novelraw Chapter 72: Battering Ram
Chapter 72: Battering Ram
The inky black lake started churned violently.
Han watched with wide eyes as the massive body of the Sea Serpent began coiling beneath the surface, moving in a rapid circular motion.
The water displaced by its sheer size created a bizarre, violently spinning vortex in the center of the dark pool.
"Cover me!" Han commanded, his voice echoing over the loud crashing sound of the water.
The Leaping White Tiger immediately stepped in front of him, lowering its massive head to shield its master. Han gritted his teeth, his grip on the golden revolver slipping with sweat.
’I guess he finally decided to end the fight once and for all.’
Han had a sinking feeling that neither he nor his injured Elite summon could survive a direct hit from whatever attack Verso was winding up as there was not much that he could do in this moment.
SPLASH.
The Sea Serpent’s head breached the surface of the lake, its draconic skull cutting through the air as it moved in a tight circular motion, increasing its speed with every rotation.
The sheer force of the vortex was whipping the lake into a frenzy.
For a second, pure confusion flashed across Han’s face.
He couldn’t understand what Verso was trying to accomplish by making the Serpent gain so much momentum without striking.
But then, without warning, the Sea Serpent snapped its massive jaws tightly shut and locked its golden eyes onto a very specific spot in the room.
Han followed the beast’s gaze, and his stomach dropped.
’The entrance!’
Verso was not targeting him. He was targeting the collapsed stone that Han had shot down to block the exit.
It was an absolutely insane plan, what kind of madman would even try to use their aquatic beast as a hammering ram on dry land?
Before Han could even process the absurdity, a deafening crash erupted from the water.
The Serpent uncoiled its body like a massive organic spring. It launched itself completely out of the lake like a missile of blue scales and muscle, heading straight for the collapsed tunnel with its maw clamped shut.
The creature collided with the wall of rubble with a sound that sounded like a ton of C4 detonating.
The momentum and sheer mass of the Elite beast created a massive impact that literally shook the entire island.
The cavern walls groaned in protest as the Serpent’s body completely obliterated the blockage, violently pushing through the narrow tunnel of the cavern like an oversized snake burrowing through dirt.
As the shockwave reverberated, the structural integrity of the room gave up. Massive chunks of the cavern roof started raining down around the black lake.
’I am going to get completely crushed in the rubble!’ Han thought as his survival instincts kicked in.
He grabbed onto his tiger’s white fur tightly and vaulted onto its back with one hand.
"Go! Follow him!"
The tiger roared and broke into a sprint, darting through the falling debris and diving into the freshly cleared, dust covered tunnel right behind the Sea Serpent.
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[Outside the Cavern]
"Give up, and we promise to give you both a swift death." The raspy voice of the lead mercenary echoed over the rocky plains.
Xavier and Lua stood back to back, both of them breathing heavily.
The situation outside had devolved into a brutal and blood battle of endurance.
Lua’s clothes were torn, several shallow sword slashes weeping blood across her arms and legs. Xavier was not doing much better as his clothes were scorched and a nasty cut ran down his cheek.
But the mercenaries had also been paid back in blood for this.
The leader stared at the two, his heart hammering against his ribs. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder.
One of his partners was lying dead in the dirt, his chest torn apart by the mana beam bombardment of the Stone Golems.
The other was propped against a rock, screaming as he clutched the charred stump where his leg used to be, a parting gift from Xavier’s Lightning Spear.
’I can’t let this go on any longer. We need to escape.’ The leader thought, sweat rolling into his eyes.
He had completely given up on his four backup members inside the cavern.
Ever since the black haired boy had run inside, the island had started to tremble. With his years of mercenary experience, the man could tell that things had completely derailed.
If they wasted any more time trying to kill these two stubborn kids, the assassination mission given to them by Yuan Feng was going to end up being their grave.
"You can’t bluff your way out of this, you fucker!" Xavier shouted.
Xavier’s eyes burned with a fierce, arrogant fire. He had caught the man’s hesitation.
He knew that they still had more summons fighting the battle while the mercenaries had lost most of theirs. It was only a matter of time before these mercenaries bled out.
Xavier pulled back his crackling spear, the yellow lightning which started cackling with thunder.
Seeing this, the mercenary leader gritted his teeth and raised his sword, drawing the last of his mana to prepare another blue energy arc.
But before either of them could launch their attacks, the ground violently shook.
A massive earthquake struck the island, throwing both Xavier and the mercenary off their feet.
Lua stumbled but used her rapier to keep herself from falling as a deafening, grinding crash echoed from the mouth of the cavern.
"What the hell happened?" Lua gasped, her breath shallow as she turned her tired eyes toward the tunnel entrance.
A massive cloud of rock dust and pulverized stone exited out of the cave mouth, hiding whatever had just smashed its way to the surface.
The mercenary leader scrambled backward, expecting to see some monstrous beast try emerge and finish them off.
But defying everyone’s expectations, the silhouette that walked out of the settling dust was not a monster.
It was a boy, covered in dirt and black inky water, casually resting a pitch black scythe over his shoulder.
"Hey guys," Verso said, offering a tired, slightly apologetic smile as he stepped into the sunlight.
"Sorry it took me a minute."
x-X-x
Author Note: As I previously promised a few readers, there will be a mass release today. If you are enjoying so far, don’t shy away from commenting and interacting with the book!