Thankfully they had put Lucy and Mindle on watch duty. If the Rat King had gone after Hugh with them still preparing traps in the path between the wasteland and Yellow Sparks in order to give the Rat King a warm welcome, they wouldn't know what hit them after the Rat King finished annihilating the town.
Since Lucy and Mindle rushed over to Toz and Nil as soon as the Rat King drastically changed its course, none of them knew what to expect. Although it wouldn't be surprising if the Rat King decided to go for the forest first in order to get a quick boost to its strength before raiding the town, why wouldn't it have gone for the forest from the beginning?
ραпdα nᴏνa| сom However, as soon as they started getting closer to the forest so they could find out where the Rat King had gone, they noticed why it had changed direction. It had picked up on the scent of Hugh and his abundant mana. One delicious meal would naturally be preferred over thousands of tasteless ones.
Since the Rat King and Hugh were facing off, Toz wanted to take the opportunity to determine the strength more accurately of both the Rat King and Hugh. If the Rat King was overwhelmingly stronger than Hugh, none of their traps would be very effective against it. But if Hugh easily defeated the Rat King, Toz and his cats would have to skip town and be careful not to leave any traces in case Hugh figures out Toz got ahold of the treasure he even came to First Ignition for. Although Hugh might look gentlemanly, if he isn't interested in a peaceful resolution to his treasure hunt, there won't be much Toz can do if Hugh already has Toz in his grasp.
If Toz could figure out the detailed level of strength and abilities of both the Rat King and Hugh possessed, it would be easier for him in the future, as simple as that.
Of course, if the fight turned out to be relatively even, he could help Hugh get rid of the Rat King, hopefully, build a relatively good relationship with him, and then live happily ever after as he continues exploring the universe with his cats.
While anticipating the results of the battle, Toz hid with the cats a short distance away in the forest since it gave more protection.
The fight between the Rat King and Hugh did look pretty decent during the initial exchanges, but after the Rat King healed its leg and unleashed its anger on Hugh, it became evident that Hugh even managing to chop off the Rat King's leg was mostly thanks to a stroke of luck.
Although Hugh couldn't really put up a decent fight against the Rat King, Toz found another use for him and decided to rescue him.
They had seen that the Rat King could easily heal itself, but there were several ways to deal with beasts with an incredible regeneration ability. And Toz with the cats could accomplish at least two of them. Blocking off the damaged area with items or something could prevent it from healing. Burning the wound could also stop or at least slow down the regeneration.
The problem with the Rat King, however, was its ability to endlessly burn and absorb the things in its surroundings, which would most likely include objects lodged in its body. The Rat King also possessed control over the fire element, so trying to burn its body could prove to be a challenge.
Nevertheless, with the situation playing out in front of them, where the Rat King was solely focused on beating Hugh to a pulp, there was an opportunity to first injure the Rat King and then use Hugh to further manipulate it.
Since Mindle had gotten pretty skillful at manipulating her mana in recent days, she was responsible for the fire part of the attack they would launch. Nil built a makeshift cannon and an arrow-like projectile. And Lucy made sure to keep all of their actions secret so the Rat King wouldn't notice both their preparations and the incoming projectile.
While Mindle was basically setting up a ball of explosive fire that would attach to the arrow after blasting it in the direction of the Rat King, Toz made sure that the metal wouldn't melt from the heat and that the fire would properly stick to the arrow, to make sure it burns the Rat King. Toz didn't only add the fire element to the arrow. He also covered it in some darkness. Toz did the same with the flames that would burn the Rat King.
Since Toz was the only one who could wield all three elements, he was the best suited to making them blend together.
He didn't mix the elements together in one attack only to keep the Rat King from noticing the attack itself but also to interfere when it tried to absorb the arrow and stop the wounds from being burned. Hopefully, the darkness would prevent the Rat King from grasping the arrow and the fire burning it with its senses. All it would feel would be physical pain.
Although the group needed some time to properly prepare and power up the arrow, Hugh obviously wouldn't last that long, and if he died to the Rat King's attacks, the plan Toz had in mind wouldn't work. Even though the arrow could have been more powerful, they had to let it go when they saw Hugh about to faint and reveal every single weak point he had.
Right before Mindle let her explosion lose, Lucy and Nil retreated back into the familiar space as Toz dashed out of their hiding spot. Since they needed Hugh alive for the plan, they obviously needed to save him from the Rat King. While the arrow would hopefully injure the Rat King, its main intended purpose was to distract long enough for Toz to grab Hugh and start running.
Mindle also positioned herself so she could use the blast and catch up to Toz before entering the familiar space. The rest of the plan would rely mostly on Toz.
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