OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 370: Cannonjaw Crocodile II

Chapter 370: Cannonjaw Crocodile II

?

The girl certainly wasn't lucky.

She was no Arthur, maybe even his opposite.

That Cannonjaw was obviously targeting her more than the others.

Perhaps it was due to her cyber-enhanced body...

But then the question of why it didn't do the same to Jake would come up.

Indeed, that would not make sense.

So this possibility would be deemed incorrect, leading everyone to a natural conclusion.

It was targeting Quinn because it deemed her to be the weakest among them.

The easiest human to kill.

Unfortunately, it was correct.

Quinn had only one ability, and that was Aetheric Blades.

She couldn't protect herself from the explosion.

Her augmented suit had to take it head-on.

And that was what happened.

A burst of flame, metal, and smoke came at her, smacking her into the wall, while also burning through her force shield at incredible speeds, killing it in under a second.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

She screamed in pain as her sword fell from her grasp.

But thankfully, those moments were enough for her to survive, even though her exposed skin was charred to oblivion, while her body's inside was boiling hot.

The cohort felt relief at the scene, even Sofia.

Though hurt, traumatized, and near death, Quinn was still alive, only needing a few old- world medicines to get patched up.

Clack!

But to their dismay, a Berta Scorpion near her had survived, its pincers snapping in anticipation as it closed in on her.

Elijah, Aria, and Emma weren't able to help, their abilities were too slow.

[Quinn watch out!]

[Run away!]

[This fucker!]

Sofia needed to reload, and Jake couldn't stop shooting at the Cannonjaw for if he did, it

would focus back on Quinn.

[To your right, you idiot.]

[Fuck! Someone do something!]

And Junior ... well, he was barely surviving himself.

[...Dammit!]

The girl was about to die.

Through her blurry vision, she saw it, but she didn't dread it.

If that was to happen, she wouldn't stay idle.

Her death wouldn't be without consequence for the killer.

At least... not if her enemy was Emir.

"GRRRRAH!"

With a growl mimicking that of the crocodile, her battered body lunged forward with all the strength it could muster.

She bull-rushed the scorpion, smashing into the carapace before it could snap its pincers.

That blow sent it reeling, blinding and almost killing it, but that was it, 'almost.'

Its tail came down and caught her shoulder, tearing a hole through the metal.

"URGH-!"

Quinn muffled a scream as she pressed her body forward, using her weight to kill the scorpion, its needle-like metastoma still lodged in her shoulder.

Screech...

It died beneath her, its head smashed in.

She, who didn't know that, tried to remove the needle but couldn't; all her strength

exhausted.

"Quinn!"

Elijah yelled, rushing to her side, and slashing at the scorpions on the way.

While he did that, one of Jake's bullets finally made their way into the cannon, and Sofia, who had just reloaded her anti-material rifle, was not one to miss that opportunity.

"Longshot."

BANG!

A bullet of immense weight hit the target in moments, causing the cannon to explode in a shower of sparks and debris.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

The Cannonjaw growled in pain and fury, its movements becoming more erratic, its stomps pushing Elijah away, but that only benefited him as he used the wind and landed next to Quinn

in a roll.

"Stay with me!"

He quickly picked her up and rushed out of there.

'She's heavy...'

With that thought aside, his feet moved faster than ever before, scrambling to reach his

cohort before the Cannonjaw could fire the next rocket.

The Reaper tried his best.

He really did.

But he wasn't fast enough.

Whoosh!

A rocket was fired before he could reach the Aetheric Bulwark.

"Fire Wall!"

Emma had predicted that this would happen.

Her wall of fire barely blocked the explosion until Elijah crossed and reached the bulwark,

unable to handle the impact.

"...Haahhh, fuck."

Elijah breathed out, slightly trembling at that close call.

It wasn't the first, as this entire fight so far had been a series of close calls, but this was particularly close, in fractions of time.

[Hide her somewhere!]

Jake's command echoed in Elijah's mind, but he didn't need to be told that as he was already on the way out, shuffling through his pockets for old-world medicine.

[Jake, Sofia, cover us!]

[We'll focus on the second cannon!]

The two did as they were told while Emma and Aria ran out of cover, heading right, to a place

filled with rubble and dead scorpions.

And as they got into position, they combined their magic again, weaving their spells at the

same time.

"Flaming Tornado!"

"Leaf Storm!"

As Aria's roots withered away, the construct's ability to move had returned, but in its place, a combined ability of far more strength had been conjured.

Leaf Storm was the ability that made Emir say that what Aria had done to Ava was a mercy.

Even he deemed it as strong.

Well, against slow-moving or big targets, at least.

Now it was even stronger, as the storm of leaves that spun around the second cannon was lit

on fire due to Emma's tornado.

With each leaf slash, the metal sizzled, and the crocodile's scales burned.

It certainly damaged it, but it was slow.

At that pace, they would kill the construct in around a half-hour.

Not great considering their Aether reserves were almost drained already.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The Cannonjaw response to their tornado was a relentless one.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the two scurried back to the bulwark, its two remaining cannons fired in rapid succession,

but they never hit their target as Jake and Sofia had them covered, either shooting down the rockets or deflecting the barrels away.

Seeing its attacks defended, the beast quickly changed its strategy, lunging forward, its jaws

snapping at the air.

[Make way!]

Junior ran past the retreating Emma and Aria as they finally got behind him and clashed his shield with the construct's lower jaw, pausing its momentum for a moment, only to get pushed back, his feet dragging the ground.

His strength was meager compared to the Cannonjaw, so it was an obvious result.

But that wasn't what he had planned for.

As the construct's mouth opened wide, about to snap him in half, he dug his sword down,

aiming at the gap in between its teeth.

Squelch!

His sword struck true, causing the construct to wince, and swing its head around in an attempt

to throw him and his sword out.

Junior complied with its demand only after checking behind him.

[I'm back!]

[.....]

Elijah had returned, and Sofia was ready.

"CLEAR!"

She surprised those next to her and shouted from the back, her AMR trained on the construct.

Junior flung himself off, and Elijah rushed forward, masking himself with his Grim Veil.

She fired a shot that streaked through the air, hitting the beast's left eye with pinpoint

accuracy.

GRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAH!

The Cannonjaw growled with hurt, momentarily blinded on one side.

And Elijah chose that very side to approach it. Veil combined wit its momentary blindness, gave him the perfect chance to attack

it unawares.

As Emma's and Aria's abilities dissipated, Elijah slid under it, wielding two daggers that he used to gut the construct's underbelly, aiming at where Aria had previously injured it.

The location was obvious, as blood continuously dripped off it, pooling on the ground in a

small puddle.

But just as his daggers reached the beginning of the wound, the Cannonjaw reared up on its hind legs, revealing a series of sharp, spiked tendrils underneath.

It lashed out at him, catching Elijah off guard, but he managed to block the biggest of them,

receiving little to no physical damage as he was sent flying backwards.

The attack wasn't only aimed at him, however.

In fact, most of the tendrils headed to Junior, and he was caught with his pants down-no

bulwark to defend the cohort.

"AETHERIC BULWARK!"

Reactivating it took a moment, and that was enough for some of the tendrils to reach them.

He went forth, his shield up, and took the attack on by himself.

But again, it was too strong; he barely managed to deflect the tendrils upwards and away.

That resulted in him being forced downwards and with no time to react...

Crack!

He landed hard, dazed, and struggling to breathe as his shield clattered alongside him.

"Junior!"

Elijah shouted, his eyes wide with panic, as he ran back.

[Protect him from the cannons!]

Sofia shook her head, and as Elijah's foot reached the ground near her, he noticed why she

reacted that way.

Junior's bulwark was still up, ready for another volley.

'...How?'

Quickly getting behind it, he stepped next to Junior, who kept writhing on the ground,

gritting his teeth, barely holding on.

'Big brother chose well...'

Elijah thought, unable to suppress a compliment.

As the younger brother of a man who valued loyalty above all else, Elijah held it in equally

high regard, making this thought instinctual, ingrained in his blood.

[It's time.]

Jake tapped Elijah's shoulder, and they exchanged a determined nod. They knew what needed to be done.