The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family-Chapter 360: Ancient Stone-Eater Behemoth (2)

Reidar summoned Vorathid Sky-Hunters in quick succession, feeling the mana drain from his reserves with each use of the skill.

He sent them toward the Behemoth's position, keeping them high and spread apart. If the creature killed one, Reidar would need the other summons to survive long enough to adjust his strategy.

Through the eyes of the Sky-Hunter, he watched the Ancient Stone-Eater Behemoth turn its massive, armored head.

Mara had not moved. Her chest rose and fell in rhythm, and she closed her eyes. She must have been exhausted, but that was a careless action.

If it found her, she would die. If she died, he died.

Mara didn't know that a dangerous monster was less than a mile away from where she was resting, and she didn't have to figure it out. Now that his focus was on the monster, the last thing he wanted was for her to teleport again.

Reidar's thoughts ran wild. He couldn't fight this thing. A level 532 monster was like a god compared to him. His summons were only in the high 300s—they wouldn't stand a chance.

The Behemoth hid itself again, pressing against a cliff. It looked just like part of the rock wall.

He ordered the Sky-Hunter to dive lower, bringing it within the creature's detection range.

The Behemoth's head swiveled. It saw the Sky-Hunters as the summons descended, and when the creature lunged, the Sky-Hunters went up and to the left. The Behemoth's jaws snapped shut on empty air. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

<Good. At least it reacts when something gets close enough. Distraction—I just need a distraction. >

He sent the Sky-Hunter flying away from Mara, leading the Behemoth toward the east. The badlands stretched for miles in that direction. The creature followed. Each time its feet hit the ground, vibrations shook the earth.

<Shit… If Mara hears this, I will be in huge troubles…>

Reidar summoned more Sky-Hunters and made them spread around so that they would eventually cover an area vast enough for them to find the woman in case she teleported. But it would still be challenging.

Reidar also kept the Sky-Hunters just ahead of the Behemoth, close enough that the creature believed it could catch its prey but far enough that it actually couldn't.

Every few seconds, he had the Sky-Hunters dip lower or slow down, keeping the Behemoth's interest. Reidar also increased its size so that the Vorathid Sky-Hunter seemed more appetizing.

Though he still summoned more in case the creature lost interest in the enormous chunk of meat that was dangling in front of it.

<Weird name for a creature that eats flesh, by the way. Maybe it primarily eats stone though…>

The creature was swift despite the size. It was most likely because it covered dozens of meters with each step, maybe more given the gargantuan size alone.

Reidar had to adjust his Sky-Hunters' flight path multiple times to avoid the Behemoth getting too close to it.

After ten minutes of this chase, the Behemoth showed no signs of giving up. Reidar checked on Mara through another Sky-Hunter. She had not moved, which meant the distance between her and the Behemoth had grown to nearly five miles, which was excellent.

<That should be enough. Now I need to see if I can actually kill this thing for my survival. >

Reidar summoned five more Vorathid Sky-Hunters, positioning them in a loose formation around the Behemoth. He waited until the creature paused, confused about which target to pursue, and then he ordered all six Sky-Hunters to attack at once.

They dove from different angles, their talons extended and their screeching calls filling the air. The first Sky-Hunter raked its claws across the Behemoth's armored back, and Reidar saw the damage notification appear.

[Vorathid Sky-Hunter deals 0.65 Damage to Ancient Stone-Eater Behemoth.]

"Ah shit. This is pathetic."

Reidar did not know the exact amount, but a level 532 creature probably had health in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, and that, of course, depended on how much S.H.I.E.L.D. it had.

<I guess it must be high though. It doesn't look like a creature that relies on magic, if it even have enough intelligence to use it.>

The Behemoth twisted and caught one of the Sky-Hunters in its jaws. The creature crunched down, and the Sky-Hunter vanished.

[Your Summon (Vorathid Sky-Hunter) has been destroyed.]

The remaining Sky-Hunters continued their assault, diving and striking before pulling away. Each attack dealt between 0.65 and 0.67 damage, which meant that even with all five attacking, they were barely scratching the Behemoth.

Reidar ran the numbers in his head. If the creature had one million health points, and his Sky-Hunters dealt an average of 0.65 damage per attack, and each Sky-Hunter could land a hit once every five seconds, that meant five Sky-Hunters would deal 3.25 damage per second. At that rate, it would take over three days of continuous attacks to kill the Behemoth, and that assumed it did not regenerate health and that it did not kill all his summons first.

A battle of this duration would draw the attention of other monsters in the surrounding area. The prolonged sounds of combat, combined with the fluctuating mana signatures arising from both the Behemoth and Reidar's summoned creatures, would act as flares to any predators within spotting distance.

Some of these creatures might follow the disturbances and trace the noise and magical energy back to Reidar's current position, although he was keeping a distance of several miles from the actual battlefield where the monster was engaged.

The Behemoth snatched another Sky-Hunter out of the air.

[Your Summon (Vorathid Sky-Hunter) has been destroyed.]

Reidar summoned two more to replace the losses, but he already knew this approach was not working.

He could not summon enough Sky-Hunters to overwhelm the creature since he didn't have enough mana to summon hundreds of thousands of them as he did when his proficiencies were all above 50%, and even if he could, the mana cost would drain him dry long before the Behemoth died.

He pulled the remaining Sky-Hunters back, ordering them to climb high and circle out of the Behemoth's reach. The creature watched them for a moment, then returned to its camouflaged state, pressing itself against a rock formation where it became almost invisible again.