Chapter 60: The Overlord Crocodile
The cursed people behind were locked in chaotic battle with the giant crocodile swarm, splashing filthy water everywhere with constant booming sounds. Among them, Amu was the most ferocious, riding on the back of one giant crocodile, swinging his Dragonheart Axe down repeatedly, sending blood and shredded flesh flying.
Not far away, gray death flames rose as Amangs wielded his rapier with one hand. A giant crocodile covered in death flames rolled in the water, shrieking in agony from the burns.
They had the upper hand, but they couldn't afford to be careless. Just moments ago, a cursed person had its arm bitten off by a giant crocodile. Mushrooms grew wildly from the severed stump, and soon the cursed person transformed into a large mushroom, then exploded into a cloud of spores that spread to the surroundings, causing several other cursed people to sprout mushrooms.
The cursed people's resistance to supernatural fungi wasn't very strong. Though they carried curse power within them, cursed people existed in a state between life and death. Dead things were more easily eroded by fungi, and the supernatural energy here came from the Demon Sea, which shared the same origin as curse power, so there was no suppression effect.
After confirming the battle situation behind him, Su Xiao refocused his attention on the giant crocodile leader ahead.
Ripples spread across the murky water beneath the giant crocodile leader. Its eyes held not only coldness but also greed. It possessed some kind of devouring ability—if it could devour Su Xiao, it would grow even stronger.
Su Xiao estimated that his chances of winning a one-on-one fight against this eighth-rank overlord creature were at most thirty percent. If he returned to Reincarnation Paradise this time and converted the resources he'd gained into combat power, his odds would improve significantly.
Boom!
The giant crocodile leader charged forward. Despite its massive size, it wasn't clumsy.
The giant crocodile leader had considerable intelligence, but it was still just a supernatural beast. Facing such a creature whose strength was overwhelming and whose speed matched his own, would Su Xiao fight it alone? The answer was yes, of course—but before the duel, he had a gift to give it.
A wind pressure carrying a rancid, rotting smell rushed toward him, blowing back Su Xiao's black hair and the hem of his clothes. He stood motionless, as if suppressed by the giant crocodile leader's aura.
Amid splashing mud and water, the giant crocodile leader reached Su Xiao in an instant. Its massive jaws opened wide, clearly intending to crush Su Xiao in one bite before swallowing him.
Rows of fangs nearly 40 centimeters long appeared before him. Su Xiao slightly lowered his body, assuming a posture to leap upward.
Just as he was about to be crushed by the giant crocodile leader's bite, Su Xiao leaped forward toward it, throwing something from his left hand into the creature's mouth.
Because Su Xiao was in a state of Space Penetration, his body passed through the giant crocodile leader's upper jaw, appearing on top of its head.
The giant crocodile leader's eyes rolled upward to look at Su Xiao. In those savage eyes, confusion was now written.
Midair, Su Xiao released his grip on Dragon-Slaying Flash. A crystal layer climbed up his right arm, making it twice as thick as usual.
Bam!
Su Xiao punched the front of the giant crocodile leader's head. The creature's massive jaws slammed shut with a sound like wooden boards colliding.
Don't forget—Su Xiao had left something inside the giant crocodile leader's mouth just now. Not an Apollo, but something else. Su Xiao called it a curse bomb. The name didn't sound impressive, but its power was formidable.
When Su Xiao was embedding the second curse stone into the Black Crow Ring, he used 50 large soul crystals to create five hollow containers.
During the curse stone embedding process, Su Xiao should have been severely eroded by curse power, but through his alchemical creations, he channeled that curse power into the containers via a device.
What Su Xiao had thrown into the giant crocodile leader's mouth was one of those containers filled with curse power—a curse bomb.
Su Xiao punched down, and the crystal layer on his arm shattered. The giant crocodile leader's jaws closed completely, and the curse bomb exploded—not inside its mouth, but deep in its throat.
Boom.
A muffled sound came. Standing on the giant crocodile leader's head, Su Xiao felt a tremor beneath his feet. In his perception, the creature's abdomen suddenly bulged like it was inflated, then gradually returned to normal.
The giant crocodile leader froze in place. Gray smoke drifted from the sides of its mouth. Its body trembled. It was furious, but couldn't move at all. Curse power had instantly filled its internal cavity. The fact that it didn't die was a testament to its absurd survivability.
Su Xiao jumped down from the giant crocodile leader's head. He didn't take the opportunity to slash it a few times. Dragon-Slaying Flash wasn't yet at Immortal Rank, and against such a thick-skinned behemoth, it could only deal limited damage.
Su Xiao wouldn't fight this beast head-on. There was no need for that, and whether he could win was a big question anyway.
Landing in front of the giant crocodile leader's mouth, Su Xiao grabbed its upper jaw with his left hand and stepped on its lower jaw with his right foot. Then he exerted force with both limbs simultaneously. Crocodiles had terrifying bite force, but their jaw-opening strength wasn't that strong.
As soon as he pried the mouth open, dense curse energy rushed toward him. Anyone else would have retreated immediately, but for Su Xiao, the surging curse power was nothing. Over the past few days, he'd grown accustomed to being eroded by the Demon Sea curse.
Another curse bomb appeared in Su Xiao's hand. He tossed it into the giant crocodile leader's mouth, then quickly retreated.
Boom. Curse energy exploded inside the creature's mouth. This time, the giant crocodile leader's reaction was even more intense. Its thick limbs began to weaken, splaying outward in four directions before its belly crashed into the water.
Flying overhead, Baha witnessed this scene and muttered, "What a big turtle."
The giant crocodile leader's jaws were slightly open. Its fierce eyes stared at Su Xiao. It was gradually adapting—the Demon Sea curse and the giant crocodile leader's own Demon Sea energy shared the same origin. It was normal for the creature to slowly adapt to the numbness caused by curse power, but the erosion of curse energy inside its cavity couldn't be avoided.
A few meters away from the giant crocodile leader, Su Xiao threw another curse bomb. It streaked through the air like a blur, disappearing into the creature's slightly open mouth. The third curse bomb exploded, and curse energy spread everywhere.
The giant crocodile leader's gaze grew even more ferocious. It could feel its body quickly regaining sensation. Though its insides had been eroded until they were as fragile as dead wood, its external defense remained strong.
Just before the giant crocodile leader's body fully recovered, Su Xiao raised his hand. Baha swooped down from above and dropped something that landed perfectly in Su Xiao's hand.
Su Xiao threw it with all his might. The object in his hand streaked through the air like a blur, vanishing into the giant crocodile leader's mouth.
After doing this, Su Xiao turned and walked toward the nearby battle group. The giant crocodile leader rose from the water, charging toward Su Xiao on its four thick, short legs. But it didn't know—it was already dead.
Even with intelligence, this was still a beast. Once enraged, a beast's instincts would override its reason.
Boom!!
The Apollo inside the giant crocodile leader exploded. Its external defense greatly limited the explosion's range, but it also massively amplified the explosion's power.
A simple analogy: placing a lit firecracker next to a bottle versus inside the bottle yielded completely different results.
After the deafening blast, the giant crocodile leader's entire hide bulged outward. The three curse bombs earlier had reduced its internal cavity's defense three times. Now, an Apollo finished the job. The carnage was unimaginable.
A "giant leather ball" spewing golden flames from both ends appeared behind Su Xiao. This ball was a full 50 meters in diameter. It could only be said that the giant crocodile leader's external defense was truly formidable.
The giant crocodile leader died from an internal cavity explosion. It seemed brutal, but it couldn't compare to the intracranial high temperature that the Moon God had once endured.
Muddy water splashed behind Su Xiao, mixed with the color of solar flames, creating a beautiful, dreamlike scene.
[Notification: You have killed the Overlord Giant Crocodile · Manwu.]
[You have gained 7.19% World Source.]
[You have gained 1,270 Soul Coins.]
[You have gained an Overlord Chest.]
[You have achieved the world achievement: Crocodile's Reverence.]