After going into the sea, I met the witch.

Already enraged, it immediately took off strides toward Ryan.

"Bang... bang..."

Its immense weight caused the Water Fish Dragon to make a deep, resonant sound with every step it took.

Ryan's gaze was fixed on the Water Fish Dragon, calculating the distance between the Water Fish Dragon and the "Pit Trap".

"3...2...1...0!"

The "pitfall trap" was located in a straight line between Ryan and the Water Fish Dragon. Therefore, the Water Fish Dragon, which was traveling in a straight line, unsurprisingly stepped heavily into the "pitfall trap" with its right foot at the moment when Ryan's countdown reached zero.

"boom!"

The brittle branches could not withstand the terrifying weight of the Water Fish Dragon and broke immediately. Without the support of the ground, the Water Fish Dragon lost its footing, flipped over, and fell onto the beach.

"Boom!"

For a moment, sand and dust flew everywhere.

How could Ryan miss such a golden opportunity?

He darted forward, rushing to within a meter of the fallen water dragon's head, and shouldered the Greatsword - Ferocious Ice, beginning to charge up his power.

Muscles swelled, veins bulged, and spirituality surged wildly within him.

Thanks to the breakthrough he achieved in the battle against the Black Knight, Ryan successfully completed the first stage of his [Storm Combat Skill - Wave Breaker] "Charge" this time, and the entire process took only two seconds.

At this moment, the fallen water dragon was still struggling on the ground, unable to get up.

The larger the creature, the greater the damage it suffers after falling and the more difficult it is to get up. Not to mention that the Water Fish Dragon is not a purely terrestrial creature, making it even more difficult for it to get up.

"what!"

With a loud shout, Ryan slammed down his greatsword, which had been fully charged, and it struck the Water Fish Dragon's head with tremendous force.

……

In an unknown and strange space.

Frey looked curiously at the strange cube-shaped object in front of her, and then her gaze settled on the image that had lit up on it.

"What is this?"

"An isolated island? A raft?"

Without keeping Freya waiting any longer, in the silent scene, a figure outlined with abstract lines suddenly appeared on the raft.

Compared to the surrounding objects in the exquisite picture, this figure can only be simply identified as a human shape; physical features and facial features are completely invisible.

Freya looked at the picture with curiosity. She saw that after leaving the raft, the figure in the picture traveled westward along the coastline. Soon, it encountered a strange shark with regular light red veins crawling all over its body.

At that moment, the screen froze, and several lines of text appeared on it.

The wanderer, still clinging to his original aspirations, is invited to aid his battle companion, Great Silver (Red Silverback Shark), who is about to encounter a powerful enemy—the Water Fish Dragon.

[Comparison of combat strength between the two sides: Traveler (21), Silver Giant (19) vs. Water Fish Dragon (29)]

[You currently have an initial investment of [Spirit Essence: 100] (after it resets to 0, you can receive 100 Spirit Essence daily as your initial investment). You can bet on the outcome of battles. If your bet is successful, you will receive a proportional [Spirit Essence] reward based on the difference in combat power between the two sides.]

[Ratio between the two sides – Traveler: Water Fish Dragon = 2.0:1.1, minimum investment is 100 Spirit Essence.]

[Spiritual Essence can be exchanged for valuable resources at the [Nameless Ship's Prow]. These are highly sought-after resources, so please bet carefully.]

[You have 30 seconds to place your bet. If you do not place an bet after the countdown ends, you will be considered to have forfeited this [view] and will be exited from the [viewing area]. You will be able to re-enter after 00:00 the following day.]

"This is?"

Frey's eyes widened slightly, her dark blue pupils reflecting a soft, shimmering light.

The 30-second countdown had begun, and time was of the essence. She quickly deciphered the information displayed on the screen.

With the help of her family's secret treasure, she came to this magical place called the "Viewing Grounds," where she could "invest" in the battles displayed on the screen. If she won, she would gain more "Spiritual Essence," but if she lost, she would lose everything.

The effect of [Spirit Essence] is that it can be exchanged for a certain precious resource at [Nameless Ship's Prow].

Freya wasn't sure if what was being shown on the screen was true or false, but it was just an "investment," and she wouldn't lose anything. Even if she lost, she would simply have to leave the "Viewing Grounds."

Of course, Freya would naturally want to win if she could.

She was eager to see what exactly these so-called "precious resources" were.

As the countdown gradually decreased, after a brief moment of thought, Freya made her decision.

"Fish and dragons plunged into the water!"

Whether comparing combat strength or the odds after betting, the Water Fish Dragon is undoubtedly the stronger party.

Although the amount of spiritual essence gained from winning the Water Fish Dragon investment would be much less, Freyne decided to prioritize stability for her first investment.

"I choose you, Water Fish Dragon!"

Chapter 57 Greatsword charging, head coming!

The place I've been traveling to: an isolated island, the western outskirts of the region.

A huge, blue-gold scaled monster fish struggled on the beach, trying to get up, but what it was met with was a silver-blue greatsword whistling down.

【Storm Sword Skill - Wave Breaker】, a charging attack.

—Here comes the first one!

"clang--!"

It was clearly a collision of metal and flesh, yet it produced a metallic clang.

The intense shockwave nearly caused Ryan to lose his grip on the greatsword.

"Such a hard skull! Such hard scales!"

Ryan's expression was solemn, but he was not surprised.

To support such a massive body, the skeleton of the Water Fish Dragon must be extremely strong, even tougher than ordinary metal. With layers of scales and muscles removed, it would be virtually impossible to cleave its head open with a single sword strike.

Even with the special skill [Craftsmanship] making his [Greatsword - Ferocious Ice] sharper than ordinary low-tier artifact weapons, this is still true.

Ryan's gaze fell on the spot where his sword had just struck. With a "charged" strike, the scales on the Water Fish Dragon's head shattered and its muscle layers were torn apart, revealing the monstrous skull beneath.

Its skull is even more robust than its scales.

To break it open, you need to attack the same spot repeatedly.

The ichthyosaur was struck on the head, causing it to shake its head and almost lose its balance, falling into a state of "fainting".

Ryan would certainly not miss such an opportunity.

Using his right foot as a pivot, he rotated his body one and a half times, hoisting the greatsword back onto his shoulder and entering the "charging" state once more.

His muscles were trembling and his bones were groaning. Having just completed a "charge," he needed to bear an immense burden if he wanted to use his [sword skills] again in a short period of time.

If it weren't for the power of the "Necklace of Abundance" continuously restoring his strength, he would never have been able to accomplish this.

One second, two seconds, three seconds!

It took Ryan a second longer than the last time he charged up before he completed "one charge-up", and at this moment, the Water Fish Dragon was about to wake up from its "stunned state".

"what!"

Ryan's power surged from his feet, through his waist and hips, and down to the greatsword in his hand, his entire body twisting into a single rope before bursting forth.

The silver-blue sword blade landed precisely on the wound previously inflicted on the water bream's head.

A crisp cracking sound of bones breaking was heard, accompanied by the sharp, low growl of the water dragon.

Having suffered two heavy blows to its vital parts, even a behemoth like the Water Fish Dragon could hardly withstand it. After finally managing to pull its leg out of the "pitfall trap," it rolled over again and crashed to the ground.

"Hu Chi... Hu Chi..."

Ryan was breathing heavily. If he still had the strength, rushing to the head of the Water Fish Dragon would be an excellent opportunity to behead it again with his greatsword. Unfortunately, he was severely exhausted and needed some time to recover.

But Ryan didn't just sit idly by.

A flash of light appeared on the spatial ring on his finger, and a deep red flintlock pistol appeared in mid-air, which he held in his hand.

The vein-like thing extending from the butt of the gun pierced his palm. With a "gurgling" wriggling sound, Ryan could clearly feel his blood being absorbed. After about half a second, the "sucking" ended, and he aimed at the water lemur's eyes and pulled the trigger hard.

"boom!"

The unique smell of gunpowder filled Ryan's nostrils.

A bright red bullet flew out of the barrel. Because it was the first time using a flintlock musket, and the distance was more than ten meters, Ryan's shot failed to hit the water merman's eye, only leaving a small blood hole on the facial scales next to the eye.

Ryan was somewhat disappointed by this, but he didn't take it too seriously.

This shot was just a supplementary attack. For someone using a gun for the first time, it was already quite good that I could shoot like this.

As long as it causes injury, that's enough.

The "Bloody Bullet" of the Bloody Flintlock will cause a powerful "bleeding" effect once it inflicts a wound. Without special treatment, the "bleeding" will never stop, making it a god-tier weapon for prolonged battles.

The longer the bleeding continues, the more severe the bleeding becomes, and the weaker the injured person will become.

The small wound near its eye went unnoticed by the excruciating pain in its head.

Finally standing up, its reddened fish eyes stared intently at Ryan.

At this moment, it no longer cared about even the big silver; its "hatred" was entirely focused on Ryan.

"Woo..."

With a low hiss, a faint blood mist appeared on the surface of the Water Fish Dragon's body, and at the same time, its blue-gold scales also took on a light red color.

"It's not 'Crimson Transformation,' but rather a method similar to 'Berserk'?"

Ryan felt a chill run down his spine and held his greatsword in front of him, assuming a defensive stance.

"Boom--boom--boom!"

After taking three steps forward, the massive body of the Water Fish Dragon lunged forward, its abdomen secreting a special kind of mucus, which allowed it to slide along the beach at high speed towards Ryan's location.

Ryan's expression changed. The distance between him and the Water Fish Dragon was not far to begin with, and the Water Fish Dragon's moves were too fast and had a very large cross-section. Rolling, dodging and other methods were simply not enough to dodge. The only way to deal with it was to pounce, but even that was not safe.

As for taking it head-on? Ryan wasn't that stupid. Given the size difference between him and the Water Fish Dragon, trying to withstand this "Fish Dragon Charge" was simply wishful thinking, akin to a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

With his life hanging in the balance, Ryan didn't have time to think and lunged to the side.

However, the cross-sectional area of ​​the Water Fish Dragon was simply too large, and even though Ryan had used all his strength to pounce, he still could not escape its attack range.