With a vicious hiss, the Abyssal Serpent lunged forward once more. Its whip like tail smashed into the edges of the trench, shaking loose debris and scattering countless tiny eyeless organisms – most of which had never seen light their entire lives. More deep-sea creatures scuttled away, some resembling crabs, others insect-like monsters with multiple crawlers and feeders.
Swarms of Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes that weren't other my control swam away. Fleets of other abyssal creatures spread out like dust, diving back into the shadows for cover as the gargantuan spirit beast demolished their entrenched homes amidst its wild thrashing.
Even the great, whale beasts that were the size of small islands gave the Mystic ranked monster a wide berth, not wanting to get sucked into its violence. Gentle giants, I supposed, that had evolved to withstand the crushing pressures at these depths, but not developed any kind of predatory weapons such as fangs, claws or tentacles.
Not caring about the havoc that it was wreaking among the deep-sea inhabitants in the Mariana Trench, the Abyssal Serpent darted toward my position. Fortunately, I had grown a little stronger and more endurance since my last combat against the undersea tribe, and I wasn't as bogged down by exhaustion as before. Gritting my teeth, I recalled my armada of Lantern Fishes and Little Anglers before kicking off to escape.
Even so, the Abyssal Serpent was swifter than me. It was rapidly catching up, its jaws wide open to swallow me whole.
I wasn't worried, for I knew that a reliable comrade had my back. Da Hai burst out from one of the sides of the trench, slamming his shell against the cheek of the Abyssal Serpent with enough force to crack bone. The Abyssal Serpent's head snapped to the side, its forked tongue bleeding when it accidentally bit itself after its jaws clamped shut from the impact. With a snarl, it twisted around to swat Da Hai aside.
While it was momentarily distracted by Da Hai, Xiao Ke struck from the opposite flank. A dazzling beam of freezing qi washed over the left half of the Abyssal Serpent, coating that side with ice. The gargantuan creature flailed, bashing its frozen flank against the edge of the trench several times to crack the ice.
Then its tail lashed out and swiped at Xiao Ke, who boosted himself out of the way in time. As the plesiosaur swam away, Da Hai pounced once more, slashing furiously at the Abyssal Serpent's back. he rolled away when his target retaliated, the tail obliterating another chunk of the ancient trench and dislodging another horde of deep-sea residents.
That tail strike…it had enough power to crack Da Hai's shell if it connected. As expected of a peak Mystic ranked spirit beast. It was far more powerful than I could have anticipated. If it was simply a starter Mystic ranked spirit beast, even though Da Hai and Xiao Ke were peak Yellow ranked, they would still stand a chance of defeating it not only because of my passive Boost ability, but also through tactics. After all, just because the opponent was stronger didn't mean its victory was assured.
Still, there were limits to what strategy could do. I wasn't saying it was impossible for us to currently defeat the formidable Abyssal Serpent, but it was undeniably an exceedingly difficult task.
"Hey, system," I asked, though I wasn't putting much hope into it replying. "Can you please tell me what the Abyssal Serpent's weakness is? Is it possible to display any vulnerabilities it might have like you did for the Naga about two weeks ago?"
As I expected, the system didn't respond at all. Of bloody course. I tried not to sigh in exasperation, especially when I knew I had to rely on myself and not seek the easy way out. After all, I wasn't Xiao Ming from The More I Kill, the Stronger I become. I didn't have the accumulated knowledge of a previous life to fall back on, nor did my system conveniently give me a qi blood increase whenever I killed a spirit beast. The last time my good friend attempted to write a Kill Count story, it wasn't well received and he ended up dropping it because of how unpopular it was. No, it wasn't because he got bored of it or because he gave up when he realized that he was ripping off Dark Sea Era, he swears.
"Whoa!"
I was forcibly dragged back to the present when Da Hai crashed into the trench wall behind me, before he slid downward in a stream of bubbles. I reached out to him mentally and realized that he was in a daze after the tremendous impact. Good thing his shell wasn't broken, or I would have to recall him.
On the other side, Xiao Ke was desperately swimming away as the Abyssal Serpent chased after him. He released a freezing mist to throw the gargantuan creature off his tracks, flecks of frost solidifying between them. The Abyssal Serpent simply smashed through them, only to meet a freezing beam right after it emerged. That still didn't faze it for long, as it smashed the ice with a flex of its black qi and resumed the chase.
Its obsidian scales gleamed in the darkness, blacker than even the shadows that swallowed the trench in perpetual night.
"Xiao Ke! This way!"
Using my mental connection, I delivered an instruction to my fleeing Shell Loch. Xiao Ke trusted me completely and followed the route I plotted out for him, diving straight for me. The Abyssal Serpent followed, as I knew it would. Its maw yawned wide to devour the desperately escaping plesiosaur.
"Now!"
At my command, Xiao Ke dove sharply. Before the Abyssal Serpent could alter its trajectory to follow suit, I unleashed the most powerful azure arrow I could muster, sending the projectile right into its open mouth and down its throat. The azure arrow seared through its gullet before detonating deep inside its gut, causing the enormous sea beast to writhe in agony.
"Got it!"
My cheers turned out to be premature, though, when the Abyssal Serpent coiled about to glare at me. Clearly, it had spotted the source of the arrow that wreaked so much pain in its insides before swallowing it. Ignoring Xiao Ke, who engulfed the whole side of the Mystic ranked spirit beast in ice, it lunged at me with vengeful fury.
Spiraling from above, Da Hai slammed into the crown of the Abyssal Serpent, sending it crashing downward before it could swallow me. He raked the diamond hard black scales of the Abyssal Serpent with his claws, but failed to penetrate its armored layers. Frustrated, he flipped upward and spun a few times before slamming his tail against its spine. Bubbles billowed outward from the shockwave as the Abyssal Serpent careened into the trench edge once more, causing more marine life to take flight in a flurry of feelers, claws and fins.
But it wasn't enough.
Enraged, the Abyssal Serpent reared up with a furious hiss. A rain of arrows thudded into it, several embedding themselves deep inside its throat before detonating, but that only stung the immense beast. The sea monster recoiled before lashing out, hurling floating debris and titanic tidal waves in our direction.
"We are not going to win this, are we?"
I could feel despair crawling over me. Despite my best attempts to clamp down on my panic and calmly assess the situation, dread was boiling within my chest. A cold, insidious fear that this was it…that I would succumb to defeat.
Everything I had thrown at the Abyssal Serpent thus far hadn't worked. Just what did I need to do in order to defeat it? It was impervious to our attacks, and even my arrow hadn't done much despite me shooting it down its gut. It had worked against the Megalodon, but the Abyssal Serpent was far bigger and more powerful than the mega shark.
Wait, I noticed that the Abyssal Serpent was moving a bit slower than before. It was seething not just in anger but also pain, its abdominal muscles tensing in the middle.
At that moment, a notification window popped up.
-Abyssal Serpents have thick, diamond hard scales that render them almost impervious to physical attacks and highly resistant to elemental attacks. –
Was that a hint to the question I had posed earlier? But it didn't tell me anything that I didn't know. Of course those black scales functioned as a form of armor…
I blinked, observing the pained, shuddering movement of the Abyssal Serpent, which was slower when compared to its earlier maneuvers. Then I ran the words through my mind again.
Diamond hard scales. Armor.
My arrow that bypassed those scales and detonated deep inside its gut.
The Abyssal Serpent's speed clearly impaired when compared to before.
Everything clicked. Just because my azure arrow didn't kill the Abyssal Serpent outright earlier didn't mean I wasn't on the right track. I simply needed a more powerful attack that could slay the Abyssal Serpent if it landed deep inside its stomach. But what else did I have that could surpass the destructive power of my concentrated Azure Rain Celestial Arrow?
"Sorry, guys, but I'll have to rely on you once again."
Taking a deep breath, I summoned my fleet of Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes once more.
After spending some time in my summoning space, my deep-sea armada had recovered somewhat. Fortunately, it was only fatigue that they were suffering from because I had recalled them before they could receive any sort of injury. Otherwise, they were going to need more than a few minutes to recover. In fact, they would probably need a few days to heal from any serious injuries sustained during a fight against a Mystic ranked spirit beast.
"I'm going to need your help once more."
Personally, I knew that it would be harsh to use Synchronize again. It was a very draining technique that took a lot out of both me and my summoned spirit beasts. But I had no choice. This was the only method of victory that I could come up with at the moment.
I had to stake everything on this.
For now, Da Hai and Xiao Ke continued to harry the Abyssal Serpent, using whatever they had at their disposal. Claws, highly pressurized jets of water, freezing beams, hailstorms and fog. The obsidian scales remained highly resistant to the elemental attacks, and the Abyssal Serpent was only impeded by the sheer weight of attacks. It lashed out periodically, forcing my War Turtle and Shell Loch to swerve away, and unleashed an incredibly pressurized torrent of water of its own, pumping out the hydro strike with enough force to obliterate an entire section of the trench.
"What's next, a hyper beam?" I complained when I saw the extreme jet of water pulverize another area of the trench to rubble. As if it had heard me, the Abyssal Serpent turned toward me and my fleet. Already, I was frantically weaving the threads of qi together, linking the electric currents and merging them into a single whole.
Damn it…using Synchronize for the second time in such a short space of time was killing me. Not literally, of course, but close to it. I could feel the energy in my body being squeezed out. Not only that, I had to remain in place to carry it out, making me vulnerable to the Abyssal Serpent's counter.
And it realized that.
Snarling, it darted forward, opening its jaws wide. This time, it wasn't intent on swallowing me or my smaller summoned spirit beasts. I could see water churning deep inside its throat, eager to rush out in a destructive torrent.
If that hit me or my friends, it would kill us instantly. Nonetheless, we were committed. We couldn't abort our attack now.
Everything came down to this exchange. Whoever unleashed their attack first would be the victor. My aquatic armada and I had a head start with our synchronization, but the Abyssal Serpent required much less time to generate its hydro pump…ahem, I mean pressurized stream of water.
Would we make it in time?
For a few seconds, time appeared to drag on forever…
…and then we unleashed our attacks.