Fishing In Troubled Waters [Part 1]

As everyone ran for their lives, the ground under their feet trembled and several monsters joined their exodus.

Ants, ground beetles, bees, flies, ladybugs, wolf spiders, butterflies, and several other insects—that Lux was seeing for the first time—all fled in the opposite direction of the approaching swarm.

A single Red-Striped Predator Mosquito was a monster that was far from being a threat. However, a swarm that numbered in the thousands was a different matter.

It would only take ten bites to paralyze a Dwarf for an hour. In the face of thousands of mosquitoes, no creature in the Figaro Garden, no matter how strong and whether they were alone or in a group, would be able to resist their inevitable demise.

For now, the Dwarves and beasts ignored each other and focused on looking for a safe place to hide.

"Follow the Ants!" Lux shouted. "Maybe we can hide in their nest or something."

Colette and her party subconsciously followed Lux's orders, with the exception of Robin. Even so, after seeing that his friends were now following the Half-Elf's orders, he decided to not say anything and ran after them.

Shrieks and screeches could be heard in the surroundings, mostly from the insects that had been overtaken by the mosquito swarm. Although the Dwarves were small, they were one of the fastest runners in the world of Elysium. Sometimes, they were even faster than Beastkins at running away!

As chaos ensued, the group of Ants headed South East to return to their nest. Lux's party and several other Dwarves, who had realized what they were planning, followed behind them.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the Ant Nest where several Ant Guards were patrolling the area.

"Diablo, Skeleton Warrior, come forth!" Lux ordered and his two Undead Warriors appeared beside him. The Half-Elf had thought of an idea while they were fleeing the mosquitoes and decided to give it a try.

Colette and the others looked at Lux strangely, but the Half-Elf only told them to follow the Ants inside the nest.

Surprisingly, none of the Ant Guards stopped them and allowed the Dwarves to enter their colony.

After giving his two Undead subordinates orders, Lux also entered the safe area, Ant Nest, alongside the other fleeing Ants that were coming from other places of the garden.

Only after the last Ant had entered the nest did the Guard Ants closed the entrance, which made the Dwarves and a certain Half-Elf breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"Damn, I thought I was a goner." Andy pressed his palm over his chest to calm his wildly beating heart.

Axel nodded his head in agreement. "Still, it's a bit of a shame. If the mosquitoes didn't come, that graduating party would have been able beat the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis without a problem.

Colette, Matty, Helen, and Robin nodded their heads in agreement.

The Dwarves that had followed their party inside the Ant Nest shared the same thoughts. Only the Half-Elf didn't because he was not paying attention to their discussion. On the side, he silently sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.

Right now, he was testing something that he had never done before.

In his mind's eye, he looked at a gray world with no other colors in it.

Suddenly, a group of mosquitoes appeared in his vision. Diablo stopped moving, and the mosquitoes flew past him without even bothering to give him a second glance.

Clearly, a skeleton deprived of blood was something that they were not interested in.

It was at that moment when a smile appeared on Lux's face. After testing to see that his theory was correct, he ordered Diablo and the Skeleton Warrior to look for traces of the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis.

He shared a special connection with his Named Creature that allowed him to communicate with the other party on a deeper level.

It allowed Lux to see and hear what Diablo could see and hear, which made his personal bodyguard the perfect chess piece to take advantage of the chaos that was currently happening inside the garden.

Lux saw several dried up corpses of insects littered in the surroundings, which made him realize just how devastating the sudden mosquito attack was.

Fortunately, he still hadn't seen any Dwarf corpses, which gave him some peace of mind. The Half-Elf wasn't fond of seeing dead children, whether they were Dwarves or Humans.

Suddenly, a loud shriek reached Diablo's ears. Lux immediately ordered his Named Creature to run in the direction where the shriek came from, and take a look at what was happening.

As soon as Diablo arrived in the area, he heard an intense buzzing sound in the surroundings.

Giant flowers were strewn across the ground alongside countless mosquitoes that had been sliced in half.

In the distance, he saw a weakened Red-Eyed Terror Mantis that was being swarmed by the mosquitoes.

The Terror Mantis' exoskeleton was very hard, so the mosquito bites couldn't make it past its defenses. However, that didn't stop the mosquitoes from trying to find an area they could penetrate with their blood suckers in order to incapacitate the strongest creature in the Figaro Garden.

After letting out a resounding shriek of frustration, the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis opened its wings and flew upwards. It then created powerful gusts of wind, which blew the mosquitoes away.

Within the dense swarm of mosquitoes, a dozen black mosquitoes, that were two times larger than the normal Red-Striped Predator Mosquitoes, appeared.

The Half-Elf had read all the monsters living in the Figaro Garden from the Elysium Compendium and quickly recognized what they were.

"Obsidian Spite Mosquitoes," Lux thought as he observed the Rank 1 Monsters from afar.

Their bloodsuckers were very sharp and strong enough to penetrate the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis' exoskeleton.

After seeing them, the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis immediately flew away. Its berserked state had already ended just a few minutes ago, and it was now in a weakened state. In addition to its poor condition, the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis also had a wound on its chest, which had been caused by the spearman of the party that had fought against it earlier.

When the mosquitoes were attacking its body, it made sure to cover its wound with its bladed claws, to prevent any of the mosquitoes from targeting a part where they could penetrate with their bloodsuckers.

Naturally the mosquitoes didn't let their prize get away and chased after the Terror Mantis.

On the ground, Diablo and the Skeleton Warrior followed them persistently.

The chase lasted for ten minutes, until the weakened mantis finally crashed into a giant flower to help it break its fall.

Knowing that it was backed into a corner, the Terror Mantis screeched and raised its bladed claws to fight to the death.

The Obsidian Mosquitoes didn't attack it right away. Instead, the Red-Striped Predator Mosquitoes swarmed towards the Alpha Beast who was about to fall on its last legs.