"Everyone! Fall back!!!" Lina shouted in agony.
Her hair is disheveled, her gorgeous face is grazed with wounds and dirt all over. Her armor was shattered and only what remains of her clothing is the tattered fabric of her garb.
She is not the only one in the same state as everyone else, including Gerard.
As they started to run away, a big shadowy figure suddenly appeared in front of them which made them startled and fear start to shroud their mind and heart as their spine shivered when it produces an eerie roar.
4 hours earlier.
The night passed without a hitch. Gerard was able to sleep well even in their situation due to the loot last night. Lina and Aliyah as watchers go on without a problem.
As the sun rises, Gerard stood up and eat his breakfast. While the rest already have their fill in the real world.
After eating his fill, Gerard start
"All right, let's get going. We will arrive roughly 5 hours from now."
They nodded their head and their march continue. Lex and Lina are on the vanguard. Lite and Aliyah are in the rear while Angel, Sally, and Gerard are between the two.
Gerard didn't expect it will take them 3 days alone to arrive at the rendezvous due to fighting low-level monsters. But it is still within the schedule, after all the Mead Citadel is roughly a hundred miles away. The reason why they need to stop is that Gerard knows that between every stop, monsters patrolling in the area. So they divided the team for reconnaissance and the main group waited behind until the route is cleared.
After walking for more than three hours, they arrived at the abandoned village.
Gerard frowned seeing the abandoned village, not because it was abandoned or what but because there are signs that the area is previously occupied not long ago.
Not only him who noticed this but Lina as well.
"It seems this abandoned village was previously occupied." She turns around and advises everyone to keep safe and practice caution.
"Everyone, this the only way to the rendezvous point, once we pass through this abandoned village, we will arrive there in ten minutes."
They proceed to enter the village.
The village is shrouded in thin fog and litters are everywhere. The abandoned houses seem to break and fall if one touches them.
As they went through the deepest part of the village, they saw signs of occupation, proving not long ago, people are here.
But where those people came from? This village was abandoned hundred years ago. And everyone knew it.
Suddenly, Lex stop in the front which made everyone behind become confused.
"Lex? What's the matter?" Aliyah asked.
"L-look at this." He answered in a stuttered voice as he pointed to a certain location.
Aliyah and the rest glanced at the location and saw a fresh footprint three meters away from them. And when they followed the footprints through their gazes, a spill of blood become present.
They were perplexed by the scene that unfold before them. Not because of the blood but because of the big footprints!
If one measures the footprints, one can easily identify the owner of these footprints are approximately ten meters.
And the footprints are peculiar and not the normal footprints of humans. Instead of five, there are only four prints, three long toes, and a short toe. And the distance between every step is two meters, a sign that whoever owns these footprints is running.
This is bad news!
Gerard cannot help but shiver when he remembers some kind of monster related to these big footprints!
He didn't want to believe it but due to their excitement at that time, they created some kind of ridiculous monster.
A freaking dinosaur!
If he is not wrong this is a Deinonychus!
The average height of a Deinonychus is 10 to 12 feet but how come this Deinonychus is 10 meters?!
He might be wrong in the height but he cannot be wrong in the tracks of their footprints! The two long toes represent the first to the third toes, while the short one is the third toe which is a sickle-like claw.
In that instant, Gerard immediately warns them.
"Let's go! Run! Be careful! Do not intend to fight it! This monster is like a din---" Gerard paused and almost spilled out the word dinosaur. "This monster, amidst its height and built, is fast!" He explains as he starts running.
He has no time to look behind as his life is in danger.
When they saw Payne Blanc run like there is no tomorrow, their instinct kicked in and followed suit.
"Supreme System! Is the Deinonychus nearby?"
[Supreme System is searching within the radius limit.]
[Yes, the Deinonychus is nearby, and noticed your and the player's smells.]
Oh crap!
At that moment, the ground shake! And they heard a peculiar loud growl.
"I-is that a growl?"
"That's probably a growl!"
"So it means it is not a wild animal but a monster!"
The shaking of the ground didn't shake as the anticipated monsters start running in their direction.
As they run towards the other side of the village which would lead to an exit, the shaking of the ground gets severe, implying the source of the shaking is getting closer.
Damn it! Gerard muttered.
And to their surprise, a big and peculiar dinosaur appeared in front of them.
"What the fuck?!" Lex cannot help but cursed.
All of them have shocked expressions plastered on their faces.
[Monster: Deinonychus]
Category: Intermediate Boss Level
Level 23
HP: 3,502
MP: ???
SP: ???
[Attributes]
200 Attack Damage
Defense: 53
Agility: 24
Strength: 69
Intelligence: 24
[Skill]
[Skill: Fear] A dragon-like roar induces fear in a nearby living being within 10 meter radius.
A series of information appeared in front of Gerard and others except for the skill.
"This is impossible! We cannot defeat that monster in the category of Intermediate Boss Level!"
Lina shouted.
"Yes! But how can we escape? That monster is too fast for us. He can chase easily even if we try to run!"
Tsk.
"We have no choice but to fight the enemy!" Gerard shouted.
Everyone turns their head to him and cannot help but shiver in fear and excitement. They thought that this must be the time that this NPC will unleash his real power.
Lina immediately took an action and give orders.
"This boss is too hard to deal with so let's spread out while we attacked them. Since we lacked Guardians, Lex, do not use your [Skill: Taunt], use it only when the enemy gets close to any of us. And then run, okay?!"
Lex knew that plan is not fool-proof and suicide but they have no choice. He is the only Guardian and his role is to tank any damage from the enemy.
He gulped and resolve himself not to flee.
His star to control the shaking of his knee.
Angel quickly cast her [Skill: Fortify] to Lex to increase his durability. Not like it has been used against an Intermediate Boss Level!
Everyone spread out but Lina stays with Angel and Gerard. If the matter comes to worst, she will tank the damage for Gerard.
Gerard on the other hand is trying to think of something that can help them escape this dire situation.
"Mr. Payne, how about we call all the 20 players standing by on the rendezvous point? With them, we might have a chance to win against this monster?"
Lina suggested while Sally and others try to toy with the enemy. Thankfully, they change their gears making them more agile but every time the Deinonychus initiate an attack, it is always a close call. If the enemy tries to pursue it, other players will try to catch its attention. Lex will only use his skill if the enemy is one step away from any of his allies.
Gerard shook his head. "Even with them, we cannot win against this spawn of the devil. Besides, we cannot lose anyone until we arrived at Mead Citadel."
Lina cannot help but gritted her teeth. It seems to her that Payne is already resolved to have the twenty members fight for the last man on the Mead Citadel. What else do you need more than a dozen of men if not to have them fight?
"Okay, I understand. But please, run and go ahead without us. You can bring Angel to you. We will create an opening and distract the monster so you can flee."
Gerard once again shook his head. "No, it's okay. We can win this."
Lina saw the resolved reflection in his eyes and felt an aura emanating around him.
Seeing his resolve, Lina sigh in relief. At least, they have a Legendary Elite NPC that can take down the monster in front of them.
While they are discussing things, the Deinonychus attacks everyone, but due to team coordination, they were able to dodge in the last second.
In frustration, the Deinonychus made a stance of a dinosaur that was about to growl loudly.
Seeing this, Gerard orders everyone to be scattered and fall back.
"Fall back!!! It will use his skill! Everyone who got caught in its skill within a 10-meter radius will receive a negative buff, fear!"
All of them turn around without hesitation and run away from the monster.
Fear is one of the negative buffs. Once received, this negative buff renders every player unable to use their skill or move on their own for some time. Making them vulnerable.
But it was too tale, the cast duration is only three seconds and everyone got caught except Gerard, Angel, and Lina who are far from the Deinonychus.
In that instant, the atmosphere turns deadly as the Deinonychus makes its own way toward the players who suffered negative buff.
Shit!
Instinctively, Gerard brandished his sword and took a stance.
Gerard uses his left hand to hold the sword on its scabbard before taking a deep breath. After making sure his heart and mind calmed down, he took the familiar stance. Lowering his posture to a crouching position. Placed his left thumb against the hand. He then placed his right hand on the sword's handle.
Meanwhile, Lina and Angel felt a sudden rise of MP around Gerard. They can clearly see the density of Gerard's moving on a single point, to his right hand, and being absorbed by his sword.
Lina and Angel didn't know this kind of stance but they are sure Payne Blanc will use the unknown skill he showoff last time against the fleeing White Fang Tiger. But this time, it is different. The MP is so dense that they almost think that their own mana is being absorbed as well.
They instinctively back down in fear of getting caught in the attack and becoming collateral damage.
Gerard exhaled and the two beautiful ladies saw a smoke-like that should only appear in winter because of moisture and vapor in the air.
The Deinonychus is about to swallow hole Lite who is shivering in his heart when suddenly a terrifying feeling succumbs to his numb body. A pulse of waves passed him by creating a small breeze that made his hair dance with it.
Before he was able to tell what happened, a powerful pulse of wave collided with the Deinonychus, and the latter shrieked in pain and agony as its body fall down to the ground.
Everyone was dumbfounded when they saw the attack damage registered above the monster's head, drastically reducing its HP threshold to half.
-1,612 Damage
[Monster: Deinonychus]
Category: Intermediate Boss Level
Level 23
HP: 1,890/3,502
MP: ???
SP: ???
So powerful! They exclaimed.
And before they could even recover from shock, another pulse of the wave was released from Gerard's sword hitting the Deinonychus again. But the damage registered is small compared to the first one. Still, the damage is undeniably powerful compared to their damage against this Intermediate Boss Level.
-750 Damage
[Monster: Deinonychus]
Category: Intermediate Boss Level
Level 23
HP: 1,140/3,502
MP: ???
SP: ???