Boing?
Also noticing the larger number heavenly lake serpents together with its fellow slimes, the bouncing slime still rolling next to Scaly let out a somewhat confused sound as it showed no signs of fear at the thought of being faced with the large number of heavenly lake serpents, something that made Scaly feel a bit embarrassed at her own fearful reaction to the large number of monsters rapidly approaching her from behind.
No! I can’t allow a little slime like this to be more fearless than myself! I won’t get surpassed by a slime!
Thinking this to herself as her attention turned back towards the ground that once again appeared directly in front of her-
Bang!
Crack
~
Scaly found herself once again crashing head-first into a large rock before she continued rolling down the side of the mountain.
Although... At this point in time, she wasn’t rolling as much as she was just tumbling down the side of the mountain while sustaining no small number of injuries in the process.
If anything, without her scales, she might not even have survived until this point, as her scales truly showed their worth. Blocking most of the damage to her body whenever she rolled across the rocky surface of the mountain.
As for the mountain bouncing slime closely moving alongside her... It really made her jealous, as it sustained close to no injuries rolling down the side of the mountain due to its unique body mostly being made up of a soft slimy substance that absorbed any blunt force trauma or other injuries it might have normally received by rolling down the side of a mountain at such terrifying speeds.
On a positive note, the trees of the forest at the base of the mountain had already appeared in front of her by the time she finished observing the mountain bouncing slimes-
Thunmp~!
And on a not so positive note, she crashed directly into one of the trees a few seconds later as it was impossible for her to continue rolling down the mountain through the densely packed forest.
Not that it stopped her from using all her strength to get back up again and continuing to rush down the mountain as fast as possible. Knowing that every second wasted would mean the water and heavenly lake serpents behind her would be able to close the distance between them.
Unfortunately, as she descended further down the mountain and soon disappeared into the dense mountain forest, the mountain bouncing slime that had been rolling down the mountain together with her didn’t follow her.
Instead, it just stopped and began bouncing back in the direction of the massive wave of water rushing down the side of the mountain. Showing not the slightest hint of fear as it ascended the mountain again.
Even if I get stronger in the future, I have a feeling I won’t be as fearless as that slime...
Seeing this, Scaly could not help feeling a hint of respect for the mountain bouncing slime upon spotting what it was doing before she disappeared into the forest.
Although she did feel a bit embarrassed that a mountain bouncing slime was more fearless and braver than her, she couldn’t stop herself from feeling a sense of respect upon seeing how it bravely stood up a marched forward in the direction of the still growing wave of water with dozens of massive heavenly lake serpents inside of it.
For the first time, Scaly silently prayed for the mountain bouncing slime’s safety. Hoping that it would be able to get out of the dangerous situation it found itself in.
...
Rumble-!
At the same time that Scaly rushed inside the mountain forest and began rapidly moving through the dense forest at a speed far above anything she had ever accomplished before in that kind of densely packed environment, a group of mountain gnolls, who had been left behind to keep an eye on mountain in case Scaly appeared again, heard a loud rumbling sound coming from the mountain.
Growl...?
Growl...
Unfortunately, given that they couldn’t really see that far up the mountain itself due to the dense forest covering the base of the mountain and the rest being obscured by a dense fog that had drifted over their camp not too long ago, the mountain gnolls were unaware of where the sound had come from and ended up ignoring it as they went back to what they were doing before. Keeping an eye on the mountain forest...
Rustle~!
Growl!
Like this, a few minutes quickly flew by with the rumbling sound that they now determined to be coming from the mountain, grew louder and louder with each passing second before one of them finally noticed something moving around the edges of the forest. Letting out a growling sound to inform the rest of his findings-
Whoosh-!
However, before the rest of the mountain gnolls had the time to register what was happening, a small blue colored dragon covered in blood flew out from the forest before rapidly disappearing into the distance the next moment, causing both the mountain gnolls and their wolf companions to freeze on the spot. Not knowing how to react to what they had just seen.
GROOOWL!
ROAR!
GROOWL!
By the time that they realized that the blue dragon covered in blood from head to claw that they saw running out of the forest was the same one they had been stationed in front of the mountain to keep an eye out for, both the mountain gnolls and wolves growled and roared loudly before rapidly gathering together to chase after the escaping Scaly, who at this point in time hadn’t made it that far considering that her speed had been slightly reduced due to her injuries finally starting to show themselves after she had forced herself to go beyond her own limits to make it through the mountain forest before the water and heavenly lake serpents could reach her...
RUMBLE-!
And, it was just at this moment, that the mountain gnolls and wolves finally saw what had caused the strange rumbling sound earlier, as a more than twenty-meter-tall wave with massive serpents inside of it suddenly appeared out of the corner of their eyes. Sweeping through the forest with no effort, as the massive bodies of the heavenly lake serpents uprooted and destroyed any tree they came in contact with.
G...Growl...
Seeing this, the leading mountain gnoll who was about to order his people to chase after Scaly, suddenly began fearfully shaking as the wave grew closer.
GROWL!
Growl... Growl!
In the end, it was only after a reminder from one of the other mountain gnolls that he finally recovered and ordered the mountain gnolls to chase after the escaping Scaly with all of their strength.
Although... At this point in time, their goal was not so much to catch Scaly, as it was about them getting away from the wave of water as fast as possible. Knowing that they stood no chance in the face of those heavenly lake serpents.
After all, compared to Scaly who wasn’t that knowledgeable on the heavenly lake serpents and their strength outside of what she had read from their description and the fact that they had massive bodies, the mountain gnoll leader understood far more about these fearsome serpents.
The main reason was not because of the mountain gnolls having hunted down these fearsome serpents in the past, but instead because these heavenly lake serpents had originally been hunting down mountain gnolls in the past.
Only after the arrival of their great king, who sealed them away, did they manage to grow to their current size in the mountain range.
But now.... Their old arch nemesis was free!
Rooar?
Roar~
Rooooar-!
Also noticing the mountain gnolls, the heavenly lake serpents who had been fully focused on escaping Scaly so far, suddenly turned their attention towards the now escaping mountain gnolls. Each letting out roars filled with both joy and killing intent.
Joyful to see a familiar looking prey. Killing intent because they very clearly remembered how they had ended up inside the crater lake without any way out of the place in the past.
In the end, although they wanted to hunt down Scaly, upon seeing their old prey appearing in front of them, the heavenly lake serpents quickly shifted their target. Allowing Scaly to avoid the attention of the heavenly lake serpents.
Of course, it didn’t mean she was out of danger yet, as she still had a large number of mountain gnolls chasing her from behind. Followed by an even more dangerous twenty-meter-tall wave filled with heavenly lake serpents behind them.
Though the heavenly lake serpents might not be targeting her any longer, as they were now fully focused on the mountain gnolls, it was not like the massive wave of water had shifted its direction.
At the moment, it was still very much heading directly towards her together with the heavenly lake serpents inside it...