Fortunately, she quickly placed me on the back of her drake and asked, "Are you alright?"
Her voice was clear, yet carried a deep, mysterious tone that momentarily caught me off guard. However, I quickly snapped back to reality and replied, "I'm fine, thank you for saving me. Can we get closer to the giant crabs?"
She gave me a puzzled look, clearly surprised that I was unscathed. Finally, her gaze settled on my clothes, and she responded, "No problem!"
Standing on the two-meter-high drake, I was now just a little shorter than the giant crabs. At this height, a light jump would put me on their backs, and their many legs posed no threat to me.
Dealing with crabs is easiest from the back—while heavily armored, it's their blind spot for attacks.
Up to now, I had only been using the strength of a Great Swordmaster and didn't want to reveal my true power at this moment. If I could injure them cleverly, it would make it easier for the female knight and Roger when we eventually confront the sacred beast.
With the drake rider's distraction, I easily leapt onto the back of one giant crab and struck down hard with my Triple Strike.
To my surprise, even a ninth-level magical beast couldn't withstand the Triple Strike, yet this eighth-level giant crab survived, though it began bubbling furiously, clearly gravely injured.
This was actually perfect. If I single-handedly took down three or four high-level beasts, no one would believe I was just a Great Swordmaster.
Moreover, compared to true Qi, combat Qi has a significant drawback: it depletes quickly and regenerates slowly. Generally, a Great Swordmaster would be exhausted within an hour if they continuously used blue combat Qi like I did.
And if I used my special moves, a dozen of those would drain me completely. The more powerful the move, the greater the Qi consumption. However, this also highlights a major advantage of combat Qi: even the lowest level can form a Qi slash, meaning it can be projected. Inner family Qi only achieves this near mastery.
Thus, if I kept using the Triple Strike to kill high-level beasts, no one would believe my combat Qi was only at the blue level.
To others, being able to perform a move that could kill a ninth-level beast was already beyond extraordinary for a Great Swordmaster.
The other crab, clearly distressed by its injured companion, screeched and charged at me.
Meanwhile, two Iron Squids shot water balls and arrows at me, though they posed no real threat.
As eighth-level beasts, they obviously had more powerful spells, but preparing those takes time—time the female knight could use to slay them, similar to how the Gold-striped Sea Frog was preparing its forbidden spell now.
I repeated my tactic, using the injured crab as a springboard to dodge the snapping claws of the other crab and landed on its back, delivering another Triple Strike that severely injured it as well. Watching it bubble at the mouth, I noticed the three Great Swordmasters arriving and thought: With three Great Swordmasters and a drake rider of the same rank, dealing with two Iron Squids and two severely injured giant crabs shouldn't be a problem. Now I can finally go after the Gold-striped Sea Frog. Its magic core has been on my mind for a long time.
Jumping down from the crab, I ignored its flailing claws and sprinted towards the Gold-striped Sea Frog like the wind.
By now, the water element around it had grown astonishingly thick. Even though I couldn't sense the elements for some reason, the dense, almost tangible energy told me its spell was nearly ready.
The other beasts couldn't keep up with my speed, so they turned to block the Great Swordmasters trying to approach the frog, while the female knight was tightly entangled by the first heavily injured crab.
The wounded crab, now in a frenzy, ignored the damage the knight and her drake inflicted, its massive claws hammering down relentlessly on the drake.
Despite the drake's tough hide, it was groaning under the assault, clearly struggling against the equally formidable defense of the crab.
I soon reached the Gold-striped Sea Frog.
Its entire focus was on controlling the forbidden spell, only glancing at me with its large eyes in a threatening manner. Of course, I wasn't bothered by it.
If I didn't hide my true strength, even a single blow at the Sword Saint level could shatter it to pieces. With the nature of true Qi, no one would suspect I had killed it—they would think it fell victim to its own magical backlash.
However, such a strike might destroy the magic core inside it as well. The backlash from a forbidden spell could easily obliterate even the hardest core, making my efforts pointless.
But if I only used attacks at a Great Swordmaster's level, the frog would still suffer from the magical backlash, though its control might prevent it from dying. This, however, would risk exposing my true power.
Even heavily injured, this sacred beast would be far beyond the capability of the small town's defenders.
I certainly wouldn't risk destroying the magic core. I noticed how fast it moved earlier, likely faster than most could chase. I would injure it first, making it furious and focused on me. Then I could lure it away to a secluded spot to finish it off without exposing my strength. With this plan in mind, I finally made my move.
While the Triple Strike could still affect a ninth-level beast, it wouldn't suffice against the frog. So, I used the 'Fourth Move of the Unfettered Divine Fist—Five Consecutive Strikes.' A dazzling blue light flashed, and my punch hit its protective shield.
Though it seemed like a simple punch, my fist would send out five successive vibrations, each delivering a force. When the five forces combined, they were nearly twice as powerful as the Triple Strike.
The results were as expected. First, its white shield shattered violently. Though another shield rose immediately, it too broke apart, and my punch landed squarely on its head, sending the remaining force into its body and disrupting its internal balance.
Instantly, its croaking stopped, its eyes filled with disbelief before turning to sheer hatred. With a shrill scream, it vomited a large mass of dark green blood.
"Despicable human, you dare injure me! I'll tear you to pieces and ensure you never find peace."
To my surprise, the huge frog spoke in the common language of the continent.
I wasn't too shocked by its speech, given that intelligent creatures often spoke. It was a bit surprising but not too much. Its threats didn't bother me—after all, it was already within my grasp, and aiming for its magic core meant enduring a few curses was a small price to pay.
Clearly preferring action over words, the Gold-striped Sea Frog screamed a few times before conjuring a white sword of light to strike at me. This was an eighth-level light magic spell—Sword of Light. I marveled at how it could use light magic so easily even after a backlash from a water-based forbidden spell.
My immediate task was to lead it to a secluded area, away from prying eyes, to deal with it properly.
So, instead of engaging, I dashed in the opposite direction of the city gate.
The light sword pursued me relentlessly, even after I evaded its initial strike. It was locked onto me, but just because it was locked didn't mean I couldn't avoid it. The sword's energy would deplete soon enough if I kept dodging.
The Gold-striped Sea Frog, infuriated by my retreat, roared, "Cowardly scum! Don't run!"
Its massive body created gusts of wind as it bounded after me, occasionally hurling light magic my way.
I kept running, occasionally checking to ensure it was still following, while deftly dodging the light sword and its magic attacks.
Though the frog was faster and the light sword even swifter, my agile movements allowed me to evade each time. I subtly adjusted my direction during its leaps, causing it to veer off course several times.
Thus, we—the frog and I—kept running, steadily distancing ourselves from the battlefield near the town and heading towards a distant mountain.
Roger, already aware of my plan, wasn't surprised by my actions. Although he had some doubts about my abilities, my consistent confidence reassured him.
Thinking about how I could take down a ninth-level beast with just blue combat Qi, he felt fortunate to follow such a powerful ally.
However, the female knight, Mark, and the town lord were less calm. Seeing me apparently chased helplessly by the frog and barely dodging its attacks, they were deeply worried. Yet, entangled by the eighth-level beasts, they couldn't come to my aid even if they wanted to.