posture and striking at its abdomen with my other fist.
The rat moved faster than I did and shifted its body to the side to avoid my fist, letting it sail past its side without hitting it.
The next thing I knew, pain erupted from the side of my head and I found myself falling towards the floor.
It took me a moment to realise I had been struck across the head before I attempted to push myself off the ground.
A heavy blow struck me on the back and I found myself falling back down onto the ground again.
More pain exploded from my shoulder and I looked to see the monster had bitten me on the top part of my shoulder, gnawing away on my flesh as though trying to rip my arm off.
Thankfully, the dress that Mother enchanted for me managed to hold firm, preventing the Rat from actually reaching my flesh. Though it would definitely cause a few bruises from how hard it was biting down on me.
“SISTER ASTER!!!” Odeta roared, abandoning her fight with the first Rat Shadow Stalker to rush towards me.
“No! Odeta!! I’m fine! Focus on the first one!” I cried out.
Unfortunately, I gave that warning too late as I did not expect her to come rushing to me like that.
She shoulder charged the Rat above me away, causing it to let out a startled screech before it was sent crashing towards the wall.
Without Odeta holding the first Rat Shadow Stalker’s attention, it ended up turning its sights towards Katsuki.
My Inugami maid was fast, but that thing was faster.
She knew in a head on confrontation, she would not be able to fight it evenly and tried to put distance between them by throwing a few more daggers at it.
The Rat easily avoided them and started chasing after her, forcing my Inugami maid to try and cast her magic in an attempt to force it back.
The Rat moved faster than she could escape and caught up to her almost immediately, its claws swiping out in an arc to slash against her side.
She had to use an arm to block it and I heard the telltale ‘crack’ of her arm breaking from the force of the impact.
Katsuki let out a gasp of pain before she was flung away from the monster, her petite body crashing into the Dungeon’s wall before she slumped down on the ground, unconscious.
With Katsuki out of the fight, the Rat next turned its sight towards Edir who was trying her best to nock her next arrow to shoot at it.
But even I could tell that she would not be able to make much difference with that.
Odeta realised her mistake and tried to rush back to get the first Rat’s attention.
The monster barely even looked at her before it appeared above Edir, its jaw biting down on her shoulder and drawing blood while the ranger cried out in pain and falling backwards from the monster’s weight.
The Rat Shadow Stalker bit down even harder and Edir’s screams intensified as she tried to shake the monster off of her.
Thankfully, Odeta managed to reach her before the monster bit her arm off and struck the monster away with a punch that was infused with her [Body Current].
Edir groaned as she held her mutilated arm with her other hand, trying to push herself up before suddenly falling backwards onto the ground, unmoving.
Well fuck this…