Chapter 57 – Chain Pull

With so many monsters randomly patrolling through the area, it was clear to Cam that they couldn't move to another building without clearing out at least a few of the groups; With that in mind, and the building they were in already empty of monsters- assuming no imps had flown into a window to once more ransack an apartment-, the plan was obvious to him: pull some of the groups into the building to help hide their fighting.

Thankfully, the ground floor of this building was at least somewhat suitable for the plan, with an open lobby area littered with overturned furniture... the only downside being the large, glass windows lining the front; With a little effort, that was quickly solved by barricading the windows using the overturned furniture- though to fully cover them, the trio were forced to carry down extra furniture from the apartments above.

It wouldn't hold up against something strong trying to break through, but, considering the only enemies they had seen so far were imps and hellhounds- neither of which was known for being strong or intelligent-, their setup should hold... assuming a mob they hadn't seen yet, and weren't prepared for, didn't wander close.

With everything in place, Cam set Mero to watching the closed backdoor with her Big Bunni at her side to prevent any surprises from that angle- and to conserve her arrows for later- before setting up at the front with Eron and their Bunnis...

Then, Eron did what he did best and brought the monsters to them. It wasn't particularly difficult, and the clone didn't even have to leave the building; All he did was peak his head out just enough for a single hellhound to spot him, then quickly duck back as the mob took off in his direction with its patrol partner...

The only thing Cam didn't take into account was the loud, echoing howl the beast let loose upon spotting Eron- and as much as he wanted to chastise himself for not thinking of it, he knew it wasn't possible for him to know everything that every monster could do... and the records he had read didn't mention much about hellhounds, and especially not the fact that they could howl!

As the pair of hellhounds burst through the open front door, Cam go his first close look at the monsters; Nearly waist height on him, the mobs looked like sleak hunting dogs- or what his history books described as hunting dogs-, with pitch black fur and glowing red eyes... if not for the vicious snarls, he would have almost said they looked cute.

That and the fact that they were trying to kill him, of course.

With him and a Bunni on one side, and Eron with the other Bunni opposite him on the other side of the wide doorway, the hellhounds found themselves practically surrounded the instant the fight started- and Cam wasn't going to waste their surprise; Before the mobs could react, their Bunnis moved first, activating their Horn Charge to attack the opposite hellhound, driving them out of the open doorway- and out of sight of the street-, into the waiting arms of Cam and Eron...

Or, more accurately, into the waiting strikes of their weapons.

Cam's Thirteen Ring Dadao came crashing down, slamming his target into the tile floor with a yelp of pain; While Eron, wielding his Haunted Cudgel, didn't have the weight behind his strike to do the same, his shield gave him another option: pinning the hellhound against the wall where he and his Bunni could rain down blows on it.

Big Bunni's (Summon) Horn Charge struck Hellhound for 20 damage.

Big Bunni's (Summon) Horn Charge struck Hellhound for 20 damage.

You slash Hellhound for 20 damage(physical, slashing).

Your clone(Eron) bashed Hellhound for 9 damage(physical, budgeoning) plus 2 necrotic damage.

The author's publication page is the chapter's proper source, while this version was taken without permission; reading there supports them.

Ignoring the mobs' yelps of pain, Cam didn't give his a chance to get back up, the heavy slashes of his sword carving off chunks of its HP even as it also kept knocking it back down every time it tried to scramble to its feet; When it lunged in desperation, snapping at his feet, Cam's reflexive kick to its face only shaved off more of its HP thanks to his Rabbit Kickers doing damage based off of his Strength when kicking enemies- he was really starting to love those shoes!

Eron had it harder, as the hellhounds thrashing and struggling made it hard to keep pinned in place; Combined with his lower damage output, he and his Big Bunni were still dealing with theirs when Cam finished his off... at least until Cam sent his own Bunni to help them out. With the extra damage thrown in, it only took a few more seconds to finish it off as well.

"That wasn't so bad." Eron grinned... until he saw the pained disappointment on Cam's face.

"Did you really have to jinx us again?" Cam sighed, shaking his head at his clone. Before Eron could argue, he waved at the door. "Keep an eye out for the next group while I check their Ability..."

"Who said there's going to be another group?"

Rolling his eyes, Cam didn't respond to his clone's question; Despite acting like and irresponsible slacker- and Cam really didn't know where his clone got that from-, Eron was already moving back to the door to keep watch as asked. Kneeling next to the monster's corpse, the prmpt from Soul Harvest had just popped up when his clone spoke again.

"Ah, fuck... Yeah, three more hellhounds incoming! Thirty seconds, max!"

Harvest Ability(Scent Tracking)?

Shaking his head in disgust at his clone having actually jinxed them again, Cam quickly selected to take the Ability. He wasn't entirely sure what it did... but he could guess, and, considering he expected this Floor to take a while, he decided to go ahead and grab it- while the imp's Fire Dart would be more useful in a fight, the monsters on this Floor had Fire Resistance, making it not as impactful... and having the ability to track mobs by scent could actually be pretty helpful...

Once they figured out what the Boss was, got its scent, and started hunting it.

The second group went similarly to the first, just with the added complication of having another hellhound to deal with; The Bunnis again used their charged, driving two of the hellhounds into the waiting fury of Cam and Eron... but that was where they had to adapt.

While Cam drove his target into the floor once more, and Eron worked to pin his down, the two of them had their Bunnis pivot back to the remaining hellhound to keep it busy while they worked; That part of the fight turned into a chaotic melee, with the Bunnis using their horns to ram into the mob before turning to lead it around the room, darting in and out to attack while trying to avoid its snapping jaws...

With his damage being higher, Cam finished his mob first, the thing never even really having a chance to fight back as he just kept hammering it into the floor; With his taken care of, he moved to help Eron first, knowing they could more easily resummon the Bunnis after the fight- and not wanting to risk straining his soul with repeatedly summoning his clone.

After that, it was a quick four on one to take down the last hellhound; Though the Bunnis both looked a little beat up and bloody after tangling with the mob, they were the same level as it, and out numbered it, so it wasn't bad...

"We've got a flight of five imps swooping in, less than a minute out... I think..."

Cam sighed, already having a guess of how this would go: a steady stream of enemies trickling in, one group at a time, and barely giving them a break-

"And I think we'll have some more hellhounds not long after."

"Still think you didn't jinx us?" He asked his clone, who rolled his eyes in response...

It wasn't like they had a choice but to handle it at this point... Though Cam quickly corrected himself, they could always duck out the back and try to shift to another building, hoping not to be spotted while doing so.

But that was risky, and his current plan was a better option for thinning their numbers... and earning some more XP, seeing as he was close to Leveling.