Ch.62The Forest of Beasts? The Forest of Insects! (4)

The three insects: a ladybug as tank, a butterfly as ranged dealer, and a stag beetle as assassin. My demonic beast instinct had activated about three times during the barrier battle, always when my life was threatened.

It was the same during the mantis fight and when the mosquito aimed for my neck with its long tube. My instinct reacted to every potentially fatal attack, and it had reacted twice to the stag beetle’s jaw attack.

With that in mind, I raised my guard to the maximum against the stag beetle while keeping moderate pressure on the other two.

“Wuoooooo——!!!!”

I raised my fist and shot lightning into the sky. Seeing this, the stag beetle and ladybug rushed at me without hesitation, but…

CRASH!!!

BOOM!!!

I caught the stag beetle’s jaws with both hands as it tried to slice me, then swung it at the ladybug. A loud noise erupted as the hard exoskeleton collided with the ladybug’s wings.

But the ladybug flew back up unharmed, and the stag beetle managed to create a small gap by applying pressure with its hooked arms, freeing its jaws before flying up again.

Then came a tornado. The butterfly was keeping me in check without harming the stag beetle or ladybug. They seemed to have worked together for a long time, as their coordination was perfect.

RUMBLE——!!!

But I too was a monster who had broken through human coordination and driven them to near annihilation. If I died to insects like these, wouldn’t the countless people who died by my hands weep in hell?

The lightning from my hands transformed into a lightning storm that swept the area. The bolts struck the butterfly flying highest first.

CRASH——!!!

The lightning that instantly enveloped the butterfly was blocked by a transparent spherical barrier—it seemed to be controlling the wind around it. The butterfly remained unharmed.

But… as lightning continued to fall. While it could block one or two strikes, after five bolts struck the butterfly, it seemed unable to maintain its defense and began lowering its altitude to avoid the lightning.

While the butterfly was dodging lightning, the stag beetle and ladybug charged at me, seemingly unaffected by the lightning strikes.

SHEEEE——

…!!!

The ladybug flew toward me. It probably intended to face me with its thick shell wings again, but… I wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.

I charged toward the approaching insect. With electricity surrounding my hard horn, I collided with the ladybug.

CRASH——!!!

The impact was so tremendous that shock waves echoed through the forest, blowing away everything around us. While we were deadlocked, unable to do anything but face each other…

FWAAAA——

Light began gathering in the ladybug’s black spots, preparing to fire at me.

SHHK—

I pulled my head back, breaking the deadlock and causing the ladybug to lurch forward.

Then I ducked under the ladybug, grabbed its body, and slammed it into the stag beetle that was flying toward my back.

CRASH——!!!!

When the incredibly hard ladybug collided with it, the stag beetle didn’t escape unscathed—its head cracked.

The impact was so devastating that the stag beetle could no longer move, while only the ladybug managed to fly back up into the sky.

I tried to use this opportunity to finish off the stag beetle, but…

SWISH——!!!

The butterfly, now adept at dodging lightning, sent blades of wind toward me. I ignored the wind blades targeting my back as I attempted to finish off the stag beetle.

THWACK——!!!

NGGGH—!?

If only the wind blade hadn’t been stronger than I expected. It should have just scratched my arm, but this attack created a large wound across my back.

As I felt blood flowing down my back, a warm sensation rose from the wound. Mary must have used healing magic. But this wound was quite deep, and despite the healing, the pain was considerable.

SISSIT—

The butterfly seemed to laugh with pleasure after wounding me, while the ladybug maintained a stance ready to charge at any moment. I wanted to finish off the stag beetle with its shattered head carapace stuck in the ground, but…

These creatures kept me in check, preventing me from creating such an opportunity.

As the lightning subsided and there was no more suppression, the butterfly continuously sent wind blades, while the ladybug, having been caught once, avoided close combat and circled around me, shooting beams of light.

I dodged and dodged until I finally moved away from the stag beetle. As the distance increased, the ladybug charged toward me while emitting light.

SIZZLE…!!

NGGGH—

The ladybug’s light was burning my skin like sunlight concentrated through a magnifying glass, and the butterfly’s wing flaps released countless blades that forced me to dodge.

Then collision.

BOOM——!!!

The ladybug charged and pushed me with its massive body, and I received the attack in an awkward posture while dodging the butterfly’s attacks.

CRACK——

Perhaps because I received the attack in an awkward posture, an unpleasant sound echoed from my ribs, and the ladybug, pleased by the sound, began rotating its body to dig deeper into that area.

“NGGGHHH——!!!”

I clasped my hands together, surrounded them with lightning, and struck the ladybug. The butterfly continued sending blades at me, but the wind that had created the deep wound in my back couldn’t be fired continuously, and only caused scratches.

CRASH——!!!!

CRACKLE…!

My lightning-wrapped fist successfully drove the rotating ladybug into the ground.

But it was so hard that my lightning-wrapped hands were actually in pain, and the ladybug lay embedded in the ground, resembling a white dome.

The stag beetle was unconscious with its head carapace broken, and the ladybug was in a defensive posture buried in the ground. So…

I decided to destroy these creatures even if it meant taking damage, and reached into the ground to lift up the embedded ladybug.

“NGGGHHH———!!!!”

The ladybug rose with my battle cry. It seemed panicked and spread its wings to emit light, but… I was walking toward the stag beetle, ignoring the burning of my chest.

SIZZLE——!!!!

As the muscles in my chest burned and I endured the pain while advancing toward the stag beetle…

SWISH——!!!

I heard the sound of wind. I immediately turned around and used the ladybug as a shield…

CRASH——!!!!

The ladybug shield fulfilled its role perfectly. The black spots that had been emitting light stopped as the body was suddenly turned around, and blocked the wind.

Satisfied with the merely scratched ladybug shield, I stepped backward.

The ladybug desperately tried to escape, scratching my body with its hooked feet, but… without Aura concentrated in its hooks like the Master had, it only left red lines on my black skin.

CRACK

As I walked backward, trusting only in the shield covering my body, I finally reached the stag beetle. It still hadn’t regained consciousness and just lay there.

I turned around and lifted the ladybug high, intending to gift it to the stag beetle.

SWISH——!!!

The butterfly didn’t miss this opportunity and targeted my back. If I took that attack, blood would pour from my back again, but…

I prepared for the terrible pain, thinking that if I didn’t finish off the stag beetle here, I would die.

“Fairy Shield!”

CRASH!!!

Then, a voice from behind me. The tiny Mary, only 40 centimeters tall, deployed a shield behind my back and blocked the attack. Hearing her voice, I smiled and drove the ladybug down onto the stag beetle.

“NGGGHHH——!!!!!”

CRASH———!!!!

The earth screamed, and the forest trembled from the impact. The stag beetle was completely crushed under the ladybug, its form disappearing.

Except for the head that bit my ankle.

The stag beetle had regained consciousness only at the end of its life, biting my ankle with its jaws before dying. More than half of my ankle was gone, exposing the bone.

NGGGH…

“Khan! Are you hurt!? I’ll heal you… KYAAAH!!”

Mary, with no combat experience, instinctively dropped her shield when she heard I was injured, and the butterfly’s attack struck her. Fortunately, my body moved on its own as if by demonic beast instinct, and I managed to protect her, but…

A long wound opened on my forearm, exposing bone, and my ankle was bleeding profusely, making movement difficult. As I tensed up in this crisis, having to fight with just one arm and one leg…

SCREECH——!!!!

A giant bird swooped down on the butterfly flying in the sky.

SISSIT!?

The butterfly panicked at the bird’s sudden appearance and tried to dodge by fluttering around, but it couldn’t match the overwhelming flying ability of the large bird.

Eventually, it emitted wind from its entire body to prevent the bird’s approach, but…

The bird rotated its body like a drill, breaking through the wind barrier and advancing to wound the butterfly’s body.

SEEEET—!

The butterfly let out a pain-filled scream as it bled green blood. The bird was looking at the butterfly as if it were a mortal enemy that must be killed at all costs.