The four seagulls hit did not die immediately. But they lost most of their strength and all of their will to fight. They flapped their wings sluggishly and fled from the battle to look for a place to wash away the poison before it became fatal.
The rest of the flock quieted down, tilting their heads at each other in confusion. If brute force didn't work, the seagulls had few other ideas. They had also suffered a lot of casualties. Was it enough to make them reconsider? That was uncertain.
"Expert control again." Zachary said, "How does it already have expert control over all three elements?"
Carlos and Shuhua both muttered curses. Triple element affinity and triple element expert soul control, this was as close to a perfect summon as anyone could ever dream of. It was the kind of summon that only existed in history books about renowned saints and kings of the past or newspapers about the summoners who had won the national championship or other prestigious competitions. It wasn't something ordinary people could get a hold of in their entire lives.
"What if we attack it now? It's still wounded." Carlos asked.
"Don't be stupid." Shuhua retorted. "If that huge flock of seagulls can't do it, what chance do we have?"
"But..."
"Shush, something is happening," Heather warned.
The manmade clearing had gone strangely silent. Aside from the flapping of wings, there was hardly a sound. The seagulls had lost their prior bloodlust. It was an eerie sight. It was as if they were silently plotting something, the complete opposite of their gluttonous and unrestrained nature. Countless pairs of eyes, all staring down at the lonely scorpion dragon as if it was already food.
The scorpion dragon looked up at its foes with defiance as well as a sense of wariness. It was determined to keep fighting but there was still the issue of its stamina. At some point, the injuries would start compounding each other. At some point, it would have to flee or else it would be overwhelmed.
Zachary was the first person to sense it. He looked up sharply at the sky above. At first, there was nothing except blue sky. There wasn't even a cloud in sight. But he felt it, an overwhelming surge of killing intent followed by a crashing wave of vicious hunger, a sensation so powerful and primal it made him shake from fright.
"What is that!" Wander shouted, also sensing it.
A gray-white blur flashed over the edge of the forest. It changed direction with impossible agility and shot down towards the scorpion dragon. It was simply too fast for human eyes to see clearly.
Wham!
A huge, feathery beast slammed into the scorpion dragon like a giant hammer, smashing it into the ground. Several sharp cracks followed the impact as its shell was broken in several places.
"Hsss!" The scorpion dragon retaliated immediately, stabbing its tail wildly.
With a gust of wind, the newcomer easily dodged the scorpion tail and flew up until it hovered over the clearing.
It was a giant seagull. Of course, it was. But this one was different. Instead of two pairs of wings, it had three. Instead of pure white feathers, its body was streaked with gray. There was also a particularly eye-catching tuft of feathers on its head that seemed like a crown. Aside from all of those details, it was simply massive. It was the size of a fully-grown forest elephant except it could fly. It was simply a monster.
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"Expert rank," Heather said.
"Saints help us..." Shuhua muttered.
"It's over, that bug is dead meat," Carlos said.
The expert rank giant seagull surveyed the scene for a few more breaths. Then, it dived.
"Pu! Pu! Pu!"
The scorpion dragon spat out a barrage of poison. The seagull dodged. Like before, the balls of poison shifted direction mid-flight under its expert control. However, this time, the seagull simply dodged again, avoiding the attack completely. It was too fast; it was too agile. Seeing something so big move like that was eye-opening.
Whack!
The seagull once again collided with the scorpion dragon. Its heavy wing smashed the insect's head, breaking both of its elongated fangs, and sending it flying. Before it could come down, the seagull struck with its monstrous claws. Several of the scorpion dragon's legs were severed in the exchange. Green blood splattered as it crashed into the ground.
The scorpion dragon buried its wounded head into the dirt and tried to flee. But it only managed to get about a third of its body underground before the giant seagull pounced. Its gleaming yellow beak snapped onto the flailing tail. Holding tight, it plucked the scorpion dragon out and started swinging it about. The helpless bug was smashed into the ground, against a nearby tree, and anything else in the vicinity.
It was a one-sided beatdown. It was almost pitiful to watch. The gap between ranks was simply too wide. If the scorpion dragon could rely on a summoner along with a full lineup of summons, it could have fought the giant seagull overlord to a draw. However, it was alone and it was facing certain death.
The forest filled with the loud and excited squawks of the seagulls. Victory was near. Their great foe was about to be vanquished. Their wildness and hunger rose to new heights as they watched the struggling scorpion dragon like a fresh meal that was being carefully prepared.
Suddenly, Zachary felt something. He sucked in a cold breath from shock. It was fear, hatred, desperation, and sheer force of will, all carried by soul-shaking power that came from a single source.
"Run!" He shouted.
The scorpion dragon, which was still held by the giant seagull's beak, let out a shrill hiss that sounded almost like a high-pitched roar. It was so loud it drowned out all other noises. Its eyes, which had been dim and dejected a moment before, glowed with pulsating purple light. A sharp wind swept through the clearing and swirled around the pair of battling beasts. The temperature suddenly dropped. Even the sky seemed to dim as all the Eternum in the area surged toward the middle... toward the scorpion dragon.
"Run!" Zachary shouted again as he desperately tried to call back Doro.
"What's happening?" Carlos asked dumbly but Heather and Shuhua were already dragging him away.
They each summoned their chosen mounts; Heather atop her gray wolf with Shuhua, Carlos thrown onto his pill bug, and Jean-Pierre with his shadowless cloud owl which had already wrapped its fluffy black feathers around him. Doro arrived a few moments later, carrying Zachary away. All of them fled west, away from the quintessence spring, as fast as possible.
They escaped not a moment too soon.
The jungle behind them exploded. Dirt and rocks flew everywhere like from a fountain. Giant trees that they chop down splintered and came crashing down. Cries of seagulls mixed in with the roar of a psuedo-dragon. Waves of Eternum swept after them like a tsunami. It was a breakthrough, a desperate breakthrough in the midst of battle that came on the edge of life and death.
Shuhua looked behind them and screamed.
"What? What's happening?" Carlos shouted.
"Nothing! Keep running!" Heather shouted back.
Zachary couldn't hold back his curiosity and turned around. He saw the scorpion dragon. It was huge. Somehow, it had grown twice in size. Its wounds had seemingly healed. It was now wrestling with giant seagull, viciously biting wherever it could. The seagull retaliated with equal fervor, biting and slashing with its sharp beak and fangs. Their shrieks and roars reverberated through the jungle as they fought.
A shadow fell over them as they fled and he looked up at the sky. Hundreds... thousands of seagulls blotted out the sun. They came from the countless nests that dotted the nearby mountains of shit, a horde responding to the call of their leader.
Zachary suddenly felt a newfound appreciation for these pests of the sky. They turned out to be good for something besides eating everything in sight. Even if the scorpion dragon had advanced to the expert rank, even if it could slay that seagull overlord, could it withstand the assault of an entire army? He didn't think so. He hoped that those two monsters would end up killing each other. Although he wouldn't be able to reap the benefits, it would make the jungle more peaceful, at least for a little while.