Chapter 452: Cliff Lord?
One was a small and humanoid figure with wings that flew with extreme speed as it chased and dodged around a much larger entity in the sky.
It had a massive four-legged body with several-inch-long claws, a glossy-black tail that resembled a scorpion, broad wings like a bat, and a head belonging to that of a male lion.
...
It was a manticore, the one bigger than a school bus!
And the one it was up against was none other than the Captain himself.
The bearded man swerved through the air, his wings flapping intensely as he parried the Manticore’s fierce swings.
CLANG!
Their clash rang out loudly, and so did his voice as he roared out the name of his technique and spun in the air rapidly:
"[3rd Technique of the Deep Sea Hunter: Riptide Reversal]!"
The Manticore, who was about to deliver yet another swing, found the Captain to have suddenly disappeared from its light of sight.
SWISH!
It quickly released a mana pulse that lasted only a split second before utilising its tail to parry the Captain’s swift attack on its blind spot.
CLANG!
With their clash, the Captain clicked his tongue before aiming his right arm towards the Manticore’s eye—more specifically, his metal hook.
Transforming his hook into a sharp blade, he extended it rapidly and managed to pierce through the eye of the flying Chimera.
The Manticore, stunned by the loss of its eye, immediately responded with a swing to the blade through its eye, intending to destroy it before it could extend any further.
Unfortunately for the flying beast, it was just too slow.
Having transformed the blade back into a hook, the Captain then transformed it into a human fist as he pushed himself away from the tail.
After that, he would then charge towards the face of the Manticore, weaving in between the Chimera’s swings and stabs with its tail, which began to release a deadly gas into the air.
The wind around them soon became twisted, moving erratically as mana became active in the air.
It was one of the Manticore’s abilities!
Wrapping around and spinning, the expelled poisonous gas from the scorpion tail became trapped within a drill made entirely out of air.
Upon shooting it towards the Captain, the Manticore charged after it, intending to clash with the bearded man, who watched the incoming threat to his life.
The Captain then confidently raised his right hand in front of him, manipulating his mana as he suddenly summoned a large wooden vessel in front of him.
CRASH!
The deadly drill of poisonous gas slammed against the side of what could only be described as a rickety ship, which resisted the damage inflicted on it, constantly returning to its original form and repairing itself.
It was the Captain’s ship!
With a swipe of his hand, the Captain caused the ship to disappear after a short moment of delay, having finished using it as a shield.
And with its disappearance came the near appearance of the Manicore, who had already opened its foul, stenching maw.
Its fangs were drenched in a deadly poison, one that would leave their victims in a fatal condition upon entering their system.
As the Manticore neared the Captain’s entire upper body, intending on crushing it with a single bite, it watched as the bearded man slowly pulled back his right arm.
His right hook, which had already transformed into a hand, clenched into a fist before shooting forward with blurring speed and—
BAM!
—Dealing a tremendous blow to the side of its skull.
The Manticore, feeling its brain become rattled within its cracked skull, felt itself knocked back by the powerful blow.
Lillian, who was spectating this battle, squinted her eyes as she felt as though the body of the Manticore was growing bigger and bigger...
’Wait... Is it...’
The Manticore wasn’t growing larger...
It was instead falling straight towards her!
Lillian rushed back into the cave with Jungle Lord and watched as the Manticore crashed through the entrance of the cave and landed on the cliffside.
She coughed at the dust and waved it away.
With her vision now obscured, she looked towards the Captain and had already found him to have reached the Manticore, which had now begun to glow.
A sign it was about to move into its second stage!
Unfortunately...
"[1st Technique of the Deep Sea Hunter: Tidebreaker Slash]!"
Such a form wouldn’t be revealed for the next moment—
SWISH!
—Its entire body was split in two.
The Captain, having cleaved through the entire body of the Manticore, watched as blood flowed out from the body of the chimera in waves—silently waiting for the notification of his kill before nodding.
He then released a sensory mana pulse, which had managed to catch the presence of two entities behind the Manticore.
Climbing over the Manticore’s corpse, it immediately settled its gaze upon a tall wendigo and charged towards it with killing intent.
Fwoosh!
The Jungle Lord immediately took a step back and narrowly dodged the Captain’s stab before raising his stone battle axe over his head for a mighty swing.
In response, the Captain swung his sword up as well—
CLANG!
—Clashing with the Jungle Lord.
The Captain then disengaged and swung his cutlass several times in short, rapid successions, causing them to interlace into an illusory fishing net.
This was the Captain’s fourth technique, Drowning Net!
The Jungle Lord raised the flat side of his battle axe and felt the force behind the fishing net crash into his weapon, causing deep marks to appear.
Such a thing surprised Lillian, who watched their battle.
Although her sword was of higher quality than the Captain’s, it had struggled to deal damage to the Jungle Lord’s suspiciously sturdy axe.
As the two continued to battle, the Captain managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar face in the corner of his eyes.
Lillian, realising she had attracted the Captain’s attention, raised her hand for a wave as she greeted:
"Yo! How’s it going—!"
But.
Just as she was about to finish her sentence, the Captain suddenly leapt at her and pulled her away from the Jungle Lord, whom he saw as a threat.
Dragging her behind him, the Captain said with his cutlass pointed at the Jungle Lord:
"Arr... To think I would find yar next to such an imposing fiend like this..."
Lillian watched as the two locked eyes with one another, sparks appearing between them as they stared at each other warily with caution.
She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.
This was most likely going to be a common concern in the future.
Patting his shoulder, Lillian stated:
"That fiend you see is..."