Chapter 31: Beast Den

Nick didn’t even flinch upon seeing the two mutilated bodies hit the forest floor with a grotesque squelch.

He’d already condemned the two of them the moment he noticed those tracks the Radiant Slayers had hidden deliberately. They were mentally written off before they’d even chosen to make their escape, in Nick’s mind.

Death was no stranger in the Beast Domain. The reek of blood clung to everyone eventually.

Besides, Nick wasn’t about to waste his emotions on fools who hadn’t realised they were already walking corpses the moment they signed on with Beast Slayer. He didn’t know how exactly they found themselves in that situation, probably something similar to how he’d ended up as bait for the War Beasts.

But at least he tried to fight for his life!

They just ran away like cowards.

’Cough… Well, I also technically ran away… But I was running while being chased by a Radiant Beast of all things! I had every right to run!’

He wasn’t saying that they deserved death for trying to desperately create a situation for themselves to escape the Radiant Slayer’s clasp — just that they were too late in doing so. They should have made that attempt much earlier if they wanted to stand a chance.

In fact, it would have been even better for Nick, since Beast Slayer would have lost his bait to lure out the beast, forcing him to use his own men to do so, putting his cohort at much higher risk.

’Tsk. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk.’

The moment the Radiant Mantis showed itself, his entire demeanour shifted, completely forgetting anything about those two dead nobodies.

The beast’s form was at least twice as large as Nick’s own, which was honestly quite small for a Radiant Beast.

But this was what made them so dangerous. The normal Mutant Mantises could probably tear Nick apart before he could even notice, let alone this Radiant rank one…

Instead of the usual green chitin that the ancient, insect Mantises had, this Radiant Mantis had a golden sheen, reflecting the faintest hint of residual sunlight that filtered through the dense canopy above.

Of course, this was its original state. When it had been hiding up above in the canopy, it had used its camouflage ability to blend in with the surroundings, making it nigh invisible unless someone had specialised tracking abilities.

The Radiant Slayers didn’t, hence their crafty uses of bait.

After dispatching the two nobodies, the Mantis quickly lunged toward the nearest Radiant Slayer in one motion, not wasting any of the momentum it had built from killing the two nobodies.

Its two bladed forelimbs cut through the air towards them with an almost instant snap.

But Beast Slayer and his men were well prepared. The moment the Mantis made its move, the team sprang into action like a well oiled machine.

“Split! Keep the formation but don’t let the thing get too close to you!” He barked, already charging forward.

Nick didn’t move. He couldn’t.

There wasn’t a single opening he could utilise to his advantage without making his presence blatantly obvious.

He remained crouched in the undergrowth, hidden by the darkness and deep shadows, letting the chaos unfold around him.

Now wasn’t the time for him to intervene anyway, as the battle had only just begun.

With a goal of stealing the last hit on the Mantis, Nick had to wait before it was heavily injured before making his move, lest he sends his attack out, only for the beast to shrug it off.

He watched and narrowed his eyes as two Radiant Slayers engaged the Beast head on, while Beast Slayer made his charge towards its rear. Their powerful armour, weapons, augmentations and such were all powerful Beast Armaments.

Nick could spot at least another few Radiant Beast Armaments, all belonging to Beast Slayer himself.

The man had long summoned a shining, bright blue cloak that covered his entire body from the neck down — which Nick recognised to be a Beast Armour dropped by one of the more well known, and rare Radiant Beasts in the regions surrounding the War Beast Sanctuary.

The cloak came from a Bluetail Bird Beast, one of the very few Radiant Rank beasts that were recurring. Beasts like the Whiteclaw Snake King and this Silver Mantis were unique, and wouldn’t be seen again once they were taken care of.

But there were occasionally special areas where beasts like the Bluetail Bird Beast appeared again even after being killed prior.

Of course, they weren’t being revived or anything.

The reason was actually rather simple — there was a Beast Den nearby their area, but nobody had yet to find it.

But thanks to their well-known nature, Nick knew exactly how Beast Slayer’s cloak worked, and what its functions were.

’He can significantly reduce damage taken by elemental attacks from Radiant rank or below beasts, but why would he equip such a Beast Armament in this situation? The Mantis is clearly a melee type, is this not just suicide?’

Nick questioned Beast Slayer’s actions, even going so far as to call him an imbecile for equipping the wrong type of armour.

But he quickly choked on his words barely even a few seconds afterwards.

“Move out the way! And cover me!” Beast Slayer barked towards his subordinates as he seemed to notice a change in the Mantis.

And Nick watched on dazedly as the Mantis sent several terrifying wind blades flying through the air in Beast Slayer’s direction.

Beast Slayer knew the wind blades were far too fast for even an Altered with their Soul Star completely maxed out with Radiant Soul Seeds, and so he planted his feet and gritted his teeth to meet them head on.

’This Radiant Mantis has an elemental attack! There has been no mention of the Mutant versions having such a thing, so this must be exclusive to this Radiant Mantis! But how could Beast Slayer have known about this?’

Nick wracked his brain, trying to think of a satisfying answer.

And it soon clicked for him.

’Has he discovered another Beast Den? One that creates multiple of these Radiant Mantises…?’

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