Chapter 874: The Mantis fights the monkey, unaware of the hunters
“What the hell?!”
“It’s so loud!”
The jungle surrounding Zhen Liu and his group had exploded into a cacophonous roar of monkey cries and ape calls, with every note and scream tinted with raging aether.
“Xiao Liu!”
“Right!”
In the face of what they assumed to be an impending calamity, both father and son began to circulate their aether in preparation to activate their [Regalia].
[Regalia-!]
[Yuusha mo-!]
“Wait!”
“Huh?”
“Why’d you stop us?!”
“Look.”
However, just as Zhen Liu and Zhen Yan were about to don their respective [Regalia] and prepare for what they assumed was going to be an intensive battle of attrition, Jin Fang and Rianna had interrupted the both of them in order to point out that the myriad of loud monkey noises weren’t coming towards them.
Instead, it sounded as if it was rather distant from them and stationary for some reason. In a weird way, it reminded them of a cheering crowd.
“What the hell…?”
“Wait…do you feel that?,” Zhen Yan asked the group.
“Feel what?”
“That aether spike…it’s actually two different ones. And I get the feeling that those spikes are the reason for all those cries….”
“Uh oh.”
What Zhen Yan was implying with his words, was that there was a showdown going on between two high tiered aether beasts in a location not too far from where they were.
Most of these fights tended to be one-on-one brawls to the death, with the winner usually eating the loser, but occasionally, one of the participants of these fights would bring with them an entire entourage of flunkies, lovers and everything in-between depending on the species, kind of like a certain dragon-blooded lightning otter that almost burnt off Zhen Liu’s limbs not too long ago.
Zhen Liu was about to suggest that they avoid the battle, seeing as it was none of their business, until…
“Wait a minute,” Rianna interjected while looking over her copy of the wandering ruins’ map, “I think…that’s in the direction of the aether treasure were after.”
“Oh…shit. She’s right.”
‘Godsdammit.”
And so, with that little revelation shared with the group, Zhen Liu, Zhen Yan, Jin Fang, Rianna and Razorstella, prepared themselves to sneak up on what they could only assume was going to be a bloodbath.
…
‘Razorstella. I would like to apologize, because I get that feeling that you’re opponents are gonna be a bit more than a mantis aether beast.
[Ain’t no skin off my bones…then again…would you mind if I turn their duet into a trio, with me as the star?]
‘Let’s wait until we get there before we make promises in regards to battle, okay?’
[Very well, director. Very well.]
‘Good.’
____One trek through the jungle later, where stealth was key…________________________
“OOOOK, OOOK, OOOK!”
“AAAH, AAAAH, AAAHHH!”
“ROAR!”
“HISSSSS!”
In the middle of a humid jungle ruins, a battle for survival and benefits was taking place.
“Hiss! Hiss!”
On one side, the defender, a Blood Mantis of the Fourth Tier, a giant mantis the size of an elephant, with a carapace as red as spilled blood and raptorial claws that were as sharp as finely polished scimitars.
The Blood Mantis was by themselves in this conflict, but that was fine by it. After all,one swipe would be all that it would take to remove the heads of an entire legion in an instant.
“ROOOAAAAA!”
“OOOK, OOK!”
“AAAAH!”
On the other, the aggressor, an ape beast of the peak Fourth tier known as a Wraith Mandrill, a mutant variant of the much weaker Rotting Mandrill. With a colorful face reminiscent of a skull, tumorous growths pulsating with the foulest of death aether and a large, muscular gorilla-like body, it was clear that fighting this beast would be an uphill battle of the worst kind.
Making matter worst, depending on one’s perspective, the Wraith Mandrill was accompanied by a gang of lesser Rotting Mandrills and Ghoul Mandrills, the evolved form of the aforementioned rotting bastards. However, this army of simians were not acting quite yet. As this was their boss’s duel.
The prize for this fight was something rather unusual looking for both sides, but it was something that was absolutely crucial for them: [The Fountain of Wrathful White Water], a strange fountain that constantly released a stream of white water that was infused with a strange type of aether that infused one’s soul with the purest of type of ,[Wrath].
The vapors were enough to cause irritation and a one percent increase in physical attributes, while a drink was enough to cause one’s mind to go blank as primal fury caused them to hit fifty percent harder than normal.
Bathing in its water however, would subject one to an intense trial, one that would threaten to turn even the most peaceful of monks to become mindless brutes who’s only satisfaction came from drinking blood and eating skulls. If it was pass however, the survivor would gain an unusual ability.
That said, the Blood Mantis and Wraith Mandrill both and more practical reasons for desiring this fountain: evolution.
The former needed the water of the fountain to incubate it’s eggs. Technically, it needed any liquid that had high concentrations of aether mixed in, but the white waters produced by the fountain just so happened to be rather compatible with the biology Blood Mantises. It was too late for the mother, but if the eggs could develop in such waters, they would able to evolve into a mutant variant known as the Blood Fury Mantis, a much smaller, but much faster and more vicious version of the standard Blood Mantis.
Any good mother would want their children to be at the best starting point in life, and the Blood Mantis was no exception. Besides, undead monkey blood would probably be good for her children’s growth anyways.
On the other hand, those who cultivate death aether, naturally or otherwise, had a tendency to desire treasures and medicines that would enflame their passions to the extreme.
Death had a habit of cooling tempers, desires and everything in-between, so it would make sense that those who would call themselves “undead” would search for things that can remind them of the things that can keep them alive.
The Wraith Mandrill wasn’t entirely sure, but it could feel in it’s bones that the waters of this particular would be a panacea to its tumorous growths and enable it to become something even greater than it’s current form.
That and it could also help facilitate the growth of its minions, but that was a secondary goal.
An alpha had to maintain it’s position at the type, after all.
Plus, the Wraith Mandrill was rather curious how Blood Mantis tasted.
“Grrr…”
“Hiss…”
Both sides had a proper stake in this fight, and both sides understood that the only way to secure this miraculous fountain of fury would be over the dead, and eaten, body of the other.
The tension between the two was tight and taut like the string of a bow, despite the cries of the lesser beings surrounding them.
And all it would take for it to turn into a frenzy, would be a single change…
*Snap!*
“HISSS!”
“ROAR!”
In a spot not so distant from the warring beasts, something had physically snapped.
Whether it was a branch broken by an ascending bird, a twig smashed by the feet of a heavy beast or the bones of some poor prey animal, it didn’t matter.
That sound was nothing more than a starting signal for these raging beasts.
“Oook! Ook!”
“Hiss!”
As the Wraith Mandrill rushed forward, the tumorous growths on its body began to pulsate as grey death aether began to concentrate on its fist.
Meanwhile, the Blood Mantis’s claws began to take on a deeper shade of crimson as the veins hidden beneath its carapace began to glow with a sinister light.
*SMASH!*
*SWISH!*
“OOK!”
“HISS!”
In that moment, the first blow was struck.
The Wraith Mandrill’s side had developed a nasty cut that oozed red and black spotted blood. The cut wasn’t deep, but the wound has already begun to fester, a consequence of cultivating aether that focused so much on [Death] and [Rot].
On the other side, the Blood Mantis’s once pristine red carapace had developed a nasty looking bruise that rapidly began to decay, necrosis at an accelerated rate as it were. The wound hadn’t hit any important organs, but the pain was insufferable.
“Oook!”
“Hiss!”
However, neither side dwelled on their wounds for too long.
All it took was a quick surge of aether and their respective wounds disappeared as if they never happened.
The Wraith Mandrill’s flesh began to decay at a controlled rate, removing the damage flesh before tumorous growths took its place, while the Blood Mantis’s body simply glowed that same crimson red and ejected all of the foul death aether before replacing it with shiny new red carapace.
Both sides knew that this wasn’t gonna be handled in a single strike, that this was a duel of attrition. However, they couldn’t help but to try anyways.
After all, it would probably be to their benefit to finish off their opponent quickly, in case more opportunistic hunters find them.
…
“I fucking hate Rotting Mandrills…”
[Do you want me to…]
‘Not yet…we gotta be like an oriole right now and wait… shouldn’t take too long.’
