Blood Nemesis-Chapter 126: Danger

The crab’s rocky carapace was slick with slimy algae. Oliver had to tightly grip the slippery surface to avoid falling.

He moved his hand forward, finding cracks in the stone-like shell to secure his grip. Once he felt stable, he climbed to the flat area above the crab’s head.

However, his actions went unnoticed.

Oliver’s baseline mana reading remained at one unit. Although he had adapted to using approximately 20,000 units of golden mana without harm, his body still couldn’t generate it independently.

Consequently, the crab presumed he was a harmless creature clinging to its body for dear life and ignored his presence.

’Well, that’s rude. To think you would ignore me.’

Oliver stood on the elephant-sized crab, which was walking into deeper waters, feeling annoyed.

’Should I store some mana in my body?’

While he couldn’t generate mana, he could still store the golden mana in his body due to his increased control. His limit was about 10,000 units—the maximum he could store without emitting an outward golden glow.

’Well, why should I? I prefer stealth over showing off, right—right?’

Doubtfully, he sat atop the crab as it moved deeper and deeper into the water.

Initially, he considered killing and eating the crab, as it was known to be delicious. But he changed his mind when he realized the gentle giant had no intention of harming him.

The crab was enormous and contained a lot of meat. However, he would waste the majority of it if he killed the creature for food.

The warm, humid climate of the island was unsuitable for storing crab meat. Besides that, there was a limit to how much he could eat.

With Root away, most of the meat would spoil before he could finish it.

Hence, it would be a meaningless death.

Oliver didn’t want to inflict a meaningless death on the poor creature.

According to his beliefs, killing without purpose was something only demons would do. As a person who detested demons more than anyone else, he found no joy in imitating their actions.

So, he sat patiently on the crab’s body.

Water slowly rose around him, covering his legs, then his waist, and a few seconds later, his chest.

The crab was already submerged, and he was about to be. But Oliver didn’t care at all.

The bait he carried was already soaking in water. Its strong scent might already be flowing into the lake, carried by the gentle current around the island.

Any second now, crabs, both big and small, would begin crawling towards him. He wanted to see if he could catch a silver crab in the chaos. And even if he couldn’t, he wouldn’t be disappointed.

A few seconds later, he noticed the water around him churning wildly.

It was the tiger fish again.

Their slender bodies moved through the deeper water like lightning.

The faint moonlight illuminated their forms as they streaked around him.

’They’re called the sharks of the lake for a reason,’ Oliver thought.

He could sense the scent of blood in the water. The tiger fish were feeding on other creatures attracted by the bait.

’Yes, they’re not going to leave me anything.’

Oliver was disappointed.

For some unknown reason, the tiger fish were swarming the shallow waters of the island today, as if scared of a creature lurking in the deeper waters.

’Maybe I should return...’

As his thoughts reached this point, he noticed something unusual.

The water around him began to turn murky. It had a much deeper color of mud and algae, as if something had disturbed the water.

Even the elephant-sized rock crab hadn’t created such a large disturbance when it walked.

Instantly, he felt another wave of blood hit his nose.

This wasn’t from the tiger fish. Suddenly, he also noticed a change in their demeanor when the rock crab walked into the murky water.

None of the tiger fish were following him anymore.

’What is it?’

Seeing at night, in the darkness, wasn’t exactly his strong suit.

As the depth of the lake increased, along with the swirling mud and particles, he could barely see anything.

A second later, the rock crab stepped over a ledge, completely submerging both their bodies in the muddy waters.

Oliver was accustomed to long swims underwater, so he wasn’t startled by the sudden change.

His body, used to healing from all injuries, activated and began to consume blood to support his respiration. He wouldn’t die of suffocation because of that.

With approximately 40,000 liters of blood in his blood sac, he could remain underwater for over a year if he truly wished to.

So, Oliver confidently grabbed the crab’s shell, sinking into the deep waters.

The crab’s body was sinking like a rock, making a beeline towards the bottom.

Closing his eyes, Oliver tightened his grip.

Without using mana or blood tentacles, he had a difficult time. Still, he didn’t want the crab to turn against him for now.

’The crab is moving towards the center of the murky water. It didn’t randomly wake up and decide to go on a walk. It has some kind of purpose.’

He deduced, feeling the blood scent thickening.

’What is in there?’

’Why did the crab react to it?’

’Something bad might be happening.’

With his eyes closed, Oliver tried to feel the particles of blood around him.

It had been a couple of seconds since he began falling. He could feel his eardrums pop due to the weight of water crushing down on him.

He released the air he had in his lungs and silently observed his environment with his blood sense.

Finally, he noticed a cloud of blood churning up.

The rock crab also noticed it and was flapping its back flippers to gently move in that direction.

’What is it?’

The cloud of blood had no definite shape. It covered a large area, around a hundred meters.

Oliver couldn’t see what it was hiding.

’If I’m close enough, I can connect with the blood and see.’

Oliver’s curiosity soared. He silently abandoned the bait he was carrying and held onto the crab.

*Thud*

The crab’s rocky body crashed against the lake bed and suddenly came to a halt.

Now, a dozen meters separated Oliver from the blood cloud.

Excitedly, he released his grip on the crab and swam forward.

His eyes were closed, and he still couldn’t see. So the algae and long grass growing under the lake coiled around his body.

Oliver pulled it off and continued to swim.

As he approached it, he suddenly felt a mana wave. It was like a flash of lightning—flickering and unpredictable.

Instead of fear, Oliver became even more thrilled.

His hand moved forward and finally touched the veil of blood.

*Hmm*

Immediately, clarity returned to him. The dark shroud disappeared, and a mental image of what was happening appeared before him.

’What the heck?!’

He exclaimed at the horrifying sight.

Millions upon millions of crabs, tiny, small, large, were crawling over the lake bed. Together, they were digging their claws into what seemed to be the corpse of a huge monster.

He couldn’t see in color. But from the size and shape, he deduced it was a giant turtle.

’An Ironshell turtle?’

Oliver focused on the creature’s streamlined, thick, and smooth body and compared it to the ones he knew. And finally, he confirmed it to be an Ironshell turtle.

It was a freshwater mana beast found in the lake, known for its reclusive lifestyle. It burrows underwater and lives there for years without eating or breathing, as if dead. It was also known for its impregnable defense—the iron shell that covers the top of its body.

’No way a few C and D rank crabs killed it.’

Oliver couldn’t believe that an A-ranked beast would die under the siege of a few crabs.

His body instinctively swam closer.

That’s when he noticed large bite marks all across the turtle’s iron shell.

The large dome covering its back had chunks of pieces missing.

The crabs were swimming into the wounds, pulling out flesh and blood to consume.

Oliver panicked.

What did that mean?

Was there something stronger in the waters nearby?

Had he made a mistake?

The Crab Island was supposed to be a small island with weak mana beasts.

Why and how did A-rank creatures spawn here?

’If it were just the turtle, I could have ignored it. The turtle was known for being a docile creature that likes to swim underwater without disturbing anything.’

’But...’

Oliver remembered Root.

There was a creature that could kill an A-rank mana beast nearby. It was strong and big enough to bite through the twenty-meter-wide hard shell of the turtle.

"Fuck!"

Oliver panicked.

He thought Root would be safe as long as they were on the island. But now, he couldn’t be sure of that.

’Mana beasts will not attack randomly. But if it is a monster...’

Oliver remembered the tiger fish that were scared of the deep water.

’Damn it!’

He absorbed the blood he could and converted it to mana, then, like a golden comet, he swam up.