Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 761 - 26 Tentacle_1

Chapter 761: Chapter 26 Tentacle_1

Atop the Tree Network, Pannis stood still with his eyes closed, arms folded across his chest, allowing the breeze from the tree tops to tousle his blonde hair. As the prey was cornered and the hunters gathered, Panni’s face grew stern and the energy fluctuations around his body evened out.

"Everyone, be prepared." Pannis muttered with his eyes still shut, using the absence of his sight to enhance his auditory and energy perception. "I fear trouble is coming. Are you ready to fight beside me?"

"Of course." The girls replied chuckling joyfully. Catherine, tapping on her scale armor in knightly battle etiquette responded with a smile, "We’ve been ready for a while now and prepared to fight with you regardless if it’s against great or small enemies, in life or death situations."

"Thank you." The emotion on Pannis’ face changed, finally settling on a complex smile. He nodded, "If so, then let’s fight together for the first time in a true sense."

Indeed, throughout their shared adventures of nearly two years, Pannis has never truly fought alongside the girls. Or, at least, when he is unleashing his full power. Whether it was in Angus Village, where he held back his abilities, or on the far sea islands when he single-handedly restrained the Deep-Sea Whale Crab, none of it could be categorized as truly joint combat. More often than not, Pannis stood behind the girls, intentionally distanced like a parent guiding their children to walk, indifferent to their stumbles and falls, allowing them to suffer bruises and injuries. He only stepped in if their lives were in peril, discretely eliminating dangers. His method of assistance enabled the girls to claim these successes. As per his early statement when he joined the adventure team at the entrance of the Crying Cave, denying adventurers their time to grapple with certain death won’t make them grow stronger, but will make them useless beyond their flashy persona. Perhaps his words were initially in jest, but also reflected lessons learned from his numerous experiences of hardship. Using these lessons as fertilizer and dangerous adventurer life as the nurturing field, the girls’ growth was rapid and stable, ultimately becoming partners that could truly fight alongside him. Even though the strength disparity still remained a crucial factor, and they couldn’t back him up in battles against Demigod Rank intelligent beings, they were more than enough to face Demigod magical beasts.

The hunt beneath the Tree Network was at its turning point. Whether for elves or lizard men, the designation of the hunter could swiftly change amidst the dense forest and muddy swamps. Every creature could either be hunter or prey and even the most powerful and experienced hunters were no exception. The hunter could become prey to an even powerful predator. The duels between hunters and the hunted, decisions between life and death, were the cruel realities of nature and the inherent appeal of hunting.

Just when the shield bearer repelled the magical beasts with a massive shield and the spear thrower dealt significant damage with a second round of Throwing Spears, the tide began to change. The hunters suddenly became prey to a gigantic beast. Mud splashed as hundreds of enormous tentacles sprung up around the hunters and the hunted, forming new surrounding circles of tentacles. Some even ruptured from within the ranks of hunters, disrupting their formation, or amidst the magical beasts, catching several of them. Some even penetrated the Tree Network high above, breaking open wide holes.

The sudden appearance of the giant tentacles sent shivers down their spines. Meaty and as thick as a human waist, the tentacles were covered with black, fine scales and suction cups of human head size, with concealed sharp thorns growing on them. The tendrils moved freely and swiftly, as if they could just as easily wind themselves into bow knots and then unbind as easily, which was deeply unsettling to the onlookers. What was even more terrifying was that they could dodge any attacks, as if they had a vision of their own.

However, no matter how dreadful the giant tentacles appeared, they only sparked a natural aversion in the girls but no real fear. Their past encounter with the Deep Sea Octopus Clan in their Ocean Form conditioned them to remain unfazed by such scenes. They had seen a gigantic octopus stretching its four to five kilometer long eight limbs in the deep sea darkness. Each arm was almost a hundred meters in diameter and appeared as a wall upon close approach. Compared to the limbs of the Deep Sea Octopus Clan, the so-called giant tentacles were merely as thin as a spider silk strand in humans’ eyes. The previous encounter made the girls rather indifferent to these tentacles, but they knew better than to downplay their power as demonstrated earlier.

Terrifyingly aggressive, those giant tentacles were indeed special Demigod Rank Lurkers. Each carried an immense power; those extruding from the crowd could casually swing around and send the Lizardman shield bearers flying several or even over a dozen meters away, shrieking in pain. Nothing could obstruct the lashing of giant tentacles, potent enough to topple the sturdy suguwood trees. The outer rank spear throwers were in even worse shape. Without the protection of the massive wooden shield, they bore the brunt of the tentacles’ attacks and were quickly flung around by them high up in the air. They were just barely hanging on by their Aggression energy, seemingly unable to hold out for long.

However, the lizard men were indeed the mightiest and most seasoned hunters of the swamp and they swiftly reorganized. They ignored the magical beasts, who were equally vulnerable to the tentacles, and quickly rallied together. Some of the strong ones formed the innermost circle to guard against tentacles welting out from inside again. Holding their massive shields, a substantial number of shield bearers formed several layers around the spear throwers who were hoard in the center. The spear throwers in a relatively safe position started throwing heavy spears toward the agitated tentacles outside. Most of the spears were evaded or failed to penetrate the tentacle scales but a few hit and punctured deep. The spears carrying Aggression energy exploded inside the tentacles, punching big holes through them. The purple blood spurted out of the torn holes, falling like a rain of blood.

Just as the hunters’ formation gradually steadied and even rescued some of the tribesmen engulfed by the tentacles, a sudden change happened again. (To be continued... If you like the book, visit qidian.com to vote and support the author. The support will be my greatest motivation. Mobile users are welcomed to read at m.qidian.com)