Chapter 46 Vortex Shell Crab

Chapter 46: Chapter 45: Vortex Shell Crab

Without realizing it, the three people and one lizard had ventured about a hundred meters deep into the Fog Area.

Except for the Mirage Insect they encountered at the beginning, they hadn’t run into any other monsters. After all, it was only a hundred meters.

Lin Qianqian walked behind and to the side of Han Ning. She kept her Compound Bow half-drawn, a faintly glowing special arrow nocked on the string. Her charming eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, not daring to let her guard down for a moment.

Suddenly, Snow Cake stopped swimming ahead. Half of its body surfaced from the water, and a suppressed growl rumbled from its throat: "ROAR..."

At almost the same time, Han Ning and Lin Qianqian also caught onto the anomaly.

"Careful!" Lin Qianqian warned.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Several Water Arrows, as thick as an arm and condensed to the point of being solid, shot out from the thick fog to their front-left without any warning. They were astonishingly fast, carrying an icy killing intent as they aimed straight at Snow Cake and Han Ning at the very front of the formation.

In Han Ning’s vision and Spirit Perception, the direction the attack came from was clearly empty, with nothing but a vast expanse of whiteness.

"HOWL!"

Snow Cake reacted extremely fast. Its thick hind legs kicked against the water, and its massive body erupted with an agility that belied its size, narrowly avoiding a strike aimed at its head. However, the Water Arrow still grazed its neck, directly scraping away a large chunk of flesh and blood. Its power was evident.

Han Ning’s movements were equally swift. The moment he sensed danger, he hurriedly ducked down. A Water Arrow flew right over his head, bringing a wave of chill with it. Before he could even straighten up, another Water Arrow from a tricky angle—as if predicting the direction of his dodge—shot silently from his lower flank, aimed straight at his waist and abdomen.

In the nick of time, over a dozen thick, long vines burst through the air around Han Ning, weaving together into a solid Vine Shield.

BANG!

The Water Arrow slammed into the woven net of vines. The massive impact caused the vines to tremble violently. The dark green stems caved inward, and water splashed out mixed with shattered wooden splinters.

Although he successfully blocked this fatal blow, the tremendous force transmitted through the vines made Han Ning’s vitality churn. He couldn’t help but take a step back, stepping into the accumulated water with a loud SPLASH.

At this moment, Han Ning finally understood why Lin Qianqian had brought a Spirit Awakened. His Natural Blessing couldn’t be kept in an active state at all times. Against this kind of sneak attack, it was simply impossible to defend effectively!

"Over there!" A faint light flashed in Yu Na’s eyes as she pointed at an empty area. It was at least a meter away from the direction the Water Arrows had been fired from. The fog rolled there, but there was nothing to be seen.

Hearing the warning, Lin Qianqian drew the string of her Compound Bow.

WHOOSH!

The arrow left the string. The shaft was covered in a white halo that rippled like flowing water, shooting silently into that blank patch of fog.

The arrow plunged into the thick fog.

HUM!

In the next instant, visible rings of glowing white light rippled outward, centered on the point where the arrow had disappeared. Washed over by the ripples, a ferocious silhouette—like a photo negative in developing fluid—was forcefully outlined from a state of absolute, transparent "nothingness," dyed with a glaring grayish-white halo marker.

Even though the fog was white and the marker was white, there was a distinct difference in the shades, and Han Ning could see it very clearly.

It was a monster the size of a large water vat. It had a heavy, armored body covered in overlapping, spiral patterns. At the front of its body, a pair of incomparably massive pincers were raised high. Their ends weren’t ordinary claws, but sharp, spiral cones that looked like high-speed drills. They were currently slowing to a halt from their spinning, gathering intense water vapor around them.

Its tail was a thick, eel-like appendage covered in dense, dark cyan scales. The tip of the tail split into several slender tentacles that flickered with dangerous blue-white electrical sparks, twisting gently in the water as if they had a life of their own. Every twist brought about a faint CRACKLE.

The entire monster exuded an aura of tyrannical strength.

"Damn it, it’s a Vortex Shell Crab! No wonder it was so quiet for the past hundred meters," Lin Qianqian quickly blurted out the key information. "This monster has astonishing physical Defense. Ordinary attacks can hardly break its guard. Its drills can shoot high-speed water currents, its tail can release high-voltage electricity, and it can even emit Spiritual Fluctuations that affect thought. It’s extremely dangerous! Its weaknesses are the gaps in its joints and its relatively fragile eyes."

The Compound Bow in her hand hummed and vibrated. An arrow condensed with glowing white light flew from the string, shooting accurately toward the gap where the Vortex Shell Crab’s tail connected to its torso.

The arrow violently exploded upon striking the carapace, wildly splattering the internal Energy and fine electrical sparks. The Vortex Shell Crab’s body tilted slightly from the shockwave of the explosion, and the dancing, electrified tentacles on its eel tail fell into disorder for a moment.

"HOWL!"

At this moment, Snow Cake made its move. Its grayish-white body lunged out like lightning, its sharp claws swiping toward one of the Vortex Shell Crab’s hind leg joints that supported its body.

CLANG!

An ear-piercing scraping sound rang out, and sparks flew from the hard joint carapace. The ring of pale green patterns on the tips of the claws suddenly lit up. An imperceptible trace of greenness seeped into the gaps of the carapace in an instant, like a living creature.

RUSTLE~

The Vortex Shell Crab, which had been preparing to raise its pincers, stiffened once more.

"Now’s the time..."

With a thought from Han Ning, fifteen vines tore through the water flow. Mid-flight, they twisted into three incomparably thick vine pythons with sharp tips, striking the Vortex Shell Crab’s disrupted joint.

PFFT, SQUELCH...

The tough carapace was finally pierced through. Foul-smelling mucus mixed with carapace fragments sprayed out.

HISS!

Under the series of combo attacks, the Vortex Shell Crab couldn’t help but let out a pained screech, its body convulsing violently. A transparent ripple, mixed within its screech, expanded outward. The thick fog was pushed aside by an invisible force, creating a circular vacuum.

SMACK!

The invisible ripple swept across the pale blue shields covering the three people and one lizard.

"Ugh!" Yu Na let out a muffled groan. Her petite body trembled, and a trickle of blood flowed from her nostrils.

CRACK... SNAP.

With Yu Na helping to resist the Spiritual Shock, Han Ning didn’t need to split his focus. The three vines rapidly shrank. Like parasites, they burrowed into the flesh and blood of the Vortex Shell Crab’s joint, continuously spreading and growing as they drove straight in. Finally, countless branches simultaneously tore outward.

SKREEE...

The teeth-aching sound of bone shattering echoed out alongside the Vortex Shell Crab’s shrill, distorted wail. A hind leg covered in heavy carapace was forcibly torn and snapped off at the joint by the vines.

The Vortex Shell Crab’s body completely lost its balance and crashed heavily to one side. The intense pain roused the Vortex Shell Crab’s ferocity. It tried its best to raise its pincer.

VROOM~

A high-speed spinning water current shot straight toward Han Ning’s head. Before the water current even arrived, the low wind pressure it kicked up blew Han Ning’s hair wildly into the air.

Han Ning was just about to dodge when Lin Qianqian’s explosive arrow shot out once more, hitting the rushing water current and causing the high-speed stream to pause for half a second. Seizing this opportunity, Han Ning flung a vine out with his left hand like Spider-Man, wrapping it around an abandoned concrete pillar nearby. He then controlled the vine, swinging to the right and quickly creating distance between himself and the water current.

"Die!"

At the same time, he controlled the vines inside the Vortex Shell Crab’s body, continuing to delve deeper and churn! The branching vines were like Poisonous Snakes, madly drilling through the torn wound toward the relatively fragile interior of the Vortex Shell Crab’s chest cavity.

"HOWL!"

A white shadow flashed. Snow Cake leaped up with all its might, pinning the Vortex Shell Crab down. It used its hard head to relentlessly hammer the relatively fragile connection between the Vortex Shell Crab’s chest and abdomen carapace.

BAM BAM BAM!

Heavy impact sounds rang out continuously. The Vortex Shell Crab’s toppled body was battered so much that it could hardly move. That life-claiming drill pincer swept frantically across Snow Cake’s chest, bringing up large splashes of bloody water.

"Rapid Growth!"

Han Ning focused his mind. The vines inside the Vortex Shell Crab seemed to be injected with berserk Life Force, frantically expanding, twisting, and piercing. They tore apart muscles from the inside, crushed organs, and destroyed everything.

"Skree... ga..." The Vortex Shell Crab’s tragic howl came to an abrupt halt, turning into a whimpering sound like a deflating tire. Its massive body convulsed violently a few times. The spinning drill pincer drooped weakly, and the electric light on its eel tail rapidly dimmed.

That heavy carapace covered in spiral patterns could no longer protect it. The pincer, still maintaining a raised posture, crashed heavily into the murky, accumulated water.