Speed Is King

"Strange. Very, very strange. A Belcher that size, it's probably on the cusp of entering Emperor grade, it must be at least level 390. As per regulations, no beast above level 350 is allowed in a Battle of Kings. So that means… It gained 40 levels in just a single day?" Red said incredulously.

"That strange substance the Dark Brainwyrms are looking for must definitely be here! AND underground! That's how this particular Belcher got so big. It must have ingested that substance!" Elliot thought aloud.

"You're definitely right. Elliot, you need to tame at least one of those Belchers. If not, it'll be difficult for you to search underground. Tame that big one if possible, you'll be able to find out where exactly it ingested that substance." Red said seriously.

"Yeah. I'll do that. But for now, let's retreat for a bit. There's no way we can deal with three of them right now." Elliot said.

Dealing with one of them was already a tall order according to Red's estimate. Dealing with two was absolutely inadvisable. Three? And a Peak King Level Belcher as the third? Idiocy.

And Elliot was no idiot.

After retreating a safe distance away, Elliot kept one eye on the three giant worms who were feasting on the dead Kings that Elliot had killed earlier, and studied his surroundings with the other.

All over the place, the battles were either ending or had ended completely. Many of the Kings were in the process of feasting on their comrades and visibly growing in power.

Apart from the three giant worms, there was another group of Kings which drew Elliot's attention.

It was a group of four strikingly powerful looking pack of wolf-like beasts. They weren't wolves, per se. For one thing, they had two rows of sharp spikes running parallel down their backs. And for the other, they were standing tall on two legs.

"Werewolves." Elliot said grimly.

He stared at their huge five meter tall and impressively muscular frame with deep apprehension.

He hated werewolves. Period.

"Werewolves? What's that? Those are Specter Wolves." Red corrected him.

"When they bite others, will their victims gain the power to turn into Specter Wolves like them?" Elliot asked.

"Huh? How do you know that?" Red asked in mild surprise.

"Werewolves." Elliot spat. "A werewolf, by any other name, would stink just as much."

"Wise words. Beautifully phrased." Red bobbed his cute little birdy head in admiration.

"And what is that humongous rock monster?" Elliot frowned as he spotted yet another particularly dangerous looking beast among the group of dangerous beasts.

"That's a Rock Golem. It is definitely not infested by a Shadow Parasite. Game Masters often release a few hundred to a few hundred thousand Rock Golems to serve as generic King-level beasts for players to farm." Red explained.

"Is it powerful?" Elliot asked.

"It is exactly what it is. A brainless Rock Golem. High armor, high damage, low speed, zero intellect." Red replied.

"Hmmmm." Elliot studied the situation for a few more moments as his mind raced to find the right strategy to deal with the remaining Kings.

"What do you want to do now, Master?" Frosty asked in the public mindspace.

"The Dark Brainwyrm's fluids are on me. The surviving Kings infested by the Brainwyrms would notice that after the situation stabilizes. I need to either kill them all, or destabilize the situation even further so they won't think of hunting for me." Elliot replied calmly. "Any ideas? Wu Kong?"

"Yes, Master. Please describe the general situation and layout." Wu Kong's voice sounded calmly and confidently.

Elliot quickly described the surroundings to him.

"There is no way that you can kill all of the Kings now, Master. The best you can do now is to add fuel to the fire and blow up the entire situation. Master, you need to attack the second strongest group, the Specter Wolves and lead them to the strongest group, the Corrupted Sedgedoom Belchers. Let them start a fight first.

Attack the winning group to balance the fight as much as possible. After the first casualty, Frosty can attack the third strongest group, what was it you called it just now?"

"Spiky round cactuses." Elliot replied promptly.

"Pfffffttt." Red chortled at Elliot's extreme lack of imagination in coming up with temporary names for the monsters. "They are called Tri-balled Bangtol, if you must know."

"Errr… Spiky round cactuses." Wu Kong opted to use Elliot's creation rather than the awkward "Tri-balled Bangtol" "Frosty will attack them and lead them to the party. Again, try and maintain a balanced rate of deaths among them. At that point, Red will standby to attack the Rock Golem. Bring him in when the fight becomes extremely messy to degenerate the situation even further."

"Sounds good to me. Let's try it out." Elliot decided. "I will attack. Frosty, Red, standby to support me if anything happens."

"Acknowledged." Frosty said.

"Of course I will stand by to save you, little pipsqueak. Don't worry! With me-"

"Yes okay enough." Elliot shushed Red before he could say too many words. "Here I go!"

Elliot dived towards the four huge Specter Wolves and immediately fired off a powerful Azure Lightning Blast at the weakest looking Specter Wolf - one that was slightly smaller than the others..

PEW!

The Specter Wolves had excellent battle instincts, and they turned their heads towards Elliot a split second after his attack left his maw.

However, Elliot's vastly improved Azure Lightning Blast was extremely fast, and the time taken for the Specter Wolves to turn their heads was enough for it to reach them.

BAM!!

The blast struck one of the Specter Wolves directly on its body. Caught entirely by surprise, the attack managed to partially freeze its massive body.

AWOOOO!!!

AWOOOO!!!

AWOOOOO!!!

The other three Specter Wolves let out enraged howls and then to Elliot's horror, huge leathery wings sprouted from their spiked backs and they immediately leapt up and took to the skies!

"D*CK ON A STICK!!!" Elliot shouted. "THOSE WOLVES HAVE WINGS?! What the hell Red, why didn't you tell me???"

"Yes. They are SPECTER WOLVES. They have wings! I thought you knew about them?!" Red shouted back.

"WEREWOLVES don't have wings!! Ah forget it. I'm going to go to the Belchers! Frosty, Red, disperse and standby! Don't get chased by the Specter Wolves! Gogogo!" Elliot yelled.

Frosty and Red immediately obeyed Elliot's frantic instructions and simply watched worriedly as he flashed past them with three massive and utterly enraged Specter Wolves in hot pursuit.

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