The Finishing Blow

Marcus tilted his head back to observe the Giant-winged Bat.

It was now only circling cautiously in the air, letting out threatening low growls without daring to swoop down again.

Its posture even suggested that it was considering retreat.

"Is it going to run? That'll be a pain." Marcus frowned.

"Cough, cough..."

Gray climbed up from the ground and dusted himself off. He looked a little bedraggled, but fortunately, he was not injured.

"An ordinary Giant-winged Bat would have fled long ago, but Giant-winged Bats in their breeding and nursing period are different."

Gray looked around, then fixed his gaze on a spot and pointed.

"See that? That's its nest."

Sure enough, amid the dense upper canopy was a massive black shape resembling a tumor.

It was a Giant-winged Bat nest made of branches and animal bones, held together with copious amounts of saliva. It looked utterly disgusting.

If not for the brightness of Zeliel's Illumination, they probably would not have spotted it even with the direction pointed out.

"Come on, Zeliel. Aim for its nest and hit it."

Gray sneered. "Let's see whether it can bear to abandon its monster pups."

"Got it!"

Zeliel answered loudly.

A fixed target like this posed no difficulty for him. After a brief charge-up, Zeliel fired a Fireball straight at the Giant-winged Bat's nest.

"Boom!"

The instant the Fireball struck, blazing flames erupted, directly igniting the branches and leaves!

However, because the fuel was relatively damp, the flames did not immediately spread. This also produced even more smoke.

Zeliel's Fireball was like poking a hornet's nest. Sharp chirps of "chitter chitter" immediately rang out from within, undoubtedly from the Giant-winged Bat Pups.

"Nicely done!" Gray beamed.

That completely enraged the Giant-winged Bat. It immediately displayed intense aggression after previously hovering high above them.

"Screeeech!!!"

The Giant-winged Bat spread both wings wide, its shadow blotting out the sky.

An invisible force swirled around it, while the bony spikes at its wingtips began to tremble and loosen.

"Watch out! It's going to fire bone spikes!" Marcus raised his shield and assumed a defensive stance.

Zeliel and Gray also darted behind trees at once.

But at this moment, Vales suddenly dropped the ball.

He stood there blankly, staring at the Giant-winged Bat in the sky without making any move at all.

"Vales! What the hell are you standing around for? Get down!" Gray shouted.

Vales looked as if he had just woken from a dream, finally snapping back to his senses.

But it was too late. Wind Blade bone spikes like a torrential downpour tore through the air and shot down at them!

A tremendous force suddenly slammed into him from the side, wrapping Vales in an embrace as the two of them rolled uncontrollably to the side and crashed down.

At the critical moment, Gray had rushed over and tackled Vales out of the way when he had no time to dodge.

"Screech! Screech! Screech!"

Dozens of bone spikes sank deeply into the spot where Vales had been standing. Their immense force pierced straight through the ground, burying them more than ten centimeters deep and kicking up a cloud of dust.

The two rolled several times across the ground before finally stopping.

Vales was completely unharmed, while Gray had only suffered a scratch on his calf from one bone spike. It was nothing serious.

Gray panted heavily, still shaken, then immediately launched into a furious tirade.

"What the hell were you doing? Were you sleepwalking?!"

Luckily, the bone spikes had not hit anyone directly. Otherwise, the penetrating wounds caused by their power would likely have killed them on the spot.

"Sorry... It won't happen again."

Vales shook his head hard and pulled himself together.

After firing a volley of bone spikes, the Giant-winged Bat continued hovering in the sky, showing no intention of coming down.

Its wings trembled, and another set of ghastly white bone spikes slowly grew from its wingtips.

Bone spikes could not grow endlessly. Every volley permanently reduced the strength of the Giant-winged Bat's bones to some extent.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, a Giant-winged Bat would not continuously fire Wind Blade bone spikes.

But today, it was prepared to pay the price to kill these humans who had dared invade its nest!

"Screeeech!!!"

The piercing cry erupted again. With one beat of its wings, the Giant-winged Bat's speed suddenly surged, blurring its body along with it.

It made a sharp dash and turn, instantly circling into a blind spot in their defenses, releasing its sharp bone spikes as it flew!

"Watch out!" Marcus shouted.

A series of sharp, piercing clangs rang out from the surface of his shield.

Quite a few bone spikes embedded themselves directly in it. One nearly pierced straight through, its white tip visible from the other side.

Zeliel suddenly ducked down flat, not daring to move his head at all.

The whistling sounds of the spikes cutting through the air made his scalp tingle, as if he were caught in a hail of bullets.

After the second ranged assault ended, the Giant-winged Bat's killing intent did not diminish. It continued growing new bone spikes.

It seemed intent on slowly wearing the party down with this move.

"Damn it, this beast has gotten smarter..."

Marcus ran his battle blade along the face of his shield, cutting off every bone spike lodged in it.

"Zeliel, keep firing at its nest! Let's see if its pups can withstand being smoked and roasted!"

"No problem!"

Zeliel rolled behind a tree. Another Fireball finished charging, striking the Giant-winged Bat's nest with precision!

"Bang!"

The nest, whose flames had weakened somewhat, burst into blazing fire once more. The chittering from inside grew louder, now filled with mournful cries.

At the sight, the Giant-winged Bat completely went berserk.

Its entire body trembled madly and spasmodically, its shrill scream nearly piercing their eardrums.

If this continued, that damned human mage would destroy its nest!

It had to kill him first!

"Marcus!" Zeliel shouted.

"Got it!"

Just as the Giant-winged Bat locked onto Zeliel and dove down, Marcus charged forward with his shield!

The Giant-winged Bat was sent rolling across the ground several times. The party immediately seized the chance to launch their final assault!

Once it was within reach of the ground, the Giant-winged Bat's advantage immediately vanished.

A rapid volley—five feathered arrows!

Every arrow from Vales pierced the Giant-winged Bat's abdomen, pinning it firmly to the ground.

Gray stepped forward with his sword and leaped into the air.

A cold flash descended from above, slicing off half of the Giant-winged Bat's wing membrane!

The final finishing blow came from Zeliel. Aiming at the wound in the Giant-winged Bat's compound eye, he cast another Wind Blade.

The already exposed tissue of its head suffered another devastating blow. Unable to endure any longer, half of the Giant-winged Bat's head was sliced away.

Its skull cap spun through the air with a whistle before landing in the grass.

The Giant-winged Bat convulsed several times, then crashed to the ground and gradually fell silent.