久久大陆

"Looks like I'm making sashimi today!" Yeong-Un roared out in a laugh.

Glancing back at Yeong-Un, he could at least feel confident that he would be able to handle his own opponent, but Sol was a different question entirely.

I'll just have to trust in him for now–! I have my own problems to handle! He thought.

He ducked from a sudden swipe of the aquatic monster's webbed hand, unsheathing his daggers at the same time in an attempted counterattack–but it missed.

The Holy Water Dweller exuded a small burst of air from the gills on its sides, causing it to propel backwards and out of reach from his daggers.

"Tch!" He clicked his tongue.

It's pretty nimble, and smart for that matter, he thought.

Flipping his daggers between his fingers, he reversed his grip before reengaging with the fish-like foe.

After it attempted to swipe at him with a sharp stream of water running along its forearm like an elemental blade, he ducked past it before snapping his fingers.

"--Flinch!"

The concussive flash stunned the fishman, allowing him to follow up with his next attack, "Ripper!"

[Spirit: -200. Remaining Spirit: 3000/3200]

In an onslaught of quick slashes, the oily, fish-skinned body of the creature was covered in cuts, with its peculiar hide being sliced up relentlessly.

Each slash was executed with instinct, with him flipping his grip of the daggers before each set of attacks. [Ripper] pushed his agility to its limits, in the department of attacking, resulting in a dozen, strong cuts being ingrained in the fishman's body within a moment.

"Rhkk…!"

The aquatic being hissed and groaned as it was slashed, exuding blood from its dozen wounds as it stumbled back.

That should do the trick…He thought.

As it quickly had its gray hide painted in its own blood, the fishman stumbled about, leaving him to believe it was the end–but, it was not.

Just before he could rush towards it to finish it off, aiming straight for its head–all of its gills spread to release a repulsive wind, knocking him back.

"What…?" He let out.

A dark-blue, indigo ooze secreted from both its gills and its wounds, running across its body in a peculiar way.

"Look out! These things got somethin' up their sleeve!" Yeong-Un warned.

The one that the wild-haired, dual spellblade was fighting was cut up even worse than the one he fought, going the same route of covering its body in the mysterious ooze.

–

Meanwhile, Sol had not yet reached that point–he was still having a hard fought battle against his water-dwelling opponent.

"Ghh…! Come on–you've been attacking for a minute straight! Gimme a break!"

Sol used his spear as a shield, moving it in the way of each webbed strike that came down towards him as he was forced on the defensive.

"Mercy! Mercy!" He pleaded, though his words didn't seem to meet any meaning upon the fishman's ears.

It's strength was immense; each blocked hit rang through the spear and into his bones like a hammer being flung against an anvil.

As he looked to each side in hopes of finding help from one of his comrades, he could see both of them were preoccupied with their now morphing enemies.

Crap–this is all me, isn't it? Sol thought.

He was already visibly sweating, tightly gripping his spear as he blocked each of the downward slashes of the tall, wide-built beast from the water.

His amber eyes shifted, forced to track the moist, clammy hands of the fishman, managing to block each of its successive hits.

More than offense, a lot of his skills were built into defense–this was a result of his absolute fear of being hurt, or worse.

Amidst the seemingly endless stamina the fishman possessed, it reared its hand back, focusing a heaping amount of water around its gray fist to bolster it with a rippling strength.

"Cast: Bracer!"

Sol shouted out just before the water-amplified fist of the humanoid fish came down, manifesting in the form of a defensive spell that forced him to stand still with his guard raised–blocking the attack completely.

It virtually made him into a statue for the moment–forcing him to raise his guard with perfect time, else its entire purpose would fail.

It was a one-time augmentation; after successfully guarding the water-backed slam of the fishman's fist, the defensive veil was gone as he was able to move again.

Though guarding one attack had little effect on moving the goalpost forward towards victory, as the other fist of the large, towering fishman was coated in spiraling water as well, being slammed into his gut.

"Pyeuh–!"

All of the air immediately was sucked from his lungs, leaving him breathless as he was flung back, bouncing against the stone platform.

"Sol!" Jeong-Hui called out.

There was no opportunity to help though, as the curly-haired young man was pushed back by his own opponent, who was now clad in a blue armor made of the secreted ooze.

Sol was on his hands and knees, struggling to pick himself up after the hefty blow to his stomach. The single hit from the Holy Water Dweller resulted in one-third of his health points being lost.

It burns. It feels like I'm breathing fire…! He thought.

Coughing out, he looked up to find the merciless fishman already looming over him, lifting its foot as it prepared to stomp his head against the stone.

"No…!"

He managed to raise his spear just in time, blocking the clammy foot from coming down on his head, though it was a struggle.

It pressed its foot down against the body of his silver weapon, turning it into a contest of strength. Against his throbbing arms, the singular foot of the fishman was winning in terms of raw strength, pushing down as he gritted his teeth, still uneven in his breaths.

…I know I'm a coward. And…I know I'm not as strong as the others. I don't have flashy skills like Yeong-Un, or the reliable efficiency of Jeong-Hui. But…that doesn't mean I can't do anything! He thought.

"...Cast: Cloudy Coil!"

He strained his throat to call out the name of the spell, but its invocation came fiercely; stretching across the length of his ordinary, steel spear, azure strands of electricity sparked.

It wasn't a particularly powerful spell, or often a useful one, but for the predicament he was in–it was perfect.

The sudden existence of electricity repelled the foot of the fishman, giving him space to return to his feet as he regained his breath through his burning lungs.

"--"

He gripped the electricity-coiled spear, immune to its effects as he stared down the fishman.

To his fortune, it seemed wary of him now after having its foot shocked, allowing him to regain his breath and somewhat regain his composure.

His fingers trembled as they wrapped along the rod of the spear, leaving him listening to his own breaths and the ongoing battles of his companions.

I'm scared. Seriously, I'm scared…but, I'm scared of death. So if I want to live…I have to–! He resolved.

It was a standstill; neither him or the fishman pushed forward, only watching each other carefully.

Though half of it was cowardice, he stood still partly because of a plan he had–one that would have to be executed with close to perfect timing.

While the water inhabiting most of the angelic statue-occupied chamber rippled, he listened to his own sweat dripping down onto the stone, grooved platform below.

"Graaaugh–!"

Finally taking action, the fishman launched towards him, propelling itself forward with a stream of compressed air from its gills.

At the very same moment, while holding a planted stance with his spear held forward, he unleashed:

"Through The Winds: Sonic Blitz."

In a single step that unleashed enough speed to break through the sound barrier, aimed in a straight, immovable direction, he burst forth.

Once he set forward, he couldn't stop or change his trajectory. But, in turn, the explosive speed he set off with took the fishman by complete surprise, not allowing it to react before his spear was launched forward.

In less than a moment, the spearhead of his weapon had lodged itself through the head of the gray, clammy-skinned foe.

"...I did it?"

Not even he was able to perceive his own speed from the lancer-class skill, only realizing what happened after he came to a stop, holding onto the spear that was pierced through the water-dweller's skull.

"I did it!..." He finally celebrated.

Before it could transform itself like the others did against his companions, he finished it in one blow–being the first victory atop the water-surrounded platform.

"Alright…Now…get outta there!"

He gritted his teeth, plating his boot down against the fallen fishman's body as he tugged his spear from its head in a stomach-churning fashion.

Feeling the spearhead shift around in the foe's brain matter and fiddling with the interior of its skull, he was one moment from puking before finally dislodging it, falling backwards onto his rear as he huffed.

"Level twenty-two…Heck yeah!" Sol celebrated.

–

Yeong-Un and Jeong-Hui were momentarily caught off-guard by the fact that Sol actually managed to overcome his enemy before them.

That fact fired Yeong-Un up, who smiled fiercely while smacking both of his swords together.

"Alright–I'm pumped now!" He called out.