No Way Out

As they moved to the twentieth island, they encountered their first attack. With a shell-like body the size of a small dog and four extremely long legs, this insect was incredibly light as if walked on the water with ease.

Noticing the group on the bridge, it began dashing madly towards them, letting out a small but constant chirp as it came.

"Watch out, it's a Mist Strider!" Anqing called out.

Standing on the middle of the bridge, everyone prepared themselves as the Mist Strider quickly approached them. Every step it made caused a small ripple on the water. Within seconds, the insect had reached the bridge, hopping onto it.

It was quick and nimble, using its long legs to stab at the group. Everyone jumped back as the initial attack came. The spear-like legs that were aimed for their chest, stabbed in the stone bridge. Well made as it was, the Strider's leg did not pierce the floor but they left small cracks on the surface.

"Be careful of its legs! If we aren't careful, we could get swept by it and fall to the water."

Xukun was the first to make a move. With his flying sword, he attacked the Strider's legs but it barely scratched the creature. Still, it was enough to grab it attention and the insect swiped at the sword. Despite its attempts to smack it away, Xukun's control over the sword was incredible. The movement was erratic, hard to predict as it continued to attack the shell of the Mist Strider.

At the same time, Anqing held her short spear and took a stab at the Strider's body. Running under, she managed to pierce the thick cobalt shell and retreated. A hissing sound whispered under the Mist Strider as small melted shards of its shell fell to the floor.

A putrid smell wafted in the air, sour and metallic.

Searing pain reached into the Strider's body and it's chirping became screeches of pain. It was not weakened by the least but angered to the extreme. The antennae quivered as its four pitch black eyes stared at Anqing. Disregarding Xukun, it charged after Anqing, who tried to back off.

Her strength lied in opportunistic attacks and support, a direct clash would not end in her favor.

Anqing grew fearful and held her spear in a defensive position, ready to use it to absorb the Strider's attack.

"No!" Xukun called out, trying his best to get the creature's attention.

It raised one of its legs and stabbed at Anqing, looking to skewer her through the chest. Anqing yelped at the oncoming attack and braced herself.

But such a thing never came to pass. Between her and the Strider's leg, Ming Yue stood tall, revealing her blade. It hummed as she filled the blade with her Quintessence energy. A thin layer of wind wrapped around it, increasing its power by several times.

Brandishing it in front of the Strider, she repelled the leg into the stone bridge. Following that parry, she put both hands on Drifting Sky and jumped up, reaching the height of the Mist Strider's body. She struck down with her full strength, cutting off the creature's leg at its root. The insect recoiled in pain and backed off.

The dismembered leg fell to the ground, quivering as pink blood seeped out.

"Tough!" she thought.

As clean as she made the attack look, she really did need all of her strength to achieve such a result. Xukun's sword barely made a scratch on it and her attack just now had confirmed how tough the shell was.

Ming Yue looked at the cut off leg before looking back at the Mist Strider.

It hesitated, contemplating whether it should retreat or not. That moment of weakness allowed everyone to push forward. Suddenly, the Mist Strider was cornered. Xukun was behind it while Ming Yue and Anqing stood before it. At the same time, Xiao Yin flew above it as Hei Yue crouched below.

"We should kill it, the Mist Strider's innards can be used for body strengthening pills."

Anqing moved forward, determined to slay this creature. As they circled it, a quiet buzzing sound could be heard. It was almost imperceptible but everyone heard it. They paused and listened.

Ming Yue looked at the water and noticed something strange about it. The surface seemed to tremble ever so slightly. She looked back at the Mist Strider. It stood still as if paralyzed with fear.

Fear of something, perhaps a fear of death.

Even with all the pain it felt, the creature dared not to move, neither did they.

The buzzing slowly grew louder and louder until it was the only thing that filled their ears. It was a foreboding sound, music that brought nothing but anxiety. What were seconds seemed like hours to them all. What was it that came? What could it be that made them all uneasy?

All of them could not help but feel their heart pumping. It felt as if any movement would lead them to their deaths.

Suddenly, the buzzing stopped and the water no longer trembled as it did.

The first to relax was the Mist Strider as it stopped paying attention to its opponents and instead, peered into the water.

Anqing felt impatient, deciding to take advantage of the distracted beast. Just as she stepped forward, a shadow shot out of the waters, blasting through the Mist Strider. It was so quick that only blink of an eye was enough to miss it.

Having grabbed the Mist Strider, the shadow dived back down and landed on the stone bridge gently.

As it landed, the creature's jaw loosened up, dropping the crushed body of the Mist Strider. Then, it began to feast on it, eating with ferocity and savageness. With its front most legs, it pushed the dead corpse into its mouth. A crunching sound accompanied the meal, breaking the silent atmosphere.

The sight of it was beyond disgusting. The sour smell that came from within the Mist Strider only magnified as its flesh was ripped apart.

"That's...that's the Diving Dragonfly!" they all thought simultaneously.

Indeed, it was the Diving Dragonfly. The length of its body was as tall as the average man. From head to tail, the shell was an azure color that faded into a dark verdant shade. It resembled plated armor, one piece overlapping the other. Its four wings spanned the length of two meters, transparent but stained emerald like glass. Its bulging eyes were as disturbing as they were mesmerizing.

Engrossed with its meal, the Diving Dragonfly did not notice Xukun rejoining the others and walking away carefully.

"Let it finish and fly away. Any sudden movements and we're dead."

Xukun slowly moved everyone back. His sword stood guard by him, pointed at the dragonfly.

Anqing felt weak in her legs.

If she had taken that step and went towards the Mist Strider, the Diving Dragonfly would have blown her to pieces. It would've been her body that the creature munched on.

Ming Yue restrained herself, resheathing her blade. It took merely a glance at it for her to know that killing this thing was next to impossible.

None of them wanted to alarm it or grab its attention.

"Duck!"

Xue Yue's voice resounded in her mind and without question, Ming Yue grabbed the two and pulled them to the ground.

"What are you?!"

Both Xukun and Anqing were both shocked and confused by her actions. A single moment later, several flying slashes passed over them, hitting the dragonfly. Made from pure energy, they were quite powerful and managed to injure the insect, cracking the shell a bit.

"What?"

All three of them looked behind and noticed a small group of people, all of which had their sabers at hand. At the front was none other than Li Baojun, smirking at them. They were all smirking, watching the situation unfold from a distance away.

"Those bastards! All because I denied their request?!"

Anqing was furious, these people deserved to die. Everyone thought the same, seething with anger though Ming Yue did not show in her face. But those thought were quickly interrupted.

They turned around to find the Diving Dragonfly staring back at them.

It screeched with anger, its bloodied jaw only made it more intimidating.

They could not retreat. Li Baojun's group blocked one end and the dragonfly blocked the other. They couldn't jump in the water for that was certain death.

There was no other way but to fight.