Chapter 35: The Stealth Mantis Demon

Just as Luka was about to spring to his feet, Alesia’s outstretched hand suddenly closed around the water cup beside the knife.

Under Luka’s stunned gaze, she picked up the cup, drained it in one go, and set it down gently. Then she padded softly back to bed, pulled the blanket over herself, and went back to sleep in her same dignified pose.

‘What the…’

Luka covered his face in frustration and screamed silently in his head.

He was flooded with a strange mix of relief at having escaped a crisis, and shame at his own behavior. Fear of death had clearly made him lose his composure. He’d been so paranoid that he’d doubted a comrade who would live and die with him.

He thought of how Alesia had tried to sacrifice herself more than once, using her Taunt Mantra to draw enemies away. His face burned with shame.

Slap!

Luka slapped his own cheek hard.

Then he threw off the blanket and swung out of bed.

The noise startled Moye. She set down the cylinder in her hand and turned to look. Alesia snapped her eyes open too, sitting up with a wary expression.

Before either of them could speak, Luka picked up the magic gun from the head of the bed and lit the magic lamp.

“There’s a situation. Stay sharp!”

His words made Moye and Alesia’s eyes harden. Without a second thought, they grabbed their magic guns and went on full alert.

Both had seen Luka’s danger-sense magic in action. They knew he wouldn’t raise the alarm without cause, so their caution shot up to maximum.

“Luka, did your danger sense go off?” Moye moved closer, her single eye tense. “What exactly is it?”

Luka didn’t answer at once. He thought for a moment, then asked bluntly: “Help me think. Is there any enemy in the demon army that can see through our safe house’s illusion wall and kill us all without making a sound or alerting anyone?”

The chilling weight of his words made Moye and Alesia’s backs go cold.

But both were strong, seasoned veterans. Neither rushed to question him. Instead, they fell into grave, careful thought.

Luka didn’t push. He took out his pocket watch and glanced at it.

11:48.

Twelve minutes at most before the enemy’s fatal strike came.

They had to find an answer before that.

“If you want something with strong detection, enough power to kill a two-star magical girl in one hit, and a perfectly silent way of moving, such enemies do exist.” Alesia spoke first. “But every one of them is among the most powerful individuals in the demon army. There’s almost no chance one would show up here.”

“True. If we really ran into something that ridiculous, no plan we made would mean anything.” Moye nodded. “We’d just get a few extra swings in and delay getting killed by a couple seconds.”

Both of their expressions turned grim.

“Then forget that direction. Think from another angle.” Luka spoke up. “What if it’s not one enemy, but the abilities of several enemies working together?”

“Several enemies?” Moye and Alesia blinked, then something seemed to click.

“Plenty of elite units can see through illusions and invisibility with [Phantom Pierce].” Alesia raised a finger. “But the one most common on the battlefield, the one the demon army likes best, is just one type. The [Sky-Roaming Eye Demon].”

“[Sky-Roaming Eye Demon]?” Luka frowned and pulled up the enemy from the vast demon army archive.

A Sky-Roaming Eye Demon had a single enormous eye and a body like a huge jellyfish, drifting through the upper air. It had almost no combat strength, but its eye could see across a massive battlefield in fine detail, and it could even pierce illusions and invisibility far beyond its own rank. What was rarer, it had strong psychic sensing. It could link to another creature’s mind and send messages through telepathy.

That was why demon commanders often used it as one of their most elite scouts, to watch the battlefield and relay orders.

The thought made Luka smack his fist into his palm. “If a Sky-Roaming Eye Demon is floating over our heads right now, it must have seen through our safe house’s camouflage long ago.”

“Damn! If the illusion wall’s been seen through, killing us just got a lot easier!” Moye’s eyes widened in alarm. “All they’d need is one strong melee type like a Spider Slaughter Demon. In a space this small, a surprise attack would leave us almost no way to fight back!”

“They might not even need that!” Alesia scanned the room cautiously. “Even an enemy with just invisibility could catch us off guard and cut us down one by one, silently!”

“Invisibility?” Luka froze, as if something had just struck him.

He was about to speak when, out of the corner of his eye, the illusion wall that blocked their view seemed to tremble faintly.

He was the youngest, and his skin was the most sensitive of the three. He sensed the air around them moving a little faster than before. The faint disturbance brushed against his skin and made his hairs stand up.

A terrible idea surfaced in his mind, and his scalp prickled.

“Watch out!”

He had no time to explain. He shouted, seized Moye and Alesia by the arm, one in each hand, and hauled them toward him.

Whoosh!

Caught off guard, both of them lost their balance and toppled over.

In the next instant, a sharp bone blade thrust out of empty air where Moye’s chest had been.

The blade was about a foot long, razor-edged, glinting with cold light.

Following the blade, a bizarre figure emerged from invisibility.

It had a build like a demon soldier, but its head was hideous, shaped like a mantis. Its two arms had no hands. Instead, bone blades grew from the forearms, exactly like a mantis’s scythe arms. The sight was deeply unnatural.

“[Stealth Mantis Demon]!”

Moye, who had nearly been run through the chest, cursed furiously. “You damned beast! You almost made this old lady capsize in the gutter!”

A Stealth Mantis Demon, as the name suggested, was a mantis-like melee unit with invisibility. Its raw body and combat power were no match for elite demon-men like the Spider Slaughter Demon, but its invisibility alone was enough to make it a nightmare for countless human soldiers.

Moye landed on Luka, with no time to raise her magic gun. She thrust out her right hand and shouted at the demon:

“[Paraly…”

Before she finished casting, the Stealth Mantis Demon retreated with startling decisiveness. In less than half a second, it had slipped back through the illusion wall and vanished.

Clearly, it was extremely wary of Magica spellcasting. The ambush had failed, so it fled on the spot, leaving Moye no chance to hit back.

“Careful. There might be more.” Luka pushed Moye and Alesia off his face and scrambled up. “Alesia, drop the illusion wall!”

The wall no longer worked as cover. Now it just blocked the three’s view.

Snap!

Alesia snapped her fingers, and the illusion wall disappeared.

But what lay outside made all three of them freeze, their faces going pale.

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