Dark Moon Era

Should he just come again next time?

It was a much harder option than all the escape plans that he thought of. Alas, he did not even have milliseconds to think about it.

Therefore, after a new decision was made, he moved.

He did not go with the first option which seemed to be the best. He also discarded the second and third options.

Tang Ling dashed towards the chameleon black-winged mantis.

For a fraction of a second, the black-winged mantis was stunned. Since it had acquired a minimal level of self-consciousness, it did not expect its prey to react like this.

A typical prey would dodge, but why did this one dash forward instead?

So, when Tang Ling was dashing towards the center of the blades, the black-winged mantis was truly dumbfounded for less than a second before it narrowed its sharp blades towards the center.

Did he have a death wish? He did not just race toward the mantis but toward the center of its blades. Did he think that the mantis was not nimble enough to close its arms together?

No, Tang Ling did not think as such. He was actually frustrated at the location that he had chosen, the 13-meter spot in the narrow alley.

He approximately calculated the opening angle of the black-winged mantis blades. Due to the limited width of the alley and the obstacles above it, there was a high chance that the mantis would slash downward.

If the black-winged mantis really slashed downward, he could seize the chance that he predicted earlier.

However, in order to add more insurance to his plan, Tang Ling chose to head deeper into the alley and stopped at the 13th meter. The particular spot was the narrowest and had two iron rods that sprung out from both sides of the wall.

The front arms of the black-winged mantis were powerful. While the two iron rods that had flowed through the river of time would not be much of a hindrance to it, it would be able to slow it down a little, hence granting himself more time.

Combined with the limited space in the narrow alley, its front arms could not have been that agile to switch angles such as swinging one of its blades diagonally at him.

His calculations should be correct, but unfortunately, he still underestimated the black-winged mantis’s rage and urge to kill him. Plus, he was not particularly familiar with the black-winged mantis’s front arms, hence he made a mistake.

The black-winged mantis did not go with its most familiar attack which involved a forward extend and downward slash. Instead, it slightly twisted its blades inwards, stiffened up, and launched forward to sting instead of slashing to avoid the iron rods on the wall.

The sting should not be a calculated result because it was impossible for the black-winged mantis to judge its attack to this extent, but it should be an instinctive act driven by rage. To it, this was the best and most straightforward option to kill Tang Ling.

Therefore, Tang Ling had to pay for his mistake if he did not want to give up.

He turned his body sideways and slid forward by 0.3 meters in between the sharp blades. It looked like he had stuffed himself in between a pair of scissors.

Two straight cuts split his battle uniform as he slid past the blades.

He also suffered cuts on his abdomen and back. He started to bleed, but thankfully the contact with the blades were short and quick. As a result, the cuts were not deep since they were just flesh wounds.

Nevertheless, Tang Ling neglected his injuries because he could hear the wind whistling in his ears because of the extreme speed.

The black-winged mantis tightened its front arms rapidly, and it could cut Tang Ling in half in an instant.

Although Tang Ling was unusually calm, the excitement in him erupted like a volcano! What else was more exciting than fighting on the verge of death with all his might?

He lowered his head, bent forward, and raised his fist for an uppercut. The series of actions were completed in an instant, and he had to thank the dullish humane reaction of the black-winged mantis to be able to pull such a trick off.

He did not hold back his uppercut as his punch powerfully landed on one of the mantis’s front arms.

His maximum punching force could reach 1,300 kgs, and although it might not be enough to break the black-winged mantis’s front arm or even leave a scratch, his powerful uppercut forcefully deviated the blades away from him for a moment.

Tang Ling immediately followed the deviated front arm movement, and barely dodged the other front arm that slid right above his head. The blade on the arm grazed him and cut a lock of his hair.

Without giving a damn, he quickly pushed himself backward and dodged the reactive attack from the front arm that he followed.

He then safely landed!

The black-winged mantis furiously raised its wings, quickly twisting its front arms and finally performing a slash at Tang Ling.

Since the black-winged mantis had missed the only chance to kill him, it granted him the only chance to win.

The iron rods on both sides of the wall finally came into play. The rods slightly delayed the black-winged mantis’s blades and allowed Tang Ling to quickly adjust his body to push himself forward using his arms on the ground. He slid toward the bottom of the black-winged mantis’ abdomen.

At the same time, the knife, which he buckled onto his sleeve, that was laced with the giant numbing spider’s venom appeared in his hand.

When he was beneath the black-winged mantis’s abdomen, he stabbed the knife into the softest part without a second thought. He tugged it downwards with all his might. Green blood mixed together with organs spewed out from the opening and splashed everywhere.

After Tang Ling slid over the black-winged mantis’s abdomen, he stood up, jumped towards a tree branch and pulled himself upward.

Tang Ling had no idea when the numbing effect would come into play or how severely it would numb the black-winged mantis, but the 1.8-meter mantis would have a hard time turning around in this narrow alley.

Moreover, it had suffered a cut on its abdomen, so it was impossible for it to fly away before the numbing effect kicked in. In addition to that, the upper path of the alley was sealed off by branches and bushes.

Now, the place he had chosen to fight the black-winged mantis became the ideal location for a fight or flight situation, so it was considered absolutely safe for him.

If the black-winged mantis chose to retreat backward, he could simply jump on it. Its front arms and sharp wings were unable to attack him on its back.

However, it seemed like Tang Ling had over considered the matter.

The numbing venom of the giant numbing spider might not be lethal, but it was quick when the effect came into play.

After almost the whole abdomen was sliced apart, the venom swiftly robbed half of the black-winged mantis’s capability to continue the fight.

It was not smart enough to retreat right away, so it instinctively struggled and tried to fly or jump, but here, where Tang Ling had precisely calculated every detail, even if it was in its prime, it was not easy for it to merely fly away.

Its struggle hastened the effect of the venom. In less than 5 seconds, it was completely tranquilized and had fallen.

Tang Ling jumped down. He carefully poked the black-winged mantis a few times to make sure the venom was in full effect before he heaved a sigh of relief.

The pain of his abdomen and back finally stung him, and it made him gasp in pain.

Nevertheless, soon enough, joy filled his heart.

He had finally uncovered a secret path to sneak into the battlefield.

On top of that, he should be able to salvage some edible parts from the Level 3 mutated insect. Although the black-winged mantis was uncomparable to a Level 3 mutated beast, it was definitely stronger than a king beast. However, Tang Ling did not know what the effect of consuming it would be, so he wanted to test it out.

Other than that, there was something that Tang Ling was curious about for a long time. Would he be able to find his answer in the chameleon black-winged mantis?