Maids VS Apocalypse

Though they hadn’t agreed to it beforehand, Ramsay, Elya, and Alex were racing to see who would deal the finishing blow to the monstrosity first, but that didn’t mean they were going all out from the start.

It was a delicate competition where they landed restrained blows to the Demon, gradually wearing it down until it became clear when to go for the final attack.

Hitting it too hard before that time arrived risked giving the others the opening they needed so they had to be careful not to go too far.

One would think swinging a giant sword from the start was a horrible strategy, but Elya thought otherwise. Having seen the Demon use its Force Field when widening the Rift, she was sure it would do the same when blocking her attack. Her hunch turned out to be right, but when Ramsay’s arrows exploded against the Demon’s face a pang of anger twisted her expression.

Ramsay released another salvo and prepared the next. He could hear his petite teammate yelling profanities at him from a distance but he simply ignored her.

"That thing sure is tough." He muttered.

The massive scorpion gorilla pushed back the gigantic sword and held a hand to its face. It was the only place where it took damage so he expected that to happen, but that didn’t save him the mild annoyance that caused.

"Maybe I should try something else..."

Ramsay held a hand out and caught an arrow that manifested out of thin air. It wasn’t made from the same blue material as the arrow he had used so far, making it look far more resilient. *

The arrowhead was far more intricate, taking the shape of a spiral created from three intertwining sections. He stared at it for a few seconds before returning his sight to the Demon.

Alex was the only one among the three who found himself on the receiving end of the giant monster’s attacks. He zoomed from one spot to the other, evading the pillar-like stinger being thrust at him every second and the holes left by it.

Whenever the chance showed itself, the blonde would get close to slash at the monster’s legs only for his attacks to barely deal any damage. Not only was the purple carapace tough, but its thickness made it so an ordinary blade couldn’t reach what was underneath even if it were to carve into it.

"Guess this much won’t cut it..."

~[ ]~

The smaller monkeys stopped coming out of the Rift. With no one to replenish their numbers, the hoard began to grow smaller by the second.

Franco continued to burn them with his green flames. Every now and then one of them would overcome the fire and get close enough for an attack, relying mainly on their stingers and the venom ejected from them.

The long-haired man had no trouble evading everything they threw at him and even looked bored while doing so. With their numbers growing smaller he slowed down and took his time disposing of them.

He would sever their tails whenever they thrust them his way, striking with his sickles at the joints separating each segment. Sometimes he would deliberately position himself in a way that results in the beasts stabbing each other, though that rarely led to an injury thanks to the carapace protecting them.

While blocking one of the monkeys he glanced at the three behind him to see how they were holding. Ben disposed of most enemies before they could get close while the maid seemed to be holding back, striking only once and leaving the rest to her master.

The new guy was having the time of his life. The Exo-apes that got past his maid had either one or both of their arms missing, and as they writhed in pain, he would press the barrel of his shotgun to their faces and pull the trigger.

As the creature’s brains splattered inside the helmet-like shell around their head, the boy would look down at them with a gleeful grin splitting his face.

Something didn’t seem right, and as he continued to watch him, Franco noticed the last monster the boy killed disappear. It was then that he realized there were far fewer dead monkeys in the back, and after a moment of thought he understood that the boy was gathering them in his inventory.

"A bit weird, ain’t it!?" Ben’s voice thundered, drawing their attention to him.

"What is is?" Franco asked while warping the chains of his weapon around the neck of a monster.

"These things are called Exo-apes," The big guy continued to shout. "But they have tails!"

Everyone was confused for a moment until he added "Apes don’t have tails!"

"Who cares about that!" Franco shouted back. "They’re freakin’ monsters! Who cares what they’re named!"

"Are you saying they should be Exo-monkeys!?" The new guy asked while pulling down the pump of his weapon.

"Yes!" Ben yelled.

Franco could only shake his head and sigh. The names given to monsters come from the Main Server directly and serve as a general description of their nature.

With him having yet to hear of a case where the names were inaccurate, Franco guessed that there was a reason behind the Fallen they were fighting being called apes instead of something else.

"I thought the little ones get named after their boss!" Mark yelled after blasting the head of another monkey. "Are these different from Malarak’s spawn!?"

Compared to Ben’s inquiry, the boy’s question had much more significance to it. Franco realized that everyone besides the newcomer knew the reason, which is why no one bothered to ask so far.

"They’re obviously the big one’s spawn." He said while beheading one of the monsters. "That thing doesn’t have a name. Maybe it hadn’t been a Demon for long."

"What’s that?" Mark asked.

"What?" Franco turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"You called it a Demon. What’s that?"

Even after he clarified his question, the long-haired Italian still didn’t understand.

"I think the lad is talking about the big one’s Rank!" Ben grabbed the tail thrust at him by one of the monkeys, pulled it toward him then punched it into the ground. He turned to the boy and asked with a grimace. "Don’t tell me they didn’t teach you about the Ranks."

Mark was about to answer when someone yelled. "He hates info dumps!"

It was none other than Ramsay. He was standing on top of a nearby roof, a strong gale blowing around him as he pulled on the string of his bow. Not bothering to elaborate, he released the arrow.