Chapter 51 - From Defence to Offense.
The flames previously had proven their point of effectiveness.
While one of the mantis giants had tried to rid the rings with sheer pressure and succeeded for a moment, the backlash had proven effective from my point of view.
Seeing how the one who had tried his luck did not come out unscathed.
Scorch marks could be seen spread all over its arm. Small embers had ignited on its arm, leaving it vulnerable to attacks. Quickly it tried to dampen the embers, but instead of dampening them, the embers grew larger with each gust of wind that crossed their patch their size increased up to the point where both his claws had ignited in bright orange flame.
Mad with frustration the insectoid began to gargle and his. One of the giants noticed it being in pain and decided it was best for the group to try and help it.
Seeing how the flames couldn't be dimmed, drastic measures had to be made,
raising one of its gigantic claws, the other giant sliced down without regard to pain or other trivial things. They had to combine their forces if they wanted to take me down,
so this was just the fastest and most efficient way it could think of…
With one lightning-fast movement, the gigantic claw came down on their ignited companion.
Slicing of both claws in a clear and precise movement. The one who had lost its claws screeched in pain as the other quickly turned around facing the battle head-on without regrets. As they were with only two left, they needed to combine their strengths if wanting to succeed in getting me out of the ball of cinders.
Seeing how it was now basically one and a half against one instead of two, which in comparison with the previous mantis before they combined was estimated at around ten per giant, now only fifteen remained. I could do this! A chance had presented itself,
a chance which I wasn't going to allow withering away.
The giants needed a second to recover in which I took the opportunity to charge towards them, gaining an offensive advantage with my defense against them. Quickly I closed in on
them, the both of them Shocked, flabbergasted even as they must have not expected me going on the offensive.
On the contrary, nothing could be further away from their expectations, a miscalculation on their part which I had welcomed with open arms. I charged in with blinding speed,
blinding for me that was. The giant mantis both calculated my speed in an instant allowing them to dodge with ease. Yet, the plan I had fabricated took into account the possibility of them dodging. Seeing how they used to hit and run tactics during the fight more than once and see how I too was well versed in these tactics I had come up with a plan.
A risky plan, but could turn the tide of battle in my favor altogether if we succeeded. Like how my parents used to say to me; one can't succeed in life without taking the risk head-on! Which is what I did at this moment. The mantis both jumped back heading in opposite directions to dodge my seemingly reckless charge towards them.
Although reckless, I planned to make them believe they had to do what they just did.
From the moment they jumped of the branch I knew they couldn't fly across.
I had considered their sheer size, they must have too, meaning the only paths they had left were either the closest branch, a branch above or below where we were.
I to had used this tactical retreat multiple times to regain the rhythm of the match,
but this time I was prepared. Their speed began to diminish in the air at which the opportunity had presented itself. I one quick move I shot out the multiple layers of embers almost like how "Heat Wave" was used in a game I remembered where trainers would catch their desired monsters and fought against others to strengthen their bonds together.
This was where I took the inspiration form, inspiration I had used to create a new signature move. A move which quickly had proven to be extremely effective against the bugs as they must have never encountered creatures of the fire elemental typing before?
It seemed odd to me, but seeing how we were in the middle of a battle with our lives on the line it seemed disrespectful and not to mention foolish to let my mind wander off during the climax of it, right?
[The wise implementation of
"Not right now E.V.E… I'm in the middle of something here."
I wiped away the window without answering the question, hoping it would pop up later once more. That was when the assistant of the system made her presence known once more, speaking of which her timing wasn't all that good either.
[You rang? The Evaluating Virtual Entity is here to help!]
"Nnnyyygh! I'm trying to win a battle between life & death here! I'm not gonna let go of the chance to win, just by being distracted by the system, not right now!"
[Hmmm… I see, you must have unlocked new skills during this battle,
I'll inform you about them when you're done, just say the word to let me know. Bye~]
"Thanks, I'll do that then. Now, to quickly go after my opponents."
I looked around seeing how I had lost sight of them for a moment.
Losing time for the finishing blow was crucial at this moment,
why… Why did I have to be distracted by the system? "Aaaagggh!"
Frustration got the better of me for a moment, starting to panic my vision had become cloudy. I did not know if the flames had caught onto the giant's mantis or both of them for that matter. An element that was crucial for me to survive…
As panic continued to overtake my mind I frantically looked around hoping to find a glimpse of my opponents, during which a curious question began to spiral in my mind.
Although the system provides crucial information at times and helps me to develop for my survival, wasn't the timing a bit odd? It even has consciousness in the form of E.V.E. Right? Then… Could it be?
I knew I had no time to spare, I couldn't waste more than this on the confusion which had been created in this short moment. Thankfully I had found one of the two mantis giants which had caught flame. It was the one without claws, the one who was kind of defenseless after getting its claws removed, to begin with.
A sigh of relief came over me seeing how at least one of the two remaining giants had burned down to a crisp. My energy began to deplete. Had I used most of it on the risky new move I had fabricated? I had to quickly regain my energy seeing how I couldn't level up further before evolving. Truly, I found myself in a pinch at that moment.
Unclear if the other healthy mantis had survived, I had to make it fast.
Using my remaining energy to shield myself from the outside I quickly began to chow down of the barbequed giant praying mantis, which at this point had broken down to the remaining smaller mantis which it originally had consisted of.
The burned outer layer had broken, which had been turned into ashes, its intestines on the other hand were still intact and cooked to a crisp. Something I had only encountered in the Vulcanic plains of the dungeon before. I couldn't worry about taste seeing how there might still be an enemy aware of my presence close by.
Quickly I began to eat, gulping down de edible parts of the bug. Not all were edible, like the exoskeleton for example which I used to slurp and gulp down the rest with a bit easier. In other words, the exoskeleton was used like eating utensils.
As I quickly gulped them all down I encountered something rather odd, something which I had not encountered before in my journey through the unknown dungeon of Yggdrasil.
I shined brightly in the moonlight, glowing slightly even. Could this be the heart of the creature? No… It looks way too rigid and artificial to be what I think it is, doesn't it?
Curious about what I had found, while I had regained around half my energy gulping down the praying mantis remains. I knew I had to come back later seeing how there might be more waiting for me in the dark. I turned around, quickly using my superior
At that moment I saw that the branch I had jumped on to engulf the mantis remains was swarming with other praying mantis. Not a Giant like before, but around eight regular-sized ones.
The giant must have broken down into the normal-sized ones trying to gain the upper hand with numbers. Yet, something was off. I swore I had counted eight, but why was there an extra larger one who had melted its head with another?