"Those with spells, use spells!" Alex ordered. "Those with spears, throw your spears. Those who can’t do ranged attacks or do not have weapons, throw stones! Everyone, attack!"
As soon as the order was given, Leo hurled a Stone Bullet at the blinded monster’s head. It hit the mark, resulting in a deafening screech of anger, pain, and frustration.
Now was the time to go on the offensive, and everyone didn’t hold back and attacked with everything they had.
"Serpent Lash!" Lavinia moved closer and used her sword whip to deal more damage toward the monster that had terrorized her and the other Catkins for the past few days.
Because of it, they hadn’t been able to sleep or eat properly.
Their anxiety had kept their brains active, and their fear had made them lose their appetite. Battle preparations had been difficult as the Catkins had struggled to calm those pressing emotions.
Lavinia might not show her anger, but she was going to make that spider pay for the suffering it had put her companions through!
Alex and Dim Dim took out more brittle vials and threw them at the monster’s head and body.
Just like Lavinia, they also had a lot of pent up frustrations. So, they joined the Catkins, and threw caution to the wind.
However, the young man didn’t forget to pay attention to the Boss Monster’s health, which was slowly decreasing after their relentless attacks.
< Red-Striped Zebra Jumping Spider >
Monster Rank: Rank 2 Field Boss Monster
Monster Grade: Mutant
’It’s working!’ Alex cheered silently. ’We just need to keep this up and we will win!’
Despite the fact that the monster’s body had turned to something similar to metal, it still suffered one damage from each hit it received from the wooden spears and stones.
No matter how small that damage was, it could still accumulate, especially when it was inflicted repeatedly by nearly thirty Catkins.
Leo’s Stone Bullets also dealt great damage to the enemy, frustrating it further.
But just as Alex thought that they already had this in the bag, the Boss Monster suddenly lunged toward one of the Catkins who was armed with only a stone.
Knowing that the Catkin didn’t stand a chance, Alex tapped his shield with his sword, and activated his skill, Taunt [EX].
"Over here, you pest!" Alex shouted. "Come and get me if you can!"
< Taunt [EX] has activated! >
The Boss Monster’s body stiffened just as it was about to deliver its deadly blow to the Catkin, giving the latter time to jump to the side to evade its attack.
Despite its blinded state, the jumping spider turned and started approaching Alex. His Taunt skill forced the spider to engage him in battle.
However, just like what Alex and Leo had planned beforehand, the guardian golem charged at the monster and punched its head with all of its strength.
This was the strategy that both of them agreed to use, every time an opportunity presented itself.
Sparks flew as the golem’s fist hit the spider’s head.
But to Alex’s surprise, the Boss Monster endured the hit and immediately started spitting web balls at the guardian golem at point-blank range, quickly covering its entire body.
Leo tried to break free from the web binding his body, but the more he struggled, the more entangled he became.
Clearly, the Boss Monster’s sticky web had also gotten stronger after its sudden transformation.
"Sir Leo!" Alex watched in horror as the Boss Monster continued to cover the guardian golem’s body with its sticky web, making sure it would no longer get in its way.
The spider’s vision was starting to recover, but it could only see a few meters in front of it clearly.
Further objects were blurry. However, that was enough for the monster to identify the locations of its targets.
It was very angry because its prey had managed to injure it, which the Boss Monster didn’t expect at the start.
"Everyone, make sure to look out for each other!" Lavinia ordered. "We are going to get out of this alive! Don’t stop attacking it!"
The Catkins obeyed her order despite the surge of anxiety coursing through their veins after seeing that even the guardian golem could not escape the spider’s web.
They continued to hurl their ranged attacks at the Boss Monster, but the latter was no longer in the mood to play games with its prey.
It leaped at one of the Catkins and spat out several web balls while it was still in mid-air.
While some of the Catkins were able to dodge, the rest were not fast enough to evade the spider’s counterattack.
"Dim Dim, I’ll leave it to you!" Alex exclaimed before running towards the Boss Monster with sword and shield at hand.
He had taken out several oil lamps from his storage ring earlier, and placed it on the ground beside the Dim Sum God.
Dim Dim took one of the oil lamps and headed towards Leo, who was covered in sticky webs.
The two knew that they would need the Guardian Golem’s help to defeat the Boss Monster, so freeing it should be their topmost priority.
Lavinia immediately understood what the two intended to do.
However, since Dim Dim was already going to help the guardian golem, she followed Alex to help her people, and give them some time to rejoin their battle formation.
Alex slammed his shield on the side of the spider’s body, causing it to stagger and preventing it from sinking its fangs into one of the Catkins that had been caught in its web.
< The target has been Stunned! >
Hearing the notification sound inside of his head, Alex didn’t hesitate to follow up with another skill that was guaranteed to deal critical damage to the Boss Monster.
Sparks flew as Alex’s sword hit the spider’s abdomen. In retaliation, the monster lashed at him with one of its forelegs.
Raising his shield to block the attack, the young man tanked the blow even though it made his legs feel like they were about to collapse under him.
"Now, Lavinia!" Alex shouted.
The young lady had waited for this perfect opportunity. She jumped over Alex’s body and unleashed one of her strongest attacks.
"Flame Lash!" Lavinia roared.
The sword whip in the princess’s hand burst into flames and slashed across the monster’s body three times before she backed away to safety.
Lioren, who was also waiting for the right moment to strike, drew close to the monster.
"Sword Impact!" he shouted as he gripped his sword with both hands and swung at one of the opponent’s hind legs with all his might.
The thundering clap reverberated through the surroundings the moment the Catkin’s sword made contact with its target.
This was followed by a burst of flames that made the monster scream in pain as one of its hind legs was blown off from its body.
Maddened by pain, the spider swatted Lioren, who hastily used his sword to block the attack.
But the force of the blow was still enough to send him flying.
Alex and Lavinia followed Lioren’s example and focused their attacks on another of the Boss Monster’s hind legs.
Another leg was severed from the monster’s body, enraging it even more
Alex and Lavinia hurriedly backed away, but the spider had no intention of letting them off so easily.
It spat several web balls in their direction. Despite their desperate attempts to dodge the attacks, one of the web balls hit Lavinia mid-jump when she was unable to change her trajectory.
Alex rushed to her side in order to use his sword to cut her free. Of course, the Boss Monster wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen.
"Watch out!" Lavinia screamed as the spider unleashed a web ball at Alex.
At that moment, something tall and big appeared between the young man and the monster’s attack.
Leo’s body, still covered in flames due to the oil lamp that Dim Dim had used to burn the web binding him, swatted the web ball with his left hand.
This caused the sticky web to spread onto his left arm, but he didn’t care about it one bit.
Roaring with determination, the guardian golem threw itself at the Boss Monster and wrestled it to the ground.
Alex used this opportunity to free Lavinia.
But just when the young lady had been freed, something fell a few meters away from them.
It was an arm. The guardian golem was now being torn apart by the Boss Monster, which seemed to have entered a second berserk state.