The granite crocodile, caught off guard was struck by the empowered martial skill. It was knocked back slightly which gave the group more time to escape. The others were already about to reach the surface, leaving just Andrea in her struggle to escape fast enough.
Heads started poking above the water as the group frantically struggled to get to solid ground.
A roar filled with pain resounded from their backs as they continued swimming. Andrea's face paled as she realized that her attack had not done as much harm as she realized to the beast. Her water bullet had managed to pierce the beast's left eye but that was as much damage it could do. The granite crocodile spun around and sent its massive tail crashing towards Andrea.
It's unknown whether she could be considered lucky or not but the impact ended up sending her upwards towards the rest of her companions. The bones in her right hand snapped as they bore the full brunt of the impact. Her whole body was covered in injuries as soon as her body surfaced. However, she gritted her teeth and continued swimming.
The first person to reach the lake's shore was unsurprising Daniel. He had been at the back of the group alongside Adrian. His excuse was that he wanted to keep an eye on Adrian but everyone who knew him knew the real truth. His cowardice made him stay at the back even though his cultivation was the highest in the group after Bryce. His cultivation at the seventh level of the foundation establishment realm enabled him to be one of the fastest when escaping.
As soon as he reached the lake's shore, he started running. He didn't even wait for the rest of his companions before taking off. Adrian followed right after him and mimicked his actions. He didn't have any loyalty to these individuals, so waiting for them would just be idiotic. Bryce was the next to come. Even though he was already injured, he was still much faster than the remaining two.
Robert and Lily finally joined them on land.
Robert crawled onto the shore and sat down a few meters from the edge. His breathing was rapid as he was trying to catch his breath. He wanted to say something when he turned to his side to see Lily making a beeline towards the entrance of the valley. He was surprised to see her still running after they had escaped. It was then that he noticed Daniel, Adrian, and even Bryce all running at full speed in the distance. In his mind, they had already escaped, right? Right??
He seemed to have forgotten that the granite crocodile could move on land. Because it was swimming, it had its legs tucked to its side which blended in seamlessly with the rest of its body. Because of his lackluster knowledge, Robert mistook that for the creature not having any legs.
His thoughts were soon interrupted when he saw Andrea swimming frantically towards the shore with only one arm. He instinctively wanted to rush towards her when he suddenly froze in his tracks.
Andrea who was about to reach the shore saw the change of expression on Robert's face. Her heart was filled with dread as she turned her head. The scene behind her made her whole body weak.
The granite crocodile had its huge mouth open as hundreds of teeth became visible to her. The beast then clamped down on her entire lower body. Robert could hear the sound of bone being crushed as Andrea's screams reverberated in the surroundings.
The creature then started swinging its head from side to side. This action separated Andrea's upper body as she was flung ashore. Slowly the environment quietened down as the beast finished munching on Andreas legs. Robert watched all of this in terror as his legs became weak. He was frozen in shock and couldn't muster up the energy to run away.
It was only when the beast was done with its meal and directed its gaze toward him did he realized why the rest of his group was still running. Unfortunately for him, such a costly mistake could cost him his life. He immediately turned around and at his fastest speed, took off into the distance. He wrapped himself in qi and used it to augment his speed. He didn't care about emptying his dantian as he kept channeling his qi towards his legs. Like the others, he didn't have a movement technique so this was the best that he could do. His speed increased but he was still not fast enough to catch up to the others. If someone like Robert could come up with such a solution, then obviously the others could do the same. They were already far ahead of him and he couldn't even see Adrian and Daniel anymore.
He turned around to see the huge magical beast crawling out of the lake. It was then that he saw how massive the beast truly was. The magical beast was around thirty meters long with its tail accounting for about half the length. Its claws shone with black luster as it finally appeared on land for who knows how long.
After its whole body was finally on land, it raised its head up and roared towards the sky, as if announcing its return. The roar reverberated through the valley as every living thing in its vicinity scurried to escape. The roar shook the minds of Adrian and the rest of them who were still rushing to escape. A few of them couldn't help but spit out mouthfuls of blood as their ears and noses started bleeding.
Suddenly to the surprise of everyone watching, the beast started running. Its short legs straightened while its back arched. It then propelled itself forward on both sets of legs simultaneously. The scene would have been a bit funny if their lives weren't in so much danger currently.
What was even more surprising was its speed. The granite crocodile was clearly not a creature built for speed. All its strongest features were suited toward aquatic life which was why its speed shocked them. Its rapid and awkward galloping enabled it to cover a lot of distance in a short period of time. Robert shrieked when he saw it rapidly approaching him. However, he quickly realized that he had no chance of outrunning the beast. His impending death seemed to have awakened something inside of him as he gritted his teeth while turning towards the huge beast. His sword plunged into the ground as he funneled the rest of the qi that was left in his dantian into it while yelling in a shrill voice.
"Earth spike!"