"Natalie!"
As the wooden cabin disintegrated, the others immediately noticed Natalie, bobbing up and down on the water, and rushed to support her.
"Careful!"
Just then, everyone saw a giant white bone tail rise from beneath the water, "smack!" instantly sending Shepherd flying, slamming him hard into the wooden wall behind him. He flew backward several meters in mid-air, finally stopping with a "thud" as he hit the trunk of a towering tree.
Then the water churned with a "splash," and everyone saw ripples continuously spreading on the surface. Some colossal creature beneath the water was swimming towards the depths of the swamp, covering twenty or thirty meters in an instant.
"Poof!"
Suddenly, a head emerged from the water; it was Natalie.
"Beyond!"
Natalie shouted loudly, her right hand, floating on the water, raised as she looked towards Beyond, who was standing on the swamp's edge.
"Whoosh!"
A whooshing sound echoed beside Illumi. He glanced out of the corner of his eye, seeing that Beyond had indeed acted. He leaped into the air, charging towards Natalie, who was dozens of meters away.
"Bang!"
Suddenly, the water behind Natalie exploded into a huge splash. A gigantic white crocodile, fifteen to sixteen meters long, leaped out of the water, opening its maw to swallow Natalie.
"Beyond!"
Facing the colossal creature that had emerged from the water behind her, Natalie's face was filled with panic. At the same time, she condensed a small, glowing dagger in her hand and held it horizontally. The moment the crocodile loomed over her head, about to swallow her, she abruptly swung it.
"Swish!"
A white flash of blade light streaked by.
The white crocodile's movement paused for a moment, but it still opened its maw wide to swallow Natalie. But the instant the giant white crocodile swallowed Natalie.
"Bang! Bang!"
Accompanied by two loud bangs, one after the other, huge waves three to four meters high rose on both sides of the giant crocodile. A strange, entirely transparent creature leaped out from beneath the water, coiling around the giant white crocodile.
At this moment, Beyond had already flown in, his right palm facing downwards, and with a "thud," he smashed it onto the giant crocodile's head, sending the crocodile and the two unknown creatures crashing into the water.
"Gurgle gurgle..."
After Beyond landed in the water, the surface continuously bubbled, making gurgling sounds. And with the appearance of these bubbles, a layer of black substance, like oil, slowly appeared beneath the clear water.
The black substance floated to the surface, continuously spreading outwards.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, Beyond, holding Natalie, leaped out of the water.
"Boom boom boom boom..."
However, the moment Beyond and Natalie left the water, five pitch-black crocodiles suddenly leaped out from beneath the dark water. Each one was over five meters long.
"Wuwu~!"
They opened their huge mouths, letting out thunderous roars, trying to leap out of the water and swallow Natalie and Beyond, who were in mid-air. But alas, the black substance clinging to them made them unable to move even more as they leaped out of the water.
"Spill Water!"
Beyond spread the five fingers of his free right hand, his palm aimed at the black substance on the water. As his hand gesture changed, the black substance, which was continuously spreading outwards, instantly receded, quickly transforming into a black dot and disappearing.
Along with it, the five black-stained crocodiles also vanished. As for the giant crocodile that first appeared, its whereabouts were unknown.
"Thud."
Beyond, holding Natalie, landed on the edge of the swamp. He released his left arm, placing Natalie on the grass. Everyone immediately gathered around.
"Natalie, are you hurt?"
Cervantes asked with a hint of worry. Natalie, crouching on the grass, shook her head, indicating she was fine.
"As soon as we arrived, a group of crocodiles attacked you. It seems this swamp has quite a few dangerous creatures."
Sergio rubbed his chin with his right hand and said in a deep voice.
"These things still pose no threat to us and cannot become an obstacle to our progress." Beyond stroked his beard and said.
"Natalie, are you injured anywhere? I can help you."
Tessa, carrying her first-aid kit, quickly came over and squatted in front of Natalie. Looking at the few wounds on her face and arms, she quickly pulled open her first-aid kit and took out medicine and bandages.
"No, Tessa. These minor injuries aren't worth wasting medical resources."
Natalie reached out and pressed Tessa's arm, not allowing her to treat her. Because with her physical condition, these small injuries weren't even minor problems.
"Natalie, did you see what creature attacked you?"
Shepherd, clutching his chest, limped over. That blow had severely injured him, possibly breaking one or two ribs.
"Wasn't it a crocodile?"
Natalie looked up, surprised. Her backpack was bitten, and after being dragged into the water, due to her struggles and the monster's frantic churning, the mud in the water was stirred up, making it murky. She couldn't see anything in the water.
"What do you think hit me?"
Shepherd looked down at his chest, recalled what he saw the moment he was sent flying, and shook his head.
"Although I've never seen any creature with a bone-like tail, I can tell you for sure that thing was no crocodile."
At this moment, Illumi walked over with Jin Bradley and Greed's group, and reminded them.
"We're ready. We can depart."
Beyond and his group looked up at Illumi, then looked behind Illumi. They saw that the Avengers had already inflated all the kayaks and were pushing them into the water.
A total of twenty inflatable boats. On average, each inflatable boat seated two Avenger soldiers, which was the limit. Illumi, Jin Bradley, and Greed took one boat. Pride and Sloth took one.
As for the three extra boats, they were given to Beyond's group.
"Hey, you still have a lot of inflatable boats in your backpacks, right? Giving us only three is a bit stingy."
Sergio pointed to the backpacks of the Avenger soldiers. He guessed that each Avenger's backpack contained at least one inflatable boat.
"Those are spares. You don't want to be surfing in this swamp after your inflatable boat gets destroyed, do you?"
"Depart."
Illumi's tone was flat. He turned directly onto the boat and issued the departure order, ignoring them.
"This guy, sometimes he's really annoying." Sergio pouted.
"Everyone be careful. I think the monster that initially attacked Natalie will definitely come again." Shepherd scanned the group, reminding them.
"And when Beyond acted, it didn't act again. It might have some judgment and will avoid danger on its own."
"Like a gatekeeper."
Shepherd looked deeply at Natalie, then turned and walked towards the wooden boat that Cervantes had prepared.
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