This was a situation that never happened before, so, while the uniqueness of this event in their formerly dull lives was refreshing, it also absolutely terrified and disturbed most of them as well.
Walking slowly in the public hall on the second floor, Greem passed through all these perturbed Apprentice Adepts. When these Apprentice Adepts saw him passing by, they would immediately shut their mouths, giving him a ‘your not welcome here’ look. Even a few of the ‘lone wolves’, who normally talked with him, were avoiding him, their faces filled with mixed emotions.
Greem was like a lone wolf who had just been rejected by the pack of wolves, walking slowly in the grasslands. Pulling his hood and covered his head, Greem turned around and left the hall.
Only the strongest three could make everyone stay away from him. Ellen was not capable of doing this.
Greem had no intentions on finding out why the strongest three were being so hostile towards him. In any case, it was probably because of Mary. The thing he was concerned with most was how to improve himself in the shortest amount of time, so he could survive the upcoming mission.
Taking the opportunity, while nobody was watching him, Greem, once again, snuck out of the Adept Tower.
Returning to the muddy swamp, Greem suddenly sensed how desolate this place had become.
Originally, no matter how desolate this place had seemed, Greem could always sense a pack of Ghost Nannies hiding at the banks of the muddy ponds, waiting for their prey. But, now, after performed countless scans, he just couldn’t find the red dots that represented Ghost Nannies on his Elementium vision.
Within his line of sight, there were around four to five large stinking ponds. According to Ghost Nannies habits, each pond should be inhabited by a group of them, at most thirty, at minimum seven.
But now, after going through all those intense battles, the largest Ghost Nanny group, who had inhabited the largest of the ponds, had suffered greatly, causing the groups who lived near the borders to weaken, making their lives seem really miserable.
However, this was better for Greem, as it saved him some effort.
Today, Greem purposely came here to slaughter demons, so he really needed a large battlefield. If there were any Ghost Nannies left over from the past few days, they would be slaughtered by him today.
After inspecting the area again and checking all the surrounding areas (he had the Chip record the terrain data), only then did Greem take out the Clay Golem core.
After spending more than ten hours of recovering, all four energy nodes on the summoning core were brightly lit, showing that they had been fully charged with Earth Elementium. The Golem was ready to show its might!
Greem threw the summoning core to the edge of the muddy pond. As before, when it touched the muddy shore, a huge amount of earthy yellow smoke instantly erupted. This was not real smoke, but dense Earth Elementium flaring up around the core.
Earth Elementium rapidly gathered together. Driven by unseeable forces, the wet soil started to rise and twist, quickly forming into a humanoid Clay Golem that was around Greem’s height.
Too bad it was not a Stone or Iron Golem, or else it’s defense would be strong enough that he could, perhaps, fight face to face with the Giant Alligator King, which was Greem’s target today. You got what you paid for! Indeed, the Clay Golem was cheap, but its defense was only on par with that of a human fighter in full leather armor. It could hardly withstand a Giant Alligator’s sharp fangs and powerful tail.
But the Giant Alligator did have a weakness, or else, with its formidable strength, comparable to that of an Advanced Apprentice, it would merely be a dream for Greem to fight it.
…………
Early in the morning, the muddy swamp was still peaceful.
Less than half a mile from the stinking ponds where the Ghost Nannies lived was a vast area inhabited by Giant Alligators. There were a few frightening Giant Alligators just lying around within grass bushes, sleeping carelessly.
But, while they were enjoying their relaxed, leisurely lifestyle, a loud noise was heard, and a crooked figure was seen jumping into the pond where they lived.
Looking at the disheveled hair, full of moss, the pitch-black, dirty claws, and the skinny yet vigorous body… it was actually one of their neighbors, a Ghost Nanny.
As a native creature of the Magic Swamp, all strong demons had their own fixed territories, and the borders of these territories were distinct. No one was allowed to step over into another’s territory. But today, this stinking and dirty Ghost Nanny had dared to intrude into the territory of the Giant Alligators, and this made the Giant Alligators, who had just been rudely roused from their sleep, become extremely angry.
Without making any noise, seven to eight Giant Alligators left the grass bushes, sunk into the water, and disappeared. The only traces of them were some fast moving water lines that led toward the Ghost Nanny.
Somehow the Ghost Nanny had all her arms and legs broken by someone. Thus, even though she had a strong body, she just couldn’t do anything to save herself. Soon, a ferocious large mouth broke the water and forcefully bit onto her upper body, dragging her down as it dived back into the water. More Giant Alligators arrived, causing water to splash everywhere and mud to fiercely roll around. Once these Alligators had tasted blood, they went into a blood frenzy and started restlessly tearing the struggling Ghost Nanny apart.
An enormous Giant Alligator appeared on the banks of the pond.
Unlike the other Giant Alligators, it didn’t charge in to devoured the outsider who intruded on its territory, but pushed its upper body up, like a true king, and slowly looked around.
Those Ghost Nannies had their own leader, so it was impossible for them to intrude on another’s territory without reason. Could that Sinbad be trying to stir up a war between them?
As a demon leader who had gone through a unique evolution, obviously this Giant Alligator King possessed some basic intelligence. Thus it was able to ponder over some simple questions rationally.
But, while it was still wondering, another Ghost Nanny came flying over, drawing a strange line in the air as it fell into the depths of the swamp. After ripped one intruder to pieces, the Alligators had been completely incensed, and the noise immediately attracted those Giant Alligators, making them swarm towards the new ‘arrival’.
Only the Giant Alligator King, who stood firmly on the banks, could see that this new Ghost Nanny had been thrown here by someone, and this ‘someone’ was hiding behind a Killer Tree not far from the pond.
Without hesitating, Giant Alligator King moved its short but powerful legs, beginning to waddle toward the Killer Tree. In order not to alert the ‘enemy’, it purposely moved around the pond, hiding within dense, waist-high weed fields as it sneaked its way toward the target.
Obviously, it had a massive body, but it still tried to sneak around like an assassin. Hiding behind another Killer Tree in the distance, Greem couldn’t help but shake his head.
Although it had evolved and possessed some basic intelligence, it was still a mere demon. Compared to the profound intelligence human had, it’s low-grade intelligence was just a joke.
Even with its stomach kissing the ground, the gigantic body of Giant Alligator King was still two meters tall. No matter how dense those weeds were, they could barely cover its legs and stomach. Its gigantic body was fully covered with hard scales, and pointy spines stood high up on its back, able to be clearly seen from far away. Under such a situation, it still thought it couldn’t be seen. This situation was simply laughable.
What’s more annoying, its enormous body weighed over thirty tons, so the ground would shake briefly with every step it took. But, it still was attempting to sneak around, like it was actually going to launch a sneak attack. It seemed that it had no idea how much it shook the ground with every step it took.
—
Having smoothly moved around a bunch of obstacles, the Giant Alligator King finally discovered a suspicious figure be
hind the Killer Tree.
It was a hateful human wearing in an Apprentice robe. It also had a few immobilized Ghost Nannies beside ‘him’. Every minute ‘he’ would throw one into the pond in the distance. Thanks to ‘him’, the once peaceful and quiet swampland had become a lively and noisy bloodbath, where the frightening scene of Giant Alligators ripping apart their food was seen everywhere.
The Giant Alligator King angrily glared at this evil Apprentice, and, in order to prevent this enemy from fleeing, it patiently moved forward, slowly yet surely proceeding toward this Apprentice.
100 meters…
70 meters…
50 meters…
20 meters…
Today was its lucky day.
It almost reached the back of that evil Apprentice, and ‘he’ still hadn’t sensed anything strange behind ‘him’.
While praising itself for how well it had sneaked up on its target, the Giant Alligator King lowered its body, making the last preparations for a devastating strike.
Time to die, human! I’m having Apprentice Adept for dinner!
Moving explosively, the Giant Alligator King leaped toward its target.
Chapter 39
When the Giant Alligator King fully opened its mouth, it was even taller than an adult human. Frightening looking teeth were messily distributed on both upper and lower jaw, all of which looked like razor-sharp daggers.
With its incredible jaw strength, perhaps this unprepared Apprentice would have his body immediately ripped in half.
But something dramatic happened. The human Apprentice turned around, throwing the Ghost Nanny in his hand into the Giant Alligator King’s mouth. After that, twisting and turning in a strange manner, he escaped the frightening bite of the Giant Alligator King at lightning speed.
The skinny and tough body of Ghost Nanny was instantly bitten in half, pungent, sticky, black blood flowing down from the sharp teeth.
The Giant Alligator King let out a disgusted roar.
As a demon itself, it was never picky about food. However, it would say no to these neighbors without any hesitation. Even from the point of view of a demon, these Ghost Nannies really stunk. Only when food had really run out would it consider eating one or two of these Ghost Nannies.
Giant Alligator King spat the broken body out of its mouth. In the next second, it caught sight of the figure of a fleeing human. It could tell this human Apprentice couldn’t run very fast, as he was staggering his way while stumbled over puddles.
It let out a joyful roar, moved its gigantic body, and crashing forward toward its target, like a small mountain.
Due to the terrain of this area, the Giant Alligator King actually moved faster than that human Apprentice, so it quickly reached ‘his’ back.
Though it kept catching up, the bizarre human would always dodge out of the way of its giant mouth miraculously. This made it even more furious, and it became more and more reckless as this continued to happen.
Finally, in one successful attempt, the Giant Alligator King crushed the human’s arm with one ferocious bite. But, strangely, it didn’t taste any blood or flesh in its mouth. In fact, it felt like it had just devoured a mouthful of clay. Also, after the Apprentice’s robe was ripped apart, revealed that the being in front of it was not a human Apprentice, but a strange humanoid Clay Creature.
The Giant Alligator King immediately realized it had been fooled. Raging, it leaped onto the unfortunate being who had lured it here, preparing to rip it into a thousand pieces.
Since it’s true identity was exposed, it was no longer necessary for the Clay Golem to continued its charade.
Tearing off the troublesome robe, the Clay Golem finally could show all of its power. It started to fight this clumsy Giant Alligator King in an orderly manner.
After all, the Giant Alligator King was an aquatic demon, which meant it could move like a fish in muddy swamp water. But when it came land movement, its gigantic body was far too clumsy. With its body fully covered with hard scales, it kept pushing around like a frantic war machine, sending grass flying all over the place, breaking trees, and leaving a deep trail on the ground.
But its attacks were overly focused on its head and tail.
Most of its offensive abilities could strike out in a fan-shaped region around the front of its head. Within this area, its ferocious bite could easily tear apart an enemy. Also, whenever it used its long tail to attack, it would break the enemy’s bones.
But, the region between its front and rear limbs was its offensive weak spot, which neither its head nor tail could reach. If an enemy hid within that area, it would have to slowly move its gigantic body to position an enemy where it could strike out at them.
And this damn Clay Golem had obviously found its weakness, as it sprinted straight into that region and kept crazily attacking its body.
Using its heavy and powerful fists, the Clay Golem kept punching on the hard scales that lined the Giant Alligator King’s ribs. Besides from attacking it physically, the Clay Golem also used Mud Spear to support its offensive. But all these were useless. Having its body fully covered with thick and tough scales, the Giant Alligator King didn’t even care about these ineffective strikes. It just kept turning its body, restlessly trying to chase away this nasty enemy who dared to fight so close to it.
But the Clay Golem always kept pace with Giant Alligator King, making sure it couldn’t be attacked.
The thick and tough scale were a defensive mechanism for the Giant Alligator King, but it also limited its range of activity to its mouth. The enemy was so close, but he just couldn’t do anything to it.
Although the Clay Golem had dominated from an advantage position, Greem, who was remotely controlling from this distance, didn’t felt happy at all.
This wouldn’t work!
Without breaking past the enemy’s scales, there was no way Clay Golem could cause sufficient damage to it. If this situation went on, the battle would end in a draw, as neither party could do anything to the other. The Giant Alligator King was blinded by its anger now, which is why it kept fighting with the Clay Golem. Once it regained its rational and returned back to the familiar swamp water, there was no way Clay Golem could fight it.
Fortunately, before Greem came here, he had performed a thorough analysis on the strengths and weaknesses of the Giant Alligator, so he had an idea on how to beat it. After received his command, Clay Golem stopped wasting its energy on attacked the opponent’s body with its fist, and started releasing ‘Spikes’ underneath the Giant Alligator King’s body.
Most parts of Giant Alligator’s body were covered with a thick layer of scales, which were excellent against physical attacks. But, there was a part where these scales didn’t cover: its abdomen.
Not only did these spikes do physical damage, but they also did Earth Elementium damage. As Giant Alligator was an Earth Elementium demon, it had a significant resistance toward Earth Elementium damage, so it took no damage from that part of the spike attack.
But even so, the pure physical damage still brought pain to Giant Alligator King, causing it to continually let out pained snorts.
Throughout the entire Magic Swamp, no demon could penetrate its thick scales and attack its weak spot, and this had made it the overlord of this vast swampy land. But today, the nasty golem had really upset this king.
Only after feeling pain did the Giant Alligator King recalled that he had a similar innate ability. Thus, with a furious roar, a thick Earth Elementium immediately started gathering around its body.
“Quagmire Spell!”
Greem clenched his fists tightly as he watched the innate ability of this Giant Alligator King. When he confirmed it was the ‘Quagmire Spell’, he couldn’t hold back his excitement and immediately let out a loud cry.
Excellent! The Giant Alligator King was dead meat now!
To be honest, if this Giant Alligator King had the innate ability of Earth Elemental offensive spells, or those supplementary spells that could
bring additional defense, Greem would call back the Clay Golem and leave immediately. But since it was the Quagmire spell, the success rate for today’s battle had shot up to 70%.
As expected, as Greem was jumping for joy, a really funny scene occurred on the battlefield.
Within 50 meters of the Giant Alligator King, the ground had transformed into a thick deep muddy pit, which acted like quicksand. If other creatures fought with it, perhaps they would be caught unprepared and trapped by the quicksand. It was a type of restraining spell that covered a large area. This, together with its frightening physical capabilities, had brought the Giant Alligator King the dominate position in this land.
Unfortunately for it, the Clay Golem was an Earth Elemental!
Though other creatures would be trapped by it, the Clay Golem was standing on this constantly moving quagmire like it was flat ground, nothing really happened. It seemed the heavy and solid body of the Clay Golem had suddenly lost all its weight, as it stood easily on the quicksand, showing no signs of sinking.
Therefore, on top of this slow moving quicksand, an intense, yet strange battle of a mouse playing with a cat erupted between two creatures of the Earth.
The Clay Golem had given up on attacking with Mud Spear, which caused no real damage, and kept releasing Spikes underneath its opponent’s body. On average, it could cast this once every 11 seconds. After all, Spike was an AOE spell. Although the Clay Golem couldn’t see the exact soft spot of the Giant Alligator King’s abdomen, nor how effective this attack was, as long as the attack was focused under the Giant Alligator King, it would be enough to hurt it.
After fifteen minutes of this intense battle, it was obvious that the Giant Alligator King couldn’t hold much longer, as its movement was slower than before.
Not only was it unable to hit the enemy, it also kept feeling a sharp pain on its abdomen. This depressing battle had made it really angry. As a demon with basic intelligence, it realized that if the situation went on like this, it would really be killed by this fellow.
Age of Adepts c1-1513 Page 28