His speed increased, but he was still not fast enough to catch up to the others. If someone like Robert could come up with such a solution, then obviously the others could do the same. They were already far ahead of him, and he couldn't even see Adrian and Daniel anymore.
He turned around to see the huge magical beast crawling out of the lake. It was then that he saw how massive the beast truly was. Because of how fast everything happened, none of them had truly seen how big the Stoneveil Crocodile truly was.
The magical beast was around thirty meters long, with its tail accounting for about half the length. Its claws shone with black luster as it finally appeared on land after who knows how long.
After its whole body was finally on land, it raised its head up and roared towards the sky, as if announcing its return. The roar reverberated through the valley as every living thing in its vicinity scurried to escape.
The roar shook the minds of Adrian and the rest of them who were still rushing to escape. A few of them couldn't help but spit out mouthfuls of blood as their ears and noses started bleeding.
Suddenly, to the surprise of everyone watching, the beast started running. Its short legs straightened while its back arched. It then propelled itself forward on both sets of legs simultaneously. The scene would have been a bit funny if their lives weren't currently in so much danger.
What was even more surprising was its speed. The granite crocodile was clearly not a creature built for speed. All its strongest features were suited toward aquatic life, which was why its speed shocked them.
Its rapid and awkward galloping enabled it to cover a lot of distance in a short period of time. Robert shrieked when he saw it rapidly approaching him. However, he quickly realized that he had no chance of outrunning the beast.
His impending death seemed to have awakened something inside of him as he gritted his teeth while turning towards the huge beast. His sword plunged into the ground as he funneled the rest of the qi that was left in his body into it while yelling in a shrill voice.
"Earth spike!"
The ground shook as a sharp spike rose from underneath the Stoneveil Crocodile and tried to pierce it. This was Robert's most powerful move. A silver rank martial skill of the earth element.
The spike grew from the region under the belly of the granite crocodile. It managed to lift up the Stoneveil Crocodile, and a trace of blood could be seen flowing on the spike. It seemed that it had managed to injure the crocodile a little. However, to what extent, no one knew.
Robert was panting heavily on his knees as he surveyed his work. He was already exhausted, and the last attack drained him of all his Qi. However, before he could catch his breath, the massive spike crumbled under the weight of the massive beast.
The beast landed with a thud as it roared in anger towards its opponent. These 'prey' that were only about the size of one of its claws had managed to injure it twice, which made it mad.
It made its way to where Robert was still kneeling. Robert, after seeing the granite crocodile approaching, felt the aura of death enveloping him. A wave of emotions enveloped him as he knew that he wasn't going to be able to escape this.
Fear towards the massive beast approaching, regret for invading its territory, and a tinge of anger towards Adrian for telling them about this location were even present.
A massive claw swiped towards him as he resigned himself to his fate. Massive gashes appeared all across his body as he was flung towards a corner by the creature. It was unknown whether he was alive or dead.
Surprisingly, after dealing with Robert, the creature didn't decide to eat him right away. There would be plenty of chances to do that later. Instead, it turned its attention towards the remaining escapees.
Lily shuddered as she felt the cold and bloodthirsty gaze fall on her back. She didn't have to turn around to notice that she had been targeted. She kept pushing her qi and trying to increase her speed.
She wasn't the only one to notice the beast's gaze. The remaining trio has also felt the killing intent lurking behind them. Adrian even turned his head and snuck a glance at the magical beast. Seeing how fast it was moving filled him with dread.
He realized that they wouldn't be able to escape before the granite crocodile caught up to them. Even if they were able to escape from the valley before being captured, nothing was stopping the crocodile from chasing them either way. He soon turned his head to stare at the person next to him. It was Bryce.
He was initially a bit surprised when he saw that the expert had caught up to him and Daniel, but upon further consideration, he found it reasonable. Bryce had the highest cultivation level among them. In fact, he would have left them behind if he hadn't been injured earlier by the granite crocodile.
"What the fuck are you staring at?" Bruce spat out after noticing Adrian's gaze. His usual facade of aloofness was gone as he ran for his life.
"We have to fight it," Adrian said while ignoring the venom in his words.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Bryce said angrily. It was bad enough that we were trying to escape, but this nut job wanted them to fight the beast.
"We can't escape. After dealing with the girl, we're going to be next. Our only chance would be now, when we still have a decent number of fighters." Adrian explained as he continued running.
Bryce was about to retort, but when he saw how fast the granite crocodile was closing in on Lily, he realized that Adrian's words were the truth. Daniel, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, suddenly spoke up.