"..."
Watching things not going like she had expected, as the beastkin adventurer made full use of the distraction she had ended up providing to slip away and start retreating alongside the rest of the adventurers who all began retreating behind the city wall en mass after the sudden destruction of the barrier and part of the city wall, Scaly could not help glancing towards the body of the seemingly invisible human she had ended up killing by accident.
Although her planned ambush hadn’t gone as expected, it had succeeded in a way, as the chaos throughout the battlefield increased significantly alongside the retreat of the adventurers. Providing her with ample opportunity to take advantage of this increasingly chaotic situation to use what strength she had left after using such a powerful attack to hunt down these panicked adventurers and over eager monsters, who were now either scrambling to get back behind the walls to potentially hold the line there or rushing forward without any regard for their own safety or the chance that someone might be hiding behind them.
However, out of the monsters now charging towards the city walls, Scaly didn’t find much interest in the weaker monsters, but more so found herself focusing on the stronger monsters- or more specifically, the already wounded stronger monsters, who had all gotten back up before rushing towards the dungeon entrance eagerly after the barrier broke. Leaving behind only a few who were unable to move more than a few meters before their injuries became too much for them. Forcing them to stay behind and watch in envy as their peers charged forward.
To Scaly, these already extremely weakened stronger monsters were a perfect target for her in her current state. Especially considering that the monsters below didn’t seem to have noticed her during the attack earlier. Having entirely focused on the barrier breaking, as they were just filled with joy seeing the path out of the dungeon opening before them.
Even a few other monsters that had remained hidden so far, like the one that had already made it out of the dungeon, revealed themselves as they charged forward. Forming an almost unstoppable monster wave, as the flood of monsters was only barely being held back due to one of the S Rank Adventurers, who managed to react fast enough and take advantage of the chaos from the barrier breaking to kill the S Rank Monster she had been fighting.
Allowing her to stand firm and block a large portion of the monsters trying to swarm into the city towards the dungeon entrance, while the beastkin adventurer had essentially been forced back to fighting with the terrestrial beetle lord in a state that Scaly found especially tempting given how it should still be possible for her to kill him if she was able to sneak up on him.
The thing that made her second guess attempting an ambush on this half dead beastkin adventurer was the fact that she had already seen the fate of several other monsters who had similar ideas as her.
Weak as this beastkin adventurer seemed on the surface, he was by no means easy to kill, as he could easily dispatch any monster outside of the terrestrial beetle lord with a simple attack. Showing not just how terrifying he was but also showing just how powerful the terrestrial beetle lord was for being able to fight someone like and be on the winning side.
While the battle might lack flashiness compared to the battle playing out between the Archmage and the living dragon amalgamation, it was clear that the strength of the two was no weaker than Archmage. Only more brutal and direct.
In a sense, she would much rather ambush someone like the Archmage compared to the beastkin adventurer, as she at least had some confidence in winning in close quarters compared to a similar battle with the beastkin adventurer that she would undoubtedly lose...
Shaking her head as these thoughts ran through her head while she took in the chaotic battlefield below that she had made even more chaotic than before, Scaly soon enough turned her attention towards the group of injured monsters that had been unable to join the battle due to their injuries.
Compared to joining the chaotic battle where the adventurers still seemed capable or rapidly erecting a new defensive line along the city walls with the female S Rank Adventurer who had slain her opponent taking up a defensive posture in the place where her attack had hit followed by the monsters that had then broken the barrier and destroyed a section of the city wall with her assistance.
For now, at least, it looked like the adventurers would still be able to hold the line and defend the city for another few minutes in their current state, enough time for her to finish off the weakened monsters in the backline before joining in on the battle after the situation became more difficult for the adventurers to deal with. After all, compared to before where they could retreat behind the barrier for safety, they no longer had any way to ensure their own safety and Scaly had already seen some of the more cowardly ones breaking off to escape amid the chaos.
With enough time, more adventurers were sure to follow, as it would become harder for those left behind to hold back the seemingly endless sea of monsters crashing into the city walls. Especially considering that it was pretty much impossible for them to stop every single monster attempting to get through without the omnipresent coverage of the barrier that left no gap for the monsters to exploit and slip through.
Just during the short time, it had taken her to decide on her next target, a dozen or so monsters had managed to successfully slip through the wall formed by the adventurers and subsequently escaped through the dungeon entrance. Adding to the chaos that the adventurers on the other side would be experiencing.
As for what laid beyond the dungeon entrance... She didn’t know much outside of it being some kind of large city according to what little she had been able to pick up from the chatter between the adventurers who were loudly proclaiming stuff about protecting their home.
Of course, there were also a few stranger ones proclaiming things like not wanting to die before... Visiting some girl in a tavern and proclaiming their love and odd stuff she couldn’t understand, but understood from the expression of nearby adventurers was... Rather unsavory...
One such incident, even leading to the surrounding adventurers silently retreating to let the offender in question fend for himself against a group of monsters while they focused their attention elsewhere...
Swish~
Flapping both of her wings, Scaly soon enough arrived above the resting spot of the weakened monsters who were eyeing the battle playing out in the distance filled with envy.
[Great Crab Lord, lvl 71]
[Fire Spewing Land Squid, lvl 63]
[Greater Wild Root Flower, lvl 75]
[Desert Scorpion Lord...]
Looking over the gathering of powerful monsters who kept a respectable distance between each other, outside of a single unique outlier, every single one of the monsters below were some that she recognized to some extent. At least knowing their lesser evolutions and even having killed them in the past. Giving her at least some idea about their potential abilities.
Not to mention, the one monster she didn’t recognize having seen anywhere before did give her a rather stronger clue that it could spew fire.
Swish~
And so, without any hesitation, Scaly dived down towards the one monster she didn’t recognize. Intending to take out the unknown first before focusing on the ones that she was more familiar with. After all, even though these monsters were currently in a weakened state, they were still powerful monsters that would have given her a challenge before they got injured... And she herself wasn’t exactly in the most optimal state herself, with her only real strength being the fact that she wasn’t injured and had the ability to use her claws for attacking now that her mana had mostly dried up.
Rustle~
PTSH-!
[Gained 14.562 Exp]
In the end, even though the fire spewing land squid noticed her before her attack landed, it still reacted far too slowly to do anything to save itself. Barely spewing out a few flames that were easily blocked by her scale before her claws smoothly sank into the soft body of the fire spewing land squid.
But things were far from over, as there were still several other weakened monsters around her that she intended to deal with before her little ambush drew too much attention.
Then again... Looking at how absorbed the rest of the monsters were with breaking through the defensive line that had been formed by the adventurers, she had a feeling that she didn’t really have to worry about something like that, as the rest of the monsters were completely locked in on reaching the dungeon entrance. Disregarding whatever was happening behind them.