Chapter 32: Hunter And Hunted

Ahead stood the massive ancient war tree of the elves, yet no elves were in sight. The area Knight Tamik had threatened the elves to vacate was vast enough that, for now, it resembled an uninhabited forest.

The war tree had returned to its original form, with the waters of the Sun Well still nourishing its growth. The remains of the three war mantises had been collected by the elves and piled at the base of the tree, their shattered limbs resembling three massive heaps of garbage.

A blade of black lightning slashed down, narrowly missing Asa and carving a deep trench into the ground. Asa rolled to the side, colliding with the corpse of one of the mantises before coming to a stop.

"Wait, I surrender," Asa shouted, scrambling onto the mantis's body in a desperate manner.

But the Tarmik Knight did not wait—another slash came crashing down. And this strike was even fiercer, faster, and more unstoppable than the one that had just forced him to a halt.

Knight Tamik no longer wanted to wait. An almost instinctive judgment told him something was wrong. A hint of kiling resurfaced in his mind.

The man he had expected to catch in two or three breaths had taken four or five. The strike he had thought would sever an arm had been dodged. Only now did he realize his judgment had been slightly off. Or perhaps, with each move, his opponent seemed to grow more agile. The effects of those two white magic spells were unexpectedly potent, continuing to work within the man's body.

When Asa called out to wait, Knight Tamik knew he couldn't afford to. He now understood that his opponent's escape had been deliberate, though he didn't yet grasp the full intent. He knew it was best not to let that intent succeed.

With a crack, Knight Tamik found his strike had missed again. Asa had grabbed one of the mantis's legs to block the blow, the green limb snapping and flying off as he dodged.

The Tarmik Knight took a slight step back, steadying himself. He realized he had been too careless—he had treated his opponent as a completely powerless, defeated man. Because of that, his strikes had contained subtle openings, his blade's momentum had been incomplete, and that was why his enemy had managed to evade again and again. So, he took half a step back, focused his mind, and swung his blade once more. 

With renewed focus, the knight swung his blade once more. This strike had completely regained its ocean-like steadiness and mountain-like weight. It carried with it the inescapable essence of death, seamlessly woven into the very momentum of the blade. In an instant, the overwhelming force engulfed the entire space within ten meters, locking everything in place. This time, evasion was no longer an option.

A dull thud echoed as the strike was blocked. Not only was it stopped, but the force rebounding from the clash sent a numbing shock through the knight's hands. He staggered back two steps, his usually expressionless face now filled with sheer disbelief.

He wasn't shocked that the strike had been blocked, but that it wasn't Asa who had blocked it—it was the massive mantis.

In the brief moment Knight Tamik had taken to focus, Asa had also concentrated. But instead of preparing to strike or dodge, he had finished gathering the magic in his hand and pressed it into the war mantis's corpse beneath him. As Knight Tamik's blade came down, the mantis's two massive scythes swung up, blocking the strike.

No matter how strong, fierce, or overwhelming the Knight Tamik's power was, it was simply impossible to cleave through such a massive weapon—one as broad as a door and far harder than any wooden plank. His strike carried the pinnacle of blade technique, force, and killing intent, honed to the very limits of martial mastery. The mantis's motion was simple, but at this point, the gap was no longer about skill or cultivation. It was like a man trying to outmuscle an elephant—no amount of training could bridge such an inherent difference. And so, he was forced to retreat.

Only now did Knight Tamik understand why his opponent had fled and why he had fled in this direction. But he still couldn't comprehend how someone who had already used two bishop-level white magic spells could still have enough magical power to animate such a massive corpse.

Though Knight Tamik didn't use necromancy himself, he understood it. Non-human bodies could be turned into zombies, but it was far more difficult. Human bodies resonated most easily with necromantic magic. The larger the creature, the more magic it required to animate, and the harder it was to control. To turn a war mantis of this size into a zombie would require more magic than a dual practitioner of magic and martial arts could handle.

But what shocked him even more was that this mantis might not be an ordinary zombie.

Whether human or otherwise, zombies moved slowly. Yet this mantis had raised its scythes fast enough to block his strike. Now, the zombie mantis turned nimbly and stood up.

The war mantis had only its upper half remaining, with its entrails spilling from the severed torso and dragging along the ground. Its exoskeleton was scorched and scarred from countless magical blasts, leaving it looking more like a pile of discarded wreckage than a living creature.

Yet, despite its tattered state, its movements were eerily more agile than when it was whole. The ruined body reared up, and with an unnatural swiftness, its two massive scythe-like arms slashed through the air, carrying with them a powerful gust as they struck toward the Knight Tamik.

The Tamik Knight retreated. He had no choice but to retreat. Though the two massive scythe-like blades swung at him with simple, straightforward strikes, he could do nothing to block them—only fall back.

He cast a glance at Asa, who stood atop the mantis, and for a fleeting moment, the overwhelming killing intent in his eyes flared—then vanished. Without hesitation, he turned and ran. Fled.

The shift from hunter to hunted happened in the span of mere blinks. Yet Tamik showed not a trace of hesitation in the face of this drastic reversal. He fled with the same unwavering resolve with which he had pursued.

He had stood at the very peak of victory, only to realize in an instant that he had no choice but to accept defeat. Such a shift in mindset was not something an ordinary person could endure.

Ordinarily, no matter how slim the chances, people couldn't help but struggle—to at least try and turn things around. But the Tamik Knight did not attempt to salvage the situation like an ordinary person would. In fact, his chances of doing so weren't even particularly small.

Yet, he still chose to act with the cold, rational judgment that dictated his every move.

He could see that he was now at a disadvantage, so he retreated, fleeing.

If it were just this monster, he might have had a way to deal with it. But the key was Asa. Only now did he realize he had underestimated his opponent. Thinking victory was assured, he had left the smallest gap, and his opponent had used it to turn the tables completely.

The means by which Asa had turned the situation around were still unclear to him. He couldn't understand how someone already skilled in martial arts could still have such abundant magical power, nor how such severe wounds could be healed to this extent by just two high-level healing spells. He couldn't figure it out, and he refused to take the risk of trying to turn the situation around.

Watching Knight Tamik's gray figure vanish into the forest, Asa felt a newfound respect for his opponent. Though his combat prowess, cunning, and methods were already top-tier, it was his ability to let go when necessary that truly impressed. It showed that his mind and emotions had been tempered to the hardness and unity of stone, leaving almost no vulnerabilities.

Knight Tamik was heading toward the teleportation magic circle, where Ruya and the World Tree Leaf were, and where Talice and Yabin's fates were still unknown. Asa knew he had to pursue. But even the most powerful white magic healing spells couldn't fully restore one's combat ability, so Asa had to rely on the mantis to fight. Unfortunately, the mantis was missing its lower half, making rapid movement impossible.

With a mental command, the mantis moved to the remains of another mantis's body, its severed limbs scattered around. Taking a deep breath, both of his hands were raised high, channeling all of his magical energy into the necromancy spell. A swirling ball of blue light began to form between his hands. It was only because he was beside the Sun Well, with its constant magical pulses replenishing his power and enhancing his magic, that he was able to control a war mantis, a beast of such immense strength—no less formidable than a Behemoth. Even though the Sun Well's water was nearly dried up and its anti-magic effect was nearly gone, the proximity to the well was enough to boost his magical power close to Sandru's level.

Under the blue light, the piled mantis corpses began to writhe, then connected and merged like a mass of slime monsters. A massive, twisted green creature with three heads and a dozen legs took shape.

As the blue light of the necromancy spell dissipated from his hands, Asa gazed down at the mangled remains of the three mantises, which now resembled something a child had carelessly sculpted and then smooshed together. He couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment. While his magical power was abundant, his control over magic was still far from the level of someone like Sandru. He couldn't even properly reassemble the mantises' wings, meaning they wouldn't be able to fly. It seemed like the creature's full potential was beyond his grasp for now.

Now was not the time to dwell on the appearance of the creature. Even though it couldn't fly, the mismatched legs still moved. Under Asa's command, the dozen or so legs swiftly began to move, dragging the assembled body of the mantis toward the direction of the Knight Tamik. The massive creature, though incomplete, continued its pursuit, propelled by its crude but functional movement.