Chapter 136
Chapter 136
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Grand Mantis Falls
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 136
Thud-thud-
No matter how massive the Grand Mantis's front legs were, they were only about six meters long from end to end.
Even if Jeong-hyeon's body was in terrible shape, crossing from one end to the other took only a blink.
"Kkiieeek!"
Of course, the Grand Mantis wasn't just watching him idly.
Before Jeong-hyeon could even cross the first segment, it reacted.
It violently shook off the right front leg he was riding while moving the opposite leg to shake him loose entirely.
"Now!"
"Okay!"
But that was within Jeong-hyeon's expectations as well.
Jeong-hyeon called out to Won-ho.
Won-ho had already been carrying out his assigned role even before that.
Jeong-hyeon had clearly seen Won-ho's movements too.
The command and response were just for morale and confirmation.
Won-ho took a few steps to build momentum and leaped high.
If Jeong-hyeon's jump used his excellent agility to soar lightly, Won-ho's was hurling his overflowing power like throwing his body.
The spot he aimed for was the right rear leg's first joint.
"Kieee-"
Even up to that moment, the Grand Mantis paid no attention to Won-ho.
The humans were clearly targeting its rear leg joints.
With that much power, the damage would be considerable.
But so what?
In the creature's mind, Won-ho's axe strikes lacked the destructive force to deal a critical blow to the Grand Mantis.
Even if the joint was slightly damaged, it was negligible in this pivotal moment.
But,
'That's what you think!'
Daggers shot from Jeong-hyeon's hand.
All Onyx Daggers.
Each enchanted with fiercely burning fire magic.
Though the shaking ground made them veer off their precise targets, Jeong-hyeon had a way to correct the error.
The daggers, spreading out in a wide arc, suddenly curved in a bizarre twist at one point.
Now, the three daggers locked onto clear targets.
Stab-stab-stab-
They embedded sequentially into the front, center, and rear of the front leg joint Won-ho was targeting.
With fire attributes—fatal to living beings—pushed to their limit, the Grand Mantis's flesh, softer than its exoskeleton, cooked instantly.
This all happened by the time Won-ho reached the peak of his upward arc.
"Hraaah!"
The massive battle axe was ready to strike its mark.
Jeong-hyeon squeezed out his last dregs of mana for a final touch.
He enchanted Won-ho's axe with neutral magic too.
A formless, rippling energy formed on the sharp blue blade.
Crack!
Won-ho's axe blade slammed precisely into the target.
Jeong-hyeon's daggers had already weakened it sufficiently.
With a gruesome sound, the axe tore into the Grand Mantis's rear leg like a wild horse gone berserk, and
Snap!
Ultimately severed it completely.
Of course, it was just one of its six rear legs.
This wouldn't cripple the Grand Mantis's mobility right away.
Wobble-
But in the midst of pouring all its power to shake off Jeong-hyeon, the sudden shift in center of gravity was unavoidable.
The trajectory of the left front leg, charging to slice him, twisted sharply.
The right front leg he stood on wobbled too, creating an even greater deviation.
Jeong-hyeon clearly saw it.
The red attack prediction overlaying his body—what had become of it.
Crunch!
"Kkiieeeeeek!"
'Whoa, that must hurt.'
The left front leg, which should have barely grazed him before stopping, missed him badly and flew onward, instead burrowing more than halfway into the right front leg.
Green blood sprayed like a fountain.
The Grand Mantis's supposedly unbreakable front leg had shattered.
Naturally, Jeong-hyeon didn't stop upon confirming it.
Miss this moment of agony, and he'd lose his chance to reach the shoulder weakness forever.
Even now, it had halted attacks but required focus to keep running balanced.
"Cut them all off!"
Jeong-hyeon shouted that to Won-ho as he kept charging forward.
Might as well get full value from the enchantments.
Won-ho was already heading for the second rear leg even before hearing it.
Boom- boom-
Not a joint and unweakened beforehand, so axe blows didn't shatter it easily, but it couldn't ignore them like before.
Losing two legs from one side was a whole different level.
Splash-
The Grand Mantis still couldn't hide its pain but soon yanked its left leg free from the right one.
"Impressive... Whoa?!"
Jeong-hyeon, pressing on regardless, overlooked something.
'Is this bastard insane?!'
The left leg reared up and unhesitatingly slammed down again.
But the target wasn't Jeong-hyeon, shockingly.
The creature's own right leg, which Jeong-hyeon hadn't reached yet.
Was it sacrificing its already useless right arm for the fight?
Crunch!
It severed its own right leg to block further approach.
At the same time, the right leg Jeong-hyeon stood on plummeted sharply.
Leap!
He reflexively jumped from the still-supporting right leg, avoiding immediate freefall, but
'We're screwed...'
It left him defenseless in midair, exposed.
Roughly over five meters to the ground by eye.
Could he climb back from that height?
It lost one leg, but the rest were intact, and the harad remained.
'Screw it!'
"Air Bomb, behind me!"
Not sure if Jeong-geun would understand.
Had to try.
Jeong-hyeon squeezed his eyes shut and gathered mana behind his back for a thin defensive barrier.
Same principle as blocking the mage doll's mana strike in the 'King's Playground.'
But his back remained quiet, making the effort pointless.
Soon, his body began falling under gravity.
'Really screwed.'
As he accepted it,
"Groooan!"
A groan sounded, and mana surged rapidly behind him.
Bang!
Air Bomb.
With Won-ho pulled to fight the red one, Jeong-geun must have scraped together his last reserves.
Jeong-hyeon's body shot upward with new propulsion.
But gains demand costs.
Air Bomb was still an attack spell, however weak.
Even with defense, it wasn't perfect.
'Ugh... Feels like two ribs cracked.'
Pain aside for now.
He quickly scanned for a landing spot.
Crunch!
Just then, Won-ho, pounding the rear leg like a berserker, scored a hit.
He'd badly cracked the second rear leg's exoskeleton.
Not fully severed like the first.
But with weight already shifted there, the fracture caused it to snap at Won-ho's chest height, making the body sag slightly.
'Yes!'
Luck was finally turning.
Fighting two Grand Manti at once was rotten luck to begin with.
Jeong-hyeon locked eyes on his fall path.
The left front leg, once impossibly far, was now much closer with this motion.
Thud.
"Urgh."
A somewhat clumsy landing compared to his prior graceful moves.
But still atop the body—that mattered.
Plus, much farther forward than his prior right-leg position. Encouraging.
Jeong-hyeon met the Grand Mantis's eyes.
Despite compound insect eyes, they burned with fury.
"Try cutting this one off too."
As if you could.
Jeong-hyeon sneered and dashed onward.
With it self-amputating its right leg, the outcome was simple.
Fall: its win. Hold on: his win.
Next instant, he finally reached the long-coveted Grand Mantis shoulder.
The red mark visible only from below.
"You'll pay for my armor you melted."
The compound eyes weren't far now.
Seeing his reflection in each, Jeong-hyeon grinned.
"Kkii..."
Aware it had no more moves left, perhaps.
The creature watched Jeong-hyeon calmly instead.
'Time to end this.'
Jeong-hyeon gripped the mace he'd dragged here with grim determination.
He'd thought his mana spent, yet now power welled up.
Formless energy rippled on the dark mace.
Crunch- crunch- crack!
Jeong-hyeon hammered the front leg-body joints indiscriminately.
The system didn't lie.
As if proving "weak point," cracks visibly spread with each blow.
Thud!
"Got it! Yes!"
As the massive front leg finally dropped pathetically, Won-ho yelled unwittingly.
The fall of the Grand Mantis—feeling more like a landscape than a creature—was imminent.
Meanwhile, confirming the leg's detachment, Jeong-hyeon moved without pause.
This time, atop the head.
"That gem bothered me from first sight."
He glared down at the yellow harad underfoot.
Its sheer size had made gauging hard, but about basketball-sized.
Raw, it'd need heavy processing for gear, yet amplified magic this much.
Impressive indeed.
But time to wrap up.
Jeong-hyeon's mace barrage resumed.
Striking like pickaxing a giant monster's head—it was growing familiar.
"Kkiieeeee-!"
With harad embedded, no full carapace; the head cracked easier than expected.
Satisfied, Jeong-hyeon kicked the harad loose for the finale.
"Say hi, you freak."
Kicked free, it thudded to the ground apart from the head.
Wobble-
"Wha—huh?"
For some reason, the Grand Mantis died simultaneously, toppling its massive body.
Unforeseen, Jeong-hyeon panicked.
Ten meters up here.
Fine normally, but with accumulated damage, landing properly doubtful.
'Screw it!'
Spotting its sleek back like a slide, he recalled childhood and slid down.
Luckily, it hadn't fully collapsed by landing height.
Thud!
"Whew, that was close."
Timing razor-thin even so.
Safely landed, Jeong-hyeon looked around.
"Han Jeong-hyeon Hunter...?"
Party members who'd held out met his eyes.
"H-H, you did it?"
Won-ho, axe in hand, gawked blankly—out of character.
And finally,
"Kkiit...?"
The red one, shrunken, lacking initial ferocity.
Body wrecked, but fights turn on momentum.
Jeong-hyeon grinned savagely.
"Long time no see? Flame Praying Mantis."