This creature known as the Crystal Lizard was three to four meters long, with thick skin that felt like dotted with mineral grains on its body. When it lay at the intersection of the ground and the rock wall in the gold mine tunnel, it was incredibly hard to distinguish!
No wonder ‘Cookie’ just now was completely unaware of its presence.
At this moment, he was barking furiously at the Crystal Lizard.
Although Rein kicked the Night Watchman companion aside, the Crystal Lizard swung its long tail, striking fiercely at the Night Watchman’s lower back.
With a ‘crack’, the Night Watchman was flung away, crashing heavily against the mine’s rock wall, seemingly with a serious spinal injury, writhing in pain on the spot.
At that moment, the two nearby Bounty Hunters quickly reacted, aiming their bastard swords at the Crystal Lizard and delivering several thrusts.
“Ding! Ding!”
Sparks flew, but to little effect!
The layer of skin on the Crystal Lizard’s back, with its mineral-like texture, had a defensive power that probably didn’t lose out to a stone of the same thickness; the Bounty Hunters’ attacks seemed no more than tickling it.
“Be careful! The Crystal Lizard’s back has the strongest defense, target its eyes or belly,”
an elderly voice called out from the middle of the group. It was the knowledgeable and experienced Wandering Bard, Endri, offering a reminder.
But knowing and being able to execute were two different things.
At this moment, only a few, including the Knight being squeezed in the middle of the group, Lord Hamilton, could do it.
Rein also had a tough time, as using a dual-handed greatsword to poke eyes was incomparably more difficult than using a one-handed sword.
In the dim and narrow mine tunnel, the Crystal Lizard moved not slowly; though not as fast as a cheetah, it was not much different from a wild boar in speed.
Trying to hit the creature’s walnut-sized eyes with the longsword in hand was easier said than done.
As for the belly, that was even harder.
It required flipping over the entire Crystal Lizard.
Considering its length was not long, but its muscles were tight and its skin tough and thick, it probably weighed quite a bit; Rein estimated its weight to be no less than six or seven hundred pounds.
So even though they knew who the opponent was and its weak points, the three Bounty Hunters at the forefront had no way of dealing with it for the time being, allowing the Crystal Lizard to continue inflicting injuries on two elites of the Night Watchmen.
After a bit of chaos, everyone began to regain their senses and started to draw their longswords, aiming at the Crystal Lizard,
Seeing that its sneak attack had failed, and there was no opportunity to exploit at this moment, the Crystal Lizard swiftly turned 180 degrees and, flicking its tail, escaped deeper into the mine.
“Chase it!”
“Don’t let it get away!”
If the Crystal Lizard managed to escape successfully, considering its ability to hide, it would be extremely difficult to find it again.
Rein, at the front of the group, leaped forward and slid his fine steel greatsword under the Crystal Lizard, then with both hands, he gave a hefty heave, actually flipping the six or seven hundred pounds of the Crystal Lizard into mid-air.
The force of this heave was skilfully managed by Rein, flipping the body of the Crystal Lizard just at ninety degrees, exposing its soft, gray-white underbelly in front of Rein.
If anyone could see the Crystal Lizard’s front at this moment, they would notice the rare panic in its walnut-sized eyes.
And its strong limbs, now quite helplessly flailing in mid-air.
“Swoosh!”
A silver arc flashed by!
The relatively soft belly of the Crystal Lizard was slashed open, leaving a narrow gash over a meter long.
A stream of pale green, fluorescent blood gushed out instantly!
Right after, the Crystal Lizard heavily crashed to the ground, a large pool of pale green fluorescent blood spreading beneath it. It struggled a few times before becoming motionless.
This scene caused the three Bounty Hunters to look at Rein with newfound respect.
Originally, when they had first entered the mine, they assumed that Rein, with his youthful face, must be a new Night Watchman, inexperienced and knowing very little. Hence, the trio felt no desire to engage in conversation with him and had hardly spoken to Rein throughout.
But an expert is revealed as soon as they act!
If it were them, trying to flip a 600 to 700-pound Crystal Lizard with a double-handed lift would be impossible, even with pre-accumulated force, not to mention doing so with the swiftness and grace that Rein did.
It was clear that this young Night Watchman was no novice but a highly skilled master.
At this moment, Hamilton, Endri, and Schmidt finally squeezed from the middle to the front of the group.
Upon seeing Rein kill the Crystal Lizard on the spot, Hamilton couldn’t help but smile, stepping forward and clapping Rein’s shoulder, “Well done!”
Schmidt looked Rein up and down, then smiled and said to Hamilton, “Lord Hamilton, could we consider this investigative mission concluded? It seems that the culprit behind the incidents at Elim Mine has been found and taken care of by one of your men!”
“I can return to County Town as soon as possible and relay the good news to the Earl and Baron!”
The Wandering Bard, Endri, holding his wooden staff, approached the Crystal Lizard. He squatted down to take a closer look and said, “So it truly is the exceedingly rare Crystal Lizard. No wonder many of the miners fell victim without even a chance to cry out.”
“Crystal Lizards generally lie in wait silently before ambushing their prey; they prefer environments like this human mine.”
“They have a strong sense of territory; generally, you’ll find only one in any given mine.”
“However, it’s become rare to see these creatures nowadays. This Crystal Lizard could fetch a very nice price. Lord Hamilton, the blood of the Crystal Lizard is of some use to me, may I purchase some?”
Hamilton glanced at Rein, seeing no objection from him, he smiled and said, “Of course, Master Endri, no problem at all. But, as Schmidt has mentioned, shall we leave the mine first?”
“Haha, of course!” Endri laughed heartily.
So, four elite Night Watchmen carrying the Crystal Lizard led the way, Hamilton and the others remained in the middle of the group, and Rein was warmly engaged by the three enthusiastic Bounty Hunters.
The contrast between before and after was astonishing!
The party slowly made their way back through the winding tunnels of the mine, spirits high due to the smoothness of the expedition.
Moreover, according to what the Wandering Bard Endri said, the Crystal Lizard was quite valuable. Whether for the elite Night Watchmen or the Bounty Hunters, this journey could yield a generous share of the spoils or remuneration.
Despite two of the elite Night Watchmen being injured, it was much less damage than they might have expected.
After all, Lord Hamilton had made it clear before departure that this was a mysterious incident!
The difficulty of such mysterious incidents was something all the elite Night Watchmen were well-prepared for.
…
What nobody noticed,
was that up on the rock wall of the mine tunnel, a pair of fist-sized yellow eyes suddenly opened and were silently observing Rein and his party as they passed by.