"The skill that you are worried about is the Dual-World Domain, isn't it?" John asked.
"How do you know about the dragon turtle?" Ama asked, surprised.
"I have my source," John replied. He had asked Peniel as much information about the dragon turtle and the merfolk as he could think of before departing.
Though every monster especially the high-grade ones had their own skills or spells, making them unique even among their species, they still had some skills that all same kinds of monsters possessed. As for the dragon turtle, they are sure to possess a skill called Dual-World Domain. This was also their most troublesome skill. For an amphibian creature that lived in two worlds, this skill gave the dragon turtle an ultimate edge.
When the dragon turtle was on land, if it used the skill, it would create a temporary world filled with water in a large area around him. Against land-based combatants, the dragon turtle would immediately have the terrain advantage as it could move easily inside water.
If the dragon turtle was in the water, the reverse would happen when it used the skill. A temporary world devoid of water would be created around it. All water-based creatures would instantly lose their mobilities once that happened, while the dragon turtle could still move just fine on land, even though with less maneuverability than it did in the water.
This was the reason why the merfolk feared the dragon turtle and avoided provoking it. Like any other fish creatures, they couldn't move once they lose the water.
"We have some warriors that have the amphibian ability, but not many. If the dragon turtle uses its Dual-World Domain skill, those few warriors won't be able to do much. We will be powerless," Ama said.
John knew about the merfolk's amphibian ability. Merfolk with this ability could go to the land. This ability turned their lower-half fish's tail into two legs to walk on land.
"Hm… Tell me, is this Nogg that you mentioned before have the amphibian ability?" John asked.
"He has. Why? Why do you ask about him?" Ama asked back.
"Nothing in particular," John replied, smiling.
"You said something about a counter to the dragon turtle's Dual-World Domain skill. As I explained before, we can't do anything to the dragon turtle once it used that skill."
"Hehe, yes. I have a tool that can make it so that the dragon turtle cannot use that Dual-World Domain skill, or any skills to speak of. But at the same time, none of you in the area can also use any skill or spell."
"Hm… If both us and the dragon turtle cannot use any skill or spell, it should be manageable. It is still formidably strong and its defense is crazily tough, but we have more numbers. It won't be able to block attacks that come from all sides. We can also alternate to get our wounded out of the front line while fresh fighters take over. All right, show us to the dragon turtle's lair and use your tool!" Ama declared. The dragon turtle had changed lairs several times during the centuries living in this gulf. So, she didn't know which one it was dwelling in now. It could even be inside a new lair that she didn't know about.
"No, we can't go to its lair," John said.
"Why not?" Ama asked.
"Because we will put the children in danger. In its anger, it might just decide to kill the children first. It will be difficult for us to prevent that if we fought inside its lair," John explained. "We need to lure it out and keep it within an area, preventing it from going back to the lair while I and my people secure the children."
Although John said it was for the safety of the children, it was actually because he didn't want the merfolk to disturb their taming process on the young dragon turtle. If they saw the young beast, they might decide to kill it to prevent it from becoming their next contender in this gulf.
Ama frowned while pondering. She preferred to have her people do the rescuing, but since she had given the word to this outworlder to have him help in getting the surviving children back and also promised him a special class reward, she thought she should just leave the task to him.
"Okay. How do you propose we lure it out and keep it in place?" Ama asked.
"I have another tool that can lure the dragon turtle away," John said. "But once we enter the lair. The young dragon turtle will no doubt send a mental warning to its parent. At that time, the adult dragon turtle will do its best to rush back. We need to keep it away from the lair for as long as possible. That's where you come in."
Ama shook her head. "Even if we are many and even if the dragon turtle can't use its skills, we still can't compete with it in terms of raw strength. None of us will be able to block it if it wants to forcefully flee."
"That's why we need to take advantage of the terrain," John said. "Can you please follow me?"
"Where to?" One of the merfolk behind asked. They still didn't trust John enough to blindly follow him away from their territory.
"I'm going to show you the place where we can trap the dragon turtle," John answered. "It won't go near your town. It knew this place is protected by a protector God. If we try to lure it to your territory, it will just ignore my bait and swim back."
"You know about our protector God?" Ama asked.
Despite the dragon turtle being the bane of the merfolk, they still had no worries about it living so near their town. The dragon turtle would never dare to cause trouble there because their territory was protected by a protector God. But outside their territory, the dragon turtle was the true ruler of the gulf.
John just shrugged at Ama's question. He had learned from Peniel that every minor race had a protector God watching over their territory.
When John saw the merfolk was still hesitating, he said, "Look, if you are suspicious of me, I will be the only one going with the sea mother and any of you to show you the place. You can hold my friends here as hostages in case I do something unsavory."
"Say what…?!" Bowler immediately exclaimed. The others also gave him an 'I can't believe you just did that' look.
"See? From their surprised expressions, you know this is not a ploy," John said. "No way I will sacrifice my friends just to cause harm to you, will I?"
'Ugh. If they know you, they will know that it is entirely possible,' Bowler said in his mind.
"Fine," Ama said. She then whistled. All of a sudden, a squad of merfolk appeared from above.
The players' attention had always been on the merfolk in front of them and their town. They didn't notice another group of merfolk had been silently approaching from above.
"Watch over this lot!" Ama ordered this newly arrived squad. "If we are not back in half an hour, execute them all!"
"Um… Maybe give them one hour? I might need time to explain my plan when we reach there. The place is also not exactly close to here," John said.
"Half an hour," Ama repeated.
"All right then," John said. He turned to Bowler and the others. "Well, your contribution will be noted."
"What the… Hey! What do you mean by that?" Bowler asked anxiously.
"Didn't you need me for the taming?!" Jet also asked, equally anxious.
"Luckily, I brought another high-level Beastmaster. I always have a contingency plan," John replied. He then gestured at Ama to follow him. Ama followed with the original group she brought.
Bowler and Jet tried to follow as well but the merfolk around them blocked their path. "The sea mother asked you to stay. So, stay. Or else, we will have to use force," a merman warned.
The merfolk that surrounded them were around level 50 to 55 elites and special elites. The players could take them on one on one, but the merfolk's number was more than theirs. Not to mention they were underwater, which was the merfolk's natural terrain. Additionally, several level 50 special elite red sharks swam around them as extra guards.
"A standup leader your guild has," Rough Criminal ridiculed. He then turned to Billy, "You still want to join?"
Billy could only sigh.
*
"Which way?" Ama asked John who was leading them. John answered by pointing in a direction.
"Jaflig!" She called.
One of the merfolk suddenly grabbed John and pulled him forward at high speed. The other merfolk also kept pace by increasing their swimming speed. John was amazed by their swimming speed. At this rate, he thought half an hour should be enough to lay out his plan and return to Bowler and the others.
After a few minutes of swimming, John pointed. "There! Over there. See that large opening? Go in there."
The merfolk followed his instruction. They swam inside and found themselves in a very large naturally-occurred enclosed space. It was a long tunnel with thick rock walls and ceilings. It was not exactly a totally enclosed space as there were many gaps in the walls and ceilings which they could slip through. However, those gaps were too small for a creature as big as the dragon turtle. John had known about this place from Hideout's scouting.
They continued swimming through the tunnel until they hit a dead end.
"I see. You want to lure the dragon turtle here," Ama said.
"Yes, these rock walls should be strong enough to resist its physical strength," John nodded.
"It has that huge hole we came in from, remember? How are we going to prevent it from running out that way?" One of the merfolk asked.
"Easy. We plug that hole," John replied.
