Chapter Ninety-Six: The Slaughter of the Insect Clan

Blade Mantis Worm

Race: Insect Tribe.
Rank: Unknown.
Life: Unknown.
Attack Damage: Unknown.
Defense: Unknown.
Power: Dozens of times that of an ordinary person.
Innate Skill: Blade Frenzy, in which its limbs turn into steel-edged blades, unstoppable and monstrously destructive.
Skills: Roaring Shriek, Light-and-Shadow Disruption, Terror.
Description: A vicious insect tribe from the sky. Though they do not move in packs, a single creature of this kind is enough to give a second-tier warrior a splitting headache.

This was the Blade Mantis Worm’s profile. By Yang Fan’s estimation, such creatures were generally between the third and fifth level of the second tier. Their strength was at least thirty times that of an ordinary person, their vitality no less than five thousand, and their attack damage probably between five hundred and eight hundred. Their defense should have been twice his own, but their recovery ability was practically worthless. So long as that shell could be pierced, the damage inflicted would be excellent.

A single strike from Yang Fan now had dealt six hundred and seventy points of damage, carving a deep wound across the creature’s back. Green blood ran down the Thunder Essence Blade in slow drops. The Blade Mantis Worm immediately let out a pitiful scream, its piercing cry making many people’s eardrums ache. This was one of its skills, the Roaring Shriek, and Yang Fan understood the Blade Mantis Worm well enough.

Once unleashed, this skill would draw every insect of the same kind within a kilometer.

“Hurry up and attack, damn it!” Yang Fan roared. He was only there to take the lead; he was not a god. How could he possibly hold off a Blade Mantis Worm with better attributes than his own all by himself?

The instant his strike landed, he was already running, retreating dozens of meters. The wounded Blade Mantis Worm had constant damage numbers popping above its head, bleeding away in steady bursts. This was the weakness of insect creatures.

“Clang!” The Blade Mantis Worm shot up to him with terrifying speed. Yang Fan instinctively blocked. The Thunder Essence Blade collided head-on with the creature’s blade-like forelimb, sounding like a smith’s hammer striking iron, loud and ringing. Then the worm’s bladed arms began slashing wildly.

Yang Fan blocked many of the attacks with the Thunder Essence Blade, but still suffered a few cuts from the slicing force. Such was the terrifying might of the Blade Mantis Worm. Ordinarily, they moved in groups of just two or three; even four would count as a large pack, so Yang Fan did not worry about any others.

“Attack! Attack!”

“Damn it all, kill these beasts, earn apocalypse coins, blow out some gear, damn it, slaughter them!”

“Brothers, charge!”

In an instant, several hundred people rose from the snow. At that very moment, several heavy crossbows whooshed forward with blinding speed, driving straight into the back of a Blade Mantis Worm and pinning it dead in the snow. The damage reached over a thousand in a red critical burst, followed by steady bleeding.

This was the terrifying power of large crossbows. Against flying insect creatures, they were simply unbeatable.

Yang Fan did not waste a single chance. He unleashed the Force Qi Impact, fiery red qi covering his body as he charged forward and slammed the worm several meters away.

Then, with the Thunder Essence Blade in hand, he slipped aside and activated his stealth skill. Cautiously, he moved up to the Blade Mantis Worm, intending to use the same method as before to attack it again. Unexpectedly, the worm suddenly raised a forelimb to block. With a sharp clang, Yang Fan’s arm went numb from the shock.

Tai Chi Fist.

At once, Yang Fan used Tai Chi’s method of dissolving force, dispersing the impact, then flowed in with a wrapping strike, the Thunder Essence Blade still in his hand, engaging the Blade Mantis Worm in close combat.

Elsewhere, hundreds charged at three Blade Mantis Worms, unleashing a dazzling storm of skills. One of the worms was beaten into a pulp, unable even to strike back, and in an instant it dropped several pieces of gear, while many people gained a substantial amount of experience.

The sight made Yang Fan’s eyes burn with envy, and he could not help cursing inwardly, “A team really is better.”

But perhaps the crowd had grown too careless. Of the other two Blade Mantis Worms, after taking damage for a while, one suddenly seized the moment when people let their guard down and lunged into the mass. A blade flashed, and for those who were as fragile as paper, their bodies were sliced clean open. In an instant, seven or eight people lay dead on the ground, bright red blood spreading everywhere.

The crowd erupted at once and dared not be careless again. Some timid ones were so frightened they turned and ran, babbling incoherently. The Blade Mantis Worm shot before that man in a flash, its sharp forelimb cutting his head clean off, then swallowed the corpse in one bite. Its mouth, packed with teeth, opened impossibly wide.

Like a snake, without a jaw.

It began chewing the man to pieces on the spot, its compound eyes staring coldly at everyone. Those who were looked at shuddered all over, as if a venomous serpent had fixed its gaze on them. Even those holding weapons did not dare strike.

“Don’t panic! When insect creatures eat people, they recover their health. If we don’t kill them now, we’ll suffer endless trouble later!” Yang Fan roared, then threw himself fully into the struggle with the Blade Mantis Worm before him. Skills, techniques, and maneuvers flowed out without end. He even used stealth several times. Yet despite his initial success, by now he had only worn away a little over three hundred points of health.

Most of the damage was the creature’s own bleeding. The balance had already shifted. The Blade Mantis Worm was growing weaker and weaker, while he himself was growing stronger. But if two more Blade Mantis Worms joined the battle, he would die without question. He would have to flee immediately.

That was why, seeing those foolish people standing there in a daze, Yang Fan shouted out to them.

And with that cry, several crossbow bolts flew again. This time, though, two Blade Mantis Worms dodged many of them, taking only some shock damage. Then someone finally snapped awake. But the moment he did, he felt a sharp pain in his neck, and then he saw a headless body standing there.

So familiar. So familiar...

The slaughter had begun!

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