Wish for something and you shall receive-
BANG-!
That was at least what Scaly thought to herself as her peaceful slaughter of the mountain crusher worms was suddenly interrupted by a large spike tail slamming into her. Cracking a few of her scales in the process as she was sent flying into the distance before slamming through several trees. Only coming to a stop after an intimate moment with a sizeable rock that she couldn’t smash through.
Oww... That hurt...
Not at all prepared, Scaly could only silently let out a pained groan in her head before her gaze shifted towards the culprit.
Soon enough spotting a more than twenty-meter-long worm in the distance with over a dozen tails covered in spikes attached not just to its backside, but also other places across its body. Making them look more like some weird looking tentacles compared to tails, Scaly could not help narrowing her eyes.
From that single glance, she could clearly sense the threat this monster posed, causing her to focus her attention as she inspected the monster to try and see if she could find any weakness, she could take advantage of...
[Spike Covered Mountain Crusher Worm, lvl 122]
[Description: A normal mountain crusher worm with a love for pokey things that evolved from consuming the souls of over ten mountains. Different from defenseless mountain crusher worms, it evolved several tails covered in spikes that it can use for combat alongside its earth magic. Caught off guard in an ambush, even an S Rank Adventurer can be killed in a single hit. Not that it matters much for a dragon with powerful scales to take the brunt of the ambush~]
Unfortunately, though the description came out smoothly, there was no weakness present within it that would make it easier for her to deal with the spikey tailed- multi tailed mountain crusher worm. If anything, the later part of the description seemed specifically targeted towards her and what had just happened to her...
Shaking her head as she knew now wasn’t the time to ponder over the odd later part of the description, Scaly’s attention focused entirely on the far larger mountain crusher worm that wasted no time before barreling towards her filled with killing intent in an extremely chaotic manner. Slithering normally at one time, while using its tails to launch itself forward like a very odd shaped pogo stick at other times.
If not for the fact that she had already grown used to the strange appearance of some monsters, this alone would have been more than enough to scare her...
"Aaah!? What is that!?"
"Get- We need to get out of here!"
"Quick, out of the way! Don’t let that thing reach us!"
In fact, the group of scouting adventurers seemed to be experiencing just this, as a few of them had already started panicking trying to escape before this horrifying mountain crusher worm that didn’t look the slightest bit like a worm thanks to the spiky tails all over its body got to them.
"EVEYONE! STOP! This is just an evolved mountain crusher worm, and it isn’t targeting us!" Only with a loud shout from the adventurer, who should be the leader of this group of scouting adventurers, followed by a quick explanation, did the situation calm.
Still, even with the explanation, many of the scouting adventurers were still uneasy about the situation and wanted to leave immediately. The only reason they remained in place being because the horrifying mountain crusher worm wasn’t targeting them.
And at the same time the adventurers began calming down following the reassurance from their leader, Scaly could not help frowning to herself as she looked towards the approaching larger than average mountain crusher worm.
This worm dares charge at me so recklessly after such a despicable ambush!?
Ignoring how many monsters she herself had ambushed in the past, Scaly could only think of this to herself as she got back up and looked towards the monster charging towards her.
After all, in her eyes, this mountain crusher worm was truly reckless charging towards her in such a manner. For her, who could still be considered a dragon specializing in magic, it was an easy target.
But then again, the mountain crusher worm couldn’t be entirely blamed for its reckless behavior, as she had mostly used her claws when killing off the mountain crusher worms earlier. Only sparsely using her magic to cut down any mountain crusher worm that was about to reach the mountain behind her and get to safety that she wouldn’t be able to cut down with her claws in time.
In a way, the reason why she had even relied on her claws to kill off the mountain crusher worms in the first place mainly being due to the simple fact that she found physical strength far easier and faster to recover compared to mana. Especially now that she didn’t have much time to rest with the adventurers chasing after her, it was important for her not to waste too much mana if possible.
All she could say was that this oversized mountain crusher worm was rather unlucky in its chosen approach. After all, if she truly was someone relying on close quarters combat, this approach of rushing towards her at the fastest speed possible would be the best, as it would leave her the least bit of time to recover from the attack.
Unfortunately for the tail covered little worm, it had chosen wrong~
Swish-!
Swish-!
Swish-!
Swish-!
A fact that became clear within seconds, as Scaly didn’t hesitate to use her water magic to conjure up over a dozen towering water blades each more than a meter wide before sending them flying towards the approaching mountain crusher worm. Followed by another dozen water spears of equal power created for the sole purpose of breaking through the already weakened defense of the mountain crusher worm after the water blades had landed and done their damage.
Rumble~!
But this wasn’t the end, as she decided to make use of the water drill spell she hadn’t used in some time. Throwing it in for good measure behind the water spears to ensure that the mountain crusher worm wouldn’t be able to survive. Fully intend on ending things in a single strike.
After all, she still worried about the adventures chasing after her showing up at any moment... And though she could always just escape, it didn’t sit right with her to ignore a monster daring enough to ambush her and even crack a few of her scale in the process.
"That... What terrifying display of water magic..."
"*Gulp* I hope we won’t be the ones who have to face that in the future..."
"Can I back out of this dragon hunting thing...?"
And given the fact that the mountain crusher worm couldn’t exactly react that well to the terrifying display of water magic from Scaly, that task was ultimately relegated to the observing group of adventurers, who began having second thoughts about continuing their hunt of Scaly. Even the leader joining them in this line thought.
Especially so after the water magic landed on the mountain crusher worm who had little to no time to react and pull back as the water blades first crashed into its body. Cutting through several of the spiky tails that soon fell to the ground while also cutting deeply into the mountain crusher worm. Followed soon after by the water spears that directly nailed the massive worm to the ground and forced it to a stop, as the water drill that followed was allowed to reach its head without any effort. Spinning rapidly as it burrowed in through the head of the worm through its body and out the other side in a few short seconds.
[Gained 34.728 Exp]
[*Ding* Reached level 19]
Killing the Spike Covered Mountain Crusher Worm in what could be described as a single attack, while also allowing Scaly to directly reach level 19 and make significant progress towards reaching level 20.
Problem was, though this was without a doubt a joyful event and Scaly herself felt overjoyed looking at the powerful monsters she had just taken down. Looking towards the mountain crusher worms in the distance, she barely caught sight of the last few of them burrowing into a new mountain. Leaving her with nothing to hunt down anymore.
Rustle~
"It’s just over here!"
"Those magic fluctuations! The dragon is here without a doubt!"
"Hurry! We can’t lose it again!"
But as the sound of more adventurers emerged from afar, Scaly also realized that she couldn’t stay around this place any longer. Flapping both her wings with power as she took to the sky in an instant with the assistance of wind magic. Looking down to see that countless adventurers belonging to several different groups were already converging towards her location from all directions.
Had she been even a bit slower to leave, it might have been too late, as the adventurers boxed her in and made it impossible for her to simply fly away.
Luckily, that didn’t happen and she was able to easily leave those adventurers in the dust once again~