Dragged Into Another World Because of My Otaku Friend-Chapter 154: Swarmed

"I am not fat. This is muscle!" Bob denied the truth, accidentally raising his voice.

"Auntie, this uncle is scary." Michael clung closer to the woman beside him, his eyes starting to tear up.

"Oii, what are you doing?" I pushed Bob aside, wiping away my own tears from holding back laughter. I walked closer to Michael, kneeling down on both knees as I gave him a gentle smile.

"Don't be afraid, okay? My name is Alan. And this fat… I mean, uncle is Bob."

"What did you actually mean just now?" Bob immediately caught my slip of words.

Ignoring him, I kept my attention on Michael.

"We are your sister's friends. She asked us to help bring you back to her. Do you want to see her?"

"Yeah. I want to see sis Yui." Michael's eyes brightened as he scooted closer to me.

I patted his head gently. "Alright. After this town is safe, we'll bring Michael to see Sis Yui."

"Promise?" He stuck out his middle finger like it was a pinky. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Luckily, Bob and I were already used to this world's quirky substitute for the pinky promise.

I offered my middle finger and bumped it with his. "I promise."

"Yeah! I want to tell my friends!" Michael ran off toward his group, grinning.

The woman bowed slightly and returned to her work. She looked like a volunteer at the shelter.

"Why do kids like you so much?" Bob said, a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Kids have innocent hearts. Of course they like people with the same heart as them," I smirked at Bob.

"Tch. Innocent. Puii," Bob grumbled.

"Okay , we found Michael. One objective clear. Now we need to find and destroy the Kaosliths," I said.

Linus nodded.

Suddenly, Rei came rushing from the entrance, his face tight with urgency.

"You guys, Vice Captain Beltimore is calling all of you. There's a problem outside," Rei said.

We exchanged quick glances before moving toward the shelter's entrance.

Outside, I saw all the party members already gripping their weapons, their eyes fixed in the same direction.

"What happened? Is the enemy approaching?" Maya asked.

William didn't reply. He simply raised his hand and pointed toward the sky.

All of us turned our heads. At first, all I could make out was a dark patch far away, blotting the horizon. But as I squinted and shaded my eyes from the sun, the shape grew clearer and I saw it clearly, a massive swarm of flying monsters, pouring toward us.

Judging by the sheer size of it, their numbers had to be in the hundreds at least.

"Get ready, everyone! We need to protect this shelter," William commanded. "Rei, Alia, get the townspeople inside. Make sure they don't come out."

Rei and Alia nodded immediately, then raised their voices to the panicked crowd.

"Please go inside! Do not panic! Move slowly!"

The crowds followed the order, and after several minutes there was no one left outside the shelter except our party.

"All the crowds are already inside," Rei reported.

"Good. Now, everyone get into position!" William shouted. At once, the party members scattered, moving swiftly to their assigned posts.

Bob, Linus, and I were grouped together. Each team of three took one of the four sides of the shelter, ready to defend from every direction.

"Do you think our group can handle that many monsters? They're still fatigued from fighting the lions," William said as he looked around at his comrades, worry flickering across his face.

"We don't have any choice," Beltimore replied firmly. Both of them turned their gazes toward the dark swarm drawing closer in the sky.

My group was stationed along one side of the shelter. I felt the familiar wave of anxiety tightening my chest, like always, right before battle. Bob, however, was fooling around, casually playing with Mina, while Linus sat calmly atop Plump. That guy really seemed attached to my oversized rooster.

Minutes of tense silence dragged by until the screeching of the monsters grew louder, filling the air.

"Get ready, everyone!" William's voice rang out.

I tightened my grip on Indra in my right hand. My Super Novice class was equipped, while Bob had switched to Warrior class, wielding both [Gaia Sword] and [Embersteel Sword], one in each hand.

Screech!

The swarm finally arrived. Instead of attacking us directly, they circled the shelter, their sheer numbers blotting out the sunlight.

"There are so many of them!" Bob shouted as we spun around, trying to watch every direction at once.

Bang! Bang!

I fired randomly into the flock. Even with careless shots, three or four of the creatures plummeted to the ground.

As one fell nearby, I finally caught a clear look, its head was that of a bat, but its body resembled a human.

"I thought bats were supposed to be active only at night," I muttered.

"I don't think 'normally' applies to them. Bob, behind you!" Linus shouted as one of the bat-creatures swooped down toward Bob's back.

Swoosh!

Bob spun and swung both swords backward, slicing the creature cleanly in midair.

Linus urged Plump forward, charging straight into a cluster of the monsters. As usual, every time he swung his staff, blood sprayed and bodies dropped from the sky.

While the two of them fought, I turned my eyes around the battlefield, scanning how the others were doing. And no, this wasn't ditching my duty, I just needed to make sure everyone else was holding their ground. Bob, Linus, Mina, and even Plump were more than strong enough to handle their share.

Fwosh!

An arrow pierced clean through one of the bat's eyes, dropping it instantly. Evelyn nocked another and released it, another unlucky creature tumbled from the sky. She had been doing this dozens of times already but her rhythm still sharp and steady.

"My arrows won't last if this keeps up," Evelyn muttered to Maya, who stood beside her. Both of them were stationed on top of the shelter, the designated ranged support for those battling on the ground.

"Just hold on, Eve. Focus on the ones that can threaten our members," Maya replied, raising her staff. A Firebolt shot from her fingertips, bursting through a cluster of bats and scattering burning bodies.

But the sky wasn't giving them any rest. Nearly three whole groups of bats veered in unison, streaking straight toward them.

"Eve! Get ready!" Maya shouted, lifting her staff high.

Evelyn clenched her teeth, tucking three arrows against her bowstring, the string trembling under the weight of the pull.

The swarm drew closer as its shadows closed in.