Chapter 202: Mantis Dungeon (Part 2)

I ducked as a Giant Mantis slashed at my head with one of its pincers, before I stayed low and shot forward as its pincer whizzed over the top of my head, slipping under the Monster before slamming my palm against its underside and chanting..."<Mana Pulse>!"

Deep cracks spread out across its exoskeleton as it screeched excruciatingly, green liquid spraying out through the cracks, before I zipped out from under it as its legs buckled.

It collapsed onto the ground with a thud, trembling in pain as it struggled to try and get back up, before I shot towards its and drove my blade into the side of its head, pulling the blade out with a sharp twist and killing it.

I swung my blade across to get the green liquid off, which splattered across the ground. I then looked around before sheathing my blade, all the Monsters on this floor dealt with.

I proceeded to use Devour and Drain on the corpses, there were thirty-three of them on this floor.

We were upto the seventieth floor now, the end of the Dungeon not too much further away.

And it was still nothing but Giant Mantises, I felt like my mind was growing numb from how boring and easy this raid has been.

It took about a minute to swallow up all the corpses, before we continued on, pressing through to the final stretch of this Dungeon.

"At least it’s a little bit more of a challenge now that I’m feeling pretty mentally worn out," Aria sighed wistfully.

Yeah, I feel the same way.

It’s been about sixteen hours since the raid began, and while Damien’s been keeping everyone’s stamina up with his restoration Enchantments-...I’ve been taking care of myself on that front with Desecrator...-the mental fatigue has definitely been building steadily.

"On the bright side, we’ve only got three more floors before we reach the Boss Room," Spoke up one of the others optimistically.

"Don’t let your guards down. Remember, we can’t approach raids like we used to anymore, things are different now," Sera reminded them.

"That’s just the nature of everything, nothing stays the same, it’s all ever-changing, always. It’s ironic, change is the only real constant, and yet, change is the opposite of constant," Mused Damien dramatically, as the tunnel leading up to the next floor came into sight.


We headed up the tunnel, entering the seventy-first floor of the Dungeon and venturing in as we reached the end of the tunnel and stepped out.

We made our way forward, maintaining a steady pace.

"Hm? Hey, I sense three Monsters up ahead!" Called out the Detector.

"Got it. Keep your guards up, everyone, we don’t know for sure what we’re about to face," I responded as I glanced back at the others, before drawing out my blade as we continued on.

It wasn’t long before the Monsters came into sight, three Scythe Mantises.

They were humanoid creatures, covered in segmented exoskeletons. They were walking on two legs, and their forearms were long, curved and razor-sharp, shaped like scythes.

"They’re smaller than the Scythe Mantises I’ve seen before, they must be juveniles," Remarked the Saber, as the Monsters took notice of us and turned this way.

I see...but based on Appraisal, these things are still really dangerous. Their Agility is really high, same with their Vitality too.

"Think you can handle one of those?" I asked her.

"Uh...I doubt it. Not by myself, anyway. I’d probably struggle a bit even with some Enchantments," She admitted sheepishly.

"Got it...in that case, hang back, Aria and I will each take care of one. As for the third, I’ve got that one covered too...yeah, looks like it’s finally time...<Emerge, Apostle of Lust: Luxuria>," I chanted, a burst of energy erupting in front of me as I summoned her, the Scythe Mantises eyeing me warily as she appeared before me, down on one knee with her head bowed.

"<What’s up, Master>?" She greeted me with a smile, before turning around as I nodded ahead at the Scythe Mantises.

"Think you can handle one of those?"

"<Yeah, I definitely can. It’ll be a good opportunity to test this out too>," She replied as she stood up, before raising her hands out in front of herself.

Negative Energy burst out around her hands, before taking shape and forming a pair of blades, a slight, dark mist flowing around them as she swung them across.

She then flew up as Aria and I shot forward, each of us targeting one of the three Scythe Mantises.

"<Command: Get Over Here>," I chanted as I locked onto one of the Monsters.

As the effect set in, it shot towards me with a sharp screech, my eyes widening slightly at its speed...its a bit slower than I am, but not by a lot.

I swiftly shuffled across to my left as it closed in and slashed at me with one of its scythe-arms, narrowly missing my right bicep, before it raised its arms up as I spun across towards it and unfurled a rapid downward slash at it.

As my blade struck its crossed arms, it quickly sprang back in alarm as the blade began to slice through, a deep cut across its right scythe-arm as it jumped back right in the nick of time, before I could sever its arm.

I chased after it, firing out a Pulse Bullet as I began to close in, its body stiffening it as it let out a slight chitter, the projectile hitting the middle of its torso, before it shakily sprang back as I closed in and whipped my blade across, inflicting a shallow cut across its exoskeleton over the middle of its chest.

"<Lethargy>!" I chanted as it began to back away, the Monster stumbling as the wave of tranquilizing energy hit it.

Before it could regain its bearings, I lunged forward and drove my blade straight through the middle of its face, the end of the blade bursting out the back of its head, its arms slumping to its sides...