Realm Wars

Chapter 120: The Final Lair and Tablet

A/N

Dedicated to Fuzzy_bear803 for the GT. Thank you very much.

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Traversing the final archway, the group was quiet. It was too quiet that even the slightest sound echoed off the chamber walls and magnified tenfold along the corridor.

There were whispering voices, and Ryu didn't know if it was only the air that was moving in a strange way. Somewhere nearby, water was slowly dripping onto the rocks. But the smell this time didn't contain rot and decay only the fishy odor of the sea.

Theodore rubbed his eyes. His skin was turning pallid as he sighed.

"Are you okay?" Jane asked.

Theodore nodded and offered a small smile. "I'm just a little tired."

Jane was worried about her little brother. Theodore was only in his teens, and his stamina wasn't that great, to begin with. Coupled with his young age and adding the poison in his body, no wonder he was exhausted.

But since she couldn't do anything about it with Vein holding them at the mercy of his poison, Jane could only gnash her teeth and endure.

"Do you still have enough mana?" Jane asked. It was the most important question since Vein appeared like he wanted to explore this cave without rest.

Theodore nodded and squeezed Jane's hand. "Don't worry. I have enough to protect you."

Jane huffed a laugh and raffled Theodore's hair. "I'd rather you protect yourself first. Your big sister still has an enormous amount of mana, so you can take it easy in the next battle."

While Jane and Theodore were conversing, Kai took a quick glimpse at Vein. Vein watched them with his droopy eyes set deep in dark sockets, and Kai could only hope that he didn't notice that Ryu was immune to poison.

Either way, they have to take him out in this lair when they have the chance. But if he disappeared in his shadows again. . .

Kai bit his thumb. They have to prevent it somehow, and only when Vein fought the next boss and had his back open to them could they realize their plan.

Looking ahead, Kai wished that the next boss was stronger than the Reaper Leviathan. At least that would prompt Vein to fight with them.

And Kai's wish came true when they emerged on the other side. Beautiful corals coated the cave, and a swamp not far from them was dense in vegetation. But the gurgle sounds of their soon-to-be foe were a clear indication that they were not welcomed.

In the corner of the reefs immerged a giant crab, metallic blue in colorabout six meters tall and twenty meters wide. One side of its massive claw was ground against the many battles it fought that it turned into a jagged blade. Its whole body was covered by all sorts of weapons lodged from those who sought its resilient carapace.

(Pic)

"It's an Ancient Crab!" Masha shouted and puffed her chest when she beat Seraphina this time.

Seraphina paid her no mind and said, "Ancient Crabs are nothing more than giant crabs that, with a stroke of luck, managed to outlive its natural lifespan. It has a level of intelligence, and its shell is resistant to cold and is tough to break with physical attacks."

"Can we defeat it?" Kai was eyeing the Crab. Steam of air floated on its mouth as it watched their every move.

"The only thing tricky about it is we are on its lair. It has total dominion over this place," said Seraphina in a serious voice, "but besides that, as long as we work together, we can defeat it."

"Alright, let's get this done and over with." Vein drew his daggers, intending to fight this time.

Ryu, Kai, Jane, and Theodore secretly signaled to each other. It seemed like Vein was going to join the fight. This was their chance!

ShHrieEkK!

The Ancient Crab's eight legs rattled the ground as it moved in their direction when they summoned their weapon. Despite its size, it was agile. It was rampaging towards them at full speed with its claws extending for their neck.

Everyone cleared the way and landed on the swamp. A good thing that the swamp wasn't deep. But it still limited their movement, and with the small cave, there wasn't enough space to maneuver.

"Let's see how hard your shell is!" Masha attacked it with her hammer. Since the size of her Griffin wouldn't be able to roam freely in this constricting lair, she opted not to summon it. It also conserved her mana that way.

Together with Masha, Kai also leaped from above to deal a blow, but the Ancient Crab didn't even try to avoid their attacks. Its hard carapace was enough to deflect all physical attacks.

BaAMm!

SlaAaSh!

Masha and Kai's weapon collided with the hard shell of the Ancient Crab, but it didn't even leave any damage. Instead, they were flung away with the same force they exerted.

Kai somersaulted in mid-air and landed on his two feet while Masha didn't give up with her attacks. With a leap of her foot, she charged once more. But her attacks were constantly repelled by the Ancient Crab.

Jane slapped her forehead and shook her head when Masha was constantly being hurled away by the Ancient Crab's shell. It didn't even pay attention to Masha as it chased the others around.

"Theodore, don't use your magic unless absolutely necessary, alright?" Jane instructed, and Theodore nodded. They have to conserve their mana for the fight later.

Jane's eyes narrowed at Vein, who was appearing and disappearing all over the Ancient Crab. With his daggers coated in poison, it struck the giant Crab but, like with everyone else, couldn't damage its thick shell, much less poison it.

Vein was also reserving his mana and didn't make any big moves as well as Masha. Kai's group noticed this. Did they have an inkling of what they were planning? 

If so. .. Kai nodded at Ryu.

Ryu went for the Ancient Crab, and thunder racked his gauntlets as he jumped over on the Ancient Crab's head. With all his might, he punched the hardness of its shell with a savage crack that sent it sprawling downwards.

The Ancient Crab's carapace was extremely hard, like all parts of its body that were covered with thick layers of shell. But with Ryu's strength, he managed a crack on top of its carapace even it's just minuscule.

Ryu landed next to Kai when the giant monsters got to its eight legs.

"Its shell is hard but not exactly breakable. If we aim our attacks at a concentrated area, we might be able to break it."

Ryu nodded at Kai's words, and the both of them continued their barraged of assaults together with Masha and Vein.

Jane, Theodore, and Seraphina all remained at the side, ready to heal anyone who was injured.

Everyone was conserving their mana, but when the Ancient Crab shrieked and spewed foam from its mouth, and the bubbles floated in the air, the three mages didn't have a choice but to heal everyone whose skin melted upon contact with the bubbles.

With the acidic floating bubbles surrounding the group, the fight became more troublesome.

"Let's finish this." Kai was forced to use some skills. With the Ancient Crab immune to ice, he had no other choice but to go with physical attacks.

A giant pentagram appeared before him, and the space around it twisted and warped. Multiple dark swords slipped from its surface and all shot towards the Ancient Crab in terrifying speed and fearsome whirr.

[Phantom Blades]

The blades disappeared and reappeared in erratic movement, catching the Ancient Crab off guard.

BoOmM!

BOommM!

But even with all the attacks, the Ancient Crab was completely intact. Kai didn't mind as his attacks were just decoy so Ryu could slip past through its defense and attack it from its bottom, where the shell lining its stomach was more brittle.

Ryu slid under the Ancient Crab and rained a series of jabbing blows in a single area. He besieged the Ancient Crab until once vicious shot finally cracked its shell and left a ghastly and gore-filled wound on its flesh.

ShRriieeEEKk!

Ryu didn't stop his blows amidst the Ancient Crab's shrieks. Having overwhelmed his hapless foe, Ryu ended the Ancient Crab's struggled with life with a vicious punch that destroyed even its mana core.

"Theodore now!" Kai shouted, and he went for Vein with a spiteful glint in his eyes.

Before Masha and Vein knew what was going on, large pentagrams appeared under their foot, and anyone who stood there was bind by its spell and couldn't move.

[Bind]

"Bastards!" Masha roared, spit flying from her mouth. 

Theodore summoned a high-level magic that constrains Masha and Vein's movement and prevents them from using their mana. His mana was depleted to half in exchange, and since he was using his magic nonstop to heal and support the others, his mana was almost empty. He had a minute tops to keep the [Bind] spell activated before it lost its effect.

With an agile maneuver, Kai was in a perfect position to perform an execution at Vein. If he could injure him enough to threaten him to make the Seal of Promise to give them the real cure of the poison, then. . .

With a blurred swing, Kai wanted to behead Vein but decided to leave a vicious gash on his stomach instead that would let him bleed enough to threaten his life. 

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A/N

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