"How are we even going to fight it? It's a Rank 3 magical beast."
His tone surprised Bryce. It seemed like he was already considering the plan.
"You're at the peak of the foundation establishment realm. You should be able to at least put up a fight against it. The rest of us will strike while it's distracted and slowly wear it down. If we're lucky, it will try to escape if we injure it enough."
Adrian replied while turning towards Bryce. The whole plan relied on whether Bryce could keep the creature occupied long enough for them to inflict serious injuries on it.
Bryce didn't reply immediately. Rather, he glanced behind him to take another look at the situation. The granite crocodile had shortened the distance and had almost caught up with Lily. That sight convinced him enough as he yelled out in frustration.
"Ah fuck. Let's go." The three experts halted their tracks simultaneously, turned around, and started running towards the beast. Lily, who was already despairing about her current situation, saw a ray of hope when she saw the three individuals turn around and start running in her direction.
Adrian and Bryce had already wielded their swords while Daniel brought out his saber.
They ran swiftly, with Bryce taking the lead while yelling at Lily.
"Help us kill the beast," Bryce ordered while charging forward at full speed. Lily was slightly taken aback but didn't hesitate to ready her weapons. She didn't turn around immediately, but a pair of twin daggers appeared in her hands while running towards the group in the distance.
The beast roared when it noticed the individuals that were approaching it at a rapid speed. It felt annoyed that the ants it was chasing suddenly decided to approach it. To it, this was a blatant challenge that it could not accept.
With the help of its tail, it stood up on its hind legs while releasing another roar as if it were accepting the challenge.
By this time, Bryce and the others had already rendezvoused with Lily. Bryce charged towards the beast while yelling and channeling his Qi. The air surrounding his sword started swirling as a massive gale accumulated around it.
Just as he was about to reach the standing figure of the granite crocodile, he sent out the tornado-like slash as he shouted in his mind.
'Gale slash!'
The tornado increased in size as more wind was drawn into the attack before crashing into the crocodile's belly.
Unlike the other martial skills that had been displayed by the other members of the group, the gale slash was a Gold-rank martial skill with significantly more power than a Silver-rank martial skill.
However, the immense requirement of qi made it a trump card that Bryce didn't reveal easily. He hadn't broken through the golden core formation realm yet, which meant he could only unleash the slash a few times before running out of qi.
This was when he was at his peak. With his current situation, it was unknown whether he would be able to launch the attack again.
The Stoneveil Crocodile, not expecting such an enormous force, received the full brunt of the attack. A fairly deep gash was formed across its neck and left shoulder as it was knocked backward. It lost its balance and fell upside down with a massive thud.
Adrian, Daniel, and Lily, not wanting to waste this chance, rushed up to take advantage of the situation. Adrian and Daniel both leaped into the air while activating their martial skills.
A sharp blade of flames and a large fireball manifested at the same time and were both sent crashing into the already injured shoulder of the magical beast, enlarging the wound. Lily wasn't idle as she followed immediately after. Two azure-colored slashes appeared and also landed on the same spot as the previous attacks.
All this took a while to describe, but in reality, it only took a few seconds to happen. The Stoneveil Crocodile, which hadn't recovered from the first attack, was simultaneously bombarded with three different attacks. It let out a roar filled with agony as it swung its tail wantonly.
Adrian and Daniel managed to avoid it, but Lily, who had just landed, was struck by it and was sent flying.
The Stoneveil Crocodile couldn't see its opponents, so it was just swinging wildly. The group couldn't approach it again as it seemed to have gone into a frenzy.
However, the group decided to strike before it could self-right itself and find its bearings.
Adrian rushes forward after noticing the small hole made by Robert earlier tries to plunge his sword into the beast's abdomen. However, a wall of muscle stops his sword as he finds it difficult to move his sword.
A bronze aura suddenly erupts from his body as his physical strength increases. After mustering up all the strength in his body, his sword finally goes past the muscle.
However, before he could force it in further, a sense of danger assaulted his mind, causing him to decisively abandon his sword and leap off the beast's belly. No sooner had he done this did the massive tail landed on his previous position.
However, due to sheer dumb luck, the tail lands on the sword, forcing it even further into its body. Having lost his weapon, Adrian couldn't inflict any more damage on the beast. However, he kept himself in the line of sight of the beast after it flipped itself over.
Immediately after spotting him, it rushed over with jaws wide open, intending to crush him.
However, Adrian wasn't fighting alone. He and Daniel were moving back and forth, constantly dividing the attention of the beast between the two. This frustrated the beast as it soon decided to focus on one individual.
Daniel's face paled when he realized that the beast had focused its attention on him. In the beast's mind, Adrian, who was without a weapon, couldn't pose a threat to it. It would deal with him after taking care of Daniel.
It suddenly lunged towards Daniel with its mouth wide open. Daniel tried to avoid it by jumping out of the way, but unfortunately, he was a step too late. The beast clamped down on his legs as it swung its head repeatedly, slamming him to the ground.