Chapter 220 Team Effort

Since Aion's mana had a limit, he went out all until all the enemies that approached were killed. He slayed fifty by himself in just two minutes, and no one got hurt, so Aion felt quite accomplished. Still, Sauros moved his right arm to the side and signalized that they had to take a break. So, Aion used that chance to meditate.

"What is wrong?" Seris asked. "Did something happen?"

"No, I just decided to call for him to give everyone a chance to reload, we managed to defeat all of them since the magic weapons were fully charged, and while it is a bit wasteful, I think we should change the magic stones for new ones."

"Sorry, captain. Our aim is quite pathetic."

"It is a lot harder to aim underwater…"

"Don't worry about that," Sauros said. "Everything is a matter of practice, and this is no different. If we are careful now, we will save time in the future tending the wounds, so there is no need to rush on hitting all of the enemies with a single shot. A wise archer once said that a single slow but a single well-aimed arrow is better than two fired in a hurry."

That was a good saying, but it didn't work for Aion since he lived in a hurry. Still, he welcomed the shortstop to recover his mana. He also changed his class back to mage to make use of the extra effects of Meditation granted by the improvement points.

"Let's fight like that, kill a few at a time, and then once we are starting to run out of ammo, then we will retreat and reload," Sauros said. "We can't communicate well underwater, and I can't see everyone's signs, so when you start to run out of ammo, move to my back and wait. We will watch our retreat, so there isn't any need to worry."

Aion had to save some mana for that, so it would be better to slow down for a short while and see what happens. If Sauros' plan work, then it will be fine.

Once they dove into testing that, Aion saw the crew members using their weapons more sparingly as they slowly approached toward the dungeon. Still, with fifteen members on their side, even a slow barrage would still be quite powerful. Their aim also improved, so their progress increased a fair bit.

In the blink of an eye, the group reached the dungeon, and they saw that annoying formation of monsters waiting for them. Now, they won't be able to lure a few and then leave. So, Sauros decided to change the group's modus operandi.

"This time, we can't retreat, but we will take turns in recharging the magic crossbows," Sauros declared. "Again, don't hurry and make mistakes while you retreat. We have some leeway for mistakes, but things might become complicated if you make them over and over again. We will split our group into three. The first group will attack more often in the beginning and then retreat first to reload, then the second group, then the third… pay attention to my hand signs since I might order our full retreat at any given moment."

The crew members nodded, and then the whole group dove. It seems that Sauros had studied for a while how to command. Still, given how nice he was just to his men, he didn't learn the usual way. He either was copying someone else, or he was self-taught.

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Aion learned from his father and battle tactics instructor that the better command was the one who stayed above his men and only interacted with them by being an example of a leader and of a warrior. It would be impossible to recall the names of everyone, so making everyone follow him while wishing to become like him was great for increasing morale. Things were simpler for Aion due to his death knights, though. They will always fight at his full power no matter what, and his orders were absolute.

Putting those thoughts aside, the group got close enough to the dungeon to the point that the hundreds of monsters swimming around the place took notice of him. At least two hundred of them began to swim toward them at fearsome speeds…

The crew members began to attack, but Aion waited for a while. To save time and make his mana more efficiently used, he decided to attack only the creatures that passed through a certain range. Everyone around seemed a bit nervous since Aion wasn't attacking, and they assumed that something had gone wrong.

Still, when the monsters finally got dangerously close, Aion began his attack. Due to their massive numbers, several of the monsters got close enough. Still, they were killed instantly by Aion's spear, which was zigzagging around like it was a needle sewing something. Since he didn't see the weapon properly, sometimes he missed the attack because he failed to measure how far away the enemies were, but Sauros and Seris covered for him and dealt with the enemies that Aion missed.

When around half of the monsters were killed, the first team left to recover, so the second group began to fire faster than before. Still, they made a wrong estimation and ended without any ammo, and the first group had yet to return.

"I hope this serves as a lesson…" Aion thought when he saw the second group panicking since they couldn't do anything aside from waiting.

Sauros approached them and covered for the group until the first team returned. The third team noticed the blunt that the others made and then paced themselves… However, something beyond everyone's expectations happened… the remaining monsters around the dungeon all began to swim toward them.

In a hurry, Sauros signaled to everyone… they had to retreat with all of their might. Aion, Sauros, and Seris approached each other to watch the retreat, but they all had a feeling that it would be hard to protect everyone…