Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: What is the Grand Mantis's Greatest Weapon?
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Chapter 135
Chapter 135
What was the Grand Mantis's greatest weapon?
Its massive body?
Its sturdy carapace?
Of course, those played no small part in their infamous reputation.
[Through the synergy effect of 「Excellent Combat Sense」, the Grand Mantis's weakness has been identified.]
But no matter what anyone said, the true symbol of the Grand Mantis—and if exaggerated a bit, the creature itself—was that ferocious pair of forelegs.
Those forelegs stretched straight out to a length matching the beast's own torso.
'Who would've thought those forelegs were the weak point.'
Jeong-hyeon clicked his tongue in disbelief.
It was a system—and everything below it—that defied understanding no matter how much you knew.
Come to think of it, when 『Best Defense is Evasion』 had expanded to level 2, it added a chance to detect enemy weaknesses through combat sense.
'I'd never used it until now, so I forgot about it.'
To be precise, the tough opponents he'd faced so far had their weaknesses uncovered through the harmony of mana sensitivity and combat sense, leaving no room for this effect to trigger separately.
At any rate, even though it was his first time using this effect, the system highlighted the weakness plain as day.
To be exact, the forelegs themselves weren't the weak point.
Won-ho was slamming his axe into them right now with murderous force, yet they showed no sign of cracking, not even a proper dent.
Jeong-hyeon's gaze fixed on the Grand Mantis's shoulder—the joint where the foreleg connected to the body.
That spot glowed a thick red, just like when combat sense predicted an enemy's attack path.
'So, that's their weak point, huh?'
Sure, supporting legs as big as its body wouldn't be easy under normal circumstances.
And their shoulders weren't particularly well-developed, so it wasn't strange for the joint to be weaker than elsewhere.
Plus, targeting that spot to disable the forelegs would reduce them to nothing more than oversized insects—making it the perfect weakness.
But knowing the weakness didn't mean he'd closed in on victory amid these layered mountains of difficulty.
Far from it.
'If this isn't putting a bell on a cat's neck, what is?'
The Grand Mantis's shoulder was the weak point.
Nice to hear.
But who was going to get Won-ho up to the Grand Mantis's shoulder?
No situation fit the saying "as easy as hanging a bell on a cat's neck" better than this.
Still, he'd grasped a clue, so all he could do was try.
'Riding up its back like I thought earlier is out.'
If there was no sharp answer to the wings' movements, climbing onto its back the proper way was impossible.
Plus, from the waist down, it was nearly vertical, making the climb anything but easy.
That left one option.
'It feels like suicide, but...'
Not the back.
The front.
He had no choice but to go straight for the side with the forelegs.
Jeong-hyeon's eyes scanned the surroundings.
Was there anything he could use?
That's when something entered his field of view.
'Maybe I can use that?'
It had been there, quite large, since they'd arrived at the cavern.
But they hadn't paid it much mind relative to its size.
"Won-ho, a little help!"
"?"
Jeong-hyeon called out loudly to Won-ho.
Won-ho, who had been swinging his axe nonstop against the red one to ease U-yeong's burden, reacted to the voice.
Had some method appeared?
But he also worried that leaving his post might collapse the delicate balance.
Pop-pop-pop—
At that moment, air bursts exploded continuously on the red one's forelegs.
"I'll handle things here somehow, so go to Hunter Jeong-hyeon first!"
It was Jeong-geun's shout.
Instead of persisting with attacks whose damage was questionable, he'd focus on disrupting the beast's power in Won-ho's place.
"But come back quick for real!"
Won-ho nodded immediately and broke from the front line, dashing toward Jeong-hyeon.
For some reason, Jeong-hyeon was circling rapidly around the yellow Harad-embedded Grand Mantis.
And he was keeping Won-ho at a certain distance, as if drawing his own line.
"Whoa, stop, stop. Just listen from there."
'What the hell is this guy?'
He hadn't paid attention here, focused on the red one.
From what Won-ho had seen so far, Jeong-hyeon was moving at unprecedented speed.
Naturally, he couldn't guess it, but with A-Rank body movement traits plus a slight C-Rank movement speed boost, his quickness was truly remarkable.
One could chalk up the Grand Mantis surpassing common sense as a boss monster, but even Jeong-hyeon evading its reach seemed beyond normal.
He'd faint if he knew Jeong-hyeon was deliberately throttling his speed.
Such a Jeong-hyeon asked Won-ho,
"How fast can you run, sir?"
Won-ho's mind grew a bit muddled.
***
"Kieee!"
The yellow Harad Grand Mantis was furious to its core.
Its mate wasn't achieving much either, but at least it could attack freely over there.
The humans were struggling desperately to hold out, but it wouldn't last long.
That was normal.
But here?
Some human was insanely fast.
He slipped just out of its attack range, giving no openings.
Considering the size difference between Grand Mantis and human, it was absurd speed.
And instinctively, it knew.
The humans over there enduring with all their might was because of this human.
In other words, kill this one, and the rest would crumble pitifully.
The moment that thought hit, its eyes locked solely on Jeong-hyeon.
Another axe-wielding human approached, but he wasn't entering attack range, so it ignored him.
From a rough glance at the fight, he seemed strong, but not a threat.
While the Grand Mantis twisted desperately to catch only Jeong-hyeon,
"Kie?"
This sly human pulled another weird move.
After circling annoyingly, he now veered sharply off course as if nothing happened.
And he headed straight for the pile of cave orc corpses stacked high.
Jeong-hyeon dashed there at a speed hard to pursue and hid behind the mound.
"Kieee..."
Who knew what outlandish trick that human would pull next.
Rather than risk a direct strike on the corpse pile, the Grand Mantis chose a safer method.
Zzzzap-crackle—
Vicious lightning erupted from the Harad, visibly ferocious.
Far more intense than anything the Grand Mantis had used before.
It planned to end Jeong-hyeon with this one attack.
Whatever trick he'd used before let him shrug off lesser shocks, but this power would change that.
Just char the orc pile—and him—with it.
Finally, the Grand Mantis unleashed the massive lightning it had gathered.
Even it couldn't output full power right after this, but with Jeong-hyeon gone, the rest were no issue, so it didn't care.
Zzzzzap—
A blinding flash filled the cavern, slamming into the corpse pile.
Even dead, the orc bodies twitched like they were convulsing.
Then the smell of burning meat filled the air.
"Kieee—"
The Grand Mantis cried triumphantly.
No human could walk away unscathed from that.
It watched the area even while firing, but no one fled.
He'd stayed hidden and taken it full force.
"My god..."
Meanwhile, the party members battling the red one gaped at the terrifying power.
Even the red one paused in surprise, so it said something.
They doubted any human could survive such lightning magic.
Jeong-hyeon had performed impossibly until now, but he was still human.
"In the end... it was impossible."
Deok-jin muttered.
He'd thought the fight more even than expected.
He'd hoped Jeong-hyeon would find some way.
But really, two Grand Mantises alone were hopeless.
And with magic like that, expecting more was foolish.
"Kie—"
But even as the party despaired, the Grand Mantis prepared thoroughly.
Not content with roasting the orc corpses, it raised its forelegs to crush them.
Crunch—
It slammed both forelegs into the pile—not the top, but slightly toward the back.
Whether Jeong-hyeon was dead or alive, it needed to see the body to satisfy itself.
Yanking the legs back violently, the mound collapsed in a heap.
Its size kept it from fully disintegrating at once, but the back was now visible enough.
"Kie?"
The Grand Mantis tilted its head.
Jeong-hyeon still wasn't in sight.
Maybe hidden deeper.
Crunch—
A foreleg plunged again to churn the back.
"Electric mantis you bastard, that shit's nasty strong."
Crackle—
At that instant, Jeong-hyeon appeared.
Face smeared black from burns, he stood atop the mantis's foreleg.
Then he started running.
***
The lightning magic the Grand Mantis hurled at the orc mound.
It blatantly exceeded Jeong-hyeon's expectations.
Suspicious as he was, he figured even in rage, it'd use lightning over direct attack.
So when hiding behind the pile, he'd meticulously applied earth affinity to his body and jammed the mace a third into the ground.
But,
Zzzzzap—
'Ugh, shit!'
Even so, the current—on another level—didn't stop at toasting the orc pile whole; it inflicted real damage on Jeong-hyeon too.
Had he assumed it'd be like before and skipped prep, he'd be the one suffering.
The lingering current, covering that vast area for so long, finally faded.
Jeong-hyeon dragged his unresponsive body to the mound's edge.
'My armor's all fucked...'
Of all times, his eyes went to the armor in this mess.
Repairable maybe, but not back to original.
'Aghhh...'
Naturally, his body was near its limit.
This spot was out of the party's sight, so no healing from Deok-jin.
He had to pull himself together until the mantis's next move.
'If I play dead and it fires again, I'm toast.'
Per his guess, expending that much power meant the beast faced restrictions—not just on magic, but movement.
Their magic lacked human finesse; it was all raw power dump.
Sure enough,
Crunch—
Two forelegs slammed slightly behind the mound's center.
The angle suggested full extension.
Scared to get close, or too drained to move?
Either way, fine by him.
Rumble—
As it retracted, a mass of orc corpses tumbled.
Jeong-hyeon bit his lower lip and rose.
It hadn't spotted him yet.
Next move would likely mirror this.
'Move then.'
Body in shambles, but it was do-or-die.
He had to make it work.
Crunch—
Luckily, it followed his prediction.
And slower than before.
With max speed, he climbed the orc corpses.
No matter how cautious, the Grand Mantis wouldn't give three chances.
'Ride it before then!'
The mound, now half its height.
Body uncooperative, but he mounted before it retracted.
"Electric mantis you bastard, that shit's nasty strong."
Honest take on the insane bolt—and saying it kept him from blacking out.
Without pause, Jeong-hyeon ran.
Tiger's back—no, mantis foreleg ridden, might as well go all the way.
Especially with the weakness in plain view at the end.
'Watch your precious foreleg snap off!'