[ Rodent King Lvl.??? ]
Each step vibrates the ground of the dungeon. The monster known as The Dire King is actively pursuing prey, using 30 of their tiny rat brains, they communicate with each other based on their instincts and smell. With every rat on the disgusting mass cooperating, their chase has been successful. However, due to their mass, their bodily coordination fails multiple times. Making their prey take that opportunity to run away and hide.
However, the prey's smell has been memorized due to the countless encounters. To the point that they can just follow a trail of his scent around the maze without getting lost, their best bet is to corner the human and finally eat his flesh.
πππππππππβ¦.!!
It screams, its noise reverberating the entire dungeon. Making every single Dire Rat or Human present hear its war cry, hoping that it would make its presence known and have its enemies succumb to fear to make it easy to hunt them down.
ππ£πππβ¦π¨π£πππβ¦π¨π£πππ..π πͺβ¦?
The Rodent King uses its nose after picking up a familiar scent, it looks upward before finally moving again. Each of the rats' tiny feet started to run but they could only walk as a whole new being known as a Rat King. It went to the right hallway, its sight blinded by hunger and a blur saw a figure, holding a torch with an arrow perched on it. Then, using their full strength, rushes toward the figure holding the torch. Upon impact, destroys the figure and the torch flies upwards and lands on the top of their heads.
Countless mouths opened up and revealed their sharp teeth, before finally chewing the so-called flesh. It's hard, tough to chew, and doesn't release any juice. It's bitter and⦠prickly. The Rodent King sniffs the broken figure, and suddenly, three branches fall on top of their tails.
[ -1x Dirty Loincloth, -3x Branches, -1x Makeshift Torch ]
"Not only do you stink, you're also blind as shit!"
All of the rats looked up before seeing a human figure holding a bow with an arrow pulled backward using its string before he finally released his finger from the string. The Human has climbed up the wall.
ππππππβ¦!
The arrow was released, hitting the torch above their head and making it fall onto their tails. Then, the small flickers of flame start burning the branches that were thrown at their tails. It created a pseudo-campfire on their tails, burning their tough furry skin and also burning them alive. The rats screamed.
ππΎπππππβ¦.!!! πππππ! ππππππ!
The scream did not last long before one of the rats got their head punctured by an arrow. With him burning their bodies, he has managed to kill a few Dire Rats, removing future obstacles. However, it also made them more stuck than ever. With this, he has killed 7 Dire Rats inside of the Rodent King. 23 pests remain.
With this plan executed perfectly, Nash jumps off the opposite way of the wall before he runs away again, holding his bow and arrow.
"32 arrows leftβ¦ They probably can't break walls anymoβ"
A walk broke. It came from the direction where he ran from. He just had to jinx it, didn't he? It broke the wall, must be because they are still heavy as one. Seems like they couldn't detach the ones who have died.
If he has to kill it, then he must kill the rats one by one. He'll have to shoot it from either afar or up close based on the situation he'll find himself in. With the other rats unaffected by the flames thanks to the countless mass of other bodies of rats protecting their bodies, it'll be hard to kill them with one arrow. Their heads are extremely small despite their bodies being larger than normal rats.
Should I hit them with traps? How? there are no places I can put my arrows that can generate enough force to kill a rat, let alone countless rats intertwinedβ¦ Think, Nashβ¦ Weaknesses? They're weak to pretty much everythingβ¦
As he runs, the Rodent King has managed to appear once again behind him. Their distance is between 20 meters, which is enough to get a few hits in. So, he stopped and knelt on the ground.
"...Don't fail me nowβ¦" He silently says.
The archer pulls the string with an arrow attached to it, he observes the Rodent King's movement. The gigantic mass is running, their feet are shuffling around. They would be walking at this point but they were slower than usual, was it because I killed 7 of their force that their speed decreased and now that the remaining live ones were forced to carry the weight?
I SEEβ¦!
He places all of his arrows on the ground. Then, he starts shooting his arrows without any delay. His plan? To kill all of the rats that are responsible for moving the body.
πππͺπ£π ! ππ¦πͺππ¨π! [ Critical! ]
"It didn't go down�!"
πππͺπ£π ! ππ¦πͺππ¨π! [ Critical! ]
"Now it goes down!"
πππͺπ£π ! ππ¦πͺππ¨π! [ Critical! ]
"YOU TOO?"
πππͺπ£π ! ππ¦πͺππ¨π! [ Critical! ]
"Fucking hellβ¦!"
πππͺπ£π ! ππ¦πͺππ¨π! [ Critical! ]
"This is wasting my arrowsβ¦"
πππͺπ£π ! ππ¦πͺππ¨π! [ Critical! ]
"Fuck, this isn't working like I thought it would in my headβ¦!"
[ Arrows remaining: 26 ]
[ Dire Rats remaining: 20 ]
Despite his arrows hitting a crit, he only managed to kill 3 Dire Rats inside of the Rodent King. That's how powerful each rat that is affected by the Crimson Moon effect is.
It takes 2 critical hits to kill a single rat, making his plan risky to do. Especially when the Rodent King has managed to close the distance between them and the human archer by 10 meters.
He stood up, about to turn behind before the Rodent King suddenly lunged at him with an incredible jump. Nash looks up, the Rodent King above his figure. He didn't have to see it, he'd die the moment that mass of dead rats landed on him. So, he rolled forward to where the rats came from.
"JESUS CHRISTβ¦ I CAN'T BREATHEβ¦!"
The disgusting scent that the Rodent King left still lingered, especially when it jumped, it released a cloud of green smoke. It spreads everywhere, his eyes tearing up as the smell of countless dire rats combines to invade his nostrils through his brain.
[ You have been poisoned. ]
[ Poison Duration: 30 Seconds ]
[ Poison Effect: Weakening, STR debuff, AGI debuff, nausea ]
Poisoned? Can Dire Rats do that?
Then, it landed on the ground. Destroying a layer of stone that they were on and also destroying the walls beside them. Nash tried to evade the falling debris, but the uneven ground didn't let him do that. Instead, a medium-sized debris hit the back of his head. Causing him to fall over alongside the debris, covering his body with stone and dust.
"W..why�"
His eyes slowly close, sees the Rodent King get closer to his body before finally closing his eyes and staring at the void.
Is this it? That's the end of my second life? I'll die just like that? No, this can't be. I don't like this, I won't allow this! I've fought agile goblins and durable trearios just to get my ass beat by a fucking rat?!
That is so... unfairβ¦!