OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 369: Cannonjaw Crocodile

Junior slowly led them into battle, his shield and sword raised high.

Jake was almost touching shoulders with him as he wielded a single assault rifle, inscribed with all the Runes he knew, aimed at the Cannonjaw in the distance.

Emma was to his left, her half-dark-blue, half-bright-red staff gripped with both hands, flickering with the two elements.

Aria was behind her, doing the same with her staff, its vines pulsating.

Elijah was to her right, his daggers raised to shoulder level, prepared to strike at a moment's notice.

Next to him was Quinn, wielding a bloodied sword that she had picked off the ground.

Sofia was the last of them, at the back with her anti-material rifle trained on the construct, ready to unleash deadly rounds the size of her hand.

It was a 1-2-3-1 formation.

She could've stayed back, the furthest distance possible, making it a 1-2-3 formation, but that would've been a death sentence for the girl.

Her camouflage ability would be of no use; the level difference was too high.

Besides, she couldn't use more than two abilities at once, so she couldn't be camouflaged in the first place, as both the slots would be taken by Eagle Eye and Longshot.

It wasn't so ideal to be a stationary target for a walking cannon.

She also would've been susceptible to attacks from Berta Scorpions as she would have been too distracted by the Cannonjaw.

Her attempts to get a shot at its weak points would repeatedly fail, not only because of the distance but also because her cohort would block her from shooting.

So this formation was what they came up with in the few seconds it took them to enter the death-stained arena. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

Aria would've vomited if she could, but her stomach had run out of food, though that didn't stop her from gagging every few seconds.

Sofia had her nose scrunched up, absolutely despising the smell, while Jake and Emma showed almost melancholic faces.

Elijah was fine, for some reason, scanning the scene with a blank gaze. Junior was the same, as in, he didn't react much to the carnage before him.

Quinn had a completely different reaction from the rest.

She was smiling.

'Serves you right!'

It seemed that it didn't come to her mind that those who trampled over her had lived, while most of those who didn't actually died.

But those next to her didn't have time to fix her thought process.

The construct had finally turned around, swallowing what remained of its meal with a rumbling gulp.

Hair, limbs, snew, and unidentifiable junk were stuck in its diamond-like teeth. Jagged and sharp.

Its green eyes were upon them, and as soon as it shut its mouth...

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The battle had begun.

"AETHERIC BULWARK!"

Junior bellowed and planted his wall shield on the ground, bracing for impact.

As the others did the same, each cannon shot out a rocket, similar in size to the ones Emir and co had used.

They reached the Bulwark in no time.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ground rumbled as Junior's Aether reserves dropped, the Aetheric Bulwark taking a lot out of him to stay up, cracks forming upon it, allowing what remained after the explosion to pass through.

But it was all blocked by his physical shield, scattering into the ground.

"Now! Aegis Of Radiance!"

As they felt the sudden increase in strength, the bulwark in front of them disappeared.

The melee fighters, Elijah and Quinn went in separate directions around the construct, dashing as fast as they could.

Ratatatatatatatat!

Meanwhile, Jake began firing at the Cannonjaw, his bullets hitting the first of its three cannons, digging into its armor.

Emma had a strong spell ready, and she weaved it alongside Aria as they attacked at the same time.

"Beyond Zero!"

"Entangling Roots!"

A spell much weaker than Morgiana's shot out Emma's staff in the form of a large arrow, heading straight towards the construct's eyes. Underneath that arrow were Aria's roots, moving forward in a wave-like motion.

They hit the Cannonjaw at the same time, and it reeled back slightly from the impact.

But it didn't stay like that for long, almost immediately shaking off the damage.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

It let out another trembling growl and prepared to fire at them.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three thumps resounded as the rockets shot out, but the first exploded only a few moments

after it left the cannon's nozzle, Jake's bullets shutting it down.

Now only two remained, and that was the moment for Sofia to shine.

She previously didn't try to disable the cannon from afar; it wouldn't have worked, so instead

her role was...

BANG!

To reduce its ammunition.

Boom!

She aimed in the middle of both rockets, destroying them at once.

Pieces of what remained flew out in all directions, smashing into the walls and forming

debris.

At that moment, Elijah and Quinn reached the construct, but with a stomp of its legs, they were pushed back, the air pressure too strong for them to handle.

[Shit! It's going to move!]

Jake warned and Junior took heed, redeploying the Aetheric Bulwark.

[Step back!]

As the Cannonjaw charged at them, its massive bulk crashing through debris as if it were

nothing but air, they moved back, their steps quick.

They weren't trying to outrun it; instead, they had something prepared.

Just as the construct stepped over where they were previously positioned, Aria screamed:

"Seed Burst!"

Boom!

An explosion thundered the ground, directly hitting the construct's underbelly.

GRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAH!

Though it roared in pain, its charge didn't stop, only slowed.

Bang!

Its head crashed into the bulwark, cracking it even further, but it still managed to push back

the now-dazed construct.

Junior grunted, much of his Aether spent.

[Elijah, Quinn! NOW!]

Jake commanded, getting away from cover and resuming to fire at the first cannon.

While Sofia, Aria, and Emma did the same, Elijah and Quinn returned to attack the Cannonjaw,

but as they did so, a swarm of Berta Scorpions suddenly emerged from the rubble near the construct, drawn by the noise and chaos.

They skittered towards the two, pincers snapping.

[We've got company.]

Sofia quickly shifted her aim from the cannon's nozzle and started picking them off one by

one with precise shots.

[Yeah we fucking do!]

[Way to go queen obvious!] Elijah and Quinn sarcastically replied while finding themselves dodging between the

scorpions, their movement becoming increasingly frantic.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The Cannonjaw growled once more as it got out of its daze and responded with terrifying

speed, its massive form moving with surprising agility.

It lashed out with its tail, narrowly missing Elijah, who rolled to the side and struck at its

joints.

Quinn followed suit, her darkened sword slicing into its flesh.

Her attack left barely a scratch, but it brought the construct's attention.

That was something she couldn't handle.

With another stomp, she was pushed away, and one of the cannons on top trailed her path

through the air.

But just as it was about to shoot, Sofia interfered, her bullet hitting the cannon's barrel,

damaging it while shoving it to the left.

Whoosh!

The rocket flew, a few moments passed, and then boom!

It hit the ground three or so meters away from Quinn, killing a bunch of Berta Scorpions and causing her to crash into the wall due to the force of the explosion.

She took a moment to breathe, as the Cannonjaw's attention returned to Jake, whose bullets kept finding their mark on the first cannon, chipping away at its integrity.

Emma and Aria weaved spells non-stop, ice that chipped away at its scales and roots that

momentarily kept it in place.

The construct roared in anger, its green eyes burning with fury.

But before it could shoot them with its rockets, Elijah jumped on top of it, standing right next

to its last cannon, away from his cohort's attacks.

"Spectral Scythe!"

He summoned his scythe and used it as a pickax, repeatedly hitting the top of the cannon,

slowly digging into it like Jake did.

With no delay, the construct reacted, whipping the second cannon towards him and firing.

Whoosh!

But Elijah was ready.

He dove and rolled, reaching the ground while narrowly avoiding a rocket that would have

turned him into ash.

Berta Scorpions rushed to him upon his landing, not giving him a chance to breathe.

Quinn, who had enough of that, chanted her Aetheric Blade ability again and went forth, charging at the construct.

She killed a few scorpions on the way, decapitating them with pure strength, curtsy to her cybernetic implants, and stabbed her swords into its left back leg.

The sword pierced through like a skewer through tough, overcooked meat, roughly and

barely.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Another growl resounded, and this time the construct seemed really mad.

It complexly ignored the barrage of damage it took from the rest of the cohort and focused all

of its attention on Quinn.

'...What?'

Quinn looked up.

Three cannons were aimed at her.

She was about to die.

[I've got the back.]

[Middle.] [It's almost destroyed!]

Or so she thought.

Elijah, Sofia, and Jake weren't about to let that happen.

As the rockets shot out, the first one was destroyed by a swinging scythe, the second by a loud

bullet, and the third...

No, the third wasn't destroyed.

At least not as quickly as the rest.

It seemed that Jake's bullets weren't enough.

Or perhaps the first cannon was the strongest.

Who knew? At that moment, the cohort certainly didn't.

Many bullets had banged against the rocket, but only one finally penetrated it when it was just

two meters away from Quinn.

BOOM!

It exploded directly above her, engulfing her in a devastating blast.