Skill Hunter -Kill Monsters, Acquire Skills, Ascend to the Highest Rank!

Ike tensed. Wisp stepped up beside him. Heavy footsteps pounded toward them. Trees crunched, and black smoke billowed into the sky in a column. A second group of fire monsters lurked out of the trees. Like the first set, these monsters had black, charcoal bodies shot through with veins of red-hot magma, but unlike the first, these monsters were huge. The shortest easily stood twice as tall as Ike, with rippling muscles and formidable horns that scraped the branches above.

"Holy shit," Ike muttered.

"No kidding," Wisp replied. "Think of all the juice in those guys!"

He glanced at her. "I don't think they have any juice. They're full of fire."

She snorted. "Don't kill my fun. I get more motivated if I think of my enemies as big, delicious bags of future jelly."

Ike raised his brows. "You know, I'm not surprised, and yet, I know too much."

The first one charged the web wall. It slammed into it. Wisp's webbing stretched, but held. Before it could snap back in place, the next monster smashed into it. The web stretched further. The trees that her web was anchored to creaked. Their roots strained, lifting partially out of the earth. Another monster thumped into it, and the leaves shook as if it were in a fierce storm.

"Shit," Wisp muttered.

"It's not going to hold, is it," Ike muttered back, glancing at her.

Two more monsters hit her web. The trees toppled, taking the web with it. Some of the monsters stuck to the web, but not all of them, and there were more coming. The monsters who'd escaped the web charged to the next layer and slammed into it, only for the process to start all over again.

"No. We can fight here, but we'll only lose ground. We can't hold this place," Wisp said.

Ike nodded. "Then let's not. We can fall back to where we set the traps. Might as well take advantage of them, rather than try to hold the river without an advantage."

"We lose ground, though. Is that okay?" Wisp asked.

"I'd rather lose ground than lose men. Besides, I don't think we're going to win this round without engaging the castle's armaments. The castle can't hit anything way back here. We have to get closer for it to be effective," Ike explained.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Wisp nodded. "If you're sure. Just remember that it'll be harder to retake this than to hold it."

Ike thought for a second. The giant fire monsters hammered at Wisp's webs. The trees creaked. They'd been holding this ground easily so far, but they wouldn't be able to hold it once Wisp's webs all came down. Sure, they could rush and try to hold the webs, but as fast as the webs went down, that was a losing battle. He and Wisp would have to risk life and limb to hold the river crossing, and that simply didn't make sense. They'd die or be seriously injured here, when they could fall back to the trapped land and hold it easily once more.

"No, I think we retreat," he repeated, more certain this time.

Wisp nodded. She transformed from giant spider back to her human form. "Let's book it, then."

Ike tossed a knife toward the charging fire monsters. Lightning shocked through the monster where it landed. He turned and followed Wisp.

The fire monsters chased after them. Ike could have outrun them, holding Wisp, if necessary, but he didn't try. Instead, he ran slowly, checking over his shoulder to make sure the monster were following him. He was trying to lead them to the killing floor, where they'd set up all their traps. It did him no good if they lost track of them on the way there.

Wisp tossed a ball of spider thread behind her. As the monsters charged over it, it exploded, blasting them with sticky threads. The threads clung to their bodies and slowed them, but only for a moment. In the next, the fire burned the thread away.

"New technique?" Ike asked.

"Yeah. I haven't managed to make it work with the fireproof thread, yet. I keep trying, but…" Wisp scowled. She gestured behind her.

"We'll have plenty of time to practice techniques once we get there," Ike said, laughing.

"And we can also practice them on the way there," Wisp countered.

Ike nodded, ducking his head to allow her point.

In no time, they reached the trapped field. Ike shot a look at Wisp. "Remember where the traps are?"

"Eh. I have threads for that," Wisp returned.

Ike snorted. "Well, as long as you have a plan."

Wisp threw out a line of thread and hopped onto it, vanishing into the treetops. Ike ran through the field, nimbly dodging the traps. He turned around and held his ground halfway through the field. From this point, he could fight, but he could still retreat if the pressure grew too extreme. It allowed him some room for ebb and flow, and meant that a monster who escaped beyond him wasn't going to immediately hit the castle—it'd still have to contend with the rest of the traps first.

"This time, I'll be the frontliner. You support and catch any who go past me!" Ike called.

"You got it, boss," Wisp replied from somewhere nearby in the forest.

The first of the muscular, flaming monsters reached the trapped field. Spikes bit into their feet, and they lurched to a halt. Ike instantly darted forward and took the monster's head. His sword met some resistance, even with his Storm Clad boosted strength. Ike raised his brows. He hadn't used River-Splitting Sword deliberately to test the monsters' toughness, and from what he felt there, these things were no joke. Far stronger than the first round boars or the little flaming monsters from the start of the round.

Even with that, they weren't too much for him to handle. Ike cut down monster after monster. The traps didn't fill up too much, since the monsters fell to charcoal when they died. Instead, the metal hooks and snags slowly began to melt, overwhelmed by the heat. Without the traps to slow them down, they started to break past Ike. Wisp darted across the battlefield on silky white traces. One after another, she chased down the escaped monsters and slayed them.

At last, the monsters slowed. Ike wiped his brow, smudging charcoal across his face. How many were there in this round? There'd only been two rounds in the first set, but the second round had been a giant, boss-like monster. There was no sign of that in this round, nor after it. He took the head off another monster and lifted a hand to his brow to peer back toward where the enemies had come from. Instead of a huge monster, three columns of black smoke marched out from the back of his territory.

"Dammit, more?" Ike complained.

Wisp drew up alongside him, shaking a body off her forelimb. "More? Damn. How many monsters are in this round?"

"I don't know," Ike said. He glanced upward. But I know someone who knows.