203 Killing the Lightning-Fall Mantis (II)

After a few hours of marching into the forest, the military force clashed with the Wave Beast's horde, but things didn't go as usual. For some reason, the Vice-Captains implemented a battle formation that focused so much on defense that they barely killed any Wave Beast. Of course, that also translated into a decrease in the number of casualties on their side, but if they were not going to harm the horde, what was the point of marching?

Antony and another Level 9 Vice-Captain were fighting with all they had against the Lightning-Fall Mantis. The duo also focused on defense, but every minute was a test against such a formidable opponent.

Antony orders the military force to retreat at the first signs of sunlight beginning to fade. The Vice-Captains and the rest of the soldiers followed the command and orderly pulled back. It was not hard since, despite the long battle, they had not wasted much energy.

The Lightning-Fall Mantis and the rest of the Wave Champion Beast saw the soldiers move back but did not chase, leaving that task to their underlings. At their level, they have developed enough wisdom to understand the essence of ambushes and traps and know that blindly following the soldiers could lead to disaster. The Wave Champion Beasts even used Wave Beasts with the ability to fly to keep an eye on the soldiers as they moved back and ensured none remained behind. Once the humans were far out of sight, the Wave Champion Beasts got near the corpses on the ground. The beasts considered the Evolution Cores and Rebirth Hearts as treasures since they contained an immense amount of nutrients and refined Wave that could help with their evolutions.

The Lightning-Fall Mantis picked the strongest corpses, but no one dared to say anything as it was the only Middle Wave Champion Beast present. There were very few bodies, so the beast was able to carry all of them into its cave.

The rest of the Wave Champion Beast divided what remained and could hear the sound of bones cracking from the Lighting-Fall Mantis' cave, making them drool, but none dared to get near.

One should not let the fact that they were working together against the soldiers fool them. Wave Beasts were highly territorial, and that aspect of their life only grew stronger alongside their cultivation. If any of the Wave Champion Beasts were to get anywhere near the Lightning-Fall Mantis' cave, it might be enough to start a battle to the death, which is why they all stayed away.

The rest of the Wave Beast's horde returned after chasing the military force, and the first thing they did was consume the bodies on the battlefield. There were no more humans as the Wave Champion Beasts took those away, so they ate their own kind.

The sound of breaking bones and tearing flesh echoed across the battlefield. Usually, such gruesome sights and noises would make training harder, but Wave Beasts did not need things like meditation. They only needed to consume enough energy and let their Lineage do the rest.

That was a very straightforward path but also very limited. Once Wave Beasts reached the peak of what their Lineage could grant them, they found themselves unable to progress anymore, no matter how much energy they obtained. Deep within the night, the sound of breaking bones vanished from the Lightning-Fall Mantis' cave. The Middle Wave Champion Beast had finished devouring the last corpse, and there was a bloody smile as it felt its Life Wave beginning to surge due to all the nutrients it had just got.

However, right at that moment, as the Lightning-Fall Mantis' Life Wave was in disarray due to the sudden surge, the beast felt a presence behind it. The entity managed to reach its back, and the beast only detected it because the attack had already begun.

The Lightning-Fall Mantis' eyes widened as it felt something penetrating its back, tearing apart its exoskeleton and muscles as it pierced deeper. The beast was in total shock that someone could pierce its defenses so easily despite having tempered every cell of its body with lightning for more than one hundred years!

Things only grew worse for the Lightning-Fall Mantis as its Life Wave, which was rising up to a moment ago, entered an erratic state due to the sudden damage, and it found it hard to control it.

The ability to hide his presence until the last second and the immense destructive power of his attack made the Lightning-Fall Mantis think that the attacker was a mighty Wave Champion. Nevertheless, once its perception finally revealed the assailant's identity, it could not believe it. The assassin was a young man with eyes bursting with red light, the same one that two days ago almost killed!

All that analysis and damage took a long time to describe, but it happened in less than a second.

"?AHHHH!"

The Lightning-Fall Mantis screamed in pain as Cain drove his index finger forward into its chest, pushing them out of the cave.

The normal Wave Beasts were still consuming the corpses on the battlefield, and since no one dared to get near the Lightning-Fall Mantis's domain, only a small portion noticed the scream and saw the human and Middle Wave Champion Beast emerging from the cave.

Cain could feel how the resilience of the Lighting-Fall Mantis' muscles and bones grew as this one finally conjured its Wave Cloak. He could feel the beast's heart just a few centimeters away from the tip of his finger, but he could not push deeper.

A cold light appeared in Cain's eyes as he unleashed all the killing intent he was forced to suppress when he saw the Lightning-Fall Mantis devouring those soldiers. "DIE!"

Cain shouted as he transformed all the energy in his index finger into Blood Lightning before making it explode!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Lightning-Fall Mantis screamed with even more strength as the blast sent it crashing to the ground. The explosion generated a massive hole in its back and wounded every inner organ, including its heart!

Cain smiled when he saw the damage in the Lightning-Fall Mantis and knew this one was over. Even if it was still alive, that wound was lethal, and it would not recover from it.

However, Cain's smile vanished the next second. He was still in the air and could feel the thousands of fierce gazes focused on him. Now came the part that was just as hard as killing the Lightning-Fall Mantis, surviving the wrath of the thousands of Wave Beasts about to launch themselves toward him, full of killing intent. Cain knew that all the Wave Beasts knew of his presence, so he unleashed the full power of his Ego Wave. A picture of the forest appeared in his mind with all the Wave Beasts and the Wave Champion Beasts in it. 'The good news is that the other Wave Champion Beasts have their lairs far away from this place, most likely due to their fear of the Lightning-Fall Mantis. The bad news is that a sea of Wave Beast is in my path out of this place.'

Cain's Ego Wave gave him a map with the position of every enemy, but that was far from enough to escape.

"ROOOAAARRRRRRR!!!"

The entirety of the horde began to roar as they trampled each other in order to reach the human. Killing intent was not the only thing in their hearts, and they could not hide their desire to eat Cain alive as they felt the bursting vitality of this one. Cain's eyes narrowed as he saw how the Wave Beasts looked at him, and he could imagine what would happen if they managed to trap him. The red light in his eyes grew stronger as he suppressed all his fear and worries and pushed his cognitive abilities to their absolute limit.

Dozens of Wave Beasts had already made their way to the zone where Cain was about to land and launched themselves with their maws open, wanting nothing more than devour him. Cain's heartbeat grew more and more potent as the beasts got closer, but he could not be calmer. There was no room for doubt, fear, or uncertainty in his mind if he wanted to survive!

The instant Cain felt the tip of his foot reach the ground, his Astral Wave and Blood Energy exploded with so much strength that it sent all the Wave Beasts near him flying away!

Killing the Wave Beasts wounded in the blast would have been easy, but Cain did not hesitate before pushing Asura Form to the limit and running away as fast as he could.

If one saw it from the sky, it would be an epic sight worthy of legends. A massive horde made of dozens of thousands of giant beasts dashing toward a young man bathed in red lighting, and how this one managed to carve a path through them using nothing but his body and mind. This chapter was first shared on the n(0))vel(b)(j)(n) platform.