Chapter 76: Field Boss

“I will use my Signature. We must take out the boss here. Sapphire, stay out of sight,” I commanded the girls. “Legion!”

My Signature caused all of my clones to have the same stats and abilities as me, including my shield aura. I summoned 11 clones, making a total of 12 Lilys, including myself. Five of them wielded melee weapons (three naginatas and two war scythes), while the rest carried three harpoons, two sniper rifles, and two shotguns.

“On it! Be careful,” Shining and Serene said as they spread out.

“First blood!” A sniper clone fired, the bullet striking the boss’s shoulder. The massive bat staggered as black ichor spurted from the wound.

“Lightning Spears!” Multiple lightning spears formed around Serene before launching toward the enormous bat.

Explosion after explosion followed as we bombarded the creature with our attacks.

“Felicia?” I whispered to her telepathically. She was my familiar, She understood what I wanted her to do immediately.

“Anathema Analytic System, on. The bat will be dubbed the Mammoth Vampiric Bat. It can fly and execute stealth attacks. The miasma it emits suggests it is on the lower end of C-rank due to its stealth capabilities. Beware of its attacks. Once it’s in the open, as long as you’re careful of its attacks, you should be fine,” Felicia informed us.

“Thirty minutes, everyone! Shotgun clones will handle any hawks that get too close! The rest, focus on the boss!” one of the sniper clones ordered through the intercom.

“Harpoon!” I shouted, keeping my Icerail Naginata close. We all closed in on the bat, but it flew away, forming several dark spheres around itself as it passed us.

“Incoming!”

Like a bomber airplane, the bat dropped its dark spheres, which homed in on us like missiles.

I shot them down with my Icerail Naginata while a Dark Eater Naginata clone deflected the incoming projectiles. Meanwhile, Shining, Serene, and my sniper clones continued firing at the airborne bat. Despite our efforts, it refused to fall.

“Ugh… why won’t it go down? I thought hitting flying enemies would make it easier to bring them down,” Shining complained.

“It has regenerative abilities. All of our damage is slowly being repaired. Shining, Serene, prepare your Signatures. We have to finish this in one strike. Lily can only maintain her Signature for 20 more minutes.”

A voice I didn’t recognize came through the intercom. I looked around, trying to pinpoint the source.

“That’s Serene Night’s familiar—no need to be alarmed. We familiars usually coordinate our attacks through the intercom like this. Would you like to mute them?” Felicia explained.

"No need."

I usually fought solo, so it hadn’t occurred to me that other familiars might voice their strategies like this.

“I’ll help too!” Sapphire chimed in. “My Signature will increase shield strength!”

“After Shining and Serene attack, Sapphire will use her Signature,” I instructed.

The massive bat turned toward us, dark mana gathering in its mouth—the same devastating lance attack that had nearly killed us before. The Dark Eater Naginata clone and Dark Eater War Scythe clone stepped forward. This time, their stats weren’t halved.

As the bat unleashed its dark beam, my clones swung their weapons.

The beam deflected off the Naginata clone and ricocheted toward the War Scythe clone. The War Scythe clone then redirected it back at the bat, triggering a massive explosion.

The bat staggered, and at that moment, my harpoon clones fired their spears.

The harpoons embedded themselves deep into its flank. The bat panicked, its enormous wings flapping wildly as three of my clones held themselves together by grabbing a house pillar.

“Shining Breaker!”

A pink beam of light shot from Shining’s bow, piercing the bat’s stomach and exiting through its back.

Serene followed with her Lightning Storm. The sky darkened as she gathered her magical energy. Then, a deafening bolt of lightning struck, searing the bat’s flesh. The scent of charred meat filled the battlefield, quickly overpowered by the revolting stench of Anathema’s blood.

At last, the bat fell.

It crashed into a nearby single-story house, demolishing the cheap, non-Zenith structure in a single blow.

But it was still alive.

Black blood poured from its stomach as it let out a furious roar.

“Ugh. It’s still alive even after being hit by two Signatures.” Serene groaned, dread creeping into her voice.

Signature magic was a Guardian's ultimate trump card, a last resort to turn the tide of battle. Once used, they would need several hours to recover before they could charge it again. If an Anathema survived a Signature skill, the Guardians would be in grave danger.

“Now it’s finally our turn!”

The harpoon clones sprang into action. They circled the bat, tightening their harpoon lines to bind it in place. Meanwhile, the rest of the clones—even Shining and Serene—joined in.

“Explosive ammo?”

“No! FMJ bullets! Penetration first. You’ll hit the others if you use explosive rounds.”

I could hear my clones bickering through our telepathic link, but I ignored them. Instead, I leaped toward the bound bat, aiming my slash at its neck.

The other clones followed my lead while the harpoon clones held the creature down. Dark spheres formed around it, but they were useless—my clones deflected them with Dark Eater weapons. Flames and ice engulfed the bat as we hacked away, black ichor pouring from its wounds.

“Die already!”

My clones raised their war scythes overhead and brought them down on the bat's skull. I followed up with a horizontal slash while the ranged attackers bombarded its torso.

The bat stirred, rising from its stupor. Though the mana lines from the harpoons prevented it from flying, it still had its claws and fangs.

With a sudden burst of speed, it lunged at me, maw wide open.

I had no time to react.

A sharp, glass-shattering sound rang in my ears.

[Shield Break. Please retreat.]

“Lily!”

My clones charged in, but it was too late.

“ARGH!”

A guttural scream tore from my throat as its fangs sank deep into my stomach.

Agonizing pain erupted through my body. I could feel its teeth ripping through flesh, crushing my ribcage.

“Am I going to die?” I muttered. The pain had lessened. Not because it was cured, but because I knew it was futile to resist.

The bat’s serrated teeth tore off a chunk of my body. My vision blurred as I fell to the ground. Then—nothing.

Darkness swallowed me.

A moment later, blinding white light engulfed my vision.

“…What?”

Suddenly, I was back—watching the bat rampage through the lens of my sniper scope.

I found myself lying prone, a sniper rifle in my hands. Through the scope, I could see my clones swarming the bat with their weapons. The shift unsettled me.

The creature could no longer withstand the relentless assault. As a final act of desperation, it managed to bite and claw at two more clones before finally succumbing to its wounds—killing one clone and causing a Shield Break on the other.

“Sapphire!” Shining asked.

“On it. But shouldn’t we check on Lily first?” Sapphire asked, opening an empty vial and activating her harvesting ability. She was waiting for the moment the bat was about to fall. She glanced at the Shield Break Lily, who still clutched her war scythe tightly.

“It was just her clones,” Felicia reassured them over the intercom.

“…It wasn’t.”

I whispered the words under my breath. Thankfully, no one else heard me—except Felicia. She was a cat, but I could sense she was rolling her eyes in disbelief. She said exactly what I wanted her to say and she knew it, so I couldn't complain.

Dark clouds gathered over Sapphire as she activated her harvesting skill.

The memory of the bat’s jaws crunching through my flesh, of my flank being torn open, lingered in my mind. Even after Sapphire finished her harvest five minutes later, I could still feel the phantom pain gnawing at my side.

I ignored it.

Pushing myself to my feet, I slung my rifle onto my back and walked casually toward Shining and Serene, who were celebrating the job well done.

[You have leveled up to Level 35.]

[Defeated: Mammoth Vampiric Bat (Level 89).]

[Reward: 200 Points.]

“Wow! Two levels in one go!” Shining exclaimed.

“I leveled up too. As expected—higher-leveled Anathema…”

“I even gained a level, and I barely did anything.” Sapphire nodded.

“Wow… I’m jealous. I think I want to be a Harvester too…” Shining playfully nudged her own cheek.

From that gesture, I knew she didn’t really mean it.

“Ugh... I feel guilty,” Sapphire admitted with a nod.

“You know I was joking. How much did we gather? That was a boss, right?” Shining asked, looking at her.

“One vial and a bit more. I was surprised.” Sapphire held out her vials.

“That’s good. But I think we’ve hit our limit. We should head back as soon as possible—that was dangerous.” Serene Night nodded.

“Yeah. Without Lily, we wouldn’t have survived. When that Shield Break happened, I thought the bat had really hit you. Was that your Signature?” Shining asked, glancing at me as I shouldered my rifle. I nodded.

"My signature lets my clone have shield aura. So, they were essentially a Magical Girl." Looking around, all my clones nodded. There were no more enemies. It should be safe to deactivate our Signature skill.

A white light enveloped us.

Soon, I was back to just one Lily.

“Was that your Signature? Ah—sorry, that was rude of me.” Serene Night turned away, muttering to herself about how useful my ability was. I caught fragments of her thoughts—how she wouldn’t even need to worry about a vanguard if she had my Signature.

“Let’s go back to base.”

I resummoned my jeep and climbed into the driver’s seat. Glancing at the vehicle, I noticed dents and dirt covering its frame.

“I wonder if Zenith provides repair and cleaning services….” I muttered to no one.

As we drove back to base, the sun had lowered considerably.

On the way, Sapphire started talking about hunting high-level Anathema.

“If a C-ranked Anathema can yield a vial, we should focus our hunts on them. Freya and the others are rank A—they could gather a vial or two with every hunt if they brought a Harvester!”

“That might seem obvious at first glance, but we’ve considered it and advised against it.”

Blue, her snake, responded.

“Higher-leveled Anathema are smarter. That bat, for example, could have killed you in one hit. So unless the Harvesters are significantly higher-leveled as well, we can’t risk it.”

“I can level up properly now. If I put everything into Vitality and Magic, I should be able to do it, right?” Sapphire asked.

Blue nodded in agreement.

As we traveled across the desolate landscape, Felicia suddenly perked up. I recognized that gesture—she always had an important message when she moved like that.

“SOS message from the Guardians. Magic Flare, Silky Cloud, and Raging Swords are requesting emergency assistance.”

“Of all times to ask for help…” Serene groaned. “We’ve expended all of our Signatures.”

“Should we help?”

“We must. Relay the SOS to base camp. What’s the situation? What kind of Anathema are they facing? If we can’t fight, we might at least be able to buy them some time.” Serene sighed.

“They’re surrounded by twenty Gloam and one Advanced Gloam. None of them have received a Shield Break, but several Fomorian Hounds are assisting the Gloams, preventing them from escaping.”

I turned the jeep according to Felicia’s instructions. Their location was only five kilometers away.

And so, we were forced from one tough battle into another.

Glancing at my status, I made a decision—I invested in Agility and Strength. If things went south, at least I’d have a better chance of dodging and escaping. Hopefully, that would be enough.

[Quest Issued! - SOS]

[Description: Three Magical Guardians are calling for your help. Rescue them, but don’t endanger yourself.]

[Difficulty: Medium]

[Reward: 400 Points]