Chapter 53 - Final Showdown, Meeting the Ground

I mocked the leader by eating his fallen minions right up in its face.

I was aware that it would infuriate and hopefully blind him with rage,

allowing me to create an opportunity to strike.

This world couldn't be a replica like that of my own, right?

This thought was naïve… I knew I had to be aware of all possibilities,

Yet, for some reason, it did not occur to me that the praying mantis was a stone-cold killer.

The last remaining mantis showed signs of frustration, but not for the reasons I thought it would be.

It looked around for a moment before screeching a deafening high pitch.

The screech reached far a wide, almost like it screamed for help.

For a moment it was as if the wind itself had stopped when the breeze which I felt previously before the battle returned with a subtle chill to it.

That was when screeching could be heard all around the area, screeching similar to that of the last remaining mantis. A certain frustration, defeat, and eventually pain could all be felt throughout the sheer piercing screeches which had now joined in filling the silent but gentle breeze of wind.

Within moments of realizing the similarity of these screeching noises, it suddenly began raining mantis remains from the sky. A sight which I wished never to see. Blood, guts, and remains painted the skies and surroundings as they came crashing down with heavy cracks and thuds.

The behavior of the last remaining opponent suddenly became more shocked because of this. Almost frozen by fear, the last one remaining looked up once more, where it met the gruesome faith of the remaining back-up which they had asked for far before the confrontation of the battle.

By now the backup had been planned to arrive, but instead, it was raining remains…

Why was that? Shocked by this display I too looked up and came face to face with what the mantis looked at with a horrid expression. Although it feared no one, it knew when it was outnumbered and needed to survive, like all other creatures in the world.

What we saw at that moment brought me back to just before the battle had started,

the moment the horde was chasing me ferociously. Thinking back, back then I too saw them lowering towards the battlefield, but now they were feasting on any insects which were smaller than them. The spiders had come down to feast…

Realizing the mantis was the last one remaining it readied its stance for the upcoming showdown, the one who would go down in history as one I wouldn't quickly forget.

I created a steady and balanced footing for myself to launch or react to any possible incoming attacks. Coming to respect the sheer tenacity which the mantes had I knew this could not end without a showdown.

At first, I was the one being hunted, but now, it was time for the prey to turn into the hunter.

With the mantis still focused on the slaughter above us, I took this chance to initiate the battle. My footing helped me leap a great distance towards it, quickly I rolled myself up into a ball and coated my body with acid, allowing me to ignite myself.

Now a ball of liquid flame had launched itself towards the enemy,

It took a moment for the mantis to regain its focus and because of it got a frontal hit by my attack. I was not done after the first initiated hit though, I quickly centered the liquid flames around my tail and slammed it towards the bug with as much strength I could muster.

This showed to be effective as the first hit had a clean landing, breaking the mantis its footing, now with the second hit, I tried to slam the bug into the ground. The victory was assured against the absent-minded bug. But was it over so quickly?

I shouldn't have cheered so quickly, one who wouldn't go down so easily wouldn't be defeated by two clean hits… The bug although hit by the first had managed to block the tail slam with its arms. Being twice the normal size worked in its favor here.

The bug slashed its arms open using its signature wind elemental attacks.

Barely being able to dodge in time, the mantis succeeded in dispelling my elemental attack with its own. Spreading my toxic liquid flames all over the area.

The toxins within the flames began eating away at the branches bit by bit,

even the stump of the tree was hit and was slowly dissolving under these flames.

But that was not all, the flames quickly caught the dry parts of the branches and spread in all kinds of directions. The breeze which I had been feeling shortly was now helping to strengthen these flames as the area turned into a huge fire hazard.

Not wanting to get caught in my flames I began jumping down, branch by branch.

I succeeded in doing so a couple of times before one of the branches broke underneath my feet. That was when I lost my footing and the mantis could gain the upper hand in the showdown. But instead, nothing happened, other than me falling that is.

Looking up I noticed the flames had caught on to the mantis who had now been surrounded by the other flames. Unlike me, the mantis had no means of jumping down.

Had I won the match? For now, I couldn't care less, because I was falling to my death.

I had to find a way to propel myself upward, slowing down the fall and coming out alive in the end. All by descending downward. Could I do it? With the sheer speed that kept increasing as I was falling? There was no time to doubt my actions.

For a moment nothing but my survival was on my mind, it was a moment where everything seemed to stand still as if to say my perception became increasingly more rapid.

Propelling myself around I could see the ground vastly approaching,

seeing how fast I was falling I'd say there were around a few minutes left before a terrible disaster could unfold with me hugging the ground. I know pancakes have been quite the treat in my world, I just rather not turn in one myself.

As I propelled myself around my axis, branches flashed by like cars who would flash by on the road. Now I was fast approaching one in my trajectory allowing myself to slow down if played right, but could I time this correctly? What if the impact instantly breaks the branch? All kinds of thoughts like these began to spiral into my head. Wasting time I did not have. Trying to overcome my fear of death I did my best to dispel the negative thoughts in my head. The moment was now! Now was the time to react.

I stretched out the tail which had grown back during battle and gently arced it around the branch. Focusing on the thicker part of the branch I tried to twirl around the branch.

Feeling like this couldn't go wrong I turned around the branch once more, hoping to propel myself upwards. What happened was different than I hoped for, seeing how the branch broke off the moment I tried to twirl upward. The Speed made me launch towards the gigantic bask of the tree instead, slamming into it with almost full force.

The plus side was that I wasn't dead yet and I had come to a standstill for now, but because of the impact, my body got stunned which made me fall down the tree once again. Now almost hitting the ground, the only alternative I could think of was to create hot air around me, hoping to cushion the fall. Would it work? I hoped so… With the hot air I managed to puff and push myself upwards one more time, seeing how I was close to the back of the tree, maybe I could find a way to propel myself downwards using this bask.

I curled myself up into a ball once more, now knowing elemental attacks wouldn't help slow me down I prepared for the worst, impact with the ground…

The speed at which I rolled increased as the moments flew by, within seconds I had touched the ground, but it did not stop there. The velocity which had been steadily increasing as I rolled down now had to come to a standstill making me roll further and further from the tree. Unaware of my surroundings I finally began slowing down when I crashed into something fluffy.

Dizzy from all the rolling down the tree I needed to find my balance once more, slowly I allowed my dizziness to succumb, finding my footing on something which I hadn't felt for days. "Ground!" Overcome by joy, having survived this insane ordeal I collapsed onto the ground exhausted by what had transpired in the long run. The softness of the impact helped me recover, but what was it? Did I need to be concerned? Sleep began overpowering my mind, unable to care about what was out there I succumbed to my exhaustion. Then suddenly the soft bush started to move...