Chapter 188: Hunter Clams

"The plan is simple," Vishen Walta crouched, using a sharp mandible—plucked out from the Floating Spider body parts covering his armour—to draw on the ground, forming a layout. "We will proceed 240 metres east, heading south from there. I have scouted a route in that location; it borders the place we landed and has enough room for us to move as a team."

"That route is too long and takes too much time. The current stalemate might disappear by the time we manage to reach your teammates." Shimika Doppler tapped the side of her arm, following a rhythm. She pointed at a location in the layout, "Also, we walked through this region, having fought for some time before arriving here. That place is currently swarmed by the Ring Worms that were lured by the scent of blood."

"We can take a similar measure as yours," Hruna Bone glanced at her teammates standing a distance away, spread around, keeping watch of their surroundings through their Tier 1 Skills. "Their battle strength is lacklustre and covering for them will drain me sooner or later. I suggest we make a cave here and hide them before the three of us head to your team."

"Do you know any good locations…" Vishen Walta turned around, watching a mound float towards them. They were currently north of the rock pillar terrain. It was full of cliffs and valleys, mostly circular in shape, forming winding grooves.

From the edge of the rock pillar terrain to the yellow wall forming the boundary in the north, the length was only about 50 metres. It was a narrow terrain. This also allowed them to witness a shallow beach of sorts, one that bordered the swamp on the west.

They were situated quite close to the swamp, only separated by 20 metres. They watched a mound, thrice larger than the others float towards them. Circular grey shells littered the mound, reflecting the sunlight. Swampy fluids, coloured green, yellow, and brown collated on it, forming tiny trails as they flowed down.

It approached their proximity, arriving at the edge of the swamp, pausing for a second. A thorny head peaked out, brownish-green in colour, its skin covered in scales. Its scaly eyes gazed at them, its serpentine head wobbling slightly as it expanded, rising in height.

A massive leg, its thickness equal to their girth emerged, pressing on the land, its steps slow. Another leg emerged, also landing on the ground, tilting the mound slightly to the back. Followed by the splashing of the swamp water in the vicinity, the creature fully walked out.

"A Lava Turtle…" Vishen Walta muttered, watching the tail segment of the Lava Turtle still within the water. He glanced behind, witnessing the fluster of the remaining team members, whispering to his right, "Hruna, will you be able to shield its vapour attack?"

"Unless it isn't concentrated to the extent surpassing the weight lifting capacity of my psychic arms, I should be able to manage," Hruna Bone replied, also tossing forth a caution of warning, "I know of some methods to disperse the force as much as possible but it might not last long."

"That is fine," Shimika Doppler whispered, motioning for everyone to silently retreat, "We will defend the excess, just heal us later."

Hruna Bone nodded, preparing her psychic arms, also forming a shape she had in mind. She currently placed them underneath her armour, intent to expand and shield everyone upon a moment's notice, unwilling to showcase her cards to the foe beforehand, lest it counters her.

The Lava Turtle crouched forward a little, its size domineering. A Tier 1 Lava Turtle's shell spanned a lateral size of about two metres, its height varying between 80 to 160 centimetres. The Tier 2 Lava Turtle before them was thrice the size, like a large vehicle.

Its reptilian eyes gazed at them, emitting smoke from its nostrils. Its underneath was similarly shielded by the shell, the surface rugged, slightly smooth when compared to the top. Its neck region trembled, prompting the three Cadets to assume battle-ready positions.

Followed by smoke rising from its nostrils, the air surrounding it trembled, showcasing the abrupt temperature spike. A gust of steam, mixed amid boiling water gushed out like a jet, aimed at them.

"I won't be able to block this fully." Hruna Bone bellowed, unleashing the structure she had prepared using both her psychic arms. It was shaped into a cone, with grooves spiralling on it, forming numerous helical patterns that diverged towards the end.

The tip of the conical structure wasn't pointed, but was slightly blunt, resembling a hemisphere, also deformed in certain sections, connecting with the spiralling grooves. Hruna Bone spread her arms, coiling them around the hips of Vishen Walta and Shimika Doppler.

Upon her shout, all three of them mildly jumped, no longer anchored to the ground. This was done to absorb as much of the power behind the jet of water as possible. Their jump also coordinated with the approaching jet, to maximise the effect of the erected conical barrier.

The team members ran as they watched their team leaders take the brunt of the damage, flustered at the situation. If not for the confidence they had in the strength of the three leaders, they would have long succumbed to their fears.

The jet impacted the barrier, causing numerous cracks to form instantly, the heat contained within beginning to melt it. Steam spread everywhere, reducing visibility. Trailing along the grooves, the boiling water spread out into various streams, ejected radially along the plane of impact.

The steam too followed suit, dispersing randomly, but with most of it accompanying the boiling water, thanks to its build-up momentum. Vishen Walta activated his Tier 2 Skill, pulling the other two behind him the moment the conical barrier shattered.

He focused the effect on defence, raising his arms before him to defend against the jet of water. He adjusted their posture, trying as much as possible to prevent the deflected fluid from falling on the two girls behind him.

"Ugh," He grunted, feeling a burning sensation course his skin, breaking through his defence. Steam seeped into his nostrils, burning up his insides, causing his body to tremble. He closed his eyes, preventing himself from becoming blind.

Hruna Bone controlled herself from fainting; blood seeped out of her eyes while veins popped on her forehead, a result due to her psychic arms getting destroyed. It would take her some time, also consuming massive amounts of psychic energy to recreate them again.

Vishen Walta's defensive posture wasn't perfect, causing a lot of the boiling water to spill on her, burning up her skin. Since her armour was already in tatters, she took the brunt of the impact, hollering in pain.

Shimika Doppler dashed to the side, holding her heavy war hammer, closing in on the Lava Turtle's side within a second. Since its movements were slow, it couldn't respond to her, only able to follow her movement with its eye.

Tier 2 Skill—Arm Burst!

The hand holding the heavy war hammer swelled slightly, condensing a lot of energy into it. It experienced an increase in its sturdiness, raising the capacity of the strength, and speed it could muster and withstand.

"Aargh!" She bellowed, slamming her heavy war hammer downwards, aiming at the neck of the Lava Turtle. The feedback she expected didn't arrive; instead, she received a response akin to slamming against a boulder, one whose hardness was only a tad inferior to what her strength could affect.

'An Amplifier Hunter Clam.' She watched a grey circular shell receive her attack, its shell completely cracking in the process, revealing the gelatinous muscular body underneath. The momentum of her attack still existed, carrying its body along with the head of her heavy war hammer.

Another Amplifier Hunter Clam arrived beneath, soaking up the remaining momentum, its shell only experiencing a hairline crack. Its shell spanned about 30 centimetres in size, lustrous to the extent only inferior to a mirror.

Two tentacles emerged from within, coiling around the shaft of her war hammer, slithering towards her hand, its size going beyond the volume available within the shell. The Amplifier Hunter Clam that first resisted her attack shivered a couple of times, unleashing two tentacles.

Though, they had just crawled along the shaft for half the distance before falling limp; it died. The tentacles of the second Amplifier Hunter Clam approached her hands, prompting her to let go of her hold.

Her hand shot to her back, unsheathing a short sword, one whose blade spanned 30 centimetres in length and five centimetres in width. Ignoring the Amplifier Hunter Clam holding her heavy war hammer, she shot towards the neck of the Lava Turtle, getting interrupted by almost 20 Tier 1 Hunter Clams, all Observers.

Her short sword flashed around, slashing an Observer Hunter clam into two with each attack. The Lava Turtle began to retreat, placing its hind legs into the swamp. Since it only bordered around the edge when it launched its attack, it could easily retreat.

A sword flew past the jet of water, heading straight for its head. Leaving the heavy war hammer, the Amplifier Hunter Clam moved, getting hit by the sword, causing the hairline crack on its shell to widen further. It caught hold of the sword, extending its tentacles as it slashed towards Shimika Doppler.

Shimika Doppler raised her short sword, defending against the attack. Her knees buckled up under the force, planting her feet deeper into the ground. She grunted once, glancing around, taking in the overall situation, planning her next attack.

The Lava Turtle closed its mouth, watching the Amplifier Hunter Clam arrive before it and shield the thrown sword. Using the chance when the jet of water stopped, a figure flashed around, arriving before the Amplifier Hunter Clam, sending a kick its way.

Tentacles occupied due to the slash it sent at Shimika Doppler, it couldn't defend against his kick. The Amplifier Hunter Clam was sent flying into the swamp, carrying his sword with it, trailing an arc greater than 10 metres. Shimika Doppler threw her short sword at him, picking up the heavy war hammer.

Tier 2 Skill—Body Burst!

When all the remaining Observer Hunter Clams congregated together to defend against Shimika Doppler's hammer attack, Vishen Walta plunged Shimika's short sword into the Lava Turtle's neck, easily bypassing its neck defences.

He made a line, starting from underneath its face, and trailing until the part before the shell. He made a circular cut, severing the neck from its body, watching a copious amount of blood splash on him.

"Aargh!" He bellowed in pain, hurriedly concentrating the entirety of his Tier 2 Skill's effect into defence. He hurriedly retreated; Shimika Doppler too followed suit. Witnessing the death of the Lava Turtle, the remaining Observer Hunter Clams ran into the swamp, abandoning the fight.