About an hour had passed since we started walking, and almost every corner and turn seemed the same. I did my best to map it all out in my head, but it was quite a bland scene. I tried using my Greater Earth Manipulation to peek above the walls, but was met with the same sight as before.

  Nothing but walls as far as the eye can see. Will we ever make it out of here? It really did feel like we hadn’t made any progress.

  Veyra stopped suddenly. I followed her nervous glares ahead and noticed a distortion in the mist's veil. There was definitely something entering the clearing around us.

  “I think there’s something coming for us.” The voice came from Veyra.

  “Master…fight.” Hollow chimed in with his sword already drawn.

  (Yeah, I see it too. Just stick to the fighting formation, and we’ll be fine.)

  Green and pink creatures entered our sight from the mist. They stood on two legs, but were far from human. Their green arms bent like blades in front of them, with a small skirt of pink roses just under the waist.

  {Rose Cutter Lv24}

  {Rose Cutter Lv21}

  It looks kind of like a mantis…? If those blades are its only weapon, it should be a close-quarters fighter. As they approached, the slow steps they took became next to motionless.

  Did they already give up after seeing how strong I am? No, that’s impossible. If that really were the case, they would have run already. So then why are they just watching us?

  Their triangular heads shifted in my direction, then let out a shrilling clicking sound.

  Seriously creepy!!!

  A few more showed up from beyond the mist. Based on the fact that these things made it to our position so effortlessly, there had to be a trick to how they navigated through the mist. We really might be the only ones prone to the mist's effect.

  Whatever the reason, there was bound to be even more beyond the veil of smoky white. I gave Hollow and Veyra the signal to get behind me and readied the floating arms at my sides. Since I was forced to conserve my mana on the clearing, I planned to fight without magic.

  These things are seriously creepy…! Why do they keep following me with their eyes? So many eyes…

  I tried my best to hold eye contact, no matter how much I wanted to look away in disgust. Seriously, the bugs in this world freak me out. Even so, none of the many Rose Cutters in front of me moved an inch. The unnervingly focused stares kind of threw me off, but I didn’t plan to let their numbers keep increasing. We had to cut down some of them, so I made the first move.

  One of my arms raced through the air at the closest Rose Cutter, but it dodged immediately. It took a massive leap back, but my hand continued flying and grabbed its neck.

  Got you! Now hold still and let me– hey, what are you doing?! I let out a panicked expression as the Rose Cutter hacked away at my arm with its claws. Fighting until the end, huh? It doesn’t matter, my defence is too much for you guys!

  I closed my grip on its neck, and it easily popped off. A gush of bright green liquids sprayed out between the corpse and me and rained over two other Rose Cutters. Neither moved a muscle; they simply watched with that creepy side tilt that made clicking noises.

  {400 Exp Gained}

  (Veyra, keep the arrows coming! Just make sure to stay behind me, okay?)

  “Right! I’ll keep the cover coming.” With her words entering my mind, I noticed a barrage of arrows pass by my head and towards the group of mantis.

  They scurried back with chilling expressions. Even under attack, I couldn’t read them at all. They gave off the impression they’d be tough to deal with, but they weren’t difficult at all. I actually got a little bored. Sometimes they’d dodge left or right, but my hands could fly through the air, so I’d change course and get them eventually.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  At some point, even Hollow joined in for a hit or two. He still wasn’t strong enough to take one on himself, but with the openings I made, he managed to gain some experience points.

  {350 Exp Gained}{200 Exp Gained}{400 Exp Gained}{450 Exp Gained}{150 Exp Gained}{400 Exp Gained}{300 Exp Gained}

  Hey, these guys aren’t too bad for experience farming! Maybe we should see how many we can group and keep at this all day?

  Their numbers finally dwindled, and we were left with only five Rose Cutters. They stopped appearing by that point, but the air felt a little different. Almost anti-climactic.

  Veyra anchored an arrow, but before she could release it, a terrible shriek echoed from one of the Rose Cutters in the back. The blood-curdling scream egged on the others to do the same, and suddenly their chilling cries bounced off the ruin walls.

  I felt nervous. I knew they were weaker than me, and not very strong, but I couldn’t shake that feeling. Usually, my gut was right about this stuff, so I decided to trust it and took a few paces back.

  I heard one of Veyra’s arrows slide out of the quiver and notch against her bow, “They’re just trying to intimidate us– don’t let up!” She released her arrow immediately.

  The Rose Cutter remained still, and for a moment, I thought my nerves were for naught. Then, at the last minute, it disappeared in a sudden step to the side. The arrow flew through empty air and disappeared into the mist in silence.

  The Rose cutter turned to us with slow, calculated movements and returned to its slumped pose.

  That was some insane reflexes! Veyra never misses her shots, how did it... Did she actually get nervous from that shriek just now, or was it a random fluke?

  Whatever the reason was, I was sure of it. Those things were different from the others. We couldn’t risk fighting as we had before.

  My attention shifted back to the Rose Cutters, and they suddenly shifted. Until now, they had all been slumped over, keeping their bodies rigid and guarded, but now… It’s as if they were bolder. Confident that nothing could hurt them.

  I don’t like this– I’ll just end it here and now!

  One of my claws flew out, but I couldn’t grab my target. The Rose Cutter stepped out of reach with swift steps, as if it were rehearsed. It was following my movements and kept one step ahead, perfectly dancing around my reach.

  Crap, they’re moving way faster than before! If I could use my magic… No, there’s no point getting caught up in what I can’t do. Think carefully here, what if I corner it?

  My second arm flew around its flank at full speed and closed the distance. The Rose Cutters cluster of mini eyes blinked with an almost infinite number of red dots that all honed in on my two arms. In a display of terrifying agility, it slashed my arms out of the air.

  The blades of its claws hooked around the wrists of my arms and pinned them to the ground. Thanks to the hard material, they couldn’t break, but I definitely took damage from that.

  That move just now, it knew how I’d attack. I’m sure of it, they weren’t just standing around, they were observing us! That means all those Rose Cutters we killed were… sacrifices? For this moment?

  In a last-ditch attempt, I attacked head-on and went in to bite the damn bug. I realised I lost my cool, but more than that, I was confident in my defence. I knew it’d land a good few hits on me, but by then, it’d already be dead.

  They did have low defence after all.

  An eerie feeling crept over my shoulders before I could reach the Rose Cutter in front of me. Suddenly, I heard Veyra’s voice enter my mind, “Atlas, look out! They’re right behind you!”

  I followed her warning, and sure enough, two Rose Cutters had gained on me and sliced into my chest and head. I still couldn’t feel pain, but fear was definitely rising as I saw my health bar dropping.

  {-145 HP}

  {-350 HP}

  {-199 HP}

  The amounts weren’t anything to brag about, but they began stacking at an absurd speed. I couldn’t track their attacks. They moved too fast. I was completely overwhelmed.

  “Graaaaaaaawwr!!!” I roared out, trying to bite into anything I could sink my fangs into. Each snap of my jaw was met with a depressing bite of empty air.

  Even with the distance so close, I couldn’t so much as graze them. They must have seen me coming a mile away. I wouldn’t get the jump on them again. Not with my pitiful speed.

  “Master… Please make use…of me.”

  (Hollow?)

  Hollow suddenly appeared from a haze of distorted light, most probably his Camouflage skill. I had been so wrapped up in fighting, I didn’t realise he had gotten that close. From the looks of it, neither did the Rose Cutters.

  Wait, if I didn’t realise it, then maybe…? Whoa, he got a hit in!

  Hollow backed away, only having dealt a shallow cut, but he did damage to the thing nonetheless. If it were Hollow, then maybe we’d actually be able to win against them. Until now, he had only been avoiding hits and trying to keep up, but for that one attack just now, he actually managed it all on his own.

  I came up with a plan on the spot, but it was seriously risky. I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to go along with it, since it could end badly, but it’s not like we had much time to think of something better. Agh! Screw it, I decided to do it.

  (Hollow… Do you trust me?)