The Animagus: From Hunter to Monster-Chapter 49: Bat Cave Raid II

’Swiuuu… swiuuuu…" came the whizzing sound of the arrows as it whooshed past them.

"Boom!! Boom!!!"

Following the deafening sound which reverberated through the cave, all the team members instinctively raised their heads up to see what had happened and they were collectively shocked at what they saw.

"Huh…!"

"What the…!"

Buji’s breath hitched. He was unsure whether it was fear or sheer astonishment that got him. He didn’t know they were surrounded by a shield created by the combined mana of Emra and Kira. The realization barely had time to sink in before a massive, nightmarish bat hurtled toward them from above.

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With the deafening impact, the bat had crashed into the shield, shattering it into shards of lustrous energy that dissolved into the air.

Together, the team retracted as the force that emanated from the bat’s landing sent shockwaves rippling through the ground. They assembled in readiness for what was next. Their weapons set in array to counter any attack that might come their way.

But the bats hadn’t finished landing. A swarm of smaller bats, just the size of the former ones they had attacked emerged from above, stopping in front of the massive bat. Other bats which were slightly bigger in size also landed like the smaller ones had done.

For a moment, the hunters thought they had found the boss. They thought the boss was the massive bat, but there thoughts flickered into doubts the moment they witnessed another rumble on the ground.

Their collective gasps welcomed the appearance of the second massive bats, which landed beside the first one. With this, the whole surrounding became calm for a while.

With the sudden silence, the team stepped forward.

"Ready your weapons!" Instructor Gib shouted, gripping her twin daggers tightly.

Buji fumbled with his short sword. His hands trembled as he tried to steady himself. The sight of the monstrous bats towering before them, its leathery wings spanning nearly the width of the cave, was enough to unsettle even the most hardened fighter.

The two monstrous bats let out an earsplitting screech, sending waves off their mouth to brush against any thing that blocked its path, and pushed the hunters backward. The smaller bats were energized by the sound and the flush of energy that surged from the waves. Then, with a dash, they lunged toward the team.

The battle began in earnest.

"I think I will be using my daggers," Emra said, pulling out her twin daggers from its holder buckled to her legs. With an amazing dash, she sped forward, leaving Buji to stare in awe.

"She is this…"

He was distracted by the succumbing sound of a bat by the side. He saw Kira yelling and sending rope-like tendrils upwards to the bats as they flew towards her. As if the magic did no great job, she released the cord which Buji only realized she had come with, wrapped around her, and dashed forward.

Right in front of him was Rose. She was inside a shield of energy which glimmered briefly before it solidified, providing a temporary haven. The shield had been conjured by Kira, and it was to keep Rose off from attacks so that she could easily heal injured opponents without distraction.

Buji on his own side was distracted by the swish and smooth movements of his team members. He hadn’t observed the instructors. Just when he was about to, he found himself face-to-face with one of the smaller bats.

"Oh, my…" but he was cut short in words as the bat lunged at him, with its sharp fangs which glistened. He sidestepped and slashed his sword downward, but the creature was too fast. It veered away and returned with a counter attack of the swipe of its clawed wings. The attack caught Buji off guard, slicing through his sleeve and grazing his arm.

"Ahh!!" he shouted in pain, clutching his arm as blood began to seep through his fingers.

"Damn it!" he muttered under his breath.

"Focus, Buji!" Kira shouted, leaping over him and flipping her cord horizontally in the air. The strikes from the cord were swift and precise, as it sent three birds collapsing on the ground after letting out a painful screech.

"Watch out!" Buji bellowed, pointing his hand above her head.

As though controlled by reflex, Kira immediately tilted her to the direction Buji pointed and shot out snake-like tendrils of her mana substance. The victim bat roared as the flames from the tendrils licked at its wings, until finally, it sent it jolting to the floor with three bounces.

Kira then bent towards Buji to see him seriously injured and fidgeting. She wondered if the healing would be effective if Rose carried it on from inside the shield, so, she thrust Buji to her shoulder and pushed him into the shield to get healed.

The way Buji slipped into the shield, it seemed as though it was open. But, it was really closed. A hard core closure.

Not long Buji was pushed inside the mana shield. The young beautiful girl inside began to make use of her healing magic. And then, with her tiny voice started.

"Don’t quote me wrong, you know? She’s really worried about you. You might get into dangerous situations if you keep on with dungeon raids, sooner or later."

Buji knew not what to say. If only this girl knew how happy he had been the first time he received the benefits and payments from his previous raids. He turned his head to look at the other hunters who were fighting yonder and fiercely.

They had come into this mess through a shimmering portal. From the outside, one could guess that it held beauties inside, but here they were, facing the reality of its beauty.

Except him, and of course, Rose… eight hunters were taking care of the beast bats inside this dungeon. He couldn’t shift his stare from the moment at bay.

The smaller bats had all being taken down, and the eight hunters stood in front of the monstrous huge bats.

’If they can… I mean, if we can continue at this pace, we can’t get through this raid.’

Now he thought about time factor, the female voice rang in his mind for the second time that day.

[04:30:00 remaining]

"Ample time," he bellowed foolishly.

He looked at Rose, who was administering the healing magic to his injured area. Then, catching sight of his eyes, Rose’s eyes fluttered and she decided to hide it with a question.

"Perchance, what made you decide to enter the academy?"

Buji shook his head resolutely.

If he found it hard to tell Kira a dime about his personal life, will he now do that for Rose?

"I thought it was a better school than my former one."

Rose pouted even more.

"Then, you might be very wrong. I mean, with your current status, the academy doesn’t seem fit for you. If you continued with this, you might end up schooling in the netherworld too."

Buji was taken off-guard by her last statement. His thoughts quickly switched to think about Emra, but he flickered it off with the shake of his head.

Buji giggled briefly before finally asking her.

"But, why do you think so? Don’t you think I can survive like others do?"

In his mind, the thought of having something like the monster system and is subordinate system, D.E.M.O.N.S. could take him far than this girl in his front would imagine. If only she knew…

Then Rose’s voice cut in between his thoughts in response to his question. "Not like I’m thinking. I’m only considering her," Rose said, pointing to where Kira stood with other team members.

Buji was amazed by what he saw. One of the massive bats was dead already, and then, the second one was trapped in the magic transparent cage conjured and held steady by Emra and Kira. As they kept the second bat powerless through the caging, other slayers did the job of trying to send it to the world of it monster ancestors.

’I haven’t really seen how talented those Instructors are,’ Buji thought.

His treatment was almost over. In no mean time, he will or, they will be out of the shield since other hunters will take down the remaining bat.

But then, Buji’s expression hardened when he realized he hadn’t achieved anything in that raid.

’Really! I haven’t killed any beast today.’

It dawned on him and he blamed himself for awakening with no talent. If only he had talent, only the Instructors together might be able to take him down.

He relaxed lazily but angrily, putting his head down in between his two knees and supporting them with his hands.

Out of the blue, someone shouted.

"Hey! There’s an entrance here."

Only then did Buji raise his head to realize they had killed the monstrous bat. Even though the raid was not over yet until they killed the boss.

All other hunters rushed to check the entrance, while Jean called out to Buji.

"Buji, come over here," Instructor Jean said to Buji.

With the flap of her thumb against her middle finger, the shield that protected Rose and Buji, allowing Buji to rush over to where others stood.