“Hihihihi~” small laughter escaped the mouths of the ‘Shadow Stalkers’.
‘Clone frenzy…’ Stark didn’t waste time and summoned his second clone to aid him in battle.
He knew that these black monsters could eat pretty much any of his attacks, and he sure as hell didn’t want to become their dinner either.
“Crimson Spears,” Stark’s clone calmly sent three spears toward different monsters, wanting to gouge out their reactions.
“Devouring Darkness!” but all three of them ate the spears, then smiled, happy they were allowed to taste a 5-star meal out of nowhere.
But the biggest problems of all for Stark was…
‘I’m sure I hit two of them until they were one hit away from dying, yet they all look… fine?’
Something was going on, and even when he checked their HPs…
All of them had the same number:
[Shadow Stalker HP: 40000/40000]
All of them were at full health, and Stark’s confusion grew even more.
Not knowing what could be the cause, he decided to investigate the only skill they had used up until now…
…
[Skill: Devouring Darkness]
[Description:] When this skill is activated, the Shadow Stalker can absorb most incoming attacks using its mouth and heal itself by 100% of the absorbed damage.
[Flaw:] None
…
‘Ah shit…’ the ones that had been damaged probably ate the fists, as well as the [White Beam], and so they regained their entire health.
Stark grit his teeth in frustration. The fight was turning out to be a lot more challenging than he had anticipated.
‘Long-ranged attacks are out of the question now, meaning that I have to get close…’
He didn’t want to use [Heaven’s Wrath] as it was an intense waste against such opponents, plus even if his clone used it, their speed would be more than enough to easily avoid the attack.
He needed to find an opportunity… or create it.
“Hihihihi~” all the shadow stalkers laughed at Stark again as they saw him struggle.
And then…
“Shadow Limbs!” two of the monsters’ stepped backward before launching a large black arm toward Stark, its texture was disgusting, but the boy knew he couldn’t afford to feel such an emotion.
~SLAM~
He deflected the first arm using his palm, then sent an [Aura Smash] fist toward the second to destroy it.
“Hihihihi~”
And then…
“MORPH!” all of them used this skill, and their bodies began to twist and change.
It really did seem like they could change themselves however they wanted.
Their bodies were liquid, yet somewhat still a bit solid.
‘Slime…’ was Stark’s guessed as it was the closest thing he could think of when hitting that arm with his palm, ‘Well… no time to think about this, I need to kill them…’
Without wasting time, while their bodies were still changing, he dashed toward one of the ‘Shadow Stalkers’.
But the monster he was rushing suddenly transformed into…
“A FUCKING HAMMER??!”
That same monster had now the perfect form of a hammer, with its giant mouth located in the handle.
~FWISH~
In a sudden motion, the ‘Shadow Stalker’ moved its body, trying to hit Stark away.
But he wouldn’t allow that.
~DASH~
Stark using his wings and momentum began to slide on the ground, avoiding the hammer monster’s head by a hair’s length.
And now that he was behind it… he wouldn’t let it go.
With all his determination at hand… he grabbed the handle of the monster, resisting the urge to drop it because of the black texture which even seemed to go on his hands and arms and then…
“KILL IT,” he ordered his clone, and it immediately sent two fits at the ‘Shadow Stalker’, which was unable to eat them since Stark was constantly moving around.
“-32736! -34827!”
Its tongue dangled from its mouth the moment its HP fell to zero, but Stark wouldn’t let it end like that.
Using the momentum, he began to spin around at intense speed, making both him and the hammer-like monster spin.
And after a few seconds…
~FWISH~
Stark let go of the dead monster, sending its body, which retained its final form as it died since it couldn’t morph anymore, toward another ‘Shadow Stalker’!
It obviously couldn’t eat one of its own, and it was too late for it to escape.
~BOOM, CRASH~
The head of the hammer hit its mouth, causing it to receive massive damage, and then the momentum sent it flying against a tree, splashing against it and making both monsters explode into a massive amount of black slime-like texture.
‘…’ Stark removed some of the black goo from his arm then turned back to face the remaining ‘Shadow Stalkers’.
“…” they weren’t laughing anymore; proof they weren’t as confident as before.
But it didn’t mean that they were done…
And so before Stark could do anything else to kill them…
They decided to use their most powerful skill.
“ASSEMBLE!”
The ‘Shadow Stalkers’ began to merge their bodies together, forming a massive, grotesque creature that towered over Stark. Its mouth began to open wide, revealing countless rows of sharp teeth.
It was as if their three bodies had combined into one giant one, dozens of giants mouths spread throughout its gooey body, they could devour a tree easily, and the amount of goo texture tripled.
…
[Name: Shadow Stalkers Trio (STRONG)]
[Level: 64]
[HP: 120000]
[Strength: 1837]
[Stamina: 2121]
[Speed: 2062]
[Defense: 2104]
[Skills: Shadow Limbs, Devouring Darkness, Morph, Darkness Hypnotize…]
…
‘Yeah…’ Stark nervously laughed as he saw the beast before him, it wasn’t an elite monster, but it was just one category below it, and he even dared to say it was stronger than the elite monsters he had encountered inside of the [Shadow Valley].
Its stats had also increased, and it had gained one more skill, its HP also tripled (probably since the three monsters merged).
And now in this Nightmare-Level rift, Stark was surrounded by incomprehensible figures hiding behind trees, arrows that could transform him into a beast if he was just grazed by them, and now an almost-elite monster that would gladly eat him up (pause, not in that way), right at the first area of this rift…
He knew that this wouldn’t be an easy mission.
‘I swear to god if I get out of here, I’m beating up that Moonless family…’ he groaned as he got ready to face the STRONG monster in front of him.
“HIHIHIHIHI~” the laughter of the now transformed shadow stalkers echoed through the forest and path, their confidence now at its peak as they got ready to swallow the human.
But in return… Stark smiled back, it was a cold smile, one that sent shivers down the spine of those monsters.
“I’m getting rid of you in five attacks,” he confidently said as he marched forward, now he wasn’t playing any more games.
And his clone followed closely after, it was smiling just as coldly as its owner.
