Finally
Finally
The crocodile dodged the Fire Arrows continuously. It seemed scared of Fire Arrows or maybe it wasn't really afraid of the Fire Arrows but the Fire itself. Alex's fire was on a different level than the previous one. Its ferocity was very strong. The crocodile might get burnt if it continued taking the fire. That was why the crocodile dodged the Fire Arrows. Because of that, the crocodile couldn't help the other one because Sherry had skillfully controlled the Fire Arrows to not give it a chance to help its 'friend'.
…
On Alex's side, the crocodile reached him and it startled Alex when it suddenly moved with its three feet. The crocodile then suddenly jumped again with its mouth open. The monster was about to swallow the entire of Alex's body.
"Flame Armor."
The flame started to cover him, especially on his chest. The flame concentrated on his chest plate. The crocodile didn't manage to penetrate the concentrated flame armor. But from the momentum alone, Alex was blown away.
"Fire Claw."
Alex didn't forget to use his Fire Claw. A big claw made of fire formed from his right hand. It suddenly grabbed the crocodile and threw it in the direction where Alex got blown away. This way, the crocodile could become his cushion.
The crocodile who was in the air couldn't dodge this 'Fire Claw'. It grabbed the monster and threw it just like that.
Alex and the crocodile were flying together. But Alex got the upper position. The crocodile crashed into a big tree first. Right at that moment, Alex tried to thrust his spear again. He planned to use the momentum he got to pierce the crocodile.
'Stab'
Alex managed to pierce the crocodile, it now nailed him to the trees. But suddenly...
"Wuu."
Sherry said 'left' and Alex turned his head to the left instinctively. The other crocodile was charging toward him. It took Sherry's numerous Fire Arrows head-on and charged at Alex. It seemed to try to help the crocodile Alex was currently facing. Its body was charred because the crocodile got hit by Sherry's Fire Arrows. Without thinking about the consequences, it charged Alex right away. Alex was startled when Sherry suddenly warned him.
"Flame Armor."
Alex used half of his power in the Flame Armor to cover his body once again and concentrated the rest to make a shield. He couldn't make it in time to intercept the charge so he could only make an emergency Flame Shield to guard this attack.
'Boom!'
Alex was blown away because of that. The spear was still piercing the other crocodile so there was nothing in Alex's left hand. He only had a sword in his right hand. Alex made a counter-attack on the crocodile. Since the crocodile was still nailed to the trees, Alex still had the chance.
"Flame Sword Wave."
The Flame Sword Wave flew toward the two crocodiles. The crocodile immediately pulled out the spear from its friend and freed him. They immediately ducked in to dodge this Flame Sword Wave. Even though they barely managed to dodge it in time, Alex and Sherry didn't stop there. Alex and Sherry made numerous Fire Arrows together. Before this, Sherry was the only one that made Fire Arrows. But this time, both of them produced the Fire Arrows together. The number was now doubled. The Fire Arrows immediately flew toward the crocodiles and both of the monsters also retreated backward and dodged these Fire Arrows. But as the plan was executed, Alex's Fire Arrows targeted his main focus while Sherry also the same. Those numerous Fire Arrows charged toward each respective target.
Alex grabbed his spear again which fell earlier after the crocodile pulled it out. Now the situation was looking good for Alex and Sherry. They both weren't injured and have enough stamina to keep fighting, their Mana and energy were reduced slightly. On the other hand, the two crocodiles had it worse. One of them was heavily injured, while the other was charred. If they continued fighting like this, defeating those two crocodiles would not take a lot of time and energy.
Alex moved closer again to the injured one and Sherry pinned the other one with her Fire Arrows again.
"Fleeting Step."
With the current situation, the crocodile won't be an equal match with Alex's Fleeting Step. He arrived in front of it with his unpredictable footwork and stabbed the crocodile.
Clash after clash kept appearing in a few minutes, they exchanged more than two hundred blows and the crocodile could only dodge Alex's attack. It didn't have any energy left to counter-attack. Alex also managed to stab the crocodile a few times. If Alex could wear the crocodile out like this, the crocodile would die because of excessive blood loss. On the other hand, Alex still had so much energy to spare. But the situation changed when he heard…
'ROAR!'
There was a roaring sound right in front of them. It was not from the crocodiles. It was from something else. But 'that' something was close enough to where the battle took place. If the sound came from a rank 8 monster, the situation would change greatly. Alex couldn't imagine in which direction this fight will go, but it surely will be a troublesome battle. He needed to finish this fight faster.
Alex started to despair, he attacked the crocodile faster. The crocodiles heard that roar and they immediately thought they could get help since there were other monsters nearby. But Sherry and Alex kept pinned them down here.
'Roar!'
The other crocodiles in front of Sherry also roared. Alex knew when the crocodile made the noise, it was asking for help and the situation might not be good for him and Sherry. In this desperate moment, Alex thought of something absurd.
"Can I combine my Sword Skill like Sanguin Sword Art with my element? Our situation would only get worse from now on. It's now or never."
Alex concentrated his Fire Element in his right hand. The Fire Element moved to his sword from his right hand. The sword started covered with Fire. After the sword was covered with Fire, it started glowing a bluish light. Alex raised his sword. The crocodile that saw this felt dread in front of Alex's sword. It immediately wanted to run away. But sadly.
'Boom'
'Boom'
Sherry spared her two Fire Arrows, they exploded and sealed the crocodile's fate. Alex was not the only one who could understand Sherry better now, Sherry was also getting better at knowing Alex's next move. Not only could she understand him, though it wasn't at the level of shared or linked thought or something like that, she at least knew what his intentions were. This led her to summon back two Fire Arrows and assisted him.
"Great job, Sherry," Alex was thankful for the Sherry cover. With this, the crocodile can't dodge the technique he would use now.
"Sanguin Sword Art. Elemental Seventh Slash."
This was the combination of Alex's fire and his Sanguin Sword Art. Or one could say this as his 'Flame Sword Wave' but with more profound sword skill. With that, the power was multiplied a few times higher.
"Slash!"
With that sword wave, Alex cut the crocodile's upper body. He got the crocodile's remaining hand and half of its chest and a bit of stomach. But Alex still saw life in the crocodile's eyes. He knew right away that the crocodile was still alive somehow.
"Not yet..."
Alex did a round spin and tried to cut the crocodile once again.
"Sword Intent."
This was one of his melee range techniques. It can't fly like his sword wave, and he can only cover his sword with this sword intent to sharpen it. But it was enough to kill the half-dead crocodile. Alex cut the crocodile's head and killed it instantly.
"Hah..." Alex brought to his knees after killing the crocodile. "Using that technique was taking too much toll on my body. I can't use that move easily."
"Roar!"
Suddenly, a roar came from his right. Alex immediately turned his head. The other crocodile was frenzied and charged at him after he killed its friend. It also took Sherry's Fire Arrows once again. Alex put another Flame Shield on his hand. But this time, his back suddenly glowing.
"Wuu!!!"
Sherry came out from inside of him and intercepted the crocodile's attack. Before this, she didn't do it because she was startled when the crocodile suddenly charged at Alex. But this time, she already prepared for all kinds of things to happen. When the crocodile charged at Alex again, she went out from Alex's body and stopped him. Alex was surprised by the sudden appearance of Sherry but that thought immediately changed.
"That's right. It's not over yet," Alex immediately stood up and raised his sword again. He disappeared quickly.
"Flash Step."
The moment he appeared, he was beside the crocodile. He swung his sword, "Sword Intent."
The crocodile was startled after being pinned down by Sherry and combined with Alex's sudden attack. It moved its body recklessly to dodge this attack. It also didn't forget to put out its hand, the crocodile tried to block Alex's attack but sadly, Alex's sword was covered with his Sword Intent. It wasn't a simple swing.
The crocodile lost its hand with that swing. It rolled on the ground to distance itself from Alex and Sherry. Of course, both Alex and Sherry couldn't let that happen. Sherry used the Fire Arrows to block its path of retreat. Alex jumped off to the air and thrust his spear at the crocodile.
"Roar!" The crocodile roared in pain.
"Flame Sword Wave."
Alex didn't use his newfound Elemental Sanguin Sword Art. This time he only used his Flame Sword Wave to finish the crocodile off. Since it was enough and he needed to think about the new 'threat' from the forest. So, using only Flame Sword Wave saved a lot of his energy.
"Sigh… finally, we beat two rank 8 monsters, though we succeeded only after we had surprise attacks on them. Good job, Sherry."
"Wuu."
"Roar."
The sound they heard earlier finally arrived in the area. The roar was from a rank 8 eleph… no... it was a rank 8 mammoth.
"Another Rank 8? Sherry, it seems that we need to fight once again."
"Wuu Wuu (I will accompany you, Master)!!"
But before they start to fight again, something like a magic circle but not an actual magic circle suddenly appeared at their position. The circle shining brightly, Alex and Sherry closed their eyes because of the light. When the light was gone, Alex and Sherry disappeared.