Chapter 77: Should I help?

A/N:- Changed Iron Mantis to Blade Mantis.

....

A Blade Mantis was a D-rank monster commonly found roaming the lower floors of C-rank dungeons.

They were solitary creatures, their combat ability reaching its peak when they were left alone and uninterrupted. Their greatest strength lay in single-target combat, where they could focus their entire attention on one opponent and overwhelm them with their speed and precision.

For high-ranking soldiers raiding a C-rank dungeon, a Blade Mantis was barely an inconvenience. They could cut one down without wasting more than half a minute.

But for a team that had entered an E-rank dungeon with their strongest fighter being a powerful E-rank himself, encountering one was something they could never have anticipated, let alone prepared for.

Yet just because something arrived unannounced did not mean it would show them mercy.

Slash.

The captain looked down at his arm.

His eyes widened.

The blade had severed it before he could even bring his club down.

Blood erupted from the stump in a violent fountain, followed almost immediately by the deathly scream of their strongest fighter.

"Ahhhhh! Help me..."

The Blade Mantis gave him no chance to finish.

Its mandibles snapped shut around his head.

Crunch. Crunch.

It chewed loudly, the sound echoing through the dungeon.

Thud.

The captain’s lifeless body collapsed onto the ground.

No one moved or uttered a word.

The only sound in the silent dungeon was the grotesque crunching of the captain’s skull being devoured.

Then someone moved.

The black-haired young man suddenly charged forward.

"Rem!"

The mage somehow managed to retain enough composure to raise her hand and hurl a fireball toward the creature, hoping to create an opening.

Shuank!

The fireball struck the Blade Mantis.

It did nothing.

The flames dispersed against its body without leaving so much as a mark.

"Waaaah!"

Troy rushed away, aiming to escape, at the same moment Kei unleashed a sword strike, aiming directly for the creature.

Kai’s eyes widened.

It failed to react.

For the first time, the Blade Mantis seemed to have been caught off guard.

Kei’s blade reached its arm.

Squelch!

The sword passed cleanly through the joint.

The creature’s front scythe dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.

"Don’t lose your calm! Surround it now, Kira!"

Kei glanced to the side.

Kira was gone.

Only Rem and Kai remained.

Kei clicked his tongue and immediately refocused on the creature. The loss of its arm had barely affected it. The Blade Mantis simply stared at them, its remaining scythe raised and ready.

He sheathed his blade and settled into position.

Be calm.

You’ve done this many times.

Just use your experience.

Kai kept his eyes fixed on the creature. He could not afford to look away, not even for a moment. If this situation spiraled any further, none of them would be able to stop it.

The monster suddenly took a step forward.

Click.

Kei drew his blade and swung.

Kai narrowed his eyes.

The strike was similar to the one before, but this time, it was slower.

And that was precisely why the mantis noticed it.

Its remaining scythe came crashing down.

THUNG!

The two blades collided.

One of them shattered.

"No... it can’t be..."

Rem covered her mouth, her eyes growing moist as she stared at Kei’s broken blade.

The monster was still standing.

Kei could only stare at the fragments scattered across the ground, his mind struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

His technique had never failed before.

And of all times for it to fail, it had chosen now.

He remained frozen as the Blade Mantis calmly reached down and seized its severed arm.

Then it began to eat.

Kei barely noticed.

His attention was still locked on the broken remains of his weapon, his mind refusing to accept the failure.

Then something even more horrifying happened.

Before Kai’s eyes, the missing section of the creature’s arm began to grow back.

Flesh emerged.

Bone followed.

The severed limb slowly reconstructed itself as though nothing had ever happened.

It was almost as if the creature were deliberately mocking them.

Kei was too stunned to notice.

He did not see the Blade Mantis finish regenerating.

He did not see it raise its scythe.

He did not even realize that its head had lowered toward him.

The creature lunged.

Its jaws opened wide enough to swallow his head whole.

Thud!

"Guh!"

Kei suddenly hit the ground.

A force had yanked him backward with enough strength to tear him out of the monster’s reach.

He looked up in confusion.

And froze.

A certain man stood between him and the Blade Mantis.

Kai realized that simply standing by was no longer an option. The team had already suffered too much damage for him to remain an observer.

And as if the situation wasn’t bad enough, the system suddenly assigned him a quest.

Yes, it has actually assigned one outside the Ruins.

[Quest: Defeat the Blade Mantis.]

[Reward: Eye of the Sage.]

Kai had no idea what the reward was supposed to be, but he wanted to kill the monster regardless. Whatever the system chose to give him afterward was simply an added bonus.

"Would it be fine if I dealt with this thing, Hunter Kei?"

Kei’s eyes widened.

The Blade Mantis suddenly charged, both of its scythes sweeping forward with enough force to tear through flesh in an instant.

"Wat..."

Kei tried to warn him, but Kai had already moved.

He slipped through the incoming attack with a smooth step, narrowly passing between the two scythes before appearing at the monster’s side.

Then his hand snapped out.

CRACK!

A backhanded strike slammed into the creature’s armored shell.

Kei’s eyes widened in disbelief.

How could he hurt that thick armor so casually?

Kai tilted his head slightly, almost as though he were waiting for something.

Kei lowered his head.

His voice trembled as the realization finally settled in.

"Please..."

He swallowed hard.

"Please help us."

°°°

A/N:- This mini arc would end next Chapter. Ain’t dragging this for long.