Chapter 56: VS Bloody Mantis

Original: Chapter 56: VS Bloody Mantis

The message “A Bloody Mantis has appeared” popped up. So a mantis is called a “mantis,” huh.

I set down my Shark Backpack and the bag Miss Marta had entrusted to me. Then, gripping my Hammer, I took my distance.

I knew absolutely nothing about the Bloody Mantis. I didn’t know, but I could tell my opponent was a formidable enemy.

I probably hadn’t reached the Recommended Conquest Level for the Bloody Mantis.

The pressure was immense.

My survival instinct was telling me, “Your chances of survival are higher if you run from here.” But I didn’t feel like running. Because my Fighting Instinct was telling me to take it down.

I focused my gaze firmly on the Bloody Mantis once more.

“Eek… I’m actually not good with how mantises look…”

I mean, their forelimbs are blades. And their faces are scary to begin with.

It’s bringing back trauma. When I was little, I tried to pick up a mantis and it shup! sliced my finger. It hurt so much it left a psychological scar.

This Bloody Mantis’s scythes are shining as if they were made of metal. I think if I got cut by that, it would be way beyond just painful.

So I absolutely cannot get hit even once.

The Bloody Mantis starts running toward me.

For a moment, I brace myself.

But it’s okay. It’s much slower compared to the Killer Hornet. Just—

“Whoa!”

The speed at which it swung its scythe was unbelievably fast.

If my decision to dodge had been even a little slower, I think I would have been cleanly sliced.

“It’s too scary how it’s aiming for my neck—”

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—slicing through the air, it swings its scythe over and over, persistently trying to lop off my head.

Even a graze to the neck would likely mean bleeding out and dying. In a state of extreme tension, I keep my eyes wide open and continue dodging the scythes.

“How utterly murderous…”

I haven’t even attacked it or anything.

Is this the Bloody Mantis’s territory or something? No, do insects even have territories in the first place?

Whatever the case, I need to counterattack.

Attacking from the front is difficult. I don’t think I could possibly slip past those two scythes to attack the Bloody Mantis’s torso.

So I have to somehow avoid the front and get to the Bloody Mantis’s side, right?

While being careful of the scythes, I start moving to the right. The Bloody Mantis continues unleashing its scythes without a care.

Gradually, but… is the Bloody Mantis’s Attack starting to lag a bit? Maybe its directional changes aren’t that fast.

“Maybe I can do this.”

If I dodge the next scythe swing from the left, I can switch to an attack. Just then, the scythe from the left was swung down at me. I dodged it properly.

Alright, this is my only chance to attack.

“Now!”

It was just as I tried to dodge the attack.

Huh…? That’s weird… My foot didn’t plant firmly on the ground—

The sole of my foot landed on a slant. Why—?

This feeling— It was like my foot had landed right on top of a fairly large rock.

“No way…”

A rock hidden by the Fluffbloom—I couldn’t see it.

I turned pale. This is definitely the kind of thing that gets you killed.

The descending scythe closes in right before my eyes.

“Guh—”

I try to twist my body somehow. But—

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

I let out a scream-like sound in anticipation of the pain. As if chasing after it, the scythe spat! sliced through my skin. It was a cold pain I’d never felt before.