With a shout, the sharp long knife zip-slid across the giant lizard's forelegs, but only left shallow scratches.
The giant lizard is covered in tough, thick skin, with rigid protrusions the size of a soybean, hard and dense, maximizing the defense against the slashes of sharp weapons and the impacts of blunt ones, which are virtually invulnerable.
Without thinking, Lorraine raised his foot and kicked the giant lizard in the neck, stomping it back and dodging a sweeping blow, but the second round of pounces from the other three lizards arrived as well, so he only had to fly back.
Sharp claws scraped sparks against the rocky ground, and a thick tail broke through the wind.
The sailors of the front group swooped in with shouts, crossing Lorraine in groups of two or three and picking up the two lizards.
Yacharin's second shot went off at the right time, facing upwards, and blew out the left eye of the domed gargoyle, which fell and landed beside Lorraine.
Lorraine raised her sword and stabbed it through its eye sockets, picking it up and chopping off another head.
He took two big, ragged breaths, "Yacharin, get your gunners to help you with your guns, and Noa, go help Hina!"
The situation in the rear formation is far more critical than in the front.
Hina was strong, and in the hearts of the employees of the Drake Chamber of Commerce, she was never below Lorraine in terms of combat power, and was firmly on top when it came to killing efficiency.
This is the glory of Assassin.
But the nature of Assassin's killing technique also dictates that Hina is not fit to be the leader of the battle.
The weapon was short, fast and fluttering, and she wouldn't be able to stand in front of the sailors like Lorraine, or buy her companions breathing room like Shield.
As soon as the battle began Hina ran, stomped up the rock wall, leapt up into the dome, floated up to the last gargoyle in a refraction, raised her twin blades and stabbed the gargoyle violently in both eyes, killing it with a single blow.
The sailors in the rear line took the first wave of the giant lizard swarm in a panic.
A sailor was pounced upon by the pouncing gargoyle, his flicking tongue piercing right through his cheek.
Another sailor was swept by the giant lizard's flailing tail, spitting blood and flying backwards, his bulging chest sinking into a groove.
Only the third giant lizard's attack fell short, its swinging claws were squeaked by the sailor, but the counterattacking sailor's blade fell on it and failed to produce any damage.
After one round, death for death, three of the giant lizards remained, and only four of the humans in the backline were left.
Noa arrived just in time, and the silver tarot flew out in a scattering, clanking off the second attack of the two giant lizards.
Hina took the opportunity to leap onto the back of one of the heads and repeat the trick for another.
This round was a one-for-one exchange, with Noa's Silver Tarot aiming at all three targets but doing nothing against the huge lizard that lunged out.
The sailors broke down.
Three were wounded and killed in a short time, and the two remaining sailors pounced on the last lizard like mad, only to have one swept away by the tail and the other having his leg cut off by a sharp claw.
Hina pursed her lips and waded up with one of the gargoyles, and Noa ran up through clenched teeth, pinning Tarot, stomping and circling the other gargoyle.
Lorraine stabbed the third lizard with the cooperation of three sailors, then made a kick with all her might to knock the fourth one away with its carcass.
Frontal stabilization.
He gasped and sprinted after them, taking a hard sweeping blow against the back of his blade, his bayonet flinging out as he flew backwards, striking the fourth head.
With a thud, Lorraine smashed into the hard rock arm and flipped over in the process straight into the increasingly treacherous backline.
"Yacharin, the last end is yours!"
The short but grueling battle ended completely after a few minutes, and with Lorraine joining the rear line, Hina was freed up to slay the last two giant lizards in a row.
A while back, Yacharin, with five brave sailors wheeling and turning three muskets, nearly smashed the face of the remaining giant lizard and finally managed to drive it away.
The expedition's casualties were concentrated in the rear ranks.
Five sailors, three dead, two wounded, none spared, and Lorraine and Noa near-disemboweled, and no longer able to fight after cleaning up the battlefield and retrieving their weapons.
The situation was clearly no longer suitable for further progress.
They gathered up the relics of the dead, left the guns and shells in the cavern, vacated the gun carriage, and retired to the Macaw with the wounded and the bodies of the two giant lizards to rest.
When she had regained most of her strength, Hina stared curiously at the two giant lizards on the deck and asked Lorraine, "You brought them back as food?"
"Their skins are tough, and I'm going to make each of us an arm guard that will almost double as a shield."
"Why don't you just make a shield?"
"Uh ... any of us still know how to use a shield?"
The pleasant conversation ended without a hitch.
The morale of the group was fine; after all, everyone had a death wish when it came to exploring pirate treasure in the mysterious Herbasi Sea Cave.
And in terms of harvest, there aren't that many dead people at hand.
Lorraine had promised the Chamber a price of three thousand pounds for the old ship in disrepair if Crane thought the Macaw was worth driving back and could get into Southampton's harbor without difficulty.
It's a reasonable valuation and a reasonable precondition.
Halfway through the repairs, Lorraine, seeing that the two injured men were stabilized, announced the end of the first round of the expedition, towed the Macaw, and returned to the east coast beaches.
Wow!
Sailors pried off the rusted anchor chain and the Macaw, moored for over a hundred years, slowly drifted away from the waterfront.
Hina steered the ship, and Noa took control of the bow gun, guarding against the bloodsucking bats halfway across the river.
With five sailors each, rowing dinghies towed on the transom, Lorraine and Yacharin pulled the massive Brig away from the sea hole, and with a turtle-like crawl, reached the beach on the eastern shore where Keren was at sunset.
Lorraine jumped off the submarine in a single leap, stepping over the water and yelling at Keren, "The ship has no anchor! Keren, gather the sailors and prepare to hitch a stake!"
"God! Have you stolen into Poseidon's palace?"
...
Nightfall, East Coast Beach.
Lorraine sat in front of a bonfire, fiddling with the flames with a disbelieving expression.
Keren is leading a comprehensive assessment of the Macaw's value in use, the results of which are important and will likely determine whether or not a second sea cave expedition is undertaken.
Without the right incentive of interest, sailors will back off.
In order to be the first to know the results, Lorraine stayed behind.
Apart from him, the rest of the expedition, including the seamen, sailors, wounded and toucans, had been sent to Camp Windward, where conditions were better.
It was not only spacious, but restful, well-fed and popular, and clearly more suitable for the wounded and weary sailors than the cramped and cluttered beaches of the east coast.
Unfortunately for Lorraine, her arm guards have fizzled out for the time being.
The son of a good tanner made a special trip to tell Lorraine a bit about how Lek handled a rhinoceros hide back in the day.
This kind of natural heavy armor is not suitable for making equipment through the primitive way, and requires special and meticulous nitro production to enhance the softness and cut into shape without destroying its defensive properties.
All they could do at the moment was to strip the skins off as completely as possible, get the shredded flesh and skin membrane clean, and tie up the tarpaulin so that it would not get damp.
But this was all trivial, Lorraine only really cared about two things nowadays, when the Buttercup would be repaired, and whether the Macaw would be able to sail smoothly.
The former related to the time of their return to Europe, the latter to the rewards of the expedition.
As the moon reached the middle of the day, a tired Keren finally appeared before Lorraine.
"This macaw is a gift from God! Either that, or your Niord stole her from Nooton." He said.