Even before landing, Luke swung his sword and then split some of those Bakus in two. He considered the possibility that magic attacks would damage them, but that assumption was wrong. Regardless, those monsters were on half a meter tall and wide. They also had an oval shape and basically moved while jumping from one place to the other. As for the physical appearance, they were essentially spheres of fire that had a pair of angry dark eyes.
Passive: Fire Resistance Lv 10, Fire Immunity Lv 10
You obtained 22 experience points.
You obtained 22 gold coins.
You obtained 22 experience points.
You obtained 22 gold coins.
…
"They have a lot of mana, and some of their skills are at level ten, but they still offer a small amount of experience," Luke said when he landed.
Even though they didn't make much noise, the other monsters noticed the arrival of some strangers when their allies began to fall. Their range was also pretty long, so some of the soldiers began to get hit by Fireballs and groaned in pain… considering the level of their mana, it would be wiser to dodge it…
In any case, against that type of enemy, Amanda and Celia began to shine. Even though they were fifteen levels below Luke, they still could take down the enemies with a single attack. While soldiers got hurt, the monsters inside the airport had been dealt with… now, they just had to deal with the zombies inside the buildings.
"We will split into two groups," Billy declared. "I will stay here with five soldiers and Luke's group. The rest will enter the building and secure the survivors in the west wing. Once that is done, we will secure the perimeter around the airport."
Luke wasn't fond of fighting in closed spaces, so that was fine with him. Still, he only had three hours left before midnight, so he needed to obtain eight more gold coins. There were plenty of enemies around, so it wasn't a matter of if it was possible or not. He could always go ahead and fight the monsters, but it might cause some problems to the operation if he acts by himself. At least until his family is back home, he will have to be a team player.
Fortunately, the other group returned after just one hour with the survivors. Even though they looked pretty beaten down, Luke could see that they weren't ordinary civilians… maybe he should ask his father about their identities.
"We will split up again, and we will keep rotating five of us to guard them while we guard our new allies," Billy declared. "This time, we will split into groups of three and deal with monsters on the East side of the region."
Luke didn't need any backup since a single attack was enough to kill the monsters, but Amanda and Celia still joined him. While they were working together, those two didn't feel that comfortable with the other soldiers. As for Chloe and Billy, they would work together so that they couldn't join them. In any case, on the east side of the region, all streets were filled with the Bakus so that all groups would have a lot of work.
"What is the most efficient method to hunt them?" Luke asked when they were jumping the wall.
"My Ice Arrows can do the trick," Shalia said.
"If I buff your intelligence, Water Cannon will be enough to deal with them instantly," Rina replied.
Shalia's method would cost less mana, but Luke wouldn't level up any skill, while Rina's would, but it would be three to four times more mana. In the end, Luke decided to use both methods, and when he ran out of mana, he used Sonic Blade. At first, Luke thought that the Bakus would struggle a little more, but aside from the fact that some of the water evaporated upon contact, they pretty much died instantly.
Suddenly, they heard an explosion in the distance and the ground trembling a little. Thanks to that, the monsters in the area got more violent… that wasn't much of a problem to those that could attack from a distance, but who couldn't… the explosion was at least two times more powerful than a grenade.
"If a single one could cause that much damage… I don't want even to think if hundreds of them decide to self-destruct at the same time," Amanda said.
"Worry not. That skill can only be activated upon death," Luthi said. "Besides, I don't know about the others, but your group has the means to stop those monsters completely."
Luthi wasn't the type to praise others, so that only made them understand that their level was really pretty high, and their skills were also a cut above the others. Regardless, Luke ignored that conversation and kept hunting nonstop. Thanks to that, the area they were responsible for was cleaned in one hour, and Luke achieved his goal. On the other hand, some explosions were happening here and there in the areas responsible for the other groups. Thanks to that, the Bakus was quickly spreading around.
"We should have bought some time here… Let's inform the others and see how we will proceed," Luke said.
Once they returned to the airport, they confirmed that only a few groups had accomplished their tasks, and some of them were wounded due to the explosions. Nothing serious, but the burn marks will bother them for a while…
Around the time the shop opened, all the groups had returned, and Billy gave the sign for the airplane to come… in a hurry. Everyone checked what they could buy in the shop with their gold coins. Luke checked the new rank of skill books, and he frowned when he only found an area of effect spells. They were Eruption, Thunder Storm, Icycle Field… all of them also had a cost of five hundred points in mana to stay active for a single second. There was no way Luke could use those… but then he found a rather special skill book.