BOOM—!
A thick jet of high-pressure water swept across, instantly cleaving the giant tree Caesar was hiding behind in two.
BOOM!
Another Hydro Cannon.
From pincers thicker than signal towers, the Giant Crystal Crab King blasted compressed water at a terrifying speed, ripping a huge gash through the Sandstorm Caesar had conjured and hurtling straight for him.
Caesar tilted, drove off his right leg, and narrowly dodged the lethal strike.
The Hydro Cannon smashed into the tree behind him; the blast made his ears ring, leaving a two-meter crater in the hard bark and sending splinters flying.
'Non-stop, huh?'
He cursed inwardly, yet never slowed.
Mid-air, he wrenched his waist. Deep-blue Dragon scales were veiled by dusty grit that, under the swirling Sandstorm, became perfect camouflage.
Ability: Sand Veil!
As long as the Sandstorm raged and he kept moving, the lumbering red-eyed crab would never pin him down.
SKREEE—ROAR!!!
The Giant Crystal Crab King roared, flailing massive claws that whipped up gales. It could feel the pesky gnat nearby, somewhere in the cursed sand, but every strike missed by inches.
The frustration drove the LV.40 Overlord nearly insane.
Caesar landed; the Quicksand beneath him gave way, sliding him seven or eight meters left and clear of a plummeting Rock Tomb.
Huge stones slammed where he had stood, the ground quaking.
Tch, a stats monster.
He spat grit, eyes cold.
The crab's stats were sky-high; a clean Hydro Cannon would probably shave half his HP.
Worse was that new move.
He glanced at his left arm, still glowing faintly after blocking the Hydro Cannon's edge.
Protect.
The skill was hailed as the ultimate shield, but the System hadn't warned him its mana cost scaled.
The stronger the blocked hit, the more mana it devoured.
That glancing shot had sapped a huge chunk of energy; his mind reeled as if he'd pulled an all-nighter and then run five kilometres.
In a game, repeated Protects would drop success rate; here, his hidden—and never-displayed—MP bar was the real limit.
The System was half-baked: no MP gauge, only guesswork—
Seizing the crab's momentary Confusion, Caesar fished a pear-coloured fruit from his System storage.
leppa berry.
Looted from the Fierce Boar Beast's hollow, it restored a sliver of MP.
Without checking for dirt or fermentation, he stuffed it in, core and all.
Warmth slid into his stomach, Mental Energy trickling back… he had to last a bit longer.
That idiot Dragon should be in the water by now.
Moving through the storm, he glanced at the lake: calm, no sign of disturbance.
ROAR—!
At the storm's heart the Giant Crystal Crab King, maddened by misses, rampaged ashore.
Each clamp smashed like a siege hammer, every blow triggering a mini-Earthquake.
The ground cracked, stones flew; the once-tidy lakeside woods were ploughed into ruins.
Caesar refused a straight fight.
He knew his role.
A tank? Only fools played that.
Right now he was a hit-and-run assassin.
Keep the hate steady, grind it down.
He inhaled, chest swelling.
Quicksand Abyss!
The earth shook again.
Cracked lakeside soil turned to loose sand under his mana.
The Giant Crystal Crab King sank, half its eight legs buried.
Such binding wouldn't hold a LV.40 Overlord long, but it would annoy it.
SKREEE!!!
The crab's crystal carapace blazed blue, water pellets spraying indiscriminately.
Caesar weaved through sand and trunks, dodging the lethal shots.
Beyond, Instructor Raymond leaned on his staff, gasping behind a broken rock.
His flame shield had shattered; tattered robes left him a wreck.
He ignored appearances, eyes wide with disbelief.
That blue Dragon… was toying with the terrifying Guardian of the Lake Heart?
More than that.
Caesar's Quicksand and chaos caught the common Rock Shell Crab tide.
Scores of crabs were stuck, easy targets.
'Everyone! Focus fire on the trapped crabs!'
Raymond seized the chance.
Whatever the Dragon's aim, an enemy's enemy was an ally for now.
'But Instructor… the Dragon…'
'Silence! Obey if you want to live!'
Fireballs and ice spikes rained on the stranded crabs.
Damage was low but volume high.
Cracked shells and shrieks filled the air.
Caesar spared the humans a glance.
Not completely useless.
Had they only screamed or spammed '666' he'd have fled and left them as crab snacks.
Instead they made decent support, thinning the mob.
'Almost there.'
He calculated.
The greater the racket above, the emptier the lakebed guard.
If Cecilia still failed, he'd roast her… Beneath the lake was another world.
Light faded with depth; blue water turned dark green. Silence reigned, broken only by muffled currents.
A strangely shaped 'Rock Shell Crab' paddled along the silt.
It was Cecilia in crab form.
She felt awful.
The lake was deeper than expected; pressure squeezed her chest, and the ill-fitting crab shell robbed the noble Silver Dragon of agility.
'For the crystals… for the shiny… for half of what that bastard Caesar promised…'
She chanted, bolstering herself.
She crept along the rocks, stirring no silt.
A powerful current surged ahead.
She tucked in her legs, flattening into a stone.
Seconds later a troop of genuine Rock Shell Crabs swam overhead, crimson-eyed and clacking, rushing to answer their king's call.
One Crystalline Rock Shell Crab hesitated, landing to inspect her.
Cecilia's heart pounded.
She squeezed her eyes shut, praying: You can't see me, can't see me… The crab circled twice, bulbous eyes swivelling.
It tapped her silver-grey shell.
Thud, thud.
The sound was dull—stone-like.
But the colour… why was it grey instead of their usual brown?
And the shape—
wasn't it a bit too round?