Lake Master Drago's back was already covered in dense, pockmarked holes, with chunks of flesh having been brutally torn away, leaving a scene of utter devastation; its brown-red, black-spotted hide was almost completely gone. At this point, its back looked almost like a warty toad.
"Roar…!!!"
The intense pain made it let out a deafening wail. Lake Master Drago's body instantly submerged into the depths of the lake, and the previously turbulent lake surface immediately became calm, without a single ripple.
Just like that—
Everything fell into a deathly silence once more.
But was it over?
No, it was simply impossible. One could not let down their guard until Lake Master Drago floated on the surface, belly-up like a dead fish.
The reason it submerged was merely Lake Master Drago's tactic to launch a surprise attack when they were unprepared, as the black lake was its best hiding place. Aside from the surging of the lake surface when it revealed its murderous intent, you couldn't possibly determine from which direction it would attack!
Therefore, it was very troublesome and very tricky…
However,
Lake Master Drago had underestimated one thing.
That was the living radar, White Wolf, on the fishing boat, which could predict Lake Master Drago's attack direction in advance.
It might not be able to sniff out its exact location early, but White Wolf could still provide a few seconds of reaction time. This allowed Javier to easily make dodging movements.
"…"
"It disappeared?"
Seeing Lake Master Drago submerge into the lake, Ada quickly raised her crossbow, ready to pursue, but it was too fast, and the arrow simply couldn't be shot. She could only sigh regrettably.
In Ada's opinion… this monstrous fish must have realized the formidable methods on their fishing boat and was scared off. It wouldn't continue to attack them for a short period.
After all, in nature,
When predators discover that their prey is not easy to deal with, and instead has thorny defenses, they will voluntarily give up. After all, no one wants to fight to a mutual destruction; once injured, it means one foot in the grave. This is an unchangeable law of nature.
But unfortunately,
Ada was wrong this time.
Lake Master Drago is a Bio-weapon and cannot be viewed with conventional thinking. This monster has mutated and is extremely violent.
In the original work, even if you just fired a gun randomly by the lake, Lake Master Drago would pounce out, bite you, and drag you into the lake.
Therefore,
Now, this beast likely wants to fight to the death. Being inherently violent, how could it allow prey that had severely harmed it to leave safely right under its nose!
"Be careful,"
"It's very likely to continue pursuing us. Overconfident predators usually don't easily give up their prey, especially not prey that has seriously injured them. It definitely wants revenge."
Shaking his head,
Javier warned Ada, his grip on the diesel engine lever still tight, his gaze fixed on the calm lake surface.
Although the propeller had begun to slow its rotation, Javier could unleash powerful horsepower at any moment if he wished.
And White Wolf beside him was still diligently doing its job…
Its pink nose twitched, vigorously sniffing and frantically analyzing various hormone information coming from the air and the lake surface. As soon as the scent from any direction intensified, it would immediately howl a warning.
Sure enough,
The next second,
As soon as a bubble emerged on the lake surface,
The vigilant White Wolf immediately bared its teeth, quickly ran to Javier's feet, bit his pant leg, and let out a low growl towards the left, as if saying the monster was coming again!
Seeing this,
Javier smiled slightly.
This White Wolf was indeed amazing. Javier then didn't hesitate, decisively increasing the engine throttle. Under the high-speed rotation of the propeller, the fishing boat once again performed an extreme drift, sliding sideways and dodging from an unusual angle.
"Gurgle gurgle…"
"Bang—!"
And at that previous spot,
Bubbles immediately erupted frantically, the lake surface surged, and a huge black shadow suddenly shot out. A terrifying abyssal maw opened, sucking in large amounts of lake water and leaping high, lunging out of the water like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, in an excited posture.
But unfortunately, Lake Master Drago missed its target once again.
It only realized its surprise attack had failed again when its tiny, sesame-sized black eyes noticed the fishing boat that had already dodged away.
This made it furious—!
"Splash…!!!"
With a loud splash,
Lake Master Drago submerged into the lake once more. Just like before, it immediately became calm again, with no movement on the lake surface. It was the same move again. Didn't it know that a Saint Seiya would not be defeated by the same move twice?
However,
This time, Javier was wrong.
Because Lake Master Drago wasn't using the same move at all, but… the Heaven-Shaking Wave Kill!
Without any attempt to conceal itself, Lake Master Drago suddenly shot out of the water again, executing a Divine Dragon Tail Sweep. Its thick, massive tail swept horizontally, bringing with it a huge wave of water that rushed towards the fishing boat. If not controlled properly, Javier and the others' fishing boat would have nearly capsized.
This beast,
Unexpectedly, it had learned its lesson.
It no longer actively charged with its body, but simply relied on its massive tail to create waves. If these surging waves came a dozen more times, the entire makeshift fishing boat would probably not be able to withstand it, and would break apart first, or even capsize directly.
This method of attack,
Was even more troublesome than before—!
And because of these wave attacks, even Ada beside him couldn't aim and shoot properly. She could only cling to the sides of the fishing boat, holding her crossbow tightly, to prevent being dragged into the lake.
"Gurgle gurgle…"
"Splash… Roar roar roar—!!!"
And the attack was not over.
Seeing that its ultimate move, Heaven-Shaking Wave Kill, was working, and Javier and his companions' rickety fishing boat was already at the kill line, Lake Master Drago didn't hesitate at all, plunging violently to the bottom of the lake.
It began to furiously spin and swim at the bottom of the lake beneath Javier and his companions' fishing boat. As Lake Master Drago circled, a strong whirlpool began to form on the entire lake surface. Large amounts of lake water constantly swirled, creating a suction current, and the fishing boat also began to be uncontrollably trapped within it.
New ultimate skill…
Water Current Whirlpool?!
In this way,
With the control of the water current whirlpool, Javier's broken fishing boat would not be able to escape the attack range for a while, and Lake Master Drago could take this opportunity to launch its final, decisive blow.
It would directly smash the fishing boat to smithereens, then swallow all these prey that fell into the lake in one gulp. It would be absolutely delightful.
However,
Looking at the massive black shadow swirling below,
Javier pulled out a flashbang and two High-explosive grenades. It was a classic case of being too clever for one's own good.
Javier had been wondering how to get close to this giant salamander. Since it had murderous intent and wanted to engage in close combat, Javier could only fulfill its wish and deliver a fatal blow.
Anyway, he hadn't played with firecrackers to catch fish in a long time…
"Crack—!"
Tying the flashbang to a harpoon,
Pulling the pin and igniting the fuse, Javier held the harpoon, cosplaying Fizz Yuan Hua. "Trident, grant me strength! Breathing Technique, empower me!" With bulging muscles, he used all his might to thrust it down fiercely.
Even with the resistance of the water, the harpoon still penetrated several meters deep, then slowly sank further by its own weight.
"Bang—!"
The next second,
A fierce, blinding light suddenly exploded at the bottom of the lake.
It was accompanied by strong sound waves that vibrated the surrounding lake water. The dazzling white light encountered little obstruction in the pitch-black lake bottom. Even though its power was greatly weakened, it still temporarily incapacitated Lake Master Drago.
And it was during these few seconds of temporary control,
That Javier's barrage of bombs began.
Two more harpoons were violently thrown out, also sinking with gravity. The harpoons carrying High-explosive grenades touched Lake Master Drago's body.
"Splash…"
"Boom—!!!"
More powerful than the previous explosive arrows, a massive water ripple was generated at the bottom of the lake, and the entire fishing boat was blown away by the lake waves. Two fireballs and shockwaves spread at the bottom of the lake, and the intense explosion and flying shrapnel rapidly damaged Lake Master Drago's body.
Almost instantly,
Two pieces of flesh were blown off Lake Master Drago's body, and its massive tail was blown to smithereens, leaving only a half-severed, weakly twitching stump. If it tried to use the Heaven-Shaking Wave Kill skill again, that half-severed tail would likely snap off instantly.
Another High-explosive grenade blew off one of Lake Master Drago's chubby little hands. Salamanders have four chubby little hands, and now one was gone. More scarlet blood continuously spread from the bottom of the lake, almost turning into a large pool of blood.
"Roar roar roar…"
Intense pain swept through its entire body.
After enduring this blow,
Lake Master Drago completely lost its sanity, disregarding everything else. It directly opened its abyssal maw and bit towards the fishing boat. It now only wanted to perish with the prey on the fishing boat, but this was precisely a self-destructive choice.
"Whoosh—!"
"I'll take your heart, Gae Bolg—!!!"
Another harpoon with a High-explosive grenade tied to it. Javier shouted the embarrassing skill name and then violently threw it out. Because Lake Master Drago was currently opening its bloody maw, this harpoon could easily enter its body.
So…
"Boom!!!"
A silent explosion continued to echo.
The imagined scene of a destroyed boat and dead people did not occur. Wiping away the cold water droplets, what came into view was the massive corpse of the dead creature. A huge hole had been blown open beneath Lake Master Drago's mouth.
Its entire truck-sized body floated belly-up on the scarlet blood, completely devoid of any life. The High-explosive grenade just now not only blew open that abyssal maw inside its mouth, but the sharp shrapnel also pierced its head, causing its brain to crash and die instantly, leaving no room for struggle…
Chapter Twenty-Two: Follow Me
"Is it dead…?"
The fishing boat swayed. Ada held her crossbow, looking at Lake Master Drago floating belly-up on the lake, muttering with some doubt and uncertainty. These monstrously huge creatures often had extremely tenacious vitality, and her past experiences dealing with them had instilled a cautious conditioned reflex—
Unfortunately,
Lake Master Drago was truly dead.
It was not a product of the T-Virus or G Virus; it was merely a gigantic mutated salamander that had accidentally ingested a Plaga parasite. Essentially, it did not possess extremely strong regenerative abilities, nor did the Plaga parasite itself have such powerful regenerative capabilities.
Therefore,
After taking a few more High-explosive grenades,
Lake Master Drago could no longer withstand such damage. Its mouth and head were penetrated by the splashing shrapnel, so it was naturally as dead as could be. The entire lake surface was covered in scarlet blood, which was undeniable.
"It's dead,"
"Let's go. There should be nothing dangerous in the lake now. We wasted a lot of time dealing with this beast."
Javier, on his part, did not linger at all. After glancing at the belly-up Lake Master Drago, he started the almost dilapidated diesel engine and steered the fishing boat towards the Quarry. The Quarry was on the opposite side of the lake and was once an industry that the Wolf's Valley villagers relied on for survival.
But now, due to the invasion of the Plaga parasite,
The Quarry had also been abandoned.