Free Web NovelChapter 32: Hunting praying mantises with a scythe [8]
The forest shook from the explosion, my hair whipping across my face from the blast wind. I covered my eyes with my arm to shield them from the dust.
"Is it dead?" I said as I waited for it to settle.
When it did, the damage became clear. A huge crater sat where the blast had landed, the trees around it either sliced apart or outright destroyed. The bodies of any mantises caught in the blast were gone too.
But the giant mantis itself was nowhere among the wreckage.
It definitely wasn’t dead. Something would have remained if it were.
Then I heard a low screech, and my head snapped left. The mantis was there, leaning against a tree.
It had survived, but not unscathed. Its left front leg had been ripped clean off, leaving a bleeding green stump. Its abdomen was damaged too, along with its wings.
There goes its ability to dart around at explosive speed. That worked in my favour.
I deactivated the darkness circle since the beast could no longer move with that kind of burst speed anyway, and the attack had drained quite a lot of mana.
I rested my scythe on my shoulder and walked toward it.
"How does it feel when your prey uses your own attack against you?" I said with a smile.
Skieeek!
The mantis let out a pained sound.
I stopped about 8 meters away.
A cornered beast was the most dangerous kind, so I wasn’t about to get careless.
The giant mantis trembled as it tried to stay upright.
Then I had an idea.
"How about this... I won’t use my darkness powers. Just scythes only. Isn’t that fair?" I stabbed the shaft of my scythe into the ground. freewёbnoνel.com
Screech!!
I don’t speak mantinese, but judging by the tone, it wasn’t happy.
’Kid, are you seriously trying to have a conversation with a beast? Are you insane?’ Ezio said, dumbfounded.
I shrugged. "Doesn’t hurt to try. You never know, it might understand me."
’Kid, you’re a schizophrenic.’ Ezio said, deadpan.
And I took that personally.
"Huh?? Me, schizophrenic?? What gave you that idea?" I said, raising my arms in protest.
’You talk to yourself whenever you’re alone.’
No, no, listen guys. I talk to myself because who better to have a conversation with than yourself?? ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
It has nothing to do with being schizophrenic.
’Oh, and you sometimes answer your own questions and then laugh at them.’ He added.
"That’s just because I thought of something funny." I countered. "And didn’t you know that people who talk to themselves are considered highly intelligent and very good at problem solving? That’s exactly why I do it!"
’Yeah, right. Schizo.’
I clicked my tongue and turned back to the giant praying mantis, which was staring at me with its head tilted in confusion.
Ah, damn. Since the beast couldn’t see Ezio, I must have looked like a complete madman arguing with thin air.
It probably thought I was a schizo too!
"Screw you, Ezio!" I cursed.
’Why are you saying fuck me for?’
I clicked my tongue, grabbed my scythe, and pointed it at the mantis. "Come on. Let’s finish this."
The giant mantis screeched loudly, probably threatening me off, but once again, I don’t speak mantis.
I dashed forward and swung my scythe to take its head off.
The giant mantis straightened up quickly and raised its remaining scythe to block the attack.
I pulled back, then spun on my heel and swept low toward its legs, but the beast was smart enough to jump clear.
Which I had expected. So with my free left hand, I closed it into a fist and drove it into its already-cracked thorax, cracking it further. The beast coughed up green blood and was sent flying back.
I didn’t let up and dashed after it, giving it no time to recover.
The beast got up quickly, and when it realized that defending or retreating wasn’t going to save it, it chose to fight back.
Wind energy gathered around its remaining scythe and it released a wind arc straight at me.
I smiled and pulled my scythe back, darkness energy gathering along the blade, and swung forward. A black arc shot off the blade to meet it.
Black met green, a smaller explosion cracking the air between us, kicking up dust and shaking the ground.
Out of the cloud, two black arcs emerged and streaked toward the mantis.
It launched a wind arc to intercept one, creating another small explosion, then leapt sideways to dodge the second.
I appeared in front of it in the blink of an eye, and the beast froze for just a moment before driving its scythe at me.
Our blades clashed, sparks scattering into the air. We traded blows, each of us aiming for the other’s head.
Despite having only one scythe, the beast was holding its ground, and its attacks were no less dangerous for it. It slashed, reverse-slashed, and tried to hook and drag me in, but I blocked each attempt.
My scythe kept spinning back and forth, swatting away everything the giant mantis threw at me.
Whenever it shoved me back and tried to gather wind energy for another arc, I hurled my scythe at it to break its concentration, giving myself enough time to form a new one and close back in.
Our blades kept colliding over and over. Neither of us had drawn blood yet.
Until the giant praying mantis left an opening, and I took it, slashing across its abdomen.
Screeesh! The mantis screamed in pain.
Blood and other things came out that and I honestly don’t want to describe for everyone’s sake.
The beast was clearly losing strength as the abdomen wound slowed its attacks down.
My scythe came from below and swept upward, slicing off its remaining scythe and sending it spinning into the air.
The giant mantis screamed as green blood sprayed from the stump.
"Owari da." My scythe came down and sliced through its thorax. The blade tore through the exoskeleton without resistance and separated its upper body cleanly.
And before it could even begin to fall, I spun on my feet and took its head off at the neck, sending it sailing up and landing on the ground behind me.
Green blood splattered across the earth as the lower half of the mantis collapsed.
"Thank you for the lesson." I said, letting the scythe crumble back into darkness.
[You have slain an Apex Common beast, Giant Bamboo Praying Mantis.]
