Zelier strained his eyes, scanning the surroundings.
Yet everywhere he looked, there was only a dense sea of leaves, offering little distinction. Staring so intently for so long inevitably made his eyes ache.
Suddenly, Vallis raised a hand, and the entire party halted at once.
"Found it?" Marcus whispered, his voice barely audible.
Vallis pointed ahead and mouthed silently:
*Above.*
Zelier tilted his head up slowly, following the direction Vallis indicated.
At first, he saw nothing. But after rubbing his eyes and carefully picking apart the crisscrossing foliage and shadows, his heart gave a violent jolt.
Hanging upside down from a horizontal branch more than fifteen meters above the ground was a colossal, cocoon-shaped dark silhouette.
It blended almost seamlessly into the surrounding shadows. Had Vallis not pointed it out, spotting it would have been nearly impossible.
*Adventurers' Association General Monster Compendium*
[Entry 14]: Giant-Winged Bat
Individual Threat Rating: [Hard]
Physical Characteristics:
A massive bat-like monster with a wingspan exceeding five meters when fully unfurled. Four blood-red compound eyes sit across the crown of its head, granting an omnidirectional field of view with no blind spots.
Habits and Behavior:
Typically roosts in the highest canopies of ancient forests or on the cliff faces of deep ravines. Highly territorial, it aggressively attacks any creature entering its domain. During breeding and nursing periods, female giant-winged bats actively scour their surrounding territory, their aggression multiplying several times over.
Special Abilities:
The primary threat stems from its talons, which are sharp enough to easily shred an adult during a high-speed dive. Furthermore, it can shoot bone spikes from its wingtips infused with wind blades, delivering lethal power. In addition, its screech possesses extreme penetrating force; precautions are strongly advised.
Core Weaknesses:
Before firing its bone spikes, the creature exhibits a distinct windup where it spreads its wings wide, which can serve as a tell. Moreover, its wings are its most vulnerable part; tearing the wing membrane severely cripples its flight. Once grounded, it poses little threat.
Association Remarks:
Challenging a giant-winged bat without ranged combatants in the party is strictly discouraged. Adventurers are urged to engage it in terrain with ample cover; fighting a giant-winged bat in open ground dramatically escalates the difficulty, bordering on suicide.
Zelier suppressed his breath.
The giant-winged bat was even larger than he had imagined. Even with its wings folded as it hung there, its body length surpassed two meters.
Its head was hairless, covered in folds of dark-red wrinkled skin that looked utterly hideous.
Yet what chilled the blood most were its four compound eyes.
Each was the size of a hen's egg. Rather than sitting on a single plane, they were set in pairs facing different angles, presenting a grotesque, misshapen appearance.
Suddenly, the membranes of the bat's wings twitched faintly.
Four sinister compound eyes snapped open, blood-red hue swallowing the whites, locking straight onto the party below.
"Wait... how did it spot us?" Vallis gasped in surprise.
"Giant-winged bats use echolocation. Even in their sleep, they emit intermittent pulses around them. Any anomaly wakes them up immediately."
Gray drew the longsword at his hip without hesitation. Having slain a giant-winged bat before, he spoke from experience. "Get ready to fight!"
The bat opened its maw wide, its entire body trembling as power gathered deep within its throat.
Seeing this, Gray roared, "Cover your ears!"
*Screeech—!*
From the bat's tooth-lined maw erupted an agonizing screech, shrill and grating like metal scraping over glass.
The screech echoed throughout the entire dense forest.
Even though Zelier clapped his hands over his ears in time, a wave of dizziness still washed over him.
Following the sonic blast, the bat released its grip. Spreading its wings wide, it swooped down like a sweeping storm cloud!
The air pressure spiked abruptly, accompanied by a gust of foul, rank wind. With its wings fully unfurled, spanning an astounding five meters, it plummeted straight from the shadows of the canopy!
"Engage!"
Marcus let out a fierce shout and charged ahead to meet it!
Channeling all his strength into his left arm, he braced behind his shield, meeting the deadly dive head-on!
*Clang!*
Talons struck steel, throwing off a spray of sparks.
Marcus felt a crushing impact ram through the shield. His boots plowed two deep furrows through the dirt, and deep gouges were carved into the shield's steel face.
Gray darted out from behind Marcus, staying low as he stepped forward and lunged!
His blade sliced through the air with pinpoint timing.
Before the bat could pull back its wings, he drove his sword straight through the thinner part of the wing membrane, hobbling its flight.
*Thwack!*
Vallis's arrow arrived immediately on its heels, piercing through one of the bat's compound eyes.
Viscous fluid burst outward like an exploding berry.
The relentless barrage inflicted sharp pain on the beast. Flapping its wings violently, it unleashed a tempestuous gale in all directions, knocking Gray back several meters.
Just as the bat prepared to pull away and retreat into the heights, Zelier finished channeling his spell.
Heavy Pressure!
"Get back down here!"
A surge of mana erupted!
A downward crush seized the giant-winged bat, arresting its ascent as though an invisible hand were dragging it down.
The altitude it had just gained vanished in an instant, plunging it down several meters and dropping it straight back into the party's strike zone.
"Now's our chance!" Marcus's eyes flared with excitement.
Shield Bash!
With savage force, he slammed his shield directly against the bat's head, staggering the creature.
Vallis drew and released once more, his arrow burying itself into the softer flesh of its underbelly and sending dark-green blood splattering across the foliage.
Zelier's second spell followed an instant later.
Wind Blade!
*Crack!*
An invisible scythe swept across, slicing horizontally and bursting two more of the creature's compound eyes!
Enduring such catastrophic trauma in mere moments proved too much even for the beast's robust constitution.
It beat its wings in a frenzy, driving Marcus back.
Zelier finished gathering mana for another Heavy Pressure, but by then the giant-winged bat was already wobbling high into the air.
Having suffered once, it was on guard against his magic.
This cast failed to bring it crashing down, only slightly perturbing its flight path.
The party's opening assault had proven remarkably effective, inflicting severe wounds upon the beast.
With only a single eye remaining, the giant-winged bat glared down at the adventurers with venomous malice, screeching shrilly.
It could not understand how these humans were so powerful.
Just days ago, the humans in that village had been nothing more than helpless prey awaiting slaughter.
Chapter 31