That scream hit the riverbank like thunder.
Every beastman snapped to attention.
It was a C-level Aberrant beast.
A massive Giant Anaconda.
These water predators rarely showed up in small streams.
They hadn’t expected to find one here.
Only Finn could fight this thing in water.
The others were too weak or couldn’t swim well enough.
But the anaconda had targeted Maya.
Strong or not, they all had to help.
Sage spun around.
His amber eyes went wide.
Mental energy crackled around his fingers.
Caleb’s red eyes turned cold.
His silver snake form appeared and shot toward the water.
Jasper dropped his cool act.
His red fox form burst out with claws ready.
Finn was already in the water with Maya.
He should have sensed danger coming.
Instead he froze completely.
Seeing Maya naked had fried his brain at the worst time.
Her eyes showed pure terror.
She looked like a scared rabbit.
That hesitation cost them.
The anaconda’s fangs sliced Maya’s arm.
Blood turned the water red.
Maya gasped but didn’t panic.
She fought toward Finn desperately.
“Finn! Please! I’ll give you three blood drops!”
She knew what to say.
Finn wanted freedom more than anything.
Only that promise could make him move fast enough.
The fear in her eyes woke Finn up.
He saw blood on her arm.
That huge mouth opened for another attack.
Purple fire lit his eyes.
His tail hit the water hard.
He grabbed Maya and twisted sideways.
They barely avoided the second attack.
“Hold on tight!”
His tail cut through water fast, pulling them toward shore.
But the monster wasn’t giving up.
Its tail whipped toward Maya’s legs.
“Watch the tail!” Hunter roared.
His lion form reached the water.
His paw hit the beast’s head hard.
His scales dug in as he squeezed.
Sage formed mental blades aimed at its eyes.
Jasper went for its belly with his claws.
Even surrounded by several beastmen, the Giant Anaconda still fought with ease.
Its serpentine tail violently threw off Caleb, sending the silver snake crashing into the shore rocks.
Several scales scattered across the wet stones.
Hunter’s claws left only shallow scratches on its armored hide.
The beast’s tail swept across his shoulder, instantly staining his black mane crimson.
Sage’s mental power aimed for its eyes, but the creature dodged by snapping its head aside.
The psychic drain left him pale and unsteady on his feet.
Jasper’s claws barely grazed its belly before it spun around and clamped down on his front paw.
The red fox let out a sharp cry of pain.
The water was the Giant Anaconda’s home turf.
It moved three times faster in the river than on dry land.
The beastmen were already outmatched in power level.
Now wounded, they were losing ground fast.
Maya watched everything from behind Finn.
Her heart pounded in her chest.
If this kept up, they’d all end up seriously hurt by that monster!
She looked at Finn’s tense face.
She knew he couldn’t fight at full strength while protecting her.
Maya took a deep breath and pushed Finn’s hand away.
“Finn, go help them! I can swim to shore by myself!”
Finn spun around.
His eyes went wide with shock.
“You can swim to shore alone?”
“I can do it!”
Maya cut him off.
She was already turning toward the riverbank as she spoke.
Her endurance was pretty bad, but every second of delay put the beastmen in more danger.
She still needed them to find her father quickly.
If they got hurt, she’d probably die at that beast’s jaws too.
She pushed through the icy river water up to her chest.
She didn’t dare slow down.
She had to reach shore fast and stop being dead weight.
Finn watched her struggling to swim toward safety.
Then he looked at the beastmen getting beaten down by the Giant Anaconda.
He gritted his teeth.
He whipped his tail fin hard and shot toward the monster.
Maya didn’t look back.
She just swam faster toward shore.
The moment Finn joined the fight, everything changed.
He was already C-level, perfectly at home in water.
More importantly, as an aquatic beastman, while he wasn’t a healer with restoration powers, he had mental abilities that worked great in combat.
Finn’s tail fin suddenly went still.
Cold light flashed in his purple eyes.
The water around him rippled with faint purple waves.
The next second, focused mental power shot from his mind.
Unlike Sage’s blade-like attacks, this carried the unique slowing effect of aquatic beastmen.
It wrapped directly around the Giant Anaconda’s head. Get faster updates on g.com.
The Giant Anaconda was about to tail-whip Hunter when this mental power hit.
Its movements suddenly became sluggish.
This psychic attack could mess with the beast’s nervous system directly.
It made the creature lose its usual speed even in its home element.
“Now’s our chance!” Finn shouted.
His tail fin with its razor-sharp scales struck hard at the Giant Anaconda’s throat.
The armor cracked open in a deep wound.
Blood instantly turned the water red.
Caleb grabbed his chance and wrapped around the Giant Anaconda’s throat again.
His silver scales cut deep into the wound.
Hunter pushed through his shoulder pain and lunged forward.
His fangs locked onto its neck.
Sage used his last mental energy and hit the beast’s left eye perfectly.
Jasper dragged his hurt paw forward and clawed at its soft belly.
The Giant Anaconda kept getting slowed by Finn’s mental attacks.
It moved slower as wounds covered its body.
Finally, when Finn’s power hit its brain again, it screamed.
The huge body crashed into the water and went still.
Finn pulled back his mental power.
His eyes showed exhaustion.
Fighting a C-level beast drained serious energy.
His head felt heavy, but he looked toward shore right away.
Only after seeing Maya was safe did he relax.
High-level beasts sometimes had beast crystals inside.
Caleb ignored his torn-up back and shifted human.
He dragged the dead anaconda to shore.
Maya had crawled onto land and put on her hide skirt.
Her arm wound was still bleeding.
Red drops fell from her fingers.
The beastmen rushed over immediately.
Caleb’s back was shredded where scales got ripped off.
Hunter’s shoulder had bled through his shirt.
Jasper’s hurt paw was still bleeding in human form.
Maya’s eyes were red from pain, but seeing their worse injuries, she held back tears.
“There are healing herbs in the bag. You should stop your bleeding first.”
The beastmen were shocked again.
She was bleeding but telling them to treat themselves first?
Maya wasn’t really putting them first.
Her wound still had a purpose.
She couldn’t stop the bleeding yet.
Sage frowned and walked toward her.
“Let me stop your bleeding first…”
Maya stepped back and shook her head.
“Not yet.”
She turned to Finn and walked over to him.
She lifted her bleeding arm.
Red drops rolled down and landed right on the bonding mark on Finn’s chest.