Chapter 1440 – Turtle Soup

So, a giant turtle wants to throw down with me? Hah! It’s nothing but a snack in my eyes. Though… it’s a pretty darn big snack.

Now that it isn’t covered by the goop, I can get a better sense of its core, and it’s definitely weaker than mine. This is a tier seven monster who didn’t manage to max out its core at some point along the line, or didn’t push the limits as far as it could have. I have the advantage in evolutionary energy, but that doesn’t mean everything.

This monster has clearly invested much more heavily in its body than I have. The turtle is significantly bigger than me, perhaps double my mass, with that broad shell covering its bulk. Looking carefully, that shell looks like it’s where the bulk of the evolution power has gone. It’s clearly made of an advanced material native to the fifth, the whole thing reeks of the fifth’s unique mana, but more than that, the pulsating holes in the shell tell the real story of the monster’s strengths.

There are perhaps a dozen openings in the shell, and from each of them spews an endless stream of thick goop, coating the shell and running in slow rivulets off the edge and onto the ground. This was the source of the pool all along, created by the turtle. Since it can seemingly control the sludge at will, it’s a defensive tool, a useful method of concealment, and a weapon all at the same time.

Confronted by a shiny, heroic challenger, the turtle gathers up the remaining sludge, ready to try and pummel me with it. Well, I’m not about to sit around and let that happen. My mind constructs churn, preparing a host of spells as I position myself carefully, ready to spring in any direction.

First thing to do is try and neutralise the goop. If the turtle is going to use it as a weapon, then getting rid of it seems like a good place to start. The sludge is rising up off the ground now, collecting into an enormous ball the beast is gathering over itself, so that makes an obvious target.

I unleash a stream of Dragon’s Breath, aiming to superheat the slime and burn away as much as I can, but my opponent responds quickly.

Blinded by my own fire, I don’t see the attack coming, and I have to say, without my antennae, I might’ve already been in a bad way in this fight.

I cut off the flame and throw myself into a roll to the right, just in time to avoid another chomp. Ethereal jaws of dark yellow energy smash shut beside me, and I retaliate in kind.

You wanna bite? I’ll show you how to bite!

EMPOWERED VOID CHOMP!

Two mandibles formed of pure darkness form, extending a dozen metres beyond my own as I lunge forward. A screaming void forms between those jaws, dragging everything inward with incredible force as the mandibles slam shut. There’s a colossal impact and everything in front of me goes dark, my vision totally covered by debris, dust and rock.

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There’s so much moving I’m actually taken by surprise when a blast of goop swerves around and slams into my flank. I’m sent sprawling onto my side, but I’m not injured. The impact is strong, but with the carapace and plating that I’m packing, it’s not nearly enough to cause any sort of injury to me.

But I don’t think that’s the point. Instead of stopping, the goop keeps pressing, trying to force its way through the gaps at my joints and burn the precious ant within.