The flying monster they were about to face stayed within a single nearby area. The bird, with yellow-tinted feathers and lightning constantly charging across its body, circled above while screeching loudly. It truly looked like a guardian of that part of the island.
"This monster will dive down if we attack from below," Edrik said. "That will make it easier for us to face it."
It would normally be troubleso to fight a flying creature of this kind if they stayed on high ground. But the foolish thing was that even monsters at this level would still swoop down toward anyone who struck at them. Because of that, fighting sothing with this type of movent would not be too troubleso as long as they could reach a slightly higher position by a few ters.
Luckily, Atlas had brought more than half the team mbers who were able to fly or reach higher ground.
They already had their strategy ready. It needed to be done quickly. This monster should have weaker defense compared to the alpha wolf from before, although this one had far deadlier attacks.
Dullorak acted first. He shot into the air and conjured several Earth Crystals around him, each glowing brightly before blasting forward like bullets fired at high speed toward the monster in the sky.
The creature was struck several tis, and it reacted by turning sharply to look in their direction.
Now! Everyone moved at once, flying or running away from the spot.
The bird shot downward, diving with lightning trailing from its body, as if connecting the sky and the ground through the streams of electricity flowing along its wings.
Atlas also dashed quickly away from the point of impact. As usual, he would search for an opening while the others created the chance he needed.
Fortunately this ti they only faced a single monster, because the weaker ones had already been sniped and assassinated one by one before they confronted this leader. Even so, finding an opening to attack this creature was incredibly difficult, as it had far greater mobility and speed.
Atlas ran across the ground, circling from a distance while watching the bird flap its wings at high speed, sending lightning pouring from the sky to the earth in chaotic bursts around its body. Getting close would be extrely difficult, let alone landing a direct strike.
At this mont the ones who took charge of attacking were Dullorak with his Earth Elent, along with Krythalis and Serenith who launched long-range strikes to slowly chip away at the bird monster’s defenses.
Atlas also prepared himself, because the mont even a single opening appeared, he needed to deliver a finishing blow just like he did the day before.
Although he still rembered clearly how that new ability he unlocked had torn apart the muscles in his arms. It was not a pleasant experience.
He charged his attack as the crystal shards between his hands spun and coiled with wild force.
Atlas still could not control Magnetic Earth very well yet. It would take ti. But he knew this elent had great potential. He only needed to unlock its skills slowly and eventually master it fully.
The opening arrived!
Serenith unleashed a heavy long-range attack, and this was Atlas’s chance.
Golden lightning covered his body as he shot toward the monster’s position.
However... right in the middle of the massive explosion, the monster burst out unhard and dove straight toward Atlas!
Damn! He was not ready to strike this ti.
The monster flew straight toward him.
He summoned his spear, which appeared and hovered manually around him, and he sent it shooting toward the monster, forcing the creature to turn its attack away.
Atlas intentionally dropped himself to create distance from the monster, while his spear, controlled through his Magnetic Earth, spun in the air and chased after the bird monster again.
The spear was not ant to weaken the creature. It was ant to distract it, to keep its attention scattered so the others could land their attacks.
Atlas hit the ground hard and imdiately sprinted forward. He clenched his teeth as he ran, not daring to look back. The coiling energy between his palms felt brutally intense, the skill tearing at him from the inside.
Another opening. Atlas knew it clearly, even without looking directly at the bird.
He dashed, maneuvered, and leaped back toward the monster. A powerful burst of force carried Atlas upward as he launched himself toward the creature in the sky.
Atlas gripped the coiling, chaotic energy of Magnetic Earth in his right hand. He ground his teeth hard as the swirling force felt like it was trying to grind his arm apart. The pain was truly unbearable.
He shot forward, piercing through the massive explosion Serenith had unleashed toward the monster. He entered the blast without being able to see anything around him.
Flas roared and wrapped around him, and then he reached the heart of the explosion where the monster flew right in front of him.
Atlas let out a fierce shout and slamd the magic sphere straight into the creature’s massive beak.
Ti seed to freeze as the explosion erupted violently across the area. Atlas was hurled away, unable to see anything, thrown wildly out of the blast until Serenith darted in and caught him in that mont.
After a while, once the force of the explosion faded, they held themselves steady on the ground and watched the last of the blast flicker in the sky. Then the monster’s body finally beca visible as it crashed down, its heavy fra slamming into the earth with a dull thud while the lightning around it slowly faded.
Another win. Not an easy win. Even though it looked perfectly executed, it was only because every mber of the team had skill, experience, and flawless coordination.
This ti, since Atlas was still in decent condition, he walked toward the place where the monster had fallen.
A short mont later, the creature’s huge form lay before him, motionless on the ground. Edrik was already there, cutting open its chest and pulling sothing from inside.
"Fortunately we managed to get another core from this monster, my lord," he said, handing over the object they needed.
"Nice. Two collected, three more to go..."
Hopefully they could finish this entire hunt on this island alone.
But there was one more big reward Atlas earned besides the core. He had leveled up four tis during the battle, bringing him to level 156!
[You have killed Epic Stormfeather Raptor Lv. 212]
[You received 13,880,355 Exp]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[Level 156]
[Exp: 2,335,428/4,063,850]
Was leveling up really supposed to be this easy? It felt almost ridiculous, because Atlas had gained seventeen levels on this island alone. He almost wanted to laugh at himself.
Of course, not everyone could take part in battles with stakes this high. Normal people would pick a far safer path than this, instead of coming to a rank-4 island where the danger ca not only from the monsters living here, but also from the possibility of other lords with power far above their own. That would be even worse.
How long had they been here?
Nine days, and it did not look like this would end anyti soon.
Even so, they continued with the sa pattern for the days that followed. As long as Krythalis kept watch and made sure there were no threats from other lords, they could continue their hunt.
Every two days, after recovering their bodies, they would travel deeper into the island to challenge another field boss monster in hopes of earning its core.
The third hunt, unfortunately, did not give them a core. Hopefully that would not keep happening.
Two days later they fought again, and this ti Atlas and the team finally obtained their third core.
The hunt was not over yet, but at this point Atlas had already reached level 162. And that was despite the fact that he still had not completed all the quests for his class advancent.
Until... on the fifteenth day, they finally encountered their first real trouble.
"I can no longer find any signs of where our next monster target might be, my lord," Krythalis said.
Atlas fell silent for a mont, analyzing their situation. Here, they had Dullorak, who served as the healer and support for their team. But he was not a full healer in reality, because the head with healing ability did not possess power as strong as the other healers like Lyrassa or Elyndra.
"Let’s stay here for another week. If we still cannot complete this mission, we will have to return to the others."
But did they really need to search for another island with a different difficulty level to find the last two cores required to complete this mission?
Although there was one option Atlas had prepared for an ergency, it carried far greater risk.
If they could not find where the monsters were hiding, they could force them out by luring them. But the real danger was...
They might appear in numbers far beyond what Atlas and his team could control.
Should they really go through with this plan?
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