Chapter 863 - Dungeon Climbing III

"You know…if you did that earlier then we would not have wasted effort in killing numerous birds. I feel like I have committed a grave sin or something." Solstice stated as a joke.

"I did not want to use it immediately as we might have tougher challenges after this floor. At the very least, I managed to get an achievement, so I do not feel wasteful using it." Adrian replied but he is worried that he can no longer use Vortex in a fight against powerful multiple enemies later on.

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The next floor of the dungeon is a combination of the past two floors. There are giant pea shooters scattered around the bean stalk once more while there are bird monsters flying about. The giant pea shooters in this floor are lesser compared to the previous floor but they do not fire when they detect something in the direction they are facing.

The giant pea shooters attached to the giant bean stalk looked as if they have an ability to detect movement. The supposed mouths of the giant pea shooters are rotating as if they are looking for prey to target. The birds on this floor are also different compared to the floor that they have been on.

The smallest of the bird monsters in this floor is about three meters in terms of wingspan. The largest having a wingspan of ten meters but they do not come in huge numbers. The bird monsters are in the number of hundreds compared to the hundred thousand in the previous floor.

"Sirius, test the climb of the bean stalk." Adrian commanded as he wanted to see if they can just pierce through this floor.

As soon as Sirius came close to the bean stalk, ten giant pea shooters all turned his direction and fired. The pea projectiles were fast, but Sirius is faster than them. He evaded the attack only to be locked on by the bird monsters as they dived to kill Sirius with their beaks.

Without even doing much, Sirius extended his shadows into spears to meet the five bird monsters trying to kill him. The bird monsters could not easily change their courses and impaled themselves with the shadow spears that Sirius created. The poison also affected them which weakened them to an extent.

Despite being impaled and poisoned, the bird monsters did not die from the attack. Sirius had to finish them up by biting their head off. As soon as Sirius killed off the bird monsters, another round of pea projectiles is aimed at him, but he already returned to Adrian's side.

"Can Kanlaon out speed the pea projectiles and the diving suicidal monster birds?" Lycan asked as he is curious.

"The pea projectiles could be defended using the elemental barrier with both of your help. The birds are another headache because they are faster than the projectile when they dive down." Adrian replied as he looked at the description of the bird monster present in the dungeon floor.

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Monster: Kamikaze Hawk

Level: 150 ~ 180

Description: A notorious bird monster known to perform life sacrificing attacks as it will ram its whole body on the target it chooses. It is said that they only have tunnel vision as soon as they choose a target. Even if the target manages to evade, they will continue in their designated path despite being killed.

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"Those bird monsters are basically dive bombers. From my observations, they seem to be almost as fast as Sirius when they lock on a target. The good thing is that they only choose targets that try to fly above the airspace of the next floor." Adrian stated.

"How is that a good thing when we need to traverse that area in order to advance?" Solstice asked with a bit of a frustrated tone.

"I agree with her. As soon as we fly above that section, we will be targeted by not only the giant pea shooters but also the bird monsters. Even with our protection, we will be bound to get hit on the way. It seems that the way up is even longer than the previous floors." Lycan added.

Adrian also agreed with their deduction, but he could easily reduce the things to worry about as he already though of a plan. A giant pea shooter takes exactly ten seconds to reload and shoot its next projectile. The birds also react in about one seconds that they detect movement in the general area they are in.

"All we need are distractions." Adrian stated as he unfurled his wings and carried Lycan.

Since Adrian's strength stat is already high for a summoner, he could easily carry one person while in flight without much difficulty. Solstice can fly by herself as they climbed the bean stalk at noon which means night is almost coming.

With the sun already hiding, the armor that slowed down solstice can now be changed to a dress made of darkness. She also gets a speed boost whenever night comes so she can fly by herself. Seeing that Adrian dismounted from Kanlaon while carrying Lycan, Solstice already knew the general gist of her brother's plan.

"Sirius and Kanlaon will serve as our distractions. With us not being carried by Kanlaon, he can easily catch up with Sirius at his full speed albeit using lots of mana. They will trigger the giant pea shooters and the Kamikaze Hawks first and we will follow behind them." Adrian explained to which Lycan already understood but he is a bit shy that Adrian is carrying him in a princess carry style.

"I get the plan, but can you carry me a different way?" Lycan asked as he does not feel okay with the position that his girlfriend's brother is carrying him. Even if this is a game, he still feels shy as if he is treated like a damsel in distress.

"My sister can carry you if you want but I do not know if that will affect her speed of ascent. There is still some wind resistance after all." Adrian stated as he redirected his gaze to his sister.

"You can carry him as I am only flying due to the innate use of wind magic to manipulate my weight. Vampires do not really have wings to carry them in air after all." Solstice replied.

"See. You are stuck like that. We will take about five minutes of continuous flight at most when I am unhindered. Sirius and Kanlaon, start the climb." Adrian stated as his two soulbounds suddenly climb the floor in a fast speed.

Adrian gave Sirius and Kanlaon a five second head start in order to trigger the giant pea shooters and the Kamikaze Hawks. Five seconds is enough time to traverse the current area where the pea shooters are currently reloading. It is also enough time to gather the attention of the Kamikaze Hawks for the monsters to choose an intended path.

Sirius and Kanlaon left shadowy images of themselves when they get pass the area they are traversing. The giant pea shooters attack and miss while the kamikaze hawks become stuck on the giant bean stalk. Some of the bird monsters even die if they go faster than they can originally do. Adrian even used Chrono Shift to make the birds fly faster and crash faster.

Adrian flew first with Solstice following behind him. He even enhanced his wings by utilizing all the primordial energy that he gathered from the previous floors. Solstice tried to closely follow her brother, but she cannot tail him correctly as there is a five-meter distance between them.

Lycan's face could be described as being blasted by blasts of air. Unlike Kanlaon that can create an elemental barrier to eliminate wind pressure, flying with Adrian is not the same thing. Lycan is now experiencing what it feels having a leaf blower blasting on the highest speed on your face.

Just as Adrian predicted, they reached the middle in under four minutes, but the next challenge happened as soon as they reached the halfway point. The bird monsters became bigger and faster to the point that they can even hit Sirius and Kanlaon.

The scary thing about the bigger kamikaze hawks is that they even burn away as they charge towards their enemies. When the kamikaze hawks crash on the bean stalk, they would even leave scorch marks. The added bonus for that is they suddenly regain posture and attack the ones they spot next.

The kamikaze hawks that recover from hitting the bean stalk will then target Adrian's group next. As Adrian could not easily block such dive-bombing birds, he needed to resort to cleverly using his skills available to him. Thankfully, Paradox can automatically lock on an opponent in a fifty meter radius.

Adrian would use Chrono Shift if the kamikaze hawk would hit them faster in order to make them crash on the bean stalk. He would also use Chrono Lag to slow down the upcoming attack in order for his sister to not get damaged.. The only downside is that his mana is taking the toll on the numerous spells he is casting.