With a snap of his fingers, the air shifted, excluding itself from the immediate area around the crustacean. It brought the black-armored, shore protector to a halt as all of the oxygen was siphoned immediately.
["Absolute Air Lock"]
"Ha-ha! He took away its ability to breathe! That spell is invincible!" Everett cheered in support of his best friend.
Maverick seemed to think differently, "No! Emilio! A Dread Cruster doesn't need oxygen!"
The abnormal, exoskeleton creature once more revealed surprising aspects of itself as it dashed forward again despite being completely deprived of oxygen.
'What–?' Emilio thought.
The massive claws of the Dread Cruster were rapidly thrust in his direction, jabbing forth like bullets that seemed strong enough to rip steel apart. To the Dragonheart, these attacks were nothing impressive as he weaved through them before countering with his own–
[Draconic Burst] [Draconic Surge] [Factor of The Dragons]
The dark-blue scales around his body suddenly ignited with a cerulean glow, overcoming with a hum as if an engine churned inside of him as he slammed his knuckles against the chest of the Dread Cruster.
CRACK
Flung back, scales crumbled away from the sea-dwelling monstrosity's exoskeleton before it crashed into the sand.
"Didja get it?" Everett curiously asked.
"Nope. Not even close," Emilio said, regretfully, "...I think I just pissed it off."
Amidst the disturbed sand, which vibrated under an inexplicable aura, the humanoid crustacean rose as its black-and-red exoskeleton shattered, revealing what was beneath:
A creature with white, fleshy skin and beady black eyes stood there, having a circular head and solid, armor-like plating naturally infused beneath its skin.
"What the…?" Everett said.
"Crap, crap, crap!" Maverick rustled his own hair, "This is the worst-of-the-worst-of-the-worst!"
Emilio looked back at the man experienced with the island, "What is it?"
"...That exoskeleton served as the incubator for Dread Crusters–what you saw before was just their transitional form! When you break that armor without killing it, it…it becomes that–a 'God Cruster'!" Maverick explained.
"A God–what?!" Emilio responded in disbelief.
It seemed unreasonable; a joke almost, but the unsettling sensation couldn't be denied from the fleshy, white humanoid that now stood on the shore. Around the awakened cruster, the sand continued rippling from its presence alone.
'This island is the worst,' Emilio thought
There wasn't much of an opportunity to lament the unexpected transformation as he was forced to begin sprinting as holes opened up on the white-fleshed being's body. Dozens of vibrant, orange beams shot in every direction, curving around and attempting to catch the Dragonheart.
He raced across the sand, being forced to slide across it as beams swept just over his head, flipping around and dodging between them, avoiding their scathing graze.
"Stay behind me!" Everett shouted to the red-bearded man, keeping his shield planted against the sand.
Maverick responded, "Yeah, well, not like I have any other choice! Still…Is he going to be alright? Your friend's strong, I can tell that much, but–a God Cruster is a helluva threat."
"Dontcha worry 'bout Em, he'll never lose like that," Everett smiled, watching the battle from behind his shield, "I'm sure he'd never admit it, but right now he's having a blast. That's the kind of guy he is: he'll tell you violence should be the last option, but in an intense fight like this, he's happier than a kid with a new toy."
–
Beneath the draconic mask, an unintended smile kept creeping up on his lips as he nimbly dodged through the sweeping beams of raw mana, even using his own sword to keep some of them at bay as he got closer-and-closer to his target.
As a few beams swept towards him, he slid across the sand again, pointing his hand forward with his index finger pointed like a gun, releasing a volley of high-speed, small fireballs that packed a punch.
"C'mon!"
The God Cruster was forced to cut its expulsion of raw mana short, closing the holes in its body before it began dodging the bullets of fire that shot at it.
[Draconic Burst]
Packing power into his legs, he burst across the shore, closing the distance between himself and the snow-white, nebulous creature. Just as he came to a stop, stomping down against the trembling sand as he pulled his sword back for a killer slash–
"--!"
The God Cruster's torso split, suddenly opening a massive, gaping hole in its chest that gave way for a gathering of raw mana. It was quick and unexpected; the enormous amount of heat gathered swiftly.
"Em', get out of the way of that–!" Everett warned from afar.
FWOOOOM
The shore-line protector released the colossal beam of unrefined mana straight from its chest, shooting across the sand and rippling through the shore with ludicrous power. Fortunately, the Dragonheart reacted in time, having leapt up as he infused his blade with a condensed, bright-blue heat.
'--Enough of this. I need to start taking this seriously or else somebody else will get hurt,' he thought.
Using flames on the soles of his feet to propel himself downward directly upon the God Cruster, which only just then noticed it had missed its attack, he swept in swiftly, swiping his blade through its chest.
"No more of that," he said, knowing it was about to unleash its raw mana again.
As he cleaved his sword through its chest, he witnessed its flesh attempting to stitch itself back together in the same moment, leading him to instead swipe his blade rapidly. With a dozen more strikes used in that second, all imbued with his draconic fire, he turned the white-fleshed creature into mincemeat before holding one hand forward.
["To Ash"]
Casting a burst of fire forth, he reduced the chunks of the God Cruster into nothing more but ash that mingled with the grains of sand.
[Level Up!]
[Level 56 Achieved]
[New Skill(s) Acquired: Heat Flash]
"Phew," he breathed out, lowering his hand as his scale armor crumbled away.
Rushing over, the two men that traveled alongside him looked both surprised and excited by the sweeping victory.
"You actually defeated a God Cruster, without losing a limb or two, no less…" Maverick said in shock before smiling, "Hell, kid! That's next level!"
"Told ya'," Everett proudly said.
Rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms after finishing the battle, Emilio let out a small sigh, "Let's just keep on moving, yeah? I'd rather not leave my friends alone on this freaky island any longer than I have to."
"Yeah, yeah–of course!" Maverick nodded frantically.
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