Chapter 48: Lakeshore (3)

The downward strike of the giant crab’s pincer. I barely dodged that attack.

The movement itself was large and somewhat clumsy, so it wasn’t hard to avoid.

But the vibration that shook the ground when it struck. That vibration was not normal.

‘F-first, the mana…!’

I calmed my agitated chest and circulated mana. I felt a refreshing stimulus in my muscles.

I had practiced whenever I had time, so I was able to react immediately.

“Grrrlk.”

Meanwhile, the giant crab raised its pincer again. Despite its enormous size, it was surprisingly agile.

As soon as I saw it, I moved my legs. It was better to abandon the idea of taking that attack.

Clack!

“Huh?!”

But, not being used to the terrain, I made a mistake. As I stepped back, something caught my foot.

For an instant, I felt the world spin, and my field of vision showed the sky.

Even in that situation, with my body tilting backward, I acted on instinct.

“Khg…!”

A not-so-light impact transmitted to my back. Even so, I could endure it.

Before falling, I curled my body to minimize the damage.

It was the result of applying the falling technique that Swordmaster explained.

Thud thud thud—

Even as I staggered and fell, the giant crab didn’t stop.

Perhaps because it had many legs, it approached quickly despite its size.

Slip—

I tried to get up no matter what, but I slipped a bit.

Meanwhile, the giant crab’s pincer slowly rose, casting a shadow over my head.

Getting up like this was difficult. Instinctively, I raised my shield to block.

I wished with all my strength that the shield would protect me, while raising the mana in my body to the maximum.

Claaang!

A sound like metal clashing against metal. The impact that followed.

My arm went numb, but it was bearable. Weaker than the muscular mushroom.

Before another blow came, I desperately rolled my body.

Bang!

While I rolled, the giant crab must have struck again with its pincer.

I felt the vibration run through my entire body as I silently got up.

The giant crab adjusted its direction by moving its many legs and approached again.

‘I have to stop thinking about blocking and counterattacking.’

If I blocked with the shield, I’d lose my arm first.

I had to find an opening somehow, but it was difficult.

‘Even though its attacks are simple, the problem is that they’re fast.’

I thought while continuing to move my legs.

This was also advice from Swordmaster think while moving.

That way you don’t give the enemy an opening and you can steer the situation in your favor.

Bang!

And Swordmaster’s advice worked. The giant crab missed.

The giant crab’s pincer fell exactly where I had been before.

Now’s the chance. I infused mana into the sword and swung it with force.

The sword, wavering like a mirage, cut into the pincer.

Slash!

The gripping part of the pincer was cleanly severed.

It wasn’t a decisive blow. Only the tip fell, not the entire pincer.

It was inevitable due to its enormous size. I couldn’t split it completely in one strike like a certain person.

‘Cut it little by little.’

But it was enough. If I attacked it gradually like this, I could kill it.

Whoosh!

The giant crab swung its pincer without the claw.

The pincer itself was a massive blunt weapon, so it was still dangerous.

I kept moving my legs while analyzing its weaknesses.

‘Wait. This guy…’

Then I found a clear weakness. And a very critical one.

Crabs, by nature, can only move sideways.

Even if they grow, that characteristic doesn’t change.

In other words, its attack range is very limited. No matter how much it swings, there’s a clear limit.

‘Especially, its turning speed is very slow.’

While it swung its pincer, I moved quickly and took its rear.

The giant crab tried to turn, but it was too slow. It also couldn’t hit me with its pincer.

It was the sad fate of a creature designed only to move sideways.

Slash!

While it was turning, instead of the pincer, I cut one of its legs.

With a single slash, two legs were severed.

A combination of HeavenlyDemon’s sword and aura.

Thud!

Losing two legs at once, the giant crab lost its balance.

Part of its body tilted; it couldn’t even support itself properly.

My goal was to completely take away its mobility.

Since its turning was already as slow as a turtle’s, I exploited that weakness to the fullest.

Slash! Slash!

I kept taking its back and cutting off its legs.

After cutting two from each side, it completely lost the ability to turn.

After that, cutting the rest was easy.

Slaaash!

Finally, I completely cut off its pride—its pincers.

Only the body remained, lying on the ground.

Even so, being a crustacean, it kept writhing even after everything had been cut off.

Crack!

I climbed onto its shell and drove the sword in.

I aimed between its eyes, at the upper center.

Scrraaaape!

I pulled the sword downward as if using a lever.

HeavenlyDemon’s sword, capable of splitting even hard wood like tofu, descended without difficulty.

Finally, the blade reached the lower part of the shell, and I pulled with all my strength.

Slaaash!

Since it no longer had legs, it didn’t split completely in two.

But as long as it stopped moving, that was enough.

I lightly shook the remains of viscera off the sword.

“Haa…!”

I exhaled forcefully. My heart was pounding violently from the adrenaline.

If I hadn’t found its weakness, it would have been a very tough fight.

No—more than tough, I could have died.

It felt strangely exhilarating.

“Grrrlk.”

“Grrk.”

At some point, small crabs approached and began devouring the giant crab’s corpse.

Even as a giant crab, it faithfully fulfilled its role as a scavenger.

I watched that scene and posted on the gallery.

Title) I hunted a giant crab

(photo of the corpse of a huge crab)

On the lake shore, a giant crab much bigger than a person appeared;; it used its pincers like blunt weapons.

Luckily, it turned very slowly, so it was easy to kill. What kind of creature is this?;;

I just posted and didn’t check the comments. I had to return immediately.

Not only had I fallen on my ass, I had also rolled around on the ground non-stop.

If I left it like this, aside from the smell, I could get sick.

‘Next time I need to bring good shoes.’

With this, I understood how important shoes are.

Especially when I slipped, I felt like my whole life flashed before my eyes.

I took a deep breath again and started walking back.

‘The fish corpse… is over there.’

I didn’t forget the way back.

The remains of the fish and the crab they had been eating were also there.

Just thinking about carrying this discomfort with me made me dizzy, but I had no choice.

“Grrrlk. Grrk.”

“……”

I saw a crab on the way and carefully picked it up.

Then I bought a backpack from the auction house. Not a waist one, but one for the back.

‘I can’t hold it.’

As soon as I get to the cave, I’ll eat it. I also have to give some to Wonmo and the sloth, so I stored two more.

I thought about giving one to the dwarf, but the trade will be tomorrow.

The crab was perfect as a side dish, so I planned to come back tomorrow.

‘AllFather said it’s edible, so it must be good.’

I wasn’t worried about parasites.

They also didn’t seem to rot among themselves.

So far, these things only ate their own kind when they were already dead.

Rumble—

Just as I was happily thinking that, the ground trembled.

Every time there’s an earthquake, it never ends well.

As soon as I thought that, I quickly looked around.

Splash! Splash!

From the depths of the lake, giant crabs began to appear one after another.

Their size was similar or slightly larger than the one I had fought.

There were at least five. I stared at them, stunned.

I had barely managed to kill one, and now five appear.

If I hadn’t moved, it would have been dangerous.

‘Is this really a lake? Isn’t it the sea?’

There was no salty smell, so it was definitely a lake.

I moved carefully so they wouldn’t notice my presence.

Fortunately, until I reached the start of the river, they didn’t look at me even once.

They were too busy picking up their companion’s corpse with their pincers and eating it.

‘They’re faithful to their instincts.’

It seemed their number one priority was corpses.

The name scavenger suited them perfectly.

I slowly stepped back and then turned around. It was time to return to the cave.

Rumble, rumble—

Then it happened. A completely different vibration.

Much stronger than the ones caused by the crabs.

For a moment I thought it was a real earthquake, but then I heard an impossible-to-ignore noise from the lake.

Boooom!

The sound of water rising and crashing down.

I turned my head toward the lake.

“……”

The scene I saw left me speechless.

I thought the giant crabs were already huge, but there was something much worse living in the lake.

‘…Shit. What is that?’

If the giant crab was the size of a truck, this was the size of a building.

In height, it was comparable to an apartment block.

So big it completely ignored perspective.

Can that even be called a crab?

It was basically a walking building.

Title) Find what’s strange in this video

(WildGrills)

(video of a building-sized crab alongside other giant crabs)

What’s strange? Try to find it!

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) Hmm? Why does the sky look so small?

ㄴWildGrills) Good question. Why is that?

ㄴSwordmaster) It’s the first time I’ve seen a crab that big. Does that even exist?

ㄴWildGrills) Good eye. I don’t believe it either even while seeing it.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) Looking closely, it’s enormous. I find it interesting.

ㄴWildGrills) Want to come? Let’s catch it and steam it.

ㄴHeavenlyDemon) My subordinates are stopping me, I can’t go. I’m sorry.

ㄴAllFather) Oh;; oooh;;; shit, what is that?

ㄴWildGrills) haha I don’t know either. Is it your first time seeing it, AllFather?

ㄴAllFather) The species is definitely a Gapers crab… but… I don’t know if to call it a new species. What is that?

ㄴWildGrills) It looks unbelievable to me too.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) That looks like a walking mountain;;; hey, can I ask you something?

ㄴWildGrills) Do you want a crab as a side dish? Because of the cooldown, I can give it to you tomorrow.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) thanks thanks, since we’re at it give me one of the big ones.

ㄴWildGrills) you’re crazy haha

ㄴWow;; I have no words. Isn’t that a spirit?

ㄴLiterally, it probably has a core inside its shell

ㄴAt that size, it can definitely be considered a spirit haha

ㄴAren’t you planning to catch it?

ㄴWildGrills) no;; there’s no way I can kill that. One normal one was already hard

ㄴNothing is impossible. If you try hard enough, you can do it

ㄴIf you kill it, the gallery will explode haha

ㄴWildGrills) if someone helps me, I’ll try lol

ㄴ(no replies)

ㄴWildGrills) you bastards, answer

While looking at the gallery, I kept moving my legs.

I wanted to get back as fast as possible. My body felt heavy from the humidity.

‘But why does the back of my neck itch so much?’

Maybe because the tension wore off, my senses sharpened.

And along with that, the itch as well.

I couldn’t resist and scratched it with my right hand.

Soft—

I felt something soft. At that moment, I froze completely.

My instinct told me. This wasn’t good.

Even when I pressed it with my fingers, it didn’t come off.

I swallowed and grabbed it.

Then I pulled hard to rip it off.

It stretched like gelatin.

Plop!

With pain and a strange sound, something came off my neck.

It was big, enough to hold with my whole hand, and slimy.

Slowly, I brought my hand in front of my face to see what it was.

It wriggled— it writhed—

What I had in my hand wasn’t a red slime but a brown leech, grotesque at a glance.

And it was huge.

“Aaaahhhhh!!!”

I want to get out of here as soon as possible.