Horned Beetle[1]

"What… is—" Blake was about to talk, but was suddenly cut off by another loud bang, coming from the entrance.

Bam!!

"We need to leave… now!" Karl said, his expression becoming more uneasy by the passing second.

Though he wasn't sure, but a part of him felt like those were the beast trying to get into the building.

Though the plant had died, it didn't seem the effect of its pollen had completely disappeared.

It seemed like the shelf Blake and Aria used to guard the door was what was preventing them from getting in, meaning, the beasts probably weren't that strong.

The rest swiftly nodded his head in reply, however, hearing the loud bangs from the pharmacy's entrance, they all knew exiting through the front door was out of the option.

"Look over there, the back door." Blake said, pointing towards a small brown door at the distance.

Without wasting time, all four of them dashed towards the door, hurriedly opening it before leaving the building.

Bang!!!

An even louder bang suddenly echoed across the building, followed by the loud sound of splintering wood, as the shelf blocking the door shattered into pieces.

Buzz!!

Buzz!!

Buzz!!

A loud buzzing sound permeated the air, bringing frowns of discomfort on their faces.

'That… is definitely the sound of an insect flying.' Aria thought, hissing through her teeth. 'From the sound… there are at least five coming this way… and fast!'

They swiftly distanced themselves from the door, readying themselves for anything that would pop out of the building.

Buzz!!!!

The buzzing sound rapidly got louder, as whatever was coming drew closer.

Thwam!!

Suddenly, the head of a large black mosquito bursted through the door, sending involuntary shivers of shock throughout their bodies.

Buzz!!

Its large head turned towards the trio, and its wings started flapping rapidly, causing a loud and annoying buzzing sound.

It quickly charged at them, or at least, it tried to. However, its large abdomen got stuck behind the door, leaving only its head outside.

A slight smile appeared on Blake's face, seeing that the beast was trapped.

'Lightning Ball!' He thought, swiftly conjuring three lightning balls before launching them towards the beast's head

Blitz!!

The lightning balls flew through the air at rapid speed, descending on top the large mosquito's head within a split second.

Boom!!

The moment they touched the mosquito, the lightning balls detonated in a massive explosion of lightning, violently roasting the insect's brains, ending its life.

The large body of the insect went still, with it still stuck in the middle of the door way.

A transparent yellow ball slowly rose up from the insect's body, before shooting towards Blake at rapid speed, sinking into his chest.

[You have absorbed the records of Level 13 Black Mosquito! Mana +5, Agility +8]

"Nice one Blake." Edward said, with a slight smile.

"Yeah…" Blake mumbled in reply, his eyes still stuck on the door.

Though he might have brought down one of the insects, he couldn't relax, as right behind the door, he could hear the loud buzzing sound of giant insect wings flapping rapidly.

Bam!!

Buzz!!

Four more large insects suddenly burst through the doorway, violently knocking the door off its hinges and even breaking down the wall with their huge abdomens.

Buzz!!!

Buzzz!!!

The insect's wings flapped noisily, as they rapidly flew towards the four teenagers.

"Watch out!" Karl said, tightly gripping the pair of daggers in his hands before dashing towards one of the insects.

'Light arrows!' Aria thought, stretching her hand towards once of the insects flying towards them.

Almost immediately, five light arrows materialised in front of her before shooting towards the huge insect at rapid speed.

The insect instinctively tried dodging the attacks by flying away, but the light arrows were just too fast for it.

It could barely react as two of the arrows pierced its wings, with the other three swiftly piercing through its head and abdomen.

Blackish green blood kept oozing from its injuries, as its large body rapidly started falling to the ground.

'Light Blade!' Aria thought, hurriedly conjuring a thin, long blade of light, before sending it towards the descending insect.

Just as the insect's body was about to crash unto the ground, the light blade swiftly closed in on it, cleanly slicing into two.

The pieces of the beast crashed into the ground, with a low thud, blackish green blood slowly pooling on the ground beneath it.

A slight smile appeared on Aria's face as she stared at the notification that appeared in front of her.

As for Edward, he swiftly swung the flaming sword in his hands downwards, unleashing a thin, crescent moon-shaped wave of flames towards the insect flying in the air.

Whoosh!!

In the blink of an eye, the fiery slash wave closed in on the insect, effortlessly cleaving the creature into two.

Noticing his brother was having difficulty fighting one of the insects, especially due to it being in the air, the short boy immediately dashed to his aid.

Utilising the burning blade in his hands, he rapidly unleashed numerous slashes towards the beast, cutting it down into pieces.

Blake stretched his hand towards the last insect hovering in the air, and was about to activate his skill.

However, before he could even blink, the beast abruptly vanished from the air, reappearing in front of him almost immediately.

Compared to the other three insect beast, this one that attacked Blake was very different.

It was a beetle with two large, black horns jutting out from the side of its head and thick, black wings on its back which enabled it to move even faster than the other insects.

Pointing the horns on its head towards Blake, the beetle swiftly shot forwards, aiming to stab him with its horns.

'Accelerate!' Blake shouted inwardly, instinctively activating his second skill.

[-10 mana points]

[+10 points temporarily allocated to Agility]

Two notifications flashed across his eyes, and immediately, he felt his body become a slightly lighter, as his speed increased.

The movement of the large insect slowed down a little, and Blake quickly used that opportunity to shift his body to the side, in a bid to evade the pair of horns.

He was able to escape the right horn, but unfortunately, his reaction was a little bit late, and the left horn grazed him at the side, leaving a small gash.

"Arrgh!!" Blake grunted in pain. Due to the sudden pain, his momentum was destabilised, and his body stumbled unto the ground.

"Blake!!" Aria shouted, his loud grunt reaching her ears. She wanted to rush to him and help him, however, two more giants insect abruptly came out of the pharmacy, before dashing towards her.

She gnashed her teeth in frustration as she was forced to focus her attacks on the two large insects, who were quite difficult to deal with.

Two more insects rushed out, occupying Karl and Edward, stopping them from helping Blake.

With everyone busy fighting for their lives, he was left at the mercy of the horned insect. The large horned beetle charged at him once more, with its black horns ready to stab through his flesh.

***

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