Elemental Cats

Toz saw the catfish struggling to close its jaws around Hods and the shark fervently chasing after Nil through a rain of daggers. He exchanged a glance with Scrael before dashing to the catfish and cutting off the front of its head, removing the upper jaw and freeing Hods.

But after regenerating its mouth, the catfish charged at Toz. Toz met the charge with a vertical slash of his sword that split half the catfish's body in two. Mindle used the gap in the two halves to insert her flames within the catfish so she could incinerate it. Like she had done with the first catfish.

However, the void magic that repaired the catfish's body also dispersed the mana Mindle gathered to conjure her tongues of flame. Although Mindle could use more mana to brute force her way into conjuring the flames and burning the catfish, she wouldn't have enough mana left to use magic again if she did that. Mindle clicked her tongue at her failure, but she didn't let it disparage her as she kept looking for opportunities to finish off the catfish. Hopefully, that opportunity would come before Nil and Scrael succumbed to the shark.

The shark was faster and more vicious than the two catfish. And unlike the catfish who tried to swallow their prey, the shark was satisfied with tearing them apart with its jaws lined with razor-sharp teeth. At least the shark had an easily identified weak point. Its jaws. Not that it was weak enough to actually be called a weak point, though. Nil had proven that by unleashing a flurry of Sharp Rain on the shark and its jaws.

But, the shark at least had something that Toz and the others could attack that would remain destroyed to make up for its greater physical capabilities compared to the catfish.

Even with the clear target in its mouth, the shark was still a tougher opponent than the catfish, so they planned to use the same strategy, but after switching up the positions a bit. Scrael and Nil would divert the shark's attention and keep it busy while Toz, Lucy, Mindle, and Hods killed the catfish. Stitches' assignment remained unchanged, and he supported anyone who needed it, be it with heals or life force amplification.

Nil and Scrael cooperated to delay the shark as much as possible. Scrael would zip back and forth, swiping at the shark's jaws, leaving scratches and aggravating the shark. Then when the shark turned to chase after Scrael, Nil would cast his spell, once again targeting the jaws. The shark's main method of attack, which had looked flawless and pristine before it arrived at the island, was beginning to look worn and battered. Unfortunately, all the damage was superficial.

Even if the two cats had been more focused on damaging the jaws and not on playing around with the shark, there wouldn't have been more substantial damage. While it looked like the shark's jaws had taken a beating, it was nothing more than scratches and nicks that would heal if given time. Even the teeth they managed to knock out regrew quickly.

While Scrael and Nil worked on driving the shark to madness, Toz and the others were steadily chipping away at the remaining catfish. Its regeneration had started slowing down, which was evidence that it was growing tired and running out of mana. But it wasn't dead yet, and if they continued at the same pace, Scrael and Nil would only end up in more danger.

Toz wanted to make an opening for Mindle to incinerate the catfish, but after Mindle's failed attempt, it had been cautious enough to avoid situations where Mindle could easily burn it with her tongues of flame. She had gotten one more opportunity aside from the first due to Toz and Lucy's cooperation, but that had ended with the catfish dispelling her flames again.

Things were getting desperate. Mindle only had enough mana for two rounds of her flames. Toz was running on fumes since he used what little mana he could regenerate to reinforce his body and match the catfish. Hods was becoming increasingly fatigued, despite Stitches' support. Lucy didn't have enough mana to make shadow bindings strong enough to hold the catfish for more than a few moments.

With the high pace of the combat, those moments were vital, but they weren't enough.

When both Toz and Mindle were out of mana, the group lacked significant firepower. Lucy's restraints would have been of great help against the ninth level void beast. But even when Lucy was in prime condition, restraints weren't his specialty. Mindless void beasts were a horrible matchup for Lucy, but he still contributed as much as he could.

However, since Lucy couldn't help much against the void beast, Toz wondered if he should ask Lucy to help Nil and Scrael contain the shark. While it would split up their forces, it would give Toz and the others attacking the catfish some more time to finish it. And after killing the catfish, all of the island's residents in fighting condition could unite and attack the shark.

Toz didn't need more than a few glances to convey his thoughts to Lucy, thanks to his inclination and bond with the cats. Lucy looked over at Scrael and Nil, struggling to keep the shark preoccupied.

Scrael was faster than the shark, but only when she used her full power. Doing that exhausted both her body and mana, so even if she was still able to outrun the shark after grabbing its attention with a swipe of her paw at its jaws, she wouldn't be able to last much longer.

Nil was also running low on mana after unleashing wave after wave of Sharp Rain.

Thankfully, the catfish was rapidly weakening so much that it could hardly move. With Lucy helping Scrael and Nil slow down the shark, even if it was for a single moment, Toz and the others could finish off the catfish.

Toz slashed and sliced the catfish like there was no tomorrow until he could be certain it would remain in pieces before turning toward the shark. Toz turned his eyes toward the shark right as Scrael went in for another attack on its jaws to divert its attention from Lucy.

It was the same thing they had done several times already. However, even if the shark was dumb as rocks, it would still be able to figure out something so simple after it was repeated enough times. And Toz saw the moment the shark had been waiting for.

Usually, the shark would be so tunnel-visioned on its target that it would only notice Scrael after she attacked and darted away. However, when Toz looked, the shark wasn't focused on Lucy. It was anticipating Scrael's attack. And to devastating effect.

The shark's jaws closed around Scrael's leg.