Clear Victor
Clear Victor
The situation in the marshland was just as chaotic as it had been when the battle just started. Though if there was one major difference it was that the enthusiasm of those alive to feel the moment was now truly at their peak.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!" A lizardmen shouted with a fervent and crazed expression. The recently recovered rounds shout out one after another with a roar.
The banging explosions collided with attacking tentacles and at parts of the beast's body. These tentacles were tougher than they seemed and most definitely a lot more persistent than they would let on.
A new banging sound could be heard after the tentacles quickly regenerated and slammed at a barrier of wind. Sharog's mana supply might have been dwindling but for her timing things correctly was an easy task.
But best of all if she happened to miss any of the tentacles, the divine blood warriors would jump right into action and slash at the offending tentacles.
"Hah!" One such trespasser was cleanly cleaved and blood spilled on the ship's deck. The lizardmen cheered before squinting their eyes thanks to the blinding sight of another electrifying dive.
Var Agus and Dakgu had done numerous consecutive dives at the attacking blood mass. Needless to say, it had not taken to this kindly.
Despite its opinion however, and no matter how many times it flailed its appendages around, its mass was already half of what it was when the battle first started. The creature was for the first time since its inception feeling a great sense of fear.
Yet, it was unknown if it was pride or something else but the creature would not yet give up. In a surprising turn of events, the creature froze over its core leaving no space unfrozen.
Var Agus and Dakgu who were already flying up in the sky after having performed another dive were confused by the move.
"What's it going to do now?" Var Agus asked with some trepidation. It didn't feel like it would be anything good.
"Let's head back to the ship" All the gauntlet's tentacles had retreated into its frozen core by now and only a thick layer at the surface of the creature remained fluid.
Var Agus was wary of this thick layer since it needed a purpose and made the call to retreat towards the ship. There were currently two ships left for the entire race which was rather disheartening.
Whatever the case, Var Agus wanted to protect these ships which had been weathered and damaged by this battle. More importantly however he wanted to protect the beings on this ship.
The dragon flew back to the ship with Sharog in it and Var Agus quickly descended onto the deck.
"Var!" "You are amazing!" "I thought I would die, we've only made it this far thanks to you!" Praises rained down on Var Agus the moment he landed on the ship's deck.
Var Agus was flattered but he didn't show it and quickly put on a stern expression.
"It's definitely planning something stay alert" He said to the lizardmen who nodded and quickly dispersed to different parts of the ship. In the end the one who remained next to him was Yoashk.
"What's the plan now, Var?" The constant diving was effective against the fluid mass but it was impossible for it to be incredibly effective against the tough ice. No matter how they attacked the gauntlet was unreachable by their means.
The battle had for the first time reached a stalemate in which both sides could not harm the other despite one being in the offensive.
"Well…" They couldn't reach the gauntlet but Var had no doubts it was planning to unleash some horrible attack. The wise thing to do would be a retreat but the moment they did retreat, the beast might return to the wilderness and recover.
"I say we defend ourselves" If the beast wanted to play the long game that was actually to their favor. Unlike the blood gauntlet beast which only needed blood to recover, they were living beings that grew hungry, sleepy, and of course needed to recover mentally.
For the likes of Sharog who had been in a rush up until now this was even greater news. She could now finally try to regain her spent up mana.
"That said…" Var Agus continued feeling somewhat uneasy.
"What if it knows?" Var Agus might be overestimating the thinking capacity of the recently born beast but… what if it did know that?
If that was the case the beast was hoping that they would tire out and fall asleep. Yes, it was hard for them to fight at their best if it constantly pestered them at the right times.
No, it wasn't just hard for them to fight at their best it was impossible. This was dangerous! Var Agus felt alerted by the thought of this strategy, it was pure evil and inhumane!
Lots of minutes flew by, it would soon be half an hour since the start of the stalemate. The sun would set and the people who had been marching through the muddy marshlands would have no choice but to give into their primitive desire.
They would sleep.
"Yaaaawn…." Someone let out a bored yawn while holding their position by the cannon.
Var Agus couldn't take it anymore. But before he had a chance to prompt for an attack he noticed a light being emitted from the surface of the gauntlet beast. It was a shocking light...
"Electricity…" Var Agus didn't know if that was by the design of the spear or the gauntlet beast but upon recalling the performance of the hydra he had the ugly realization that it was most likely the work of the gauntlet.
"It has many elements…" Var Agus muttered, they hadn't seen all the beast's arsenal. Fortunately, wood was non-conductive.
Unfortunately, Ed had mixed the ship with some metals meaning that the ship they were aboard were at least mildly conducive. Not to mention how it wouldn't be weird for the ship to be wet all over.
For those that couldn't fly, the lightning element could prove deadly and it just so happened that everyone on board could not fly!
"H- Hey! Retreat!" Var Agus shouted. He had indeed been overestimating the intelligence of the creature but he was underestimating its elemental prowess. How could he forget the dazzling performance of the real hydra?!
"Huh? Retreat?" Someone asked having been awoken out of their sleepy stupor by the shout. Well, it was that or they had gone deaf from the constant cannon fire.
"Retreat!" "Retreat!" "We are retreating!" Cries for retreat came from all over the ship. They were shouting for the other ship to also retreat.
In no time at all, the lizardmen all started to prepare for retreat.
"Dump all the bodies!" Var Agus then shouted causing the lizardmen to hesitate.
"Dump them!" Var Agus wanted to lighten the load of the ship so they could leave much faster.
"A- Aye!" "Ye- Yes!" The lizardmen though reluctant acceded to Var's orders harboring no doubt about his orders.
Dakgu and Sharog were both confused by the sudden retreat but they nonetheless attempted to assist with the preparation to beat it. Sharog even had the wind start to push the ship's away.
Even the dragon started to help by pushing the ship's with its insane strength. With the combined efforts of everyone the ships all started to retreat at breakneck speed. Sadly, they were a tad bit too late.
Sparks started to run across the surface of the bloody mass. The threatening purple light that it exuded provide a more dangerous sense of foreboding than any other color could muster.
Var Agus knew what was coming but he didn't know if they could withstand it. He wanted to immediately jump atop the dragon to ensure his safety but he stayed put.
"Clever beast" It froze itself solid to minimize the effects of its crazy discharge. Var Agus imagined that it didn't use the element of lightning not because it couldn't, but because it didn't know how to do that without hurting itself.
It was very lucky of the beast that the near-death experience of the spear helped it gain the know how to put this powerful element to wondrous use.
<"Its coming!"> Dakgu shouted sensing the electrical disturbance in the water.
Within moments the entirety of the immediate vicinity of the beast turned bright purple and streaks of lightning expanded across the water surface.
The horrible sound of crackling and popping resounded in the ears of those not yet deaf and it didn't take long for the ships to feel a soft current enter through their body.
The effects were small now but it didn't take long before the lizardmen on board felt their legs become paralyzed and then their entire body going stiff.
The battle now had a clear victor.