Reborn As a Pirate - Chapter 194

Chapter 194: Crown Beasts!
As the sapphire-blue behemoth rose majestically from the sprawling lava lake, its sheer presence cast a palpable shadow of dread over the gathered onlookers. A wave of oppressive force saturated the air, making it thick with tension.

Ryan felt a knot tighten in his throat; his hand, gripping the hilt of his greatsword, quivered subtly. It wasn’t merely fear that shook him but a primal urge woven into his very cells, an instinct screaming for him to flee. Yet, he stood his ground, his body a battleground of instinct and will, his trembling hand a testament to the monster’s formidable aura.

“Powerful doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Ryan thought, overwhelmed by the creature’s mere presence, long before their inevitable clash.

Could this be one of the legendary “upper three-star” beings? Ryan pondered the staggering gap between levels; a single star’s difference that seemed like a chasm.

Doubt gnawed at him, but another possibility loomed even larger in his mind. Could this creature be the “Crown Beast,” a mythic entity documented by the deputy leader of his hunting group?

The word ‘Crown’ weighed heavily on his heart, plunging his spirits. Ryan was already uncertain about his prospects against a mere “upper three,” much less a creature of legend.

He recalled the vast disparity he had observed between the “lower-top” rank of the male fire dragon and the “upper one-star” unicorn dragon. The difference between “upper three stars” and “Crown” must be even more profound, he thought.

But such musings were quickly rendered irrelevant.

The giant’s piercing, draconic eyes, set deep behind a mask of solid sapphire, locked onto Ryan. In a fleeting moment of eye contact, the beast reared its head and unleashed a cataclysmic roar that echoed across the landscape.

“Roar!”

The roar’s terrifying sonic force upturned the earth, transforming the green slime scattered around into a churning mass that shifted from green to yellow, and then to a dire red. Moments later, the ground erupted in a series of violent explosions.

“BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

Explosions thundered all around, the slimy green fungi detonating with fierce intensity. Though Ryan was shielded from the heat by his special ability [Nullification of Heat Damage], the concussive blasts sent him reeling more than ten meters back, his hands numb from the shock.

Barely regaining his footing, Ryan sensed the ground tremble with the approach of the sapphire giant. Bursting through the settling smoke and debris, the massive shadow charged at him with terrifying speed.

In a desperate reflex, the dark gold, blood-patterned gloves on Ryan’s hands glowed ominously. Two “blood cores” materialized on his shoulders, unfurling a protective “blood barrier” around him just as the beast closed in for the attack.

“Crack!”

A chilling sound of shattering pierced the air. Ryan watched in disbelief as his “blood barrier” cracked under the immense force of the attack, shattering in less than a tenth of a second along with the two “blood cores” on his shoulders.

“Just a normal attack did this?!”

The realization hit Ryan hard. As his mind raced, a faint glow of blood surfaced on his skin, and he instinctively positioned his greatsword defensively in front of him.

[Special Sword Skill – Defensive Collision] activated! The air was charged with a dense blood light. At the moment of impact, the blood coalesced into a formidable “dominant blood membrane.” However, the beast’s assault was overwhelming, its power staggering. Despite the initial cushioning from the “blood barrier,” the membrane ruptured almost instantly.

Never before had Ryan seen his special sword skills so utterly overpowered. The stark disparity in their strength was beyond words.

“Bang!”

Propelled like a struck baseball, Ryan hurtled backward through the air, the searing wind slashing at his cheeks.

“Crack…”

He crashed down, his landing marked by a crater riddled with fractures, originating from where his feet struck. It was only then that he managed to absorb the shock.

Blood dripped from his hands that clutched the sword; his complexion was ghostly pale.

Despite the dual layers of defense with his “Blood Barrier” and “Special Sword Skills,” the residual force from the sapphire beast’s blow still rattled his internal organs severely.

“There’s no way to fight this!”

This stark realization dawned on Ryan. An ordinary attack from the creature had forced him to deploy his strongest defenses, and even those were barely sufficient. The power gap was a gaping chasm.

Clearly, the Sapphire Giant Beast was a true crown-level adversary.

“Escape! I must escape!”

But as despair crept in, Ryan questioned the feasibility of his escape. Despite its colossal size, the beast had shown a terrifying speed. His chances of outrunning it to safety seemed bleak.

“Is this how my journey ends?”

Ryan’s heart sank. The giant sapphire dragon’s eyes, mere specks compared to its massive form, twinkled with a mocking light. It seemed amused by the “ant” that had withstood its attack.

With deliberate slowness, akin to a cat toying with a mouse, the sapphire behemoth began to advance towards Ryan. It possessed the overwhelming power to end him effortlessly, yet it displayed a chilling patience.

But after just a few steps, the beast halted. Ryan’s heart lurched, a sharp sensation piercing through him, as if he was being cleaved in two from behind.

“Rip!”

A daunting shadow, cloaked in black and red, swept past Ryan with such precision that it etched fine white lines across his [Ceratops Armor]. As it passed, the monstrous sapphire behemoth froze, and the lithe, menacing figure also came to a halt.

Ryan’s eyes narrowed at the sight unfolding before him, a behemoth rivalling the size of the sapphire creature stood menacingly still.

Clad in a rugged exoskeleton, this new monster boasted a fortress-like shell, impenetrably tough. Its back was lined with colossal dorsal spines, each one arching defiantly toward the sky, as if challenging the heavens themselves.

Yet, it was the creature’s tail that captured Ryan’s awe; a massive appendage resembling a dark blue sword, stretching some forty meters in length. It was a sight that made the notion of a forty-meter-long sword no longer just an exaggeration but a breathtaking reality.

Another crown-level monster!

This realization hit Ryan as he observed the two titans sizing each other up, reducing him to a mere bystander in their monumental standoff.

In the face of such gargantuans, Ryan felt as diminutive as a mouse beside a human. He cautiously backed away, putting over twenty meters between himself and the colossi, until they seemed to dismiss his presence altogether. Only then did he retreat to a cave entrance barely seven or eight meters high.

This modest aperture, while grand for a human, was but a slit to these towering adversaries, both well over twenty meters tall. Inside this sanctuary, Ryan finally exhaled a sigh of relief, this cave was a refuge impenetrable to such massive beings.

Safe for the moment, Ryan transitioned from prey to observer, eagerly watching the standoff unfold as if it were a spectacle.

The sapphire beast, lord of the lava lake, faced the sword-tailed intruder, each wary of the other’s formidable might, a temporary truce hanging between them like the calm before a storm.

Yet, such a ceasefire was bound to shatter.

The sword-tailed creature, a bold challenger to this volcanic throne, showed no signs of backing down, its body language speaking of a readiness to clash, to test its mettle against the established monarch.

This was more than a mere encounter; it was a clash for dominion, a battle rooted deep in the primal instinct to claim and defend one’s territory.

After tense minutes of this silent showdown, impatience took hold of the sword-tailed beast. Unable to curb its combative nature any longer, it lunged forward, initiating the inevitable battle for supremacy.

As the sword-tailed beast coiled its massive tail around itself, it resembled a colossal greatsword being primed for release. The tail’s dark blue hue shifted to a fiery red, glowing intensely as if tempered in the forge of an ancient blacksmith.

Observing from afar, Ryan saw the sword-tailed beast bracing for combat, not retreat. The sapphire behemoth, sensing the challenge, roared defiantly. It harnessed power into its robust legs and launched itself skyward, its gargantuan frame casting a shadow as it descended upon its adversary.

“Boom!”

Just before impact, the sword-tail unleashed its stored energy. Its tail, now a blazing arc of red flames, swept through the air, creating a spectacular fiery arc that met the sapphire beast mid-fall.

The collision was cataclysmic, echoing like thunder clashing with the fire of the earth. Ryan, even from his distant vantage point, felt the ground shake, tinnitus and dizziness overwhelming him from the force of the explosion.

The sword-tail’s attack sent the sapphire monster reeling, but in the chaos, globs of green sticky substance splattered onto the sword-tail beast. As the substance shifted from green to red, a series of explosions battered the sword-tailed creature, enveloping the area in smoke and dust.

When the dust settled after what seemed an eternity, the landscape had transformed. The sword-tailed beast was nowhere to be seen. In its place stood the sapphire beast, its roar piercing the silence, a victorious declaration of its unchallenged dominion over the territory.

Ryan watched the victorious beast a moment longer before turning to retreat deeper into the cave.

“I’ll remember this,” he vowed silently. “One day, I’ll return to settle this score.”

For now, discretion was the better part of valor. Ryan had no desire to engage in a futile battle with the formidable crown-level sapphire behemoth.

Ah, to be more precise, that wouldn’t be a battle but a one-sided obliteration.

The cave’s interior was unusually bright, illuminated by the glowing magma flowing along the walls. As Ryan ascended the sloping passage, he came upon two [Super Strength Fruit Plants]. He quickly harvested three [Super Strength Fruits], increasing his total to eleven.

But as he ventured further, his pace slowed. Something unusual caught his eye.

Dollops of white sticky substance adorned the ground and the cave walls. Upon closer inspection, Ryan realized they resembled spider silk, yet the strands were far thicker than any typical webbing. This anomaly hinted at yet more mysteries and potential dangers lurking within the cave’s depths.