Chapter 374: Floor 26 Wraiths

On Floor 26, there happened a scene of animal abuse. A human and a large orc were riding on a poor Nightmare's back. If it hadn't been a monster, its back would have already caved in under the weight.

— Annoyed Neigh! —

"Master, I think it doesn't like me too much."

"What gives you that feeling? The biting or the spitting?" Josh replied, rolling his eyes.

Their surroundings were a beautiful purplish color that made him quite happy, but there was a definite lack of monsters. This reminded them of the last Floor with the damn Blattagriff.

Would another colossal titan appear out of nowhere to devour them? Also, what was up this mission? They were supposed to catch a wraith king, but there were none to see so far.

"Master, I've researched wraith, and apparently they are incorporeal flying creatures that—"

"I know what wraiths are, drain ability and all. But do you see any? The sky is utterly empty too!" Josh grumbled.

"...."

"...."

— Annoyed neigh! —

From time to time, they stumbled upon skeletal remains, hooves crushing the bones and making a satisfying crunch sound.

They encountered what looked like a lighthouse, one surrounded by a mysterious fog as they kept going. It glowed a bright green light, basking the realm in a maladive-looking glow. This ought to be their target, right?

But the closer they got, the more they realized that this was no fog. Nope! Those were countless wraiths that hovered in the air, circling it endlessly. It was all so eerily quiet, only Nightmare's trotting resounding.

"Damn, that's a lot of them! I take half, and you take the other half?" the orc confidently proposed.

"If only it were that easy. Nightmare, get ready to gallop away." Josh instructed.

At this moment, he was glad that he had learned archery recently. These things were flying hella high!— almost as high as that one rapper.

He summoned his bow, launching a volley of arrows at the creatures. They flew without a care in the world, seemingly trying to get as close to the light as possible.

— Twang! —

The arrow ran its course, flying through the air with incredible speed. But right before impact, it collided with an invisible barrier. What was that?!

It seemed to come from the lighthouse thingy. It was as if it gave the wraiths a protective shield. Was that why they hanged there? Was it for safety reasons? Probably not.

"Master, at Normal they are supposed to be swarming everywhere without rhyme or reason. Any idea what causes this?"

"Nope, but it has to do something with that light for sure. Nightmare, bring us closer."

The poor horse begrudgingly complied. This thing looked like a death trap and it knew how much its master loved to poke random hornet nests! Should it start praying?

They were about 50 meters from the base of the light when it happened. The wraiths seemed to come alive as they slowly turned toward them before wailing loudly.

— Screech!!—

They were akin to a school of fish as they all turned at the same time, rushing at them! They were akin to children smelling allowance money! (Fast and terrifying)

"Master, wraith time incoming!" The orc shouted as he solidly grabbed his hammer.

Josh kept shooting as Nightmare neighed in fright as its fears came true. Of course, the entire thing was turning shitty from the start! Why was it getting chased so much recently?! First big black cats, and now those?!

Its hooves stampeded on the ground as it dashed away as quickly as it could, carrying its master and the fat green thing.

— Clip! Clop! Clip! Clop! —

— Screech! —

The orc king powerfully swung his hammer but with little success. The creatures kept approaching. #Melee Problems #Bullied Orc King

The thing flew above their heads, the fastest ones in range to use their drain ability. Thus began incredible suffering.

The wraiths would establish a link between them and their target. They would use it to steal vitality from their prey. It felt like getting a piece of one's soul ripped off, aka fucking horrible!

Feeling their deadly ability, everyone involuntarily cried out in pain— except Josh. He was way too busy firing arrows after arrows. The purplish aura around his projectiles collided with the ethereal wraiths, making their very essence bubble.

The creatures couldn't understand what this purple thing was. Since it seemed to be shiny mana, they eagerly devoured it, but that's when they began screeching in incredible suffering. This mana was poisonous!

As they ate it, they suddenly turned purplish as they began to dissipate, their essence shattering. But a few seconds later, they learned their lesson and steered clear of the projectile and Josh altogether.

Josh's Kill ratio suddenly fell, from a few wraiths per arrow to maybe one wraith every other arrow. The things were too damn agile! If he kept missing so much, he'd run out of mana eventually!

"Tch— this is bad. If only I could come nearby, I could mark them with killing intent." He grumbled,

"Mark them?" The orc asked, puzzled.

"It's called locking. I can use killing intent to guide my arrows if I've been in contact with the target." Josh explained.

But, it wasn't much of an engage technique. It especially shined as a finisher move. Trying to flee? How about a magical arrow in your ass! (Or back)

The problem was that those annoying bastards had a pretty long range. Heck, was there anything more annoying than ranged flying units?! The only consolation was that they seemed to fear Josh's attacks.

— Scared Neigh! —

Nightmare felt like crying. It kept rushing, hoping that it would survive. Why was it the one working the most?

But then the creatures suddenly stopped chasing. It was as if they had reached a barrier and were too far away from the lighthouse. Nightmare instantly slumped down to the ground panting, physically and mentally tired.

"Master, don't worry, I have a plan!" The orc happily chimed in.

"?"

"We just need to work together! Do you prefer to be on top or bottom? Seeing your amazing energy, I think that it's better if I'm at the bottom."

"Phrasing..."

"If I throw you in the air, you should have the reach to hit them. Either you swing that mighty weapon of yours, or you mark them to take them down afterward." He explained.

"So you're suggesting acrobatics?"

"Exactly! It's like that one human movement technique. What was it called again? Oh, cheerleading!" He proudly

Movement technique? Well, he wasn't entirely wrong. There was lots of practice involved.

"Hehe, do you have the outfit?" Josh snickered.

He couldn't help but chuckle, picturing the muscular orc with pompoms doing acrobatics. How ridiculous would that look? He was only joking, but the orc missed that detail.

"What?! Is the technique unusable without the outfit?! Are those magically enchanted?!" The orc gasped in shock.

"Obviously, every outfit is enchanted to draw the gazes of men watching. Why else would it be so popular?" The correct answer was cute girls doing cool things.

The orc showed regret. How could he miss such vital information?! He seemed awfully disappointed as he glared at the general wraiths' direction with rancor.

"Don't worry. I have a better plan. Since the wraiths seem allergic to my mana, we'll use that." Josh suddenly shared.

The three slowly returned to the wraith swarm and the green light. Before they could reach anywhere too close, Josh suddenly drew upon his mana to activate his newest ability.

"Come, oh powerful Blattagriff!"

The small insect slowly materialized, looking as ugly and harmless as ever. But this was only the beginning. Josh repeated the same thing a few times until there was an army at his command, for a grand total of 20 insects!

Alright, this wasn't actually that impressive. Would 20 of them even manage to take down a cat? Housecat? Yes. Big Black Cat? Fuck no!

The orc was looking at this happen, looking slightly skeptical. What good would these little things do? Sure they deadly in HIGH number.....but hence lay the problem. But what happened next changed his opinion entirely.

Jack began to infuse his mana in the creatures that became even more energetic than before. They were as hyper as a random author replacing the milk in his morning cereals with some Death-Wish coffee.

They flew around excitedly with their tiny eagle/roach wings, radiating purple energy. The whole thing looked hella strange!

Josh grinned and ordered his valiant army: "Go forth and conquer this realm for me! It is time for a crusade! Kill all the wraiths!" He heroically ordered.

Was this whole grandiloquent spectacle necessary? Not really, as his summons, he could control them with his will— to a degree. But he was satisfied with how the orc and Nightmare now gazed at him with shiny eyes, impressed.

Now there just remained to wait and pray. The Blattagriff squad flew straight toward the wraiths. The things instantly jumped at the ones leading the pack, devouring them instantly.

Just like that, half of Josh's soldiers were gone— awkward.

But a few seconds later, it all began. The gluttonous wraiths began to wail in pain as they exploded one after the other. Overall there weren't that many casualties, but it sent a message: Blattagriff = scary!

That's when a hilarious development happened.

The tiny weak insect could be seen chasing the wraiths a few dozen times their size. This reminded Josh of those videos of poodles running after bears angrily, with the latter fleeing scared shitless.

A single hit was enough to transfer Josh's mana over and lead to the wraiths' death. It was a one-sided massacre.

Blattagriffs 1

Wraiths 0

"Master, why do I almost feel bad for the wraiths?"

"Cause you're too sensitive." Josh shrugged.

But as the wraith fog began to thin out, the visibility increased. That's when they could distinguish what they had thought to be a green lighthouse.

The green was an enormous jewel, and there seemed to be a phantom sealed in it! It was moving too...