Novel Boss
Chapter 148: The Shadow Monsters of the River
'...' Stark didn't even budge when he noticed the dozens of pair of white eyes looking at him from beyond the mist, it was a rather strange feeling, but it didn't scare Stark in the slightest, quite the opposite actually.
What would be the point of acting surprised anyway, he had already killed one of them quite easily, so there was no need to fear anything.
In the end, Stark knew he was going to win, the real question was: how much time would it take him?
'Perception...' he mumbled while looking at the bears.
...
[Name: Shadow Bear]
[Level: 93]
[HP: 127000]
[Strength: 2918]
[Stamina: 2201]
[Speed: 1794]
[Defense: 2822]
[Skills: Shadow Claws, Group Attack, Shadow Body, River Puppet, Hearing Prediction, Slash Momentum...]
...
'...Weak,' Stark couldn't deny that their stats, level, and HP were beyond any enemy (besides ELITE and BOSS) he had fought before, but... it wasn't enough.
"SHADOW CLAWS," two [Shadow Bears] jumped out of the mist to reveal themselves, although it didn't change much since Stark could see their auras from the beginning, then they dashed at him.
They were pretty fast for monsters of their types.
But of course...
~SLASH~
Stark yet again waited for the perfect moment, and when it arrived, he activated [Invincible Dodge].
[Perfect Dodge!]
The world slowed down as Stark fazed through both attacks again, and he could see the claws of the bear slowly go through him, it was a weird feeling even though he didn't feel anything.
"Clone Frenzy," Stark backed away using one of the bear's body as a springboard, then called two of his clones to aid him.
"Aura Smash," then all three Stark sent 9 crimson fists toward the bears.
"Slash Momentum..." the bears tried to cut the attack in half using their momentum skill and shadow aura, but... it wasn't enough.
~BOOM, BOOM, BOOM~
The spot they were in exploded when all the crimson fists reached it, it was a giant crimson explosion that even cleared some of the mist by its sheer intensity.
Safe to say the two bears that stood there didn't survive.
"-37371! -39143! -40196! -39447!" and much more.
In the end, their HP reached 0, and they collapsed, well, half of their body was destroyed from the explosion so they would have died even if it didn't reach 0 anyway.
'...' Stark's expression didn't change, and the clones, which were made out of aura from him, also had a neutral expression on their face in comparison to their usual cheerful selves.
"Crimson Spears," the clones summoned their six spears and threw them in the direction of the eyes of one of the [Shadow Bears] that was still hiding in the mist.
"Hearing Prediction," but the bear, using his advanced ears and speed, somehow managed to avoid them all by running around.
'...Annoying.'
Realizing that hiding wouldn't do them any good when their opponent could attack from afar, all the bears came out of their hiding spots.
And after Stark counted... he saw that there were 13 of them.
'Nice... more experience,' he didn't even bother to act surprised, the only thing bringing a smile to his face being the fact he would surely level up by at least one level if he killed all of them.
But as if sensing that the human was too confident...
"ROOOAAARRR~" all the bear suddenly roared, creating a shockwave that shook the air, and even people back at the entrance heard it, some of them leaving as they thought it was another event mini-boss.
And only a few seconds after...
[The River is calling for help...]
A pitch-black panel appeared before him, and the river right next to him began to shake, the faces of the souls distorting even more than they already were.
~BOOM, BOOM, BOOM~
And so, as if acting like some sort of monster generator, six bird-like monsters came out of the abyss of the water.
They were giant birds, twice as big as Stark, completely dark and with edges flowing like waves, basically just like the [Shadow Bears], but their wings, beak, legs, and stomach were white.
They turned around Stark, a few meters above him, visible from above as their flapping wings emitted a white aura visible from beyond the mist.
[Shadow Bird, Level 95]
'...' Stark's expression didn't change, 'More experience...'
Stark's eyes glinted with determination as he surveyed the new adversaries that had appeared before him.
The Shadow Birds circled above him with menacing grace, their white features standing out against their dark, undulating bodies, while on the other hand, the Shadow Bears were slowly approaching him, their mouth and eyes full of rage.
'…' Stark and his clones positioned themselves.
…
[Name: Shadow Bird]
[Level: 95]
[HP: 135000]
[Strength: 1738]
[Stamina: 3502]
[Speed: 3981]
[Defense: 2955]
[Skills: Crest of Shadows, Gale Strike, Shadow Dive, Piercing Screech, River Puppet, Call of the Birds, Shadow Flight…]
…
"SHADOW DIVE!" all six birds suddenly dived toward Stark, leaving a trail of aura as they descended upon him, blocking his exit from all directions.
"GROUP ATTACK!" and to make it worse, all thirteen bears swarmed in from the sides, aiming to corner Stark in a pincer attack, some of them even jumping in the air to catch him.
This meant that [Invincible Dodge] wouldn't work as the moment he tried to do that, he would be met with another one of the monsters that would surely slash him.
'…' Stark was unmoved, he just unsummoned his clones and waited for impact, 'Oh well… I might as well…'
Stark sighed as he remembered that he had 'THAT' skill he had unlocked less than two days ago with his most recent level up.
And so he activated it.
"DODGE CONTROL…!"
[Description:] For exactly 15 seconds, your aura takes over your body and allows you to bend it in any way it needs to, making you able to dodge any and every attack that comes your way, no matter how fast or unavoidable it is.
The moment the first Shadow Bird and Shadow Bear reached where Stark stood, he vanished in a blur of crimson light. His body contorted and twisted in an impossible manner, evading the attacks with grace that defied logic.
Stark couldn't control his body anymore.
'Huh…?' he could obviously think, but he wasn't the one moving it, rather, it was his own aura.
Stark reappeared behind one of the Shadow Birds, his crimson eyes burning with determination. With unparalleled speed, he unleashed a barrage of punches, each strike infused with his dominating aura.
The force of his blows sent shockwaves rippling through the mist-covered battlefield.
"-58382! -61291! -59033!" the first bird died before it could even understand what happened.
The remaining monsters on the other hand just looked around, confused as to how the human had avoided their impossible to dodge attack: they had one it against several people before, and it always worked.
[11 seconds of 'Dodge Control' remaining]
He couldn't understand how this skill worked since after avoiding, he immediately took control over his body again, and was the one that killed the bird.
'Does it mean my aura only takes control when an attack is coming…?' it was basically some sort of autopilot, very useful.
And so just like that, Stark got ready to fight the rest of them, quickly but surely getting rid of them all before they could do anything else.