SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will

Chapter 156: Moon Vs Crab King

Moon hurriedly formed a large fireball between his hands and launched it directly toward the incoming wave of water.

WHOOSH!

Water and fire collided violently in the air between them. The superheated flames flash-boiled enormous quantities of liquid, creating an explosive cloud of steam that rose upward and obscured visibility across the battlefield forcing everyone else to change position for better sight.

As Moon prepared to channel another lightning attack through the steam cover, he suddenly felt the sand underneath his feet begin moving with unnatural intent. He leaped away immediately on pure instinct but the manipulated sand caught one of his legs mid-leap with surprising speed, sand hardening around his ankle like a shackle.

His movement was abruptly hindered, throwing off his trajectory and causing him to land awkwardly.

“It can control sand too?” Moon’s grin widened with genuine excitement rather than frustration. “Good! It truly is an S-rank beast, this is exactly the challenge I needed!”

Moon shattered the sand restraint with a burst of water, breaking free just as a pressurized water lance came screaming toward his previous position from the Crab King.

CRASH!

The high-velocity water attack struck a palm tree behind where Moon had been standing, the force so tremendous it snapped the thick trunk completely in half. The projectile continued through the falling tree and demolished several more behind it in before finally dissipating.

If that had connected with Moon directly, it would have punched straight through his body regardless of his Silver Skin defense.

The Crab King was dangerous and Moon couldn’t have been more thrilled.

Yara couldn’t help but lose focus for a brief, dangerous moment after releasing an arrow toward one of the crabs charging at her with aggressive pincer clicking.

THWIP!

The arrow struck the creature’s hardened shell with significant force, causing visible cracks to spider across the armored surface but not penetrating completely.

But Yara’s attention had already drifted elsewhere, her eyes drawn irresistibly to the epic confrontation happening further down the beach.

’How is Moon so strong?’ Yara thought with awe and disbelief. ’The Crab King is probably only slightly weaker than our own Clan Guardian—the White Swan that protects our entire clan. Yet he’s handling it alone without any apparent fear.’

The sheer confidence and power Moon displayed was almost incomprehensible to someone raised understanding the Crab King as an absolute apex predator to be avoided at all costs. Her distracted thoughts were violently interrupted when a different crab lunged directly at her vulnerable position, its massive pincer snapping closed where her torso had been a heartbeat earlier.

Yara barely managed to roll aside, her heart hammering with the shock of nearly being bisected.

She shook her head vigorously in a physical attempt to clear her mind and regain focus, then returned fully to her own battle with determination.

’Survive first. Marvel at Moon’s absurd power level later when you’re not about to die.’

Meanwhile, Selene was handling her assigned ten crabs with care, though the situation was far from easy.

As much as she desperately wanted to simply unleash maximum firepower and eliminate them quickly for experience gains, reality forced her to adopt a much safer, more conservative approach. She needed to kill without being injured or overwhelmed by their numbers whilst also ensuring her mana remained high enough for emergencies.

They were ten functioning opponents moving together, and Selene needed to constantly maintain distance while simultaneously casting spells designed to slow their advance, injure them progressively, and create opportunities for to get kills.

’I need just two more confirmed kills,’ Selene calculated internally while dodging a pincer strike.

’Then I’ll have accumulated enough spare lives to evolve my primary skill to Epic rank while still maintaining sufficient reserves to survive one death with the penalty cost.

Once I complete that evolution, my damage output will increase dramatically and my mana efficiency will improve substantially. Killing the remaining crabs and earning additional lives to sustain another potential death becomes much more feasible. This is the optimal strategy, invest now for better returns later.’

Her mind was working at maximum capacity, balancing immediate survival with medium-term resource planning.

Selene spotted one of the crabs she’d been injuring over the past several exchanges, its shell cracked in multiple places, one leg barely functional, clearly on the verge of death. It was handing around the back of most attacks, avoiding her strongest attacks.

’Perfect target, I should get rid of this one first.’ She formed a massive fireball between her hands, pouring extra mana into the spell to ensure it would be lethal. Then she launched it directly at the wounded crab with killing intent.

But one of the healthier crabs, possessing enough intelligence to recognize the threat to its injured companion deliberately threw itself into the fireball’s trajectory.

BOOM!

The healthy crab took the full explosive impact meant for its wounded ally, its own shell cracking severely but preventing the killing blow from landing where intended.

Selene cursed the creature’s unexpected sacrifice internally.

’They’re spreading the damage across each other. This is going to take longer than I planned.’

She continued her fighting retreat, maintaining distance while reassessing which target to focus on next.

The crabs pressed their advantage, trying to close the gap and overwhelm her through sheer numbers before she could thin their ranks further. Selene’s mana reserves were holding steady for now, but every spell cast brought her closer to the moment when she’d need to start being genuinely conservative with resource expenditure.

“You’re quite the tough opponent, aren’t you?” Moon muttered, a confident grin spreading across his face as he watched one of his lightning attacks get intercepted and neutralized by the Crimson Titan before him.

The Crab King had begun employing a sand barrier as a defensive countermeasure against his electrical attacks. The lightning was inherently stronger than compressed sand and burst through the barrier eventually, but the interference disrupted the attack’s full power and bought the creature precious reaction time to dodge the attack.

It was an effective counter strategy, even if incomplete.

“It seems like you’re going to be a genuinely tough shell to crack, big guy,” Moon said, already formulating his next approach. He began channeling mana simultaneously into two separate powerful spells.

He formed a water-ball on his left hand, and a powerful ignite fireball on his staff to make sure its maximum power.

“Let’s see how you handle this!”