Chapter 1184 - 585: Crimson and Pitch-Black_2

Taking advantage of the brief moment while the Shark Beast was being held up, two more figures darted over, taking positions around its flanks.

Its crimson eyes flicked sideways, gaze sweeping past that swaying, furred, striped long tail, and the faint afterimage lingering in place beside it under the caress of the breeze.

The Blood Skin Shark Beast couldn’t help feeling this was getting troublesome.

They were all Senior Adventurers with extremely rich combat experience; without needing any verbal communication, the professionals on the field had already read Xia Nan’s plan from the situation in the sea.

Well aware of how much impact Spellcasters had on the entire battlefield, they naturally couldn’t allow the Demon before them to threaten him.

Noticing the Shark Beast’s urge to retreat, Lorin, Captain of "Sword of Vengeance", was the first to bring Barbarian Aken forward, pinning it in place for a brief moment.

Close behind, Striped Catman Sasha, who had been fighting side by side with Aken, finished off the Fishman Elite Guard entangled with him, then circled in from the flank, trying to give his teammates a hand.

It was worth mentioning that the Captain of the "Wind Forger" party, Sefeng, actually rushed over at this moment as well.

Seeing him gripping his Double bladed Stabbing Sword tight, brows knitted in concentration, it was obvious he too was thinking of buying more time for Xia Nan down in the sea.

With things having developed to this point, if they wanted to get the crew off Stodd Island safely, battle was now unavoidable.

He had just watched with his own eyes as Iron Grid, Captain of the "Furious Tide Battle Gang" with whom he had accumulated endless grudges over the years, died right in front of him.

Sefeng’s emotions were tangled, but he didn’t feel the imagined rush of revenge.

Under the crushing pressure brought by the Fishmen, he quickly steadied the turmoil in his heart.

He temporarily set aside his complicated, knotted thoughts; knowing that if they wanted to end this fight, Haiya’s surprise attack beneath the surface at this moment was critical.

Seeing the Shark Beast trying to go back and stop it, Sefeng, who was already not far away, didn’t think too much—driven purely by the instincts of an adventurer and a party leader, he moved in to engage.

Front, back, left, right—the Blood Skin Shark Beast’s four directions were blocked off by Lorin, Sasha, Sefeng, and Aken respectively, with Druid Hai Yin lurking a short distance away, ready at any time to release Spell support or transform into an Albatross to evade attacks.

Unlike its earlier One-on-One fight with Iron Grid, it was now simultaneously surrounded by four professionals, plus a Spellcaster.

Even with the Blood Skin Shark Beast’s level of strength, it wasn’t as if it could just ignore them and break through with ease.

"ROAR!!"

It suddenly let out a frenzied bellow and, just like when it had cleared the field earlier, used its feet as an axis, yanking on the iron chain and swinging the ship’s anchor around its body like a shot put, sweeping it twice around in an attempt to force the surrounding adventurers back.

All four had already seen it use this move from afar; their reactions differed, but each pushed their own combat style to the limit.

Standing right in front of the Shark Beast, closest to it, Lorin sensed its intent almost at the instant its muscles bunched with power.

He instantly triggered his Battle Skill [Flame Breath Reverse Tide]; as the erupting Flame seared the enemy’s flesh, he was also blasted backward by the Flame’s recoil, retreating into a safe zone;

Aken’s body was somewhat bulky, but his reactions were far from slow. Hugging his giant axe, he rolled twice across the deck in a messy but effective dodge, slipping past the sweep;

Sefeng’s legs blurred, leaving afterimages as he moved; just a few steps took him out of the anchor’s attack range;

And the lithe Sasha was even more daring and technically gifted; while flattening himself to the deck to avoid the first swing, he even crept a few steps closer toward the enemy.

When the Shark Beast noticed this recklessly bold little mouse and adjusted the arc of its swing, bringing the anchor low in a horizontal sweep, the Striped Catman’s legs coiled and he sprang up, slipping past the sweep as lightly as if he were jumping a skipping rope.

At the same time, his Short Swords crossed as they came down; his legs kicked off the Shark Beast’s back for leverage, carving an "X"-shaped wound into the back of its neck as his body was flung away.

His long tail swayed, subtly correcting his center of gravity midair, and he landed smoothly.

Unfortunately the window of opportunity was too brief to fully commit his strength, so the wound he left on the Shark Beast wasn’t deep; the bleeding quickly stopped and the flesh began to knit together again.

Flame-scorched pain burned across its chest, while the back of its neck throbbed with the cut left by the blades.

The Blood Skin Shark Beast’s scarlet fish eyes, which had seemed a bit irritable before, now turned eerily calm.

Its greatest difference from ordinary Fishmen and even all the Shark Beasts it had summoned earlier lay in its battlefield-veteran-level mature mind.

Even after a brief setback, it could quickly adjust its mindset, refuse to let Anger and anxiety devour its reason, and avoid making terrible decisions.

First of all, it was absolutely certain that in terms of individual strength, every adventurer on the field was beneath it.

In fact, even if they formed a simple party, they still wouldn’t be a match for it.

Right now, these four adventurers around it might look like their Professional Levels weren’t low, but if they thought that just the few of them could pose any real threat to it, that was nothing short of a pipe dream.

The only reason its attacks had just now gone poorly was the agitation from the rear, where the Priest had come under assault—it had been too impatient and failed to stay rational.

If it truly set its mind to fighting these irritating adventurers and smashed their skulls one by one, it was only a matter of time.

But clearly, with the Fishman Priests behind currently under attack, if it wanted to minimize the overall losses of the Fishman forces, it couldn’t afford to waste too much time here.