Facing the Enemy

Zeliel strained his eyes as he looked around.

But everywhere he looked was packed with dense leaves, making it difficult to spot anything unusual.

After concentrating for so long, his eyes inevitably began to ache.

Suddenly, Vales raised one hand, and the entire party stopped at once.

"Found it?" Marcus whispered.

Vales pointed ahead and mouthed a word.

Above.

Zeliel slowly raised his head and looked in the direction Vales indicated.

At first, Zeliel saw nothing. But when he rubbed his eyes and carefully distinguished the tangled leaves from the shadows, his heart suddenly jolted.

Beneath a horizontal branch more than fifteen meters above the ground hung an enormous cocoon-shaped shadow upside down.

It had almost blended into the surrounding darkness. Without Vales's warning, it would have been extremely difficult to notice.

<Adventurers' Association General Monster Compendium>

[Sequence 14]: Giant-winged Bat

Individual Threat Rating: [Difficult]

Appearance:

A massive bat monster with a wingspan exceeding five meters when fully spread. Four blood-red compound eyes are positioned across the top of its head, granting it an all-around field of vision with no blind spots.

Habits:

It usually inhabits the highest canopy layers of ancient forests or the cliffs of deep ravines.

It possesses an extremely strong sense of territory and will attack any animal that enters its range.

Female Giant-winged Bats during their breeding and nursing period will even actively sweep the area around their territory, their aggression increasing severalfold.

Special Abilities:

The Giant-winged Bat's primary threat comes from its claws. During a high-speed dive, they can easily tear an adult apart.

It can also combine Wind Blades with the bony spikes on its wingtips and launch them as projectiles, making them extremely lethal.

Furthermore, the Giant-winged Bat's cry has exceptional penetrating power. Exercise caution.

Core Weaknesses:

Before launching its bony spikes, it will make an obvious windup by spreading its wings. This can be used to anticipate the attack.

In addition, the Giant-winged Bat's most vulnerable point is its wings. Once its wing membranes are torn, its flight ability will be severely impaired.

As long as the Giant-winged Bat is brought to the ground, it poses little threat.

Association Note:

It is strongly not recommended to challenge a Giant-winged Bat without any ranged classes in the party.

Also, adventurers should choose a battleground with complex terrain whenever possible. Facing a Giant-winged Bat in open terrain will multiply the difficulty and is no different from courting death.

Zeliel softened his breathing.

The Giant-winged Bat was even larger than he had imagined. Even hanging there upside down with its wings folded, its body was over two meters long.

Its head was hairless, its dark-red skin layered with folds, hideous beyond words.

But the most chilling part was still the Giant-winged Bat's four compound eyes.

Each was the size of an egg, and they were not arranged on a single plane. Instead, they were grouped in pairs, each facing a different direction, creating an absurd and grotesquely malformed appearance.

Suddenly, the membranes of the Giant-winged Bat's wings trembled slightly.

Its four wicked compound eyes opened, their blood-red color swallowing the whites as they stared straight at the party.

"Wait... how did it find us?" Vales was startled.

"Giant-winged Bats use sonar. Even while sleeping, they periodically send out sound waves. The moment they detect anything unusual, they wake up."

Gray drew the longsword at his waist. He had killed Giant-winged Bats before and had plenty of experience. "Prepare for battle!"

The Giant-winged Bat opened its enormous mouth, its entire body trembling as power gathered deep in its throat.

Seeing this, Gray roared.

"Cover your ears!"

"Screeeeee!"

A piercing shriek erupted from the Giant-winged Bat's tooth-filled mouth, as harsh as metal scraping against glass.

Its scream echoed through the entire forest.

Even though Zeliel covered his ears in time, he still felt dizzy and disoriented.

After the sonic attack, the Giant-winged Bat released its grip with its claws and violently spread its wings, sweeping down like a dark cloud!

The air pressure suddenly surged. Amid a foul-smelling gale, the Giant-winged Bat's fully spread wings reached five meters wide as it pounced from the shadows of the canopy!

"Engage!"

Marcus let out an angry shout and charged forward first!

He concentrated all his strength into the shield in his left hand, meeting the Giant-winged Bat's deadly dive head-on!

"Clang!!!"

Claws struck shield, sending sparks flying.

Marcus felt a tremendous force slam into the shield. The ground beneath his feet was forcibly plowed into two furrows, and deep scratches appeared across the shield's steel face.

Gray darted out from behind Marcus. He lowered his body, stepped forward, and thrust!

The blade sliced through the air as Gray seized the timing with precision.

Before the Giant-winged Bat could retract its wings, he pierced the thinner wing membrane, weakening its ability to fly.

"Whoosh!"

Vales's arrow followed close behind with a whistle, piercing one of the Giant-winged Bat's compound eyes.

Viscous fluid burst out like a crushed berry.

The relentless attacks caused the Giant-winged Bat pain. It violently beat its wings, unleashing a torrent of raging air that sent Gray flying several meters away.

Just as the Giant-winged Bat prepared to pull away and return to the sky, Zeliel's spell had already finished charging.

Heavy Pressure!

"Get back here!"

A burst of magical force exploded!

A downward pressure stalled the Giant-winged Bat's body, as though an invisible hand were dragging it down.

The Giant-winged Bat, which had already risen into the air, was forcibly knocked several meters lower, returning to the party's attack range.

"Good opportunity!" Marcus's eyes lit up.

Shield Bash!

With savage force, he smashed his shield into the Giant-winged Bat's head, staggering its massive body.

Vales drew and nocked another arrow, shooting it straight into the Giant-winged Bat's softer abdomen. Dark-green blood splattered out.

Zeliel's second spell followed immediately.

Wind Blade!

"Smack!"

An invisible blade swept past, slicing horizontally through two of the Giant-winged Bat's compound eyes!

Having suffered so many devastating injuries in such a short time, even the Giant-winged Bat's tough body could not endure it.

It thrashed its wings wildly, knocking Marcus back.

Zeliel's Heavy Pressure had finished charging again, but by then, the Giant-winged Bat had already flown unsteadily into the sky.

After suffering once, the Giant-winged Bat began guarding against Zeliel's magic.

This Heavy Pressure failed to slam it back down, only slightly affecting its flight path.

The party's first wave of attacks had been effective, inflicting heavy damage on the Giant-winged Bat.

With only one eye left, the Giant-winged Bat glared venomously at them and let out a miserable shriek.

It could not understand how these humans were so strong.

Clearly, the humans in the village a few days ago had been nothing more than prey at its mercy.