Not knowing to react for a good few seconds thanks to the useless description the wolf made from some kind of swamp algae, Scaly didn’t even realized that the dwarf she had originally wanted to help so she could complete the quest that had been given to her, had already used some kind of fire magic to engulf the surrounding forest and turn it into a blazing inferno that kept the oversized crocodile back. Giving him and his companions the chance to escape before they ended up crushed beneath its massive body.
Huh? Where did everyone go...?
Only upon turning around to look in the direction of the swamp trampler crocodile now struggling amidst a sea of fire, did she realize that Verdell and his group of friends had already disappeared.
As for where they had gone... It wasn’t that difficult for her to figure out, as she could just follow the two S Rank Monsters chasing after them. In time, she would be able to catch up to them.
However, as she was about to get up and move from the rock, the wolf shaped living swamp log suddenly dissolved into a pool of algae that easily bypassed the sea of flames. Bypassing the swamp trampler crocodile in the process, as it also took the lead in chasing after the escaping group of adventurers. Leaving the swamp trampler crocodile roaring in anger as it began forcing its way through the fire.
Unfortunately, maybe because it was weak against fire, this ended up taking far longer than it had originally expected, as the living log had already reformed back into a giant wolf and disappeared by the time that the crocodilian had made it halfway through the fire.
Watching this playing out from the side, Scaly stopped before chasing after the algae wolf and instead turned her focus towards the struggling crocodile, still trapped in the sea of fire conjured up by Verdell with the assistance of the surrounding trees.
Given that she was planning to try and complete the quest that had been given to her, it meant that she would have to help Verdell deal with the troublesome monsters chasing after him and his group of friends. In other words, she would inevitably have to kill off the two S Rank Monsters.
Could she just fly down from above and grab the already weakened Verdell? Yes, she could.
But...
She wanted to kill the two S Rank Monsters. Not just because of the massive quantity of experience they would provide her with, but also because it would be a great opportunity to test her current strength in the face of two S Rank Monsters who clearly stood above normal S Rank Monsters in terms of strength.
Even compared to the spike covered mountain crusher worm, it was clear that these two S Rank Monsters stood at a completely different level, a fact that filled her with a growing battle intent as she decided to make the first move on the still struggling swamp trampler crocodile within the sea of fire-
Swish-!
Swish-!
Swish-!
Conjuring up over a dozen water spears that soon enough surged forward towards the unsuspecting crocodile filled with killing intent that made it clear that the attack wasn’t one that had been thrown out to simply test the strength of the crocodile. The only reason why the attack itself didn’t contain anything outside water spears being because it was the most cost-effective spell in her hands when it came to a spell capable of penetrating the powerful defense of the crocodile. After all, she still needed to face another powerful monster after this one and at the same time also had to account for the adventurers that were chasing after her, so she couldn’t waste too much of her mana on this battle.
Maybe because of this, before the attack had even landed, she had already flapped both of her wings and enhanced her speed through wind magic. Charging directly towards the crocodile still oblivious to her presence as it found itself busy cutting through the flames that surged eagerly around it attempting to burn through its thick skin to no avail.
Ptsh-!
Rooar!?
By the time the oversized crocodile realized that it was being attacked, it was already too late as the water spears neatly slammed into the same area. Breaking through the tough exterior and successfully drawing blood by the time Scaly herself reached the side of the crocodile-
PTSH-!
And without hesitation, she followed the water spears and used her mana enhanced claw strike to slash down at the already bloody wound, causing even more damage as her claw managed to successfully get beneath the tough surface of the crocodile and forcibly tear open a wound more than a meter long across its left side. Almost severing one of its legs in the process.
ROOOAR-!
Understandably, faced with this kind of sudden and terrifying attack out of nowhere, the crocodile let out a terrifying roar filled with both pain and killing intent as it shifted its attention away from the flames already in the process of cauterizing the large open wound.
But Scaly had no intention of giving her opponent the opportunity to attack, as she used the little time it took for her enemy to turn around to flap her wings and soar over the more than three meters tall, a far easier thing to accomplish compared to going around it given its more than twenty-meter length.
Chiing~
Using the chance to try and pry open its back. Only to realize that her claws were indeed too weak to forcibly get through the defense of this giant without proper weakening beforehand.
Still, she didn’t let this dissuade her. Having already somewhat expected this outcome.
Instead, she focused on trying to create another wound like the one that had almost cut off one of its legs. The only difference this time around being that her target had shifted from a leg to the head of the crocodile that had been out of reach earlier. Knowing that if she could get through the head of the crocodile, it would die. After all, few monsters could survive without a head, her included.
Problem was... It was far from simple to get through the thick skull of the enemy who was already aware of her presence thanks to her successful first attack.
However, this was something she had already anticipated before she had attacked and because of this, her first target when she couldn’t get to the head had been one of the legs, as now with that one leg no longer working like it used to, the speed of her enemy had slowed down significantly. Giving her more time to prepare her magic for another attack-
Swish-!
Swish-!
Swish-!
Conjuring up another dozen water spears around the massive crocodile that couldn’t react in time to stop her magic as the water spears shot off and soon enough perfectly collided with the head of the crocodile.
Chiiiing~ ptsh~!
Unexpectedly, though her water spears managed to land on their target, they didn’t have anywhere near the same success as her ambush had. Producing a faint sound resembling metal hitting metal before the last of her water spears barely managed to cut through and draw blood.
What terrifying defense...
Taken aback by the seemingly upgraded defense around the head, Scaly could not help hesitating for a second seeing that she might not be able to finish off the crocodile in a single clean attack-
BAAANG-!
A second that the crocodile made full use of to move enough for its tail to reach her on the other, uninjured, side of it. Slamming her into the ground with enough force to crack a few of her scales in the process.
Ugh... That huuuurt- Ah!?
Rumble~
Not intending to give her any chance to recover from her dazed state after being slammed into the ground, as what met her upon looking back up from the ground was a terrifying maw large enough to seemingly swallow her whole filled with countless razor-sharp teeth.
Whoosh-!
A sight that forced her to utilize her wind magic to both push herself backwards along the ground unfurling her wings as a sail, while at the same time creating a blast of wind that collided headfirst with the terrifying maw about to swallow her.
Huh? This works!?
However, maybe because she didn’t exactly know any wind blast spell, she ended up accidentally creating countless small wind blades that gathered together into a ball that made up the wind blast that had collided with the crocodile- or more specifically, the blast of wind compromised of countless small wind blades had ended up shooting straight into the mouth of the crocodile and down its throat. Cutting through everything along its path.
Bang~
[Gained 39.862 Exp]
The poor crocodile didn’t even know what had happened as it was essentially torn apart from the inside by the countless small wind blades it had ended up swallowing. Collapsing dead on the ground just as scaly found herself crashing into a tree.