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CHAPTER 44

Kreegan listened attentively to everything Meroie had to say, and what that bat said was true. There is really a treasure in the mountain. After Meroie left the room, the two of them started talking.

"Can you fly the ship using the uplifting wind?"

"Yes, the wind is strong enough if we open our wings, but the other beast is the problem. If what she told us is true, the second we go up, it will try to shoot us down by throwing debris."

"So we have to kill one more guardian at least to get out of here."

"If we took care of that one too, there's only one left."

Lex looked implicitly at Kreegan, and Kreegan sighed. Upon this, Lex said while acting hurt.

"What! Aren't you even a little bit curious about what this treasure is?"

"I am curious, but what concerns me is that bat. He was trying to pull us into something, and I don't want to do what he wanted us to."

"Let's decide after killing the second one, even if we want to leave. If we don't kill it, it won't be possible."

"Why are you so eager?"

"What? Who doesn't love a treasure hunt?"

Lex pointed toward the ocean’s naval and said,

"That is not natural; there is a fucking hole in the ocean. I want to know how it is possible."

"The treasure might point in the direction of how all this is possible, and as a bonus, this is an adventure."

Kreegan sighed in resignation and said,

"And we must take all those people with us; we cannot leave them here."

...

Kreegan spoke to Meroie first, and after persuading her to leave, they were able to persuade the other villagers. The point that convinced them the most was to see the octopus's body.

The second guardian was basically a giant lobster, and this Lobster was half the size of the octopus. Kreegan and Lex made a scouting attack. Speed-wise, it was slower than the octopus, but this didn't make things easier because its defense was on another level. Lex's claws and Kreegan's swords couldn't even put a dent in its exoskeleton. So, they had to retreat.

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As they were contemplating how to defeat this creature, Kreegan had an idea; this wasn't a game. He didn't have to kill it in one spot, and it wouldn't heal itself if he retreated. If it was a rock, he had to become water droplets. When he told Lex his idea, he agreed, but he said

"We can't even leave a mark on it; how are we going to accumulate damage on it?"

"We are going to attack every living being's common vulnerability. Joints, mouth, and eyes."

"It is not going to just sit there and take the attacks."

"Ohh, yes, it is."

Lex paused to think for a moment and realized what Kreegan was planning.

"But that means I am the bait and the one doing the most dangerous thing."

"How are you the one doing the most dangerous thing? I am the one that has to go invisible and attack that beast."

...

Kreegan put 2 Vanish, 1 Expeditious Retreat, 1 Corrosive Touch, and Cat's Grace into his spell slots. By the early morning hours, Lex had turned into a half-tiger. Kreegan used Expeditious Retreat, Cat's Grace, and Vanish. Then he started to approach the Lobster from behind. The Lobster was digging through the debris and looking around.

The second Kreegan went invisible; Lex started making loud noises in his position to mask Kreegan's movement sound. The beast turned toward Lex and started charging him. Kreegan had gotten closer, and he knew that the techniques he had tried before were not even enough to break the weak spots in this creature's joints. Its armor was too hard, so he had to try something new. He had to move faster, hit harder; he needed to have finer control over his swords.

"Corrosive touch, Nitoryu Iai..."

He put his hands on his swords, started to dash faster, and pulled both of them simultaneously as fast as Shishi Sonson.

"Rashomon!"

Because he couldn't apply spells to both swords, he chose to apply them to Ichinami. His two sword-style Iai attack slashed the Lobster's front left leg's joint. One of the slashes was green because of the corrosive touch spell, while the other was blue in color.

The attack slashed the leg, and it was cut halfway through. Thanks to the corrosive touch spell, the wound kept getting bigger the beast started trashing toward Kreegan in agony. Thanks to his speed Kreegan was able to run out of the way.

As the beast's full attention turned to Kreegan, Lex quickly approached and, using his Steel staff, vaulted himself into the air. He used his lightning power to electrocute his staff, and with that staff, using his momentum, hit the beast right on its head.

This attack was not as powerful as Kreegan's, but it shook the beast and was annoying enough that its attention turned toward Lex from Kreegan. The second the beast turned, Kreegan used Vanish to become invisible again.

Lobster couldn't understand where the other man had gone, its eyes kept searching for movement, but Lex jumped in for another attack at that moment. The beast was getting angry, so it turned to attack Lex and raised its big front claw to crush him.

But at this moment, Kreegan comes charging in again, and this time using only one sword. He raised his sword over his head and slashed with great force while only imagining the leg was being cut in half. For a second, he forgot everything else. All he knew was that leg, and he had to cut that. Nothing else mattered.

"Jolt, Ittoryu: Baki (Horse Demon)"

His slash came down like a galloping horse and cut that leg off. A shrill ear-scratching sound came out of the Lobster's mouth, it lost its balance, and it could not hit Lex and missed him. Its pincer hit the rocks on the ground, and the force from it caused Lex to be pushed back.

They both began to flee without waiting while Lobster was raging with anger and pain. For an hour, Lobster chased them but finally gave up when he couldn't catch them. Kreegan's arms could not move due to pain as he used Rashomon and Baki techniques. They rested for the next two days until Kreegan could move his arms without a problem. Lex sat next to Kreegan and asked.

"How many more times could you do this?"

"One more, and that is it. I am not physically fit enough to use those two techniques. Thanks to my two-speed buffs and a skill called weapon finesse, I can apply my speed as physical strength, but that doesn't change the fact my body is not ready yet."

After taking a deep breath, Kreegan continued speaking resolutely.

"But this time, it will be different. Last time I didn't use all my strength because I didn't know the limit of my arms, and I was afraid of permanently damaging my arms. But I can boost my attack with another skill called arcane enchantments, and most importantly, this time, we have an open wound. Now I can use Ray of Enfeeblement, and you can use your weakening attacks too."

Last time he didn't use Perfect Strike or Arcane Accuracy. Now he was determined to go all out.