Chapter Thirty-Six: The Execution of the Mantis

Chen Qi’s eyes flashed with information about the mantis beast.

Name: Red-winged Scythe Mantis
Health: 100%
Mana: 50
Strength: 13
Agility: 20
Constitution: 8
Intelligence: 5
Charisma: 6
Note: This beast is incredibly fast, with razor-sharp forelimbs.
Skill 1: Sharpness (Passive Lv.1) — Attacks deal an additional 10 points of piercing damage, ignoring 15% of defense.
Skill 2: Strangle (Active Lv.2) — The mantis swings its forelimbs, launching a deadly stranglehold on its enemy, dealing 20-35 damage. If this skill hits a vital point, critical damage is increased by 50%. (Consumes 10 mana)
Skill 3: Aerial Slash Combo (Active Lv.2) — ???

There was no time to analyze the mantis beast’s stats. Chen Qi pushed his long blade forcefully, trying to shake the mantis off. The difference in strength made the mantis stagger backward, but its forelimbs remained tightly wrapped around the blade, the edge unable to harm them at all.

Steadying itself, the mantis pressed its forelimb lightly against the blade, flipping its entire body toward Chen Qi in a backward somersault, attempting to mount him.

A chill ran down Chen Qi’s spine. He had a slight phobia of insects and wanted nothing to do with such close contact with a mantis half the size of a person.

The long blade and the mantis’ forelimbs were still entangled. Chen Qi quickly released his left hand from the two-handed grip, swung his fist, and punched at the mantis’s soft underbelly.

Sun Ruohai, standing nearby, had already cut off the mantis’s escape route. Seeing the beast and Chen Qi grappling at close quarters, he hesitated, fearful his attack might hit Chen Qi instead.

Bang!

The mantis blocked Chen Qi’s punch with its hind leg. Unlike its forelimbs, the underdeveloped hind leg was far less sharp and was snapped in two by the blood-imbued fist.

The mantis’s eyes narrowed, seemingly unfazed by pain. Its forelimbs, now released from the blade, traced a half-arc through the air, aiming straight at Chen Qi’s head and neck.

With the mantis pressed so close, Chen Qi had no room to wield his blade. Without hesitation, he unleashed a surge of blood energy, hoping to force some distance and seize an opening to strike.

Crimson energy burst forth, lashing at the mantis’s gleaming forelimbs.

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Facing the oncoming blood energy, the mantis didn’t retreat. It merely rotated its forelimb ever so slightly, slicing the energy apart.

Seizing on Chen Qi’s momentary daze after his outburst, the mantis’s forelimbs moved even faster, now swirling with blood energy as well, intent on severing his head.

With no other choice, Chen Qi performed a heavy drop, trying to dodge the deadly limbs mere inches from him.

Whoosh.

The scythe-like forelimb swept just above his head, the gust it generated shearing away a lock of his hair.

But Chen Qi had no time to worry about that. The mantis’s assault was relentless—blood energy shot from its forelimbs in quick succession, sending several crimson arcs slashing directly at his face.

Luckily, Chen Qi had already recovered his long blade. He hurriedly raised it before his face to stave off a fatal blow.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The crimson arcs hammered repeatedly against the blade, numbing both his hands. The remaining red glow exploded on contact, leaving fine cuts on his cheeks.

He had no time to check if he was disfigured. Out of the corner of his eye, Chen Qi saw the mantis’s shadow still diving at him, anxiety gnawing at his heart.

He hadn’t expected that a simple slash would put him at such a disadvantage, leaving him with no chance to counter. Truly, a single misstep begets many more.

Feeling his back hit the ground, Chen Qi spat a jet of blood at the mantis’s exposed eyes, and simultaneously executed a now well-practiced move—rolling away!

The looming shadow crashed down, the forelimbs gouging cracks in the soft earth. The mantis, its eyes stung by blood, grew even more frenzied, dragging its forelimbs along the ground like blades as it lunged at Chen Qi again.

From behind, Sun Ruohai finally found his opportunity. Sword raised, he thrust straight at the beast’s lower back.

Knowing everything hinged on this moment, Chen Qi activated his Focus Surge skill.

A familiar surge of neural activity coursed through him. Rising to a half-crouch, he finally thrust his long blade forward.

All the blood energy in his body pooled onto the crimson blade, which now radiated a searing heat.

Clang!

Blade met forelimb again, but this time, the air was tinged with the scent of burning.

As the blood energy erupted along the blade’s edge, the mantis was stunned. Chen Qi pressed his advantage, unleashing a flurry of strikes within the skill’s duration, driving the beast into desperate defense.

Sensing a sudden gust from behind, the mantis panicked, its guard faltering.

Chen Qi seized the opening between the beast’s blocking limbs, slowed his blade, and slipped the edge toward the mantis’s abdomen.

At the same time, Sun Ruohai’s sword finally struck home, stabbing deep into the beast’s red-and-green back, drawing out a splash of clear blood.

Before the mantis could react in pain, Chen Qi’s blade too bit in, hacking brutally into its abdomen. Blood energy surged from the blade, ravaging the beast’s insides.

“Hm?”

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Chen Qi felt his blade strike something hard. Looking closely, he realized it was the tip of Sun Ruohai’s sword, the two weapons having met inside the mantis’s body.

With a hint of mischief on his face, hoping to see Sun Ruohai embarrassed, Chen Qi gave another forceful push. While Sun Ruohai was still stunned, he jolted the sword out from within the mantis.

Caught off guard, Sun Ruohai nearly lost his grip, left flustered and unsteady.

Chen Qi burst out laughing, while the mantis beast beside them had long since perished.

But soon, Chen Qi’s laughter froze. He noticed the creature’s corpse lay unremarkable—no radiance emanated from it at all.

“Where’s the treasure chest? Not even a white one? How unfair!”

Chen Qi closed his eyes and rubbed them, but when he looked again and saw nothing had changed, he finally accepted reality.

Carefully cutting away the beast’s forelimbs, he pondered to himself. Although the rules of this space hadn’t specified, he suspected Sun Ruohai’s intervention had affected the loot drop.

In other words, Sun Ruohai’s involvement had “tainted” the spoils.

Seeing Chen Qi’s somewhat resentful look, Sun Ruohai was completely at a loss.

Breaking the awkward silence, Sun Ruohai spoke up:

“Who would’ve thought that this seventh-tier beast, the Red-winged Scythe Mantis, could last less than half a minute against us? If someone faced it alone, it’d take far more effort.”

Recalling the mantis’s relentless assault and agile maneuvers, Chen Qi nodded, still shaken.

This battle had taught him a painful lesson:

“Never swing your blade lightly!”

A careless strike could leave a warrior on the back foot for the rest of the fight. If not for Sun Ruohai, Chen Qi might have paid a steep price to defeat this beast.

Reflecting further, Chen Qi compared this mantis to the Iron-armed Rampage Ape, another seventh-tier beast. The mantis was undoubtedly more like an assassin. The ape had been dispatched before entering a frenzy, making that bout relatively safe, but the mantis had forced Chen Qi to exhaust all his skills and nearly suffer a grievous wound.

Exhaling a long, heavy breath, Chen Qi concluded:

“From now on, if I can gang up, I’ll never fight solo!”

As if recalling something, he added,

“Except when the loot is truly exceptional!”