Chương 64: Engagement

I quickly scrambled away from our initial hiding spot, utilizing the dense undergrowth as a perfect visual shield to keep those lumbering wood monsters completely oblivious to my tactical repositioning. I scaled the nearest massive trunk with a sudden burst of adrenaline, clawing my way up until I secured a fantastic, birds-eye vantage point right upon the sturdy branches up top, transforming the high canopy into my personal sniper nest.

Down on the forest floor, Dimitri confidently stood all the way up and boldly marched right out into the open clearing, proudly showcasing his massive frame while firmly hoisting his shield and drawing his trusty blade. The collective attention of the six remaining Fungal Shamblers immediately pivoted directly toward our burly savior, their blind wooden faces unhinging as they locked onto his position with absolute, unmistakable hostility.

If a bunch of mossy rotting logs could look deeply offended, these guys definitely hit the absolute peak of pure, unadulterated fury.

"Let us engage in the grand, beautiful dance of combat, my magnificent friends!" Dimitri's thick Russian accent boomed across the clearing, radiating a spectacular, overwhelming tide of pure, unadulterated kindness as if he were welcoming honored guests to a lovely ballroom party rather than a bloody battlefield.

Right beside our fearless vanguard, Aiko slowly crept out into the open to join the frontline, though her wide eyes were actively shivering with a fresh wave of overwhelming existential dread as she peeked through her messy dark hair.

"P-please... I beg of you, just be incredibly g-gentle with us, Shambler-san," Aiko whispered into the damp air, her voice dropping to a hyper-delicate, low-volume squeak that was practically trembling with a terrifying blend of polite manners and imminent violence. The six lumbering Fungal Shamblers unhinged their wooden jaws and were just about to launch a coordinated assault on our frontline when a massive, towering silhouette suddenly leaped right out from behind Dimitri's bulky frame.

The heavy creature rocketed forward with terrifying speed, charging directly toward the cluster of startled monsters like an absolute furry freight train. It was Fiona, who had seamlessly transformed into her giant crimson predator shape to lead the vanguard. She rushed deep into the middle of the enemy pack and immediately activated her Wildheart Surge skill while still maintaining her massive bear form. [Activating Skill: Wildheart Surge.] The clinical, monotone voice of the female System echoed through the trees right on cue. Fiona let out a guttural, ground-shaking roar and violently slammed her massive front paws into the damp earth with bone-shattering force. A massive kinetic shockwave of raw mana instantly rippled through the ground, causing the very soil and roots to explode upward in a wide, violent circle around her.

The devastating force of the blast completely disrupted the tightly packed formation of the Fungal Shamblers, sending chunks of rotting logs and loose earth flying everywhere as the heavy quadrupeds were aggressively knocked off balance. Up in my comfortable canopy sniper nest, I calmly loaded a fresh round into my Standard Issue Matchlock, watching the beautiful tactical chaos unfold down below with a highly entertained smirk plastered across my face.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Before the dazed monsters could even think about recovering from the bear-shaped explosion, Dimitri threw his arms wide and screamed out into the forest.

"Iron Vow!" Dimitri's thick Russian accent boomed over the roaring combat, vibrating with an immense, overwhelming wave of pure, unadulterated kindness as he forced the enemies to look at him. [Activating Skill: Iron Vow.] Instantly, our favorite vanguard's entire body erupted with a vibrant, glowing red taunt energy, hardening his resolve and boosting his physical defenses by a massive twenty percent.

The provocative aura washed over the clearing, completely hijacking the survival instincts of the Shamblers and aggressively forcing every single one of them to focus their angry attention strictly on him. Under normal circumstances when a group of monsters gets hit with a glorious taunt effect, their tiny digital brains usually malfunction to the point where they can only blindly rely on standard, basic physical attacks.

Unfortunately for our burly vanguard, these lumbering wood freaks possessed an incredibly high amount of crowd control resilience due to their massive, health-bloated vitality stats, meaning they could still easily activate their highly annoying special abilities even while helplessly trapped under the hypnotic influence of the taunt aura.

Without wasting a single second, the Fungal Shamblers immediately unhinged their wooden jaws to spew a thick, sticky stream of fungal roots straight at Dimitri's legs, utilizing their annoying Mycelial Tether to pin his massive frame firmly to the damp forest ground.

Right beside them, another massive log beast reared back high onto its hind trunks and began channeling its devastating Spore-Cloud Slam, preparing to smash its massive weight directly into the earth to brutally punish our trapped savior with a catastrophic wave of choking toxic green spores.

"P-please... I beg of you, just stand completely still and d-do not move an inch, Shambler-san," Aiko whispered into the chaotic air, her voice dropping down to its usual hyper-delicate, low-volume whimper as she courageously stepped directly into the danger zone. [Activating Skill: Brutal Cleave.] Instantly, the massive, matte-black iron blade of her Spine-Breaker's Reaver erupted with a terrifying, light-absorbing crimson radiance as she channeled pure aggression into the weapon.

Aiko swung the massive hunk of black iron in a wide, catastrophic horizontal arc, the jagged step-blade making a low, haunting whistle through the air right before it connected. Thanks to her bone cracker bonus effect, the sheer physical impact of the move was boosted by a sweet ten percent against the armored quadruped, delivering a monstrous blow that cracked the creature's outer layer of dense wood and packed soil.

Her attack was staggeringly powerful and left a faint trail of red mist in its wake, but the monster's medium physical defense and massive vitality pool were entirely too thick, ensuring the heavy impact was barely absorbed and leaving the creature still standing with just enough structural integrity to survive the devastating cleave.

Perched high up in my cozy canopy sniper nest, I quickly shifted the straight iron barrel of my Standard Issue Matchlock and aimed down the sights, locking my focus entirely on the first Fungal Shambler I had punched a hole through earlier. The heavy log-beast was currently sprawled out on the damp earth below, desperately attempting to use its fungal regrowth ability to knit its wood wounds back together.

I could literally see fresh layers of fuzzy moss and shelf-fungi rapidly sprouting over the damaged areas of its skull, which was an incredibly rude thing to do after I had spent precious ammunition on it. Determined to cancel its medical recovery program, I immediately called upon my digital mana pool to activate my trusty Arcane Discharge skill for the second time. [Activating Skill: Arcane Discharge.] Exactly one point of my precious mana drained away, channeling straight into the grooved chamber of my firearm as the weapon began to aggressively overcharge with a violent, humming blue electrical current.

"Do me a massive favor and sleep exceptionally well, you overgrown piece of firewood," I whispered into the chilly forest air, a highly satisfied smirk spreading across my face beneath my squint-guard bandana. I gently pulled the smooth trigger, and the overcharged musket violently erupted with a sharp, echoing crack, spitting out a brilliant, neon blue bullet of pure concentrated magic that hissed through the trees.

The hyper-fast projectile rocketed down from the branches with the single-minded focus of a heat-seeking missile, tearing through the foliage before slamming brutally right into the glowing, unstable core hidden deep inside the center of the Fungal Shambler's heavy wooden frame. The catastrophic physical impact of the long-trace bolt completely overwhelmed its remaining vitality, instantly shattering its internal nervous system into a flurry of glowing blue sparks.

The lumbering monster froze mid-channel, its rapid botanical healing process completely grinding to a halt as it stopped moving entirely, transforming right back into a perfectly inanimate pile of useless rotting timber.