Assassin Mantis
After finishing hunting the Wonder Deer, we set our sights on the habitat of the Assassin Mantis and embarked on a seven-day journey of long-distance travel.
“Keuko, there are no records in the Trade Guild about how to hunt the Assassin Mantis. Are you sure we’ll be okay?”
“Yes, we will figure it out. They’re quite troublesome creatures, though…”
“Troublesome?”
While thinking that I might be saying something unnecessary, I couldn’t help but inquire further.
Keuko explained without blaming me.
“The Assassin Mantis is equipped with two large scythes, stabbing spikes on both its sides, and flying sickles as its weapons.”
“Flying sickles?”
“Yes. Those are pesky weapons enchanted with the Assassin Mantis’s magic, allowing them to fly around freely.”
“Despite not forming living in groups~ You essentially need to battle the Assassin Mantis as if you are always facing three opponents due to these sickles~”
“The standard tactic is to shoot down the flying sickles with magic and then attack its body. However, since it’s agile and can move rapidly through air, so it’s not easy to capture.”
Mhm, as expected of a Red-ranked monster, it’s a formidable opponent.
I wonder if there’s anything I can do to help?
I asked, but for now, it seems the best course of action is to reinforce my defense.
“Since this foe attacks from behind as well, make sure you stay within Talat’s defenses at all times.”
“Understood. Everyone, please take care too.”
The next morning, we set out to find the Assassin Mantis.
Although we didn’t have to search for long before finding it.
“There it is, the Assassin Mantis.”
“It hasn’t noticed us, since it’s preoccupied with other prey.”
“This could be our chance. Lady Lily, stay back.”
“Understood.”
I concealed myself within the barrier woven by Talat’s threads.
While I couldn’t observe the outside from within the barrier, I began to hear sounds of battle.
Ugh, it’s quite nerve-wracking not being able to see.
I remained still within the barrier for several minutes, but suddenly, something stabbed into the barrier.
Something like a jet-black scythe—could this be the Assassin Mantis’s flying sickle?
It was still moving even after being entangled in Talat’s threads. It seems quite resilient.
It’s dangerous to touch, so what should I do?
Ah, let’s try casting a spell.
If I figure out which magic is effective against this sickle, I might learn about its body’s vulnerabilities, too.
Having decided what to do, I started with fire magic.
Hmm, it had little effect.
Water magic was the same.
I continued trying different elemental magic in order, and the one that produced a significant reaction was lightning magic.
Up until then, the sickle had been trying to break through the spider thread barrier, but it suddenly stopped moving.
When I tried to push it out of the barrier, it just fell to the ground and showed no signs of movement.
This suggested that lightning was its weakness.
I stored the fallen sickle in my backpack and observed the ongoing battle.
Surrounding trees had been felled, and everyone had wounds while facing off against the Assassin Mantis.
While it might be difficult to directly hit the Assassin Mantis with lightning magic, there’s another way!
I expanded the magic power of lightning magic in a manner similar to how I used magic power to detect monsters.
It touched Keuko and the others, but I made sure not to deal too much damage at that time.
As I continued expanding the magic, it collided with what seemed to be the flying sickles, causing them to fall to the ground.
The Assassin Mantis, sensing an abnormal situation, tried to escape, but the expanding of magic power was faster and interfered with its movement, causing it to be electrocuted and fall to the ground.
It’s probably not dead, but it won’t be moving for a while.
Seeing this, Keuko swiftly decapitated the Assassin Mantis and then approached me.
“Was that your magic, Lady Lily?”
“Yeah. The flying sickle that entered Talat’s barrier fell to the ground due to lightning magic, and it seemed immobilized. So, I thought it might be weak against lightning.”
“While it certainly helped us when we were struggling, remember that you’re the target of our protection, so please be careful.”
I got a scolding despite helping out.
Afterward, we dismantled the Assassin Mantis and returned to “Daigo Seventeen.”
It was clear that I couldn’t be the one using lightning magic every time, so I had to teach Tomoa.
However, Tomoa couldn’t use lightning magic to begin with.
Although we had to start from the basics, she managed to grasp it in just one day.
This way, we could easily hunt Assassin Mantises.
After capturing around ten of them, we set off for our next target, the Treant Forest.