Who Says I’m Not a Legitimate Adventurer?

Chapter 80: Spellcasting Coordination

To prevent the monsters from losing sight of him and dropping aggro, Lance even had to deliberately slow down, dragging the group along like he was walking dogs.

Ahead appeared a massive weathered boulder—a sharp turn of nearly ninety degrees.

Because they had been chasing too aggressively, the Stone-Shell River Crab group behind had clearly become disjointed.

The fastest vanguard had already pulled three to four body lengths ahead of the main group.

Lance’s gaze sharpened.

Now!

He suddenly exerted force with his foot, instantly slipping into the blind spot behind the boulder.

Those five bloodthirsty Stone-Shell River Crabs didn’t have time to think. Waving their pincers, they rushed into the turn right after him.

Cecilia’s eyes lit up atop the boulder.

Opportunity!The prepared incantation left her lips instantly, her finger precisely pointing at the narrow corner.

First-Ring Spell 【Grease】.

No delay whatsoever.

The moment those crabs stepped into the corner, the originally dry and rough gravel ground was instantly coated with a viscous oil film shimmering with iridescent colors.

The riverbank terrain was already uneven, and the monsters were exerting force with all eight legs while making a sharp turn.

Losing traction underfoot at that moment was catastrophic.

Crack! Bang!

A series of chaotic collisions erupted.

The crabs at the very front couldn’t stop in time—their massive inertia caused their bodies to lose control instantly, colliding like bowling balls before flipping over onto their backs in a mess.

At that exact moment—

Lance, who had been retreating, seemed to have eyes on his back.

Scrrtt—

The soles of his boots carved a deep groove into the ground as he performed an unbelievable sudden stop and turn at high speed.

In his vision—

Those overturned Stone-Shell River Crabs, exposing their soft underbellies, were marked with glaring red spots.

Those were the fatal weak points highlighted by Weakness Insight.

Lance bent his knees slightly and, using the centrifugal force of his turn, leapt forward.

The Aether Energy within his body burned like a flood bursting through a dam, his stamina plummeting instantly.

【Azure Dragon Ultimate Flow · Dragon Jaw Crush】

All of his terrifying 10.5 Strength concentrated into his right knee.

Like a heavy hammer, he descended with a howling force, smashing directly into the struggling crab’s abdomen.

Splurt!

A dull explosive sound echoed across the riverbank.

The seemingly hard abdominal shell shattered like thin paper under the combined force of absolute power and a weak-point strike.

It burst apart instantly.

Yellow-green bodily fluid mixed with shattered organs splattered everywhere.

Lance didn’t even glance at the already-dead monster.

The moment he landed, he rolled smoothly, his left arm driving the kite shield downward with momentum.

Crack!

Another crab nearby, attempting to counterattack with its pincer, had the fragile joint connection smashed apart by the edge of the shield.

Immediately after, a flash of cold light—

The shortsword in Lance’s hand pierced with perfect precision into the red weak point on its abdomen.

Two monsters died instantly.

Meanwhile, the main group surging from behind had also entered the Grease area.

Slipping, collisions, congestion—

The entire vanguard fell into chaos, completely unable to organize an effective assault.

Seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Lance’s shortsword became a reaper’s scythe harvesting lives.

In just a few motions, three more crabs turned into cold corpses.

However, the battlefield changed in an instant.

Just as Lance was in the midst of his killing momentum, two smaller Stone-Shell River Crabs were pushed out of the outer edge by their companions and accidentally bypassed the Grease area.

They silently flanked from the other side of the boulder, appearing directly at Lance’s rear flank.

“Watch out!”

Cecilia, observing the battlefield from above, cried out.

Cantrip 【Ray of Frost】.

Two pale blue streaks shot through the air, precisely sweeping over the two crabs just as they were about to raise their pincers.

The damage was low, but the slowing effect from the frost energy took effect immediately.

Their originally swift charging motions became sluggish, as if slowed down.

At this moment—

With Perception boosted to 8.3 under the Breathing Technique, Lance had already heard the faint sound of freezing behind him.

He showed no panic.

Using the recoil from his previous strike, his body twisted sharply backward.

Castro Swordsmanship!

The blade flashed like lightning.

It precisely struck the pincer joint of the slowed crab.

With a crisp shattering sound of ice, the frozen joint broke instantly.

Then, with a flick of his wrist—

Enhanced by the extreme stability from the specialization 【Trench Rat’s Bite】, the sword tip didn’t waver in the slightest as it plunged directly into the soft base beneath the eye stalk.

The brain was instantly shredded.

The other ambusher fared no better—slowed by frost, it was easily dispatched by Lance.

In just over ten seconds, seven monsters had been slain.

But such high-intensity consecutive kills delayed Lance’s retreat rhythm.

At this point, the main group behind—previously obstructed by Grease—had finally regained formation, some even stepping over their companions’ corpses to charge forward.

Before Lance could steady his breathing—

More than a dozen enraged Stone-Shell River Crabs had already completed their encirclement.

They trapped Lance tightly in a dead corner before the boulder.

Clack… clack…

With synchronized scraping sounds of their shells—

The five crabs at the front simultaneously drew back their thick, mutated pincers.

Five heavy spears capable of piercing steel plates were ready to strike.

Heavy Thrust!

Behind Lance was a cold rock wall. In front of him was an impenetrable wall of crabs.

The timing was perfect—so perfect that even Cecilia above had no time to chant another spell for support.

There was no escape.

Facing the simultaneous thrusts of those heavy pincers, Lance could only raise his kite shield with his left arm and brace for impact.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

A series of explosive metallic collisions erupted before the rock wall, deafening.

Blinding sparks burst across the surface of the shield.

If it had been yesterday’s Lance, the sheer force would have numbed his arm or even knocked him backward.

But now, things were different.

As two streams of scorching white vapor burst from his mouth and nose, the enhancements from the Dragon-Hunting Breathing Technique surged through his body.

That was power beyond human limits.

Not only did Lance not retreat a single step, he even let out a low shout and drove his waist and abdomen forward in a powerful counter-push.

Boom!

The immense recoil force actually sent the two frontmost Stone-Shell River Crabs flipping onto their backs.

And in that very instant—

At the precise moment the encirclement loosened—

Cecilia, who had been observing the battlefield from atop the boulder, finally caught that fleeting opportunity.

She had already adjusted the spell model in her mind. The preparation had taken longer because she wasn’t yet proficient with this spell, but now it was finally ready.

First-Ring Spell 【Color Spray】.