As the pillar of howling fire went out just as fast as it appeared - revealing only pathetic burnt-out wick that was once before the head of the largest monster ever seen in the history of the Sloth territory - and the whole world.
Then, the body of the said titan-class monsters began falling back...
*THUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMP*
The tremor caused by it crashing against the ground made everyone shoot up five feet into the air as well as completely level every single structure built by the human hand within the one hundred-mile radius.
"...ugh... is... is everyone alright?!"
Shanks stood up, looking around at all the fallen people - most of them covered by the dust and debris created by the destruction of the outpost.
*thump*
*thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump* *thump*
But instead of a response he was expecting, he suddenly felt the earth trembling with hundreds of heavy steps...
"...!"
The rat-faced man tensed up and activated his detection skills and stared towards the mountains.
...
"THE NORMAL TITAN-CLASS MONSTERS ARE COMING!"
He shouted as he managed to notice a stampede of variously shaped monsters - humanoids and beasts alike - charging madly towards the frontline.
"...ugh..."
"Ow, ow, ow...!"
"*Sniffle*...!"
Shanks turned back towards his comrades that were beginning to stand up, but basically, none of them looked like they were ready for a battle.
"...Blueberry... could you repeat what you said before...?"
Even Mary, who was supporting herself on Arion, was more interested in her overly excited griffin than in the oncoming danger.
"Skwee! (It smells like mommy and daddy!) Skwee! (Mommy and daddy are here!)"
The large blue griffin was shaking, unable to stay in place, and even began jumping up while screeching in awe.
"...you can't be serious...!"
Mary gasped and finally looked to where Shanks was pointing.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"GET INTO POSITIONS! WE NEED TO GET READY TO INTERCEPT...!"
*SMASH*
Shank's desperate orders were interrupted as half of the limbless monster torso splattered onto the ground less than twenty feet away from him.
"...them...?!"
The rat-faced man blinked in confusion, staring at the monster's fragment, and looked back up towards the approaching monsters.
Once he focused not on the ones in the front but the ones in the back of the stampede...
*pop*
*crush*
*riiiiiiiip*
He noticed various titan-class monsters getting thrown into the air and blown apart by some unknown force...!
"...!"
And then he realized, that the monsters weren't charging at them at all...!
THEY WERE ALL RUNNING AWAY!
The closer the panicked titan-class monsters were, the easier it was to see for everyone - even people without the sight-enhancing skills - how the monsters are getting obliterated without a chance of fighting back!
No matter what the monsters did or tried to do, everything resulted in them being torn apart by...!
"Ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha!"
A single scantily clad woman with blood-red hair, wielding a black baseball bat shining with mana in one hand and a severed blue arm in the other, was unleashing a devastating skill after skill while laughing in a very peculiar way.
"Zombie! How much time are you going to waste on that lump of flesh? You're missing all the fun!"
The red-haired girl shouted over her shoulder as she swung the shining baseball bat and launched a shockwave that tore through giant monsters running away from her as if they were made out of paper-mache, spraying yellow blood and guts everywhere.
In answer to her call, a tall blue-skinned perfectly muscular undead - looking even more scandalous than the red-haired girl wearing only a set of bluish-black underwear because he wore just the bluish-black trunks and thigh-high boots on ridiculously high heels - appeared out of the thin air.
But the undead wasn't just blue, half of his right arm - including his forearm and hand, was made out of swirling red and black smoke.
"Khahahaha! You've said it yourself - just don't start sulking once I kill more than you!"
He laughed at the girl and did a kickflip while his legs begun to glow with a bright light...!
*WHOOOOOO*
...which unleashed a torrent of fire right from the tip of his boot, that engulfed all the remaining titan-class monsters before they could even reach the spot where the first line of defense officially started.
"You...! I told you to not use flames!"
The red-haired girl gasped deeply offended and glared at the blue undead.
"Pffft...! Don't be a sore loser! You've told me to not use it in the sea of mist! Which is currently over ther...! oh...?"
The blue undead mocked the girl and pointed towards the wall of thick fog far in the distance, before furrowing his brows and tilting his head.
"Huh...?!"
He suddenly gasped and his eyes widened.
"What is it? Did you finally found something strong for us to fight aside from those cannon fodder?"
The red-haired girl looked at him and rested the baseball bat on her shoulder.
The undead turned to her and then back towards the defense lines, then back at the girl, then back towards the defense lines.
"IT'S BLUEBERRY!"
He suddenly shouted and his face lighted up.
"Blue...?! Like, our Bluebe...?! -WHOA...!"
The red-haired girl shook her head in disbelief, but the next moment the blue undead pulled her into his arms and dashed forward, excited like a kid.
"Ah! Arion is there too!"
The blue undead did a happy little skip as he ran and reported to the girl pressed into his bare chest.
"...haa... but what are they doing here...?"
The red-haired girl mumbled, using the chance to tightly hug the undead without any restrain.
/...
/All of the titan class monsters have been eliminated
/Calculating...
/No monsters available for the 10th wave to begin
/Calculating...
/Special exception granted
/Quest progression
/10th wave successfully repelled
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm*push back the 10th monster wave (09:34:15) (completed)
/11/11 objectives completed
/Reward:
Calculating player's contribution...
/Error
/Contribution level beneath 0.01%
/Calculating...
/Adjusting the reward
/Reward granted: +1% to every base stat
/-Final frontier- completed
A series of messages like that popped up for the three remaining Wraths and Mary.
"...pfffft...! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Dearest system, I survived!"
The most overjoyed person was... none other than the white-haired Corvus...!
"How do you like that?! 9027 points in LUC! Praise be the system and its will!"
He got on his knees and threw his hands into the sky.
"...?"
"...ah... ekhem... sorry."
The bewildered looks of literally everyone else made him calm down, then he stood up and bow his head apologetically.
*WHAM*
The attention of others would still be on him, if not for the sudden explosive arrival.
"SKWEEEE! (DADDY! MOMMY!)"
"BLUEBERRY!"
The joyful screech of the blue griffin who couldn't contain her excitement any longer was met with just as happy shout of the tall blue undead as the two ran towards each other and met halfway - the undead picked up the griffin many times bigger than himself and swirled around with her.
"Blueberry! Daddy missed you so much!"
The undead put the griffin down and instead hugged her and started rubbing her neck and the spot around the base of her beak.
"Skwee! Skwee! (Daddy! Daddy! I missed you and mommy so much too!)"
Blueberry screeched back, nuzzling against the undead as if she was a small puppy and not a big powerful monster.