Number One Dungeon Supplier

"Damn it. I do not even know how many of these Shadow Panther thingies will be!" No.7 complained telepathically as she tried to pinpoint every predator they saw before they struck and No.2 understood her frustration as they could not detect their heat signatures and they were doing hit and run tactics in order to tire the Herd.

"No.7, stay calm and magically tag the ones that had already been hit." No.2 replied as he started to use his mind control techniques to get the Herd to start moving as a group down the stream.

He believed that if they were to move downstream, there might be more chances for them to reveal the group of the Shadow Panthers that were prepared to ambush them.

However, the moment the Herd moved on the command of their leader, the shadow panthers disappeared and instead, now it turned into a shadow python, wanting to bind their prey down before they could run away by wrapping its entire body over it.

At that moment, both the Commando Mages believed that the predator that was chasing after these War Boars was not sentient, but also intelligent enough to make unique changes to counter the War Boar's simplistic mentality.

"There is no choice, we must intervene directly and quickly." No.7 wanted the approval of her fellow hunter before making an action because they were currently not under the radar of the Herd's predator or even if they were, this particular shape shifting predator were blatantly ignoring them.

"Yes, this I concur. I do not wish to bring shame that we do not have the capability to bring down not even one War Boar to the table." No.2 said and already had his sights aimed at the only part of the shadowy predators that were not entirely covered by shades of black and purple, their eyes.

And since both of the hunters were on each side of the stream, they did not take any chances and aim the same shadow python. With trained coordination, both hunters released their trigger and their Wand Rifles did the job of releasing the magical projectile to the monster.

Because of the nature of their Wand Rifles, the shots were silent enough to prevent detection until it came too close for the shadow python who was thinking to swallow the entire War Boar for itself.

But the moment it got hit, the monster wiggled and struggled in pain before fizzling out in mid air as its magical powers leaked through the eye sockets. The other shadow Panthers saw it and realised that there was a third party in this particular hunt they were partaking.

Some of those panthers immediately turned into huge bats in an attempt to fly away from danger and locate the third parties in but the War Boars were not giving them any chance.

The moment the veterans of the herds realised that there was someone or something aiding them, they instantly went from panic mode to defensive mode. Despite the fact that there were just boars, it was also in their nature to fight back, thus the name War Boars. At the same time, do not forget that those War Boars belonged to the Dashavatara.

In short, they have Celestial powers in them as well, which was well capable of fending off these kind of shadowy menace that came their way. However, the problem with these shadow predators is that they usually come in groups and their groups can vary from a small pack to a size that can support a battalion.

That was why the War Boars were panicking at this particular point especially when most of their Herd had not rested for some time because of the constant guarding against the Shadow Predators. That was what No.2 and No.7 had gathered through the memories revealed by the leaders of the War Boar Herd when they were attempting to run away.

And with the Veterans taking the lead in the defence, their first instinct was like the hunters in the bushes, they needed to know the size and numbers of the enemies they were fighting against. But how can we count in darkness when they perpetually strive in the shadows?Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Hence, as Celestial Boars, they utilised their magic (not Celestial powers because of the dungeon instance) to illuminate the entire area that they were in. A bright powerful orb of light pierced through the darkness that if the other Commando Mages were at the Manor and happened to look in the direction of the Manor's forest, they could see exactly where the hunters were.

This obviously revealed the location of the two Commando Mages but the duo did not worry about that. They quickly covered a single eye in case everything went dark, they had a good eye to see in the blind. Meanwhile, they used that opportunity where the Shadow Predators were stunned by the bright Celestial Light to locate the numbers.

As much as the numbers baffled the duo, they were persistent in their counting and noted that there were at least 50 over shadowy predators lurking in the area. There was even one right at the top of No.7 when the light struck and that was when No.2 realised that they might actually be their targets too.

"No.7. Change of plans. The mission had been changed from hunting to Protection of Assets. New Assets had been identified: 17 War Boars including three younglings on the mother's back. 57 targets had been tagged. Possible weakness: Light Magic.

Escort the assets to the Manor before more of such shadow targets emerge from the forest. Currently undetectable through normal use of magic. Visual is the only way."

"Change in mission acknowledged. Breaking mind control technique, focus change to the protection of targets." No.7 said as she immediately changed the direction of her Wand Rifle to point upwards upon learning the tag was right above her. Her Wand Rifle changed into shotgun mode and scattered its magical ammunition against the shadow predator.

Its Shadow Panther form immediately changed into a Shadow Ape as it attempted to recover from the attack despite one of the pellets managing to destroy its eye socket.

"We might need to have an attack that destroys both sockets. Damaging one does not kill the target." No. 7 said as she took the active role of guarding while No.2 continued to keep one of the War Boar Leaders under his influence so that he could at least lead the herd out of this one hell of a mess.