Spotted

Nick froze.

His breath caught in his throat like he choked on a piece of food a bit too large, and every instinct in his body screamed at him to run — to turn tail and get the fuck out of there as fast as his pathetic legs could carry him.

But he didn't.

Or couldn't, rather.

Because if he did, the Radiant Slayers nearby would spot him, and recognise him in an instant.

'Don't tell me this fucker started going after the weakest members first again — and chose me this time!?'

The Mantis' head stayed perfectly still, with its insect eyes glinting with some sort of eerie bug intelligence. 

Only its mandibles twitched, clicking faintly as it processed what it just sensed.

That slight shift in the wind. That almost imperceptible sound of a breath being sucked in too fast.

Nick wanted to slap himself a thousand times over.

'Had I actually gasped out loud? What kind of rookie bullshit was that?!'

It was too late crying over what can't be undone though.

The mantis lifted one of its scythe like forelimbs ever so slightly.

Not as an attack — not yet — but Nick recognised that stance.

It was preparing some more Wind Blades!

And unlike Beast Slayer, Nick had absolutely no defence against something like that!

'No, no, no, no… Go back to that idiot on his ass over there! I'm not a threat! I'm a fern. Yes! A simple bush. A very ugly, terrified bush!'

But the beast's gaze didn't waver.

Once it noticed him, it wasn't suddenly going to un-notice him…

Nick's muscles tensed, primed to activate his Speed Augmentation and vanish from the scene before that think could launch its attack.

Except he knew deep down that even that wouldn't be fast enough.

Radiant Beasts weren't slow, he knew that all too well from his last encounter with one.

And judging by the way this Mantis handled Beast Slayer's merry band of morons, this one had brains to match its blades.

Well, at least some brains.

He was just about to consider throwing a rock — yes, a literal rock — to create some sort of distraction and maybe buy himself a split second's lead…

When fate, in the form of a rather annoying human, intervened.

"I said cover me, you bastards!!"

Beast Slayer's voice bellowed out like a foghorn, full of pent up rage and frustration… and a complete lack of regard for how close he had been to death.

Thanks to the Mantis' sudden distraction, he had the time to switch his armour to a physical defence based one.

Nick watched as the man scrambled upright, now glowing with some sort of red aura he recognised instantly to be a result of the man's Soul Ability. Energy started to surge around him, signalling the activation of another Beast Armament on top of that.

It was well known around the War Beast Sanctuary that Beast Slayer's Soul Ability, when activated, gave him a 400% boost to his physical strength, as even Beast Slayer himself didn't hide it.

This time, a pair of clawed gauntlets now covered his hands, with his vibrant red aura quickly moving to cover them as well.

'Another Radiant Beast Armament, just how many does this guy have?'

Nick clicked his tongue inwardly, but more importantly…

'Oh, come on!' Nick hissed, with his relief at the attention being taken away from him being soured by pure annoyance.

'He gets saved again!?'

But the Mantis did turn back, saving Nick of suffering an imminent attack of Wind Blades.

Beast Slayer wasted none of the precious time Nick had unintentionally bought him.

He rushed forward in a blur, faster than even Nick when he activated his Sabertooth Wolf Beast Augmentation, closing the distance between himself and the Mantis while three of his cronies moved to flank the beast from the sides, weapons drawn and Soul Abilities of their own starting to activate.

Nick didn't even bother trying to learn what abilities they had, as his focus was entirely on Beast Slayer himself.

He didn't even need to guess the plan the Radiant Slayers had in mind.

Surround the Mantis. Drive it Back. Tank a few hits and kite a little while they created openings for Beast Slayer to land a powerful hit in. 

It was simple, but considering they already had a reputation of hunting Radiant Beasts, it clearly worked somehow.

Just that they experienced deaths like the previous one in about 50% of all their battles with Radiant Beasts.

Still hiding, Nick let out a slow breath, making sure not to attract the Mantis' attention this time — though he doubted it would switch its attention to him again even if he did since it had Beast Slayer to deal with.

'Alright. No sudden moves. Don't draw attention. Let the idiots over there do their thing. Then swoop in for the kill like a beautiful, opportunistic vulture.'

The battle resumed with remarkable violence.

The Mantis let out a high pitched shriek. And launched out a few slashes with its lengthly scythe-like forelimbs.

Beast Slayer didn't falter. His new armour absorbed most of the impact, as one would expect of a Radiant Beast Armour, allowing him to instead dart in with a horizontal swipe of his own, aimed straight for the beast's mid section with his gauntlets.

Clang! Crush!

The Hit connected, and with Beast Slayer's boost of 400% increased strength as well as the effect his Radiant Gauntets provided him, the Mantis was sent reeling backwards.

Beast Slayer removed his fists quickly before the Mantis could make any desperate strikes at them while it fell. Soon, the crushed chitinous mid-section of the Mantis was revealed, leaving the delicate innards out in the open air for all to see.

'Damn, was his attack really that powerful!?' 

Nick felt his skin crawl imagining receiving an attack like that with his own body…

He'd probably be pulverised down to a red sludge if he took an attack like that to the stomach like the Mantis did.

However the increased chance of killing the Mantis only made it more desperate and frenzied, spelling danger for Beast Slayer and his cronies!