As the massive black fish charged towards them, Arlong assumed it would try the same trick again and planned to wait for it to leave.
But in an instant, its speed increased, and its body lunged forward abruptly.
"This is bad."
Arlong's expression changed, but it was already too late.
Boom.
Xia Qiu's enormous body slammed into Hachi from the rear-left. More than half of its body—
Hachi noticed it earlier than the other Fish-Men. Seeing the direction, he thrust his six arms forward and rapidly retreated.
Xia Qiu, two meters in front of him, charged straight into the area between him and Arlong, heading for the Fish-Men.
Seeing Xia Qiu pass by, Hachi immediately lunged, intending to attack its flank.
But the moment Hachi moved, Xia Qiu tilted to the right, presenting its belly to Hachi.
Crack.
Xia Qiu bit down on one Fish-Man and continued charging, crashing into another.
The Fish-Man tried to dodge but was still hit, its bones breaking, and it coughed up blood, rendered unable to fight.
Meanwhile, Hachi lunged directly at Xia Qiu's belly. Xia Qiu's eight tentacles suddenly sprang open, then retracted, lashing out at Hachi.
The twelve-meter-long tentacles whipped out, encircling him.
"This is bad."
Hachi's heart sank when he saw Xia Qiu flip sideways. He stopped his charge and immediately retreated.
But he was already too close to Xia Qiu's belly, and Xia Qiu's tentacles, about twelve meters long, retracted as it flipped and then shot out.
The tentacles' extension speed was faster than Hachi's rapid retreat.
When the tentacles retracted, Hachi was only at the mid-point of them.
However, Hachi didn't panic. He kicked out with his six tentacles and two legs.
Bang, bang, bang...
Eight muffled thuds echoed.
Hachi's limbs struck Xia Qiu's eight tentacles. He felt an immense force, and then, using that force, his body shot backward.
Bang.
Xia Qiu's eight tentacles contracted together, disappearing from his front.
Hachi avoided being bound, but he stood there, looking at his arms and legs with lingering fear.
There were bloody gashes on them, and in some places, flesh had been torn away.
These were the claws on the tentacles. As Hachi retreated, the claws retracted, grazing his tentacles and legs, leaving wounds.
"So painful."
Hachi's arms throbbed with pain, but he didn't stop, instead lunging towards Xia Qiu.
The moment Xia Qiu crashed in, Arlong first dodged backward and then lunged at Xia Qiu.
He had experienced Xia Qiu's strength and knew about its sharp teeth, so he naturally avoided a direct confrontation.
His first choice was to attack Xia Qiu's flank.
But Xia Qiu happened to flip to the right, and its massive first dorsal fin lunged forward.
In front of the first dorsal fin was a hard spine, protecting the fin behind it. It was about four meters long and about forty centimeters thick at its widest point, deeply rooted in Xia Qiu's back.
Seeing the huge dorsal fin of the sea fish about to hit him, Arlong turned directly and hugged the dorsal fin.
Boom.
Xia Qiu, carrying Arlong, charged forward into the distance.
Crunch, crunch.
Arlong hugged Xia Qiu's dorsal fin spine and opened his large mouth, biting down on a section. His teeth clamped shut.
With a bite force capable of crushing cannonballs, he directly snapped the hard spine.
Hiss.
Xia Qiu's body twitched in pain. He hadn't expected Arlong to prioritize attacking his dorsal fin.
With the dorsal fin damaged, his balance would be weakened.
Of course, Xia Qiu's enormous size and two dorsal fins meant its body wouldn't easily topple.
For example, blue whales actually have dorsal fins, but they are very small, only a few tenths of a meter.
Xia Qiu had huge pectoral, pelvic, and anal fins that could assist with balance.
As Arlong gnawed at his dorsal fin, Xia Qiu couldn't let him continue. He didn't attack immediately.
He charged out a certain distance, then abruptly turned back, executing a drift.
Swish.
Arlong stopped moving and clung tightly to Xia Qiu's dorsal fin.
"You can't shake me off."
Arlong bared his fangs and bit down again, damaging another part of Xia Qiu's dorsal fin.
Seeing that he wasn't being shaken off, Xia Qiu didn't try any other methods and let Arlong gnaw at his dorsal fin.
Xia Qiu circled around and charged at the Fish-Men again.
Crunch.
Xia Qiu bit down on a Fish-Man who tried to dodge, killing him instantly.
Bang.
Xia Qiu whipped his tail, striking a Fish-Man. The immense force shattered the creature's bones, and it slowly sank.
Pathetic.
In just one exchange, Xia Qiu had killed four Fish-Men.
Only Arlong, Hachi, and one other Fish-Man remained.
"This bastard."
Arlong stood on Xia Qiu's back, watching Xia Qiu devour the Fish-Men, filled with rage.
Four more had died.
Only he, Hachi, and one other Fish-Man were left.
Adding the four Fish-Men who stayed behind, only five Fish-Man soldiers remained.
But he had to kill him.
Too many had already died; he had to kill him for revenge.
If he didn't kill him, he might die himself.
Arlong gnawed at Xia Qiu's dorsal fin, having already bitten off the top meter and a half.
Hachi also seized the opportunity, moving to Xia Qiu's side and lunging at him.
Takoyaki.
Hachi raised his fist and struck.
But the next moment, four tentacles shot out from Xia Qiu's abdomen, lashing towards his own back.
Because some of Xia Qiu's tentacles were between his pectoral fins, the first and second pairs couldn't be used. The fourth pair of tentacles were very long but relatively thin, making them less effective in combat.
Thump, thump.
Hachi's fists landed on Xia Qiu's back, producing only two dull sounds.
Feeling the tentacles coming down, Hachi pushed off with his remaining four hands and retreated rapidly, dodging Xia Qiu's strikes.
Xia Qiu's back scales were slightly indented but not broken.
With the strength of Hachi's punches, the scales could no longer be broken; the force was absorbed by the scales and then by the muscles beneath.
Meanwhile, two other tentacles lashed out at Arlong.
These twelve-meter-long tentacles could easily reach over Xia Qiu's roughly seven-meter-tall body to strike him.
"Not good."
Arlong's expression changed, and he raised his right hand to block.
Bang.
A loud noise echoed as one tentacle missed, and the other struck Arlong. He raised his left hand to block.
"Ah..."
Arlong was hit. The force wasn't immense, but the next moment, a claw dug into his arm.
The claws were angled inward. Xia Qiu twisted the tentacle, striking Arlong with it.
Gulp.
Xia Qiu retracted his tentacle, tearing a chunk of flesh from Arlong's left arm.
However, Xia Qiu was disappointed that Arlong hadn't fallen off his back or managed to injure Hachi.
Xia Qiu immediately charged forward, simultaneously controlling his tentacles to continue striking.
The sudden charge made Arlong stumble, but he still gripped Xia Qiu's hard spines to steady himself. But the next moment, the tentacles attacked again. Arlong didn't dare to take the hit directly, nor did he want to fall off Xia Qiu's body.
So he dodged to the right, moving to the other side of Xia Qiu's dorsal fin.
But in that instant, a tentacle from the other side struck.
Bang.
Arlong's back was hit. The massive tentacle whipped him, and instead of retracting, it pressed down and contracted.
Splash.
The claw pierced his back, causing him immense pain.
Arlong realized that being on Xia Qiu's back was not a good idea. Not only did he have to exert strength to grab the dorsal fin to resist his charging posture, but he also had to contend with water resistance and his attacks.
So Arlong directly pushed himself sideways, spreading his tentacles, letting the claw tear away large chunks of flesh from his back as he swam upwards.
And at this moment, Hachi also pushed back, intending to pounce again.
But Xia Qiu had already charged forward, violently swinging his tail.
The fish tail whipped out, and Hachi raised all eight arms in front of him, colliding together.
Bang.
Hachi was sent flying backward, but his tentacle arms absorbed the force, and he wasn't seriously injured.
Xia Qiu, meanwhile, had successfully broken free from the two, circled around, and charged again.
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Translation by: randomtranslator.com
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