Chapter 413 (2/2)
”I suppose that goes for me as well,” Coppernicus said with a smile, standing. ”Please excuse me, I'm off to carry my weight.”
Sydney's smile was sharp as she watched him go. Then she turned and headed towards the personal dungeon that she kept in the back of her chambers. Which had recently been bumped up from a Level 37 Dungeon to Level 44 by the accumulated contribution points of East End, from slaughtering monsters and completing quests.
”So am I.”
*****
The giant praying mantis lashed out, its long scythes ripping through the air towards Chrysanthemum, making Thea's heart jump. But it wasn't with fear, not anymore. It was with the vicious fury that she had received when she had upgrade her new Skill, that dyed her vision red and thrust her forward into the fray. It was so hard to know when she had to hold in it, resisting it, and when she could lose herself to it.
Now, while the Ghosthound pinned down 4 others, while Ace was forcibly beating another into submission, Thea let the fury take her. Bellowing in rage, she let instinct guide her as she simply stepped in the way of the scythe that was about as long as a dinner table and swung her hammer to meet it, activating every Skill she could.
Luckily for her, Lucifer, in his strange way of intuiting allies moves, was already there with her, his huge, jagged blade a hair ahead of her swing, aiming to assist. His blade smashed into the scythe with a screech, slowing it.
Thea's hammer arrived, the conduit to her savage fury, and shattered the scythe.
As the largest of the praying mantis' screamed, the others looked up. Or the other praying manti would have looked up, but one was reduced to mush by Ace, one looked more like a porcupine made of arrows, another had become a frozen block of ice, and the final two were lost within a squirming mass of vines and roots. Even the strange insect monster seemed to sense that the tide was turning, and began to back away.
”Finish it,” Rose's voice came, and in the heat of fury, Thea was resentful. Yes, she got it, kill the monster. Don't say superfluous things. But perhaps because of her flash of irritation, Thea wasn't the first to respond; Chrysanthemum was. The past day of slaughtering cats and strange Raid Boss caliber opponents had given Chrysanthemum a huge boost in strength, and when she stretched to her full height, she was almost 3 meters tall, coming in like a rockslide on the relatively fragile looking praying mantis.
But the thing hadn’t played out its tricks, and it spread its wings wide. A blast wind smashed outward, not stopping Chrysanthemum, but stalling her, giving Thea time to dash out from behind her bear companion, who had took the brunt of the wind Skill, and allowed they to move in for the kill in that moment.
With its good scythe, the praying mantis slashed sideways, but Thea just grinned and leapt over it, raising her hammer and smashing the praying mantis’ thorax. With one last screech, it collapsed, spasming periodically. Everyone shifted backwards, letting it settle into death as peacefully as possible.
When it finally ceased moving there was a flash of light, and a small item appeared next to its body as an item condensed. Instantly, everyone focused. Items appearing on their own were rather rare, mostly they had to be manually refined form the bodies of the dead. If an item appeared, it usually meant that something powerful and unique had appeared, that would boost someone’s combat powers immensely.
Walking slowly so as not to scare anyone, Thea, who was the closest, went over to it and picked the item up. It appeared to be a small backpack, with four tiny insect wings stick up out of the back. Examining it, Thea’s eyes widened.
Wings of the Reaping Mantis Lvl 46: A natural treasure formed when a Reaping Mantis dies under special circumstances, allowing its wings to be salvaged in their entirety. Agility +15, Reaction +10. The Wings may be activated, causing them to grow to their full size and granting the wearer the Skills “Sonic Advance Lvl 46” and “Air Shockwave Lvl 46”.