Only a few moments after Leon had summoned Nero, the water in front of them suddenly burst up in a spray as a massive body forced its way through the water and the solid ice beneath Leon’s feet. However, before it was able to get close to Leon, Nero blurred forward, his sword slicing the air apart as it swung forward. The summon only felt a faint resistance in his arms before his sword sliced the head of the Great Crocodile into two pieces.
Splash!
The body of the crocodile lifelessly fell into the water, creating a great splash that Leon warded off with magic. Just like that, a High B rank monster had been killed.
“Good job.” Leon praised Nero who humbly nodded and continued to lead the way. Of course, as they walked, they did not come across any more obstacles. This was because the monsters waiting in hiding had seen how easily the Great Crocodile had been killed.
Most creatures in the swamp were lone hunters, but in this special occasion, where a powerful foe had arrived, many of them began to envy feasting on Leon and Nero’s cores. One by one, the monsters began to gather together up ahead on the path that Leon and Nero were moving. Before long, over two dozen monsters had gathered there.
There were various kinds of monsters. Great Crocodiles, Great Pythons, and a few more. But most notable was the presence of a lone Lizardman.
A long, smooth tail swayed back and forth in the dark water, pushing the large body of the lizardman forward with each stroke. The body of the lizardman was quite tall, revealing a height of nearly seven feet when it stood up from the water.
A daunting aura wafted from the body of the Lizardman, causing the monsters around to shrink back in fear.
“Come.” Walking past them like they did not matter, the Lizardman simply hissed out a single word before returning to the water and swimming away; it was leading them straight for Leon.
.
.
“Where did all the monsters go? Are they too scared?” Leon mused to Nero as they walked through the swamp. They had been moving quickly for up to an hour now, but they had yet to come across any monsters. In fact, Leon could not even hear the sounds of birds and insects anymore, which clued him in to the fact that something was brewing beyond what he could see.
Leon flicked his fingers and three orbs of brown water rose from the swamp below. With a twist of his fingers, the orbs spun around each other while being filtered of the dirt that filled them. In a few moments, clear, glistening water hovered over Leon’s hand. The water was slowly being dyed with a shade of bright light that was unique to Holy energy. Leon was mixing in Holy energy into the water in order to continue practicing his control over Holy energy.
Just as Leon was getting well into the mood, he suddenly detected several approaching lifeforces in the distance. Raising his head, he peered ahead, and was able to make out ripples in the water in front of them.
“Master…” Nero held up his sword in his right hand and summoned a shield in the left one. He positioned himself in front of Leon and had a serious stance as he waited for the monsters to show themselves.
Bang!
The water in front of them burst apart with a shower as three massive snakes revealed themselves. Their scales were a dirty brown that matched the rest of the swamp. Thin tongues slipped out of their mouths as they let out shrill hisses at the intruders of the swamp.
“Nero.” Leon nodded at Nero, and the Berserker Knight shot forward, sword brandished.
At the same time, the snake in the middle also barreled forward, slamming its head into Nero’s shield and pushing him back, which was quite surprising, as Nero’s physical strength was not something to be laughed at.
“Hup!” Nero grunted and spun around, his foot planting firmly against a thick tree to the side and pushing off it. The force caused the tree to bend to the side slightly, and for a deep indentation of his foot to be made on its side, but the sturdy tree held fast and did not collapse under that enormous force.
A wave of bright red light followed the path of Nero’s sword, flashing against the neck of the snake that had attacked him. In just that single smooth move, the snake was beheaded, alarming the others that had exposed themselves, as well as those that were still in hiding.
Without missing a single beat, Nero spun around and released a wave of red energy in the direction of another snake. The waist deep water parted before the incoming wave of energy, and easily sliced the snake into half, even though it had tried to dodge.
The last snake was ridden with fear at this point. It was about to retreat when the surrounding water suddenly shook and burst aside, revealing about two dozen monsters. Great Crocodiles, Great Pythons, and Bogmen rushed out of the water. Each and every one of them was B rank, and the weakest, the Bogmen, were not below Mid B rank.
“Oh?” Leon took a step back in surprise, but quickly regained his composure. He had not been expecting that. And the numbers of the monsters really did surprise him.
“Kaladin, Grokus.” Leon summoned the two mentioned elite summons, and they immediately sprung into action.
Kaladin spread his arms out, revealing tendrils of lightning that were bouncing around the tips of his fingers, while Grokus dropped down into the water, allowing it to reach his thighs.
Bzzt!
With a flash of light, a massive electric current surged into the water, rushing straight at the approaching monsters. As for Grokus, he got to using Water magic to attack the monsters, restraining their movements and attacking them with blades and whips made of water.
Leon watched all of this with a calm expression, but suddenly froze up when a new presence burst out of the water behind him.