Chapter 70: Back on Land, First Confrontation

Hehe, I wonder how much stronger I will get after killing all of them...Narrowing both her eyes filled with anticipation as she looked out at the group of humans who were slowly swimming through the murky swamp water while finding it increasingly difficult to push back the swamp alligator, Scaly patted herself on the back for a job well done.

Even though the cautious human was still in charge and seemed to reduce the difficulties of the group as they moved through the swamp, it was obvious that he couldn’t completely negate the exhaustion of his companions... And by the time they reached the place where she would be waiting for them, they wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight.

Essentially reducing the once powerful group of humans to a level that she felt confident in taking on.

The only problem she foresaw in this endeavor was the cautious human, who at this point remained almost completely inactive in the middle of the group as they swam through the muddy water. Only giving out occasional warnings to his companions whenever the need arose.

Out of everyone in the group of humans, it was obvious that he was going to be the most difficult one to deal with

Hm... With my current mana, I should be able to launch another volley of water spears towards them while still preserving enough mana for the battle later on...

Thinking this to herself as the problem of the cautious human named Carl emerged, Scaly felt like this was the only way she had to weaken the humans further before they reached the place where she was waiting for them.

Unfortunately, it was obvious that the group of humans were fully prepared from something like that happening, as the cautious human in question almost constantly kept his attention focused on her general location. Making it clear that he had already predicted that she would be waiting for them to show up.

So much for a surprise attack...

Even though she had expected this to some extent, it still felt bad to have her thoughts read by her opponent so openly-

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Whoosh-!

Not that it changed her decision to try and cause a little more damage to the group of humans before they had a chance to reach her. Hoping that she would at least be able to force the cautious human into joining the rest in fighting back the swamp alligators.

"Everyone! Watch out! It’s another sneak attack!"

Having already been watching the area where Scaly attacked from, Carl managed to spot the attack far faster than before and warned the rest-

Ptsh! Ptsh! Ptsh!

[Gained 1181 Exp]

[Gained 1343 Exp]

"Aaaah-!

However, even with the warning and having enough time to prepare for the attack, two of the humans who had already been exhausted by the constant attacks of the swamp alligators were pierced and died on the spot while a third had one of his arms crippled by just barely moving out of the way to avoid dying.

"This damnable monster! Everyone, keep calm and continue forward!"


Seeing what happened, Carl could not help cursing to himself before calling for everyone to continue forward. Knowing very well that staying still would only end up lowering their chances of survival.

At the same time, he was also forced to join the others in fighting off the swamp alligators with the death of two of his companions and another who had his arm crippled.

Something that Scaly was overjoyed to see, as it would force him to use the strength, he had been trying his best to preserve for what could only be considered an inevitable battle when they reached land and escaped from the swamp alligators...

Bang! Splash~! Bang!

As the fight between the humans and swamp alligators continued for the next five minutes, Scaly watched with anticipation as the first among the humans stepped back on to land before collapsing on the ground out of exhaustion.

Unable to move a single muscle after carrying his heavy leather armor through the murky and thick swamp water while fighting off a constant onslaught of swamp alligators.

Swish-!

A perfect target for Scaly, who wasted no time in rushing forward to deal with him before the rest of his companions had a chance to climb on to land and gather up.

After all, there was no way she would allow the humans any time to recover and group up to face her. If that was really the case, she wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble keeping them in the water for such a long period of time!

"Huh? This-"

Ptsh-!

Before the human had much of a chance to react, Scaly had already appeared directly in front of him, as her claws cleanly cut through his wet leather armor before digging into his chest. Leaving a massive open wound that caused a massive amount of blood to dye the dull muddy ground in a bright red color.

"Y-you! The m-monster behind a-all of t-this!"

Although not dead after the attack, the man could barely speak as he stared at the small lizard that had appeared in front of him filled with dread.

Part of him not understanding how such a small and innocent-looking lizard could be behind the hell that he and his companions had gone through over the past half hour they had spent fighting for their life in the murky swamp water.

Swish-!

[Gained 1513 Exp]

However, he didn’t get a chance to get an answer to his question, as Scaly took the opportunity while he was locked in a state of confusion to finish him off before the rest of the humans could climb out of the water and save him.

"Nooo! DIIIIE FOUL CREATURE!"

And indeed, no more than a second after she finished him off, a human woman wielding a short sword and a shield rushed towards her filled with killing intent.

Is something wrong with her head?

However, faced with this attack, Scaly wasn’t scared in the slightest, but was instead taken aback by the reckless behavior of the human woman, as it was obvious that she was in no state to fight.

Bang!

Indeed, as she gracefully dodged the short sword with her small body and landed a blow on the wooden shield of the reckless human woman, she began to stager backwards from the force of the blow and the fact that her wooden shield had grown significantly heavier after absorbing a large amount of water while travelling through the swamp water.

Whoosh-!

Taking advantage of this, Scaly dashed forward and slashed down towards the human woman’s unprotected chest-

Swish-!

"Aaaaaaaah-!"

Instantly resulting in her leather armor being torn apart while a large gash appeared on her stomach, though not to the degree of the first human who had been unfortunate enough to be the first to climb up on land, it was still more than enough to render her unable to fight.

Of course, Scaly had no intention of just leaving her like this and intended to finish her off as well, as she rushed forward-

Chiiiing-!

However, just as her claws were about to reach the already close to death human, sword appeared in front of her. Blocking her claws before they could reach their target.

Whoosh~

At the same time, a ball made out of fire came hurling directly towards her from the side, forcing her to jump back and give up on pursuing the heavily injured human.

"Fall back! Don’t face it on your own!"

"Yeah, leave it to us, you won’t be able to help much in your current state any way."

[Human, Monster Hunter, lvl 35]

[Human, Fire Mage, lvl 27]

Looking at the two humans who had appeared to block her path, Scaly could not help frowning to herself as her gaze became far more serious compared to before.

The cautious human, Carl, had appeared!

Not just him, but the remaining humans had also made it on to land at this point in time and were currently all facing her with clear killing intent present in their eyes.

Considering the fact that she had essentially ended up causing four of their companions to die so far, it wasn’t that surprising of an outcome, but it still caused a certain pressure on Scaly to be stared at by so many strong humans at once.

Even if they were all in an exhausted state and wouldn’t be able to use all of their strength, she also understood just how dangerous it was for her to face so many strong humans at the same time.

However!

There was no way she would ever give up on such a great opportunity to increase her strength. Even more so after she had realized that all of these humans were worth at least a thousand exp!

Whoosh-!

So, with this in mind, Scaly didn’t wait around for the humans to attack her and instead charged directly towards the human who had launched the ball of fire towards her earlier. Intending to deal with him first to prevent him from using magic against her from a distance!