"That doesn't look good," I muttered when I saw the shape of the thing that emerged from the swamp. Murky water dripped from its titanic silhouette and it let out a vicious hiss before its serpentine figure whipped out. There was a flash of brown and gray as the thing opened its jaws to devour one of the fleeing elves. Even though the giant mudskipper was swimming as quickly as it could, they weren't swift enough to avoid the yawning maw of the Swamp Serpent in time.
"No!" Eliza yelled, sprinting toward the Swamp Serpent. She raised her hands, casting a spell quickly and hurling a wind blade that glanced off the thick scales of the gargantuan spirit beast. The Swamp Serpent didn't even seem to notice the sharp gust, instead closing in on the screaming elf on a mudskipper.
Then an azure arrow sailed across the swamp with such force it caused the surface to ripple and waves to splash away in opposite directions. Slamming into the neck of the Swamp Serpent with tremendous impact, it sent the spirit beast crashing back into the filthy waters and throwing up a titanic tidal wave. The mudskipper swerved to the side, just narrowly avoiding the falling Swamp Serpent, even as its elfish rider clutched the reins and clung on for dear life.
Despite the near miss, he nodded at me gratefully. Even an arrogant elf would realize that I had just saved his life. Without my azure arrow, the Swamp Serpent would have swallowed both him and his mudskipper whole.
"What the hell is with the power of that arrow!?" Eliza turned to stare at me with wide eyes. I lowered Obsidian Drake and focused on the still form of the Swamp Serpent instead of replying. Even though I had temporarily downed the Mystic ranked spirit beast, I doubted that my single arrow had slain it outright.
"You've gotten stronger again," Myria complained, crossing her arms in a huff. "Is peak Mystic rank really that different from advanced?"
"I don't know."
"Incredible!" Morten was excitedly watching from the sides, a grin spreading across his handsome face. "I didn't think you are this strong! If you can shoot down a Mystic ranked Swamp Serpent in one shot, then I think we might just be able to go all the way to the top of Yggdrasil!"
"Don't celebrate too soon yet," I warned everyone. Indeed, Eliza was tensing as she studied the floating figure of the Swamp Serpent. "I don't think I've killed it."
As if to prove me right, the Swamp Serpent came back to life, rising with another titanic splash. Thankfully, the elves and their mudskippers had already gotten back onto the shore by now, and they were evacuating the area. I was intrigued by the giant mudskippers – though they appeared like normal amphibious fishes when skimming across the surface of the swamp, when on land, their fins had appeared to transformed into short, stubby legs. They were actually pretty cute when I looked at them from here, with blue scales, greenish fins around their legs and head, and a fan-like tail.
The Swamp Serpent reared up and sped across the mangrove, having no intention of letting its prey escape. I fired another arrow that detonated against its side and sent it careening once more, but it recovered more swiftly this time, whipping its head up to glare at us.
"Any strategies?" Eliza asked as she jumped from branch to branch to close in on the Swamp Serpent. More gusts of wind surrounded her, turning into spinning blades of air that sliced futilely at the huge spirit beast. She scowled when she saw how ineffective her spells were. I estimated that she was probably only Yellow ranked at best. "My spells aren't doing any damage. Your arrows seem to be the only thing that affect it, but they seem to piss it more than wound it."
"Don't worry," Sylvie said as she nodded to Silvia. Both sisters were already casting a spell, weaving their hands to draw arcane symbols in the air. Their surroundings shimmered with qi or mana or whatever you called it, being shaped into holy swords and lightning bolts as the fairy sisters bent the elements to their will. "We have this."
The barrage of spirit swords and lightning bolts struck the Swamp Serpent mercilessly, ripping through its armored scales and sending sprays of blood. Even so, the immense size of the spirit beast meant that it wouldn't be laid low by the spells, and it lunged in our direction. Eliza dove out of the way, grabbing a branch and flinging herself to the side to avoid being caught in its charge.
But she didn't have to worry.
Before the Swamp Serpent could reach our position, my King Crab materialized between us. With his gigantic pincer, he hammered the Swamp Serpent back into the swamp, almost caving in its skull.
"What the hell was that?!"
Eliza wasn't able to believe her eyes, but I wasn't going to waste time with explanations. Instead, I summoned more of my spirit beasts to the fore. Lantern Sharks appeared in the swamp waters, racing forward to bite the Swamp Serpent and tear chunks of flesh and muscle off it. The Swamp Serpent flailed about, trying to break free, but it slowly sank into the depths of the swamp as its red blood changed the usually dull color of the murky waters.
Another crushing blow by my King Crab finished it off. His pincers snapped shut around the Swamp Serpent's head and neck and he pulverized them with a guillotine attack. The headless corpse of the Swamp Serpent sank back into the swamp, staining the waters crimson.
"You are a spirit beast tamer?" Eliza demanded, staring at me. Morten was just as surprised, but he was more amazed than outraged.
"I guess you can call me that." I shrugged. Actually, I was a summoner, not a tamer, but the difference didn't really matter. At least not to the people around me.
"Hah! I knew a giant snake wouldn't be a match for us!" Silvia placed her hands on her hips and laughed cockily. Her sister glared at her.
"Don't behave as if you were the one who defeated the Swamp Serpent. In the end, it was Jun Wen's King Crab and Lantern Sharks who did the most work. And Jun Wen himself too."
"What's big bro's is ours too, right, big sis? We are contracted to him, after all!"
"That's not how it works!"
"Calm down, everybody," I said with a sigh. "And stay on guard. It's not over yet."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Morten asked, looking about warily. I noticed that he was wearing specialized boots, which glowed with mana when he infused his legs with esoteric energies. He was probably one of the warrior types who specialized in close combat.
"There are more hostile spirit beasts in the area. And they're starting to surface now that the big bad is dead."
Splashes rang about all over the coastline as a new horde of spirit beasts broke through the surface and crawled onto the land. Like the mudskippers, they were capable of moving in both water and land, but unlike the steeds that the elves used to travel across the swamp, the newcomers were far more dangerous.
Crunchy Crocodiles. Okay, that was quite the lame name, but apparently it was to emphasize their Crunch attack with their powerful jaws. Stretching over ten meters in length and almost two meters in height, their strong tails whipped out and smashed mangrove trees from their roots. Long jaws snapped and crunched, their black and brown scales still damp from the swamp water.
"No! There's so many of them!" Eliza was springing forward, gusts of wind carrying her across the mangrove trees. She landed between them and the other elves, who had gotten onto land and armed themselves with bows and arrows, spears or spells. They were ready to make their last stand here, especially because it didn't seem like they had anywhere to run to. Their village was built along the shore of the swamp, and if they didn't stop the Crunchy Crocodiles here, they would lose their homes.
I understood their concerns. I waved my hands and set the Lantern Sharks and King Crab upon the horde of Crunchy Crocodiles on the shore, and they got to work. Whether it was biting and ripping them to shreds in water or pulverizing them in a pincer attack on land, they cut into the frenzied swarm of armored spirit beasts. However, I could see that the Lantern Sharks were having trouble in the waters, their teeth unable to effectively pierce through the layers of scales that protected the Crunchy Crocodiles' tank-like bodies.
The apex predator of the ocean versus the top hunter of rivers and lakes. It was always interesting to see who would prevail when pitted against each other - the shark or the crocodile. Both were the pinnacle of evolution, having existed for millions of years. Even during the era of the dinosaurs, these predators survived and even prospered after the mass scale extinction 65 million years ago. It could be argued that these were spirit beasts from another dimension, but many of the species appeared to be terrestrial creatures that had mutated or developed from the overabundance of qi from that other dimension, rather than completely separate existences.
My Lantern Sharks had the advantage in size and speed, being longer and heavier than the Crunchy Crocodiles, as well as three times as fast in the water. They both possessed roughly equal bite force, with my Lantern Sharks edging out by probably being 10% more powerful in terms of bite force. That said, if a Crunchy Crocodile caught my Lantern Sharks in their jaws, they would deal almost equally devastating injuries.
The Crunchy Crocodiles also possessed substantially greater defenses with their armored scales, which made it more difficult for my Lantern Sharks to bite through them. It was speed versus defense, but fortunately, my Lantern Sharks possessed far greater senses than the Crunchy Crocodiles, with an electric field that allowed them to detect prey from miles away.
Not only that, they had an elemental advantage. Electricity crackled around them before they discharged them in lethal bursts that bypassed the Crunchy Crocodiles' defenses and electrocuted them. Even the Crunchy Crocodiles found themselves vulnerable to the coordinated lightning bolts from my Lantern Sharks and those that weren't killed outright were forced to retreat, their limbs locking up in convulsing spasms.
"Excellent."
Buoyed by the success of my Lantern Sharks, I summoned my aquatic armada. Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes set themselves up along the shore, moving into formation. By linking up with each other, they merged their strengths into concerted thunderbolts that were capable of hurting even the higher ranked Crunchy Crocodiles. I backed them up with my Colossal Crabs, who followed the direction of my King Crab to protect my aquatic armada. They performed a pincer maneuver, cutting off isolated pockets of Crunchy Crocodiles to render them susceptible to the lethal lightning from my aquatic armada.
"Don't forget about us!"
Sylvie and Silvia finally reached the line of Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes. They immediately set up their spirit arrays, the runic circles expanding around them as they cast the spells they deemed most suitable for the current predicament. Chains of lightning lashed out across the coast, crashing thunderously against the horde of Crunchy Crocodiles and sending them tumbling back to the swamp in paralyzing shivers.
"I shouldn't let myself get shown up by my juniors." Myria chuckled as she joined the fight, drawing the Deep Sea Sword or whatever it was called. Water whips sliced out of the glowing blade, cutting through the armored flanks of the Crunchy Crocodiles with astonishing ease. I shook my head in wonder, wishing I could do the same with my azure arrows.
"You guys are amazing." Morten kicked a Crunchy Crocodile away. His boots glowed and spikes sprouted from the tips and soles, allowing him to punch through their armored scales with force. Still, the sharp spikes weren't able to penetrate through their protective layers, but the force of his kicks were enough to keep the Crunchy Crocodiles at bay. He wisely decided to work with my Colossal Crabs to protect my aquatic armada and the fairy sisters. "Are you guys really students from Divine Path University? You're more like professional mages."
"Thanks for the compliment, but we still have a long way to go." I had swapped my bow for my sword and was cleaving a Crunchy Crocodile into two with Azure Dragon. Ice froze around me, momentarily immobilizing the horde in my vicinity and leaving them open to the lightning from my Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes. Then I frowned. "Looks like the worst is yet to come."
"The worst?" Morten raised an eyebrow. "What can be worse than a bunch of Crunchy Crocodiles and a Swamp Serpent?"
"Their boss," I replied. And right after my proclamation, the swamp shook as something larger than even the Swamp Serpent from earlier emerged from its depths. Its many heads turned to stare at us, and the new gargantuan spirit beast let out a cacophony of vicious hisses. Looking up at the mammoth monster, I cursed under my breath. "I should have known that there would be a Swamp Hydra hiding in here somewhere…"