However, Clayne quickly realized that his confidence had been misplaced.

The moment the spiritually empowered fragment left his fingers, the Mother Mantis moved.

Not blocked.Not intercepted.Not deflected.

It simply vanished from the location where it had been standing.

The crimson body blurred.

The attack passed through empty air.

A fraction of a second later, the projectile continued flying into the distance.

Then a deafening explosion erupted.

Far away, an abandoned building suddenly exploded.

The impact shattered concrete walls.

Glass burst outward in every direction.

Several floors partially collapsed.

A cloud of dust rose into the sky.

The sheer destructive power of the attack made Clayne’s eyes widen slightly.

That fragment was many times stronger than the ones he had used before.

The spiritual energy absorbed from the Tiny World had transformed it completely.

Its power was no longer something ordinary concrete could compare to.

Yet despite all that destructive force...

It still missed.

The Mother Mantis stood several meters away from its original position.

Completely unharmed.

Its crimson eyes slowly swept across the surroundings.

The giant insect appeared to be searching for something.

Searching for him.

Its gaze lingered on ruined buildings.

Its gaze lingered on shattered walls.

Its gaze lingered on broken streets.

Yet no matter how hard it searched, it could not find Clayne.

Seeing this, Clayne immediately understood the reason.

The Silent Sword Mist Array.

The formation was still functioning.

The mist concealed his existence.

The mist distorted perception.

The mist redirected attention.

The Mother Mantis could sense danger.

It could sense attacks.

Yet it could not locate the source.

Clayne quietly exhaled.

At least one thing was working in his favor.

Without hesitation, he launched another attack.

Then another. Then another. Then another.

Spiritually infused fragments shot through the air continuously.

Each one moved with terrifying speed.

Each one carried enough force to tear through buildings.

Each one should have been deadly.

Yet every single one missed.

The Mother Mantis evaded them all.

Its movements were graceful.

Its movements were precise.

Its movements were efficient.

The giant insect never wasted energy.

Never make unnecessary motions. Never panicked. Never stumbled.

Every time an attack approached, it had already moved before the fragment reached it.

Sometimes it stepped to the side.

Sometimes it leaped backward.

Sometimes it twisted its body.

Sometimes it ducked.

Every movement was perfect.

The more Clayne watched, the more frustrated he became.

This was absurd.

Completely absurd.

His attacks could blast apart undead.

His attacks could shatter concrete.

His attacks could punch through walls.

Yet this thing continued avoiding them.

Again. And again. And again.

Several minutes passed.

The attacks never stopped.

The evasion never stopped.

Eventually, Clayne narrowed his eyes.

If direct attacks were not working, then he would force the Mother Mantis into a situation where evasion became impossible.

Immediately, he changed his strategy.

The next fragment did not target the Mother Mantis.

Instead, it targeted the ground.

BOOM!

The road exploded violently.

Concrete shattered into countless pieces.

A huge cloud of dust erupted upward.

The battlefield became partially obscured.

Clayne immediately fired another fragment.

Then another.

Then another.

More explosions followed.

More dust filled the area.

Soon, an enormous cloud covered the entire battlefield.

Visibility dropped dramatically.

The giant insect disappeared within the haze.

Clayne’s eyes brightened.

This was his first scheme.

If the Mother Mantis relied on sight, then the dust would interfere with its perception.

The moment the battlefield became obscured, he launched a barrage.

Fragments shot into the dust cloud from multiple angles.

Each attack targeted locations where the Mother Mantis should logically move.

The attacks were carefully calculated.

The angles were chosen deliberately.

The timing was precise.

Yet when the dust settled...

The Mother Mantis emerged completely unharmed.

Not a single attack had connected.

Not one.

Clayne stared.

His first scheme had failed.

Completely.

The Mother Mantis seemed unaffected by the dust.

Almost as though the cloud did not exist.

Clayne’s expression darkened.

Then another idea appeared.

If the dust could not blind the creature, then perhaps the environment itself could trap it.

Immediately, he began his second scheme.

This time, he intentionally targeted surrounding buildings.

Explosions erupted one after another.

Walls collapsed.

Pillars shattered.

Chunks of concrete crashed onto the streets.

Within minutes, the battlefield transformed into a maze of debris.

Massive obstacles appeared everywhere.

Collapsed structures blocked pathways.

Destroyed vehicles cluttered the roads.

The terrain became chaotic.

Clayne carefully observed.

If the Mother Mantis attempted to evade now, it would have fewer routes available.

At least, that was the theory.

Soon, he launched another barrage.

Fragments approached from multiple directions.

The rubble should have restricted movement.

The obstacles should have forced mistakes.

The result shocked him.

The Mother Mantis moved through the ruined battlefield as though it had practiced there for years.

It leaped over collapsed walls.

Slid between narrow openings.

Stepped around debris.

Avoided every obstacle.

Avoided every attack.

The giant insect seemed to know exactly where danger would appear before it happened.

The second scheme failed.

Completely.

Clayne clenched his jaw.

Then he began preparing a third scheme.

This time, he became patient.

Very patient.

Instead of attacking immediately, he spent a long time setting up the battlefield.

Several damaged structures were left standing.

Barely standing.

One precise impact would collapse them.

One precise strike would trigger a chain reaction.

The battlefield gradually transformed into a giant trap.

Then Clayne waited.

The Mother Mantis continued guarding the sac.

Eventually, the opportunity appeared.

The giant insect stepped into the center area.

Immediately, Clayne attacked.

BOOM!

The first structure collapsed.

BOOM!

The second structure collapsed.

BOOM!

The third structure collapsed.

Thousands of tons of concrete came crashing down.

The entire area shook violently.

Dust surged upward.

The battlefield vanished beneath an avalanche of rubble.

For a brief moment, Clayne believed he had succeeded.

Then the dust settled.

The Mother Mantis stood outside the collapse zone.

Completely unharmed.

Not injured.

Not trapped.

Not even surprised.

Clayne stared at the creature.

Then stared again.

Then stared even harder.

At this point, frustration began replacing confidence.

This thing was not normal.

Not even remotely normal.

Its reactions exceeded reason.

Its movements exceeded logic.

Its awareness exceeded understanding.

The giant insect seemed to know.

It always knew.

Every attack.

Every trap.

Every hidden intention.

Every dangerous location.

Everything.

The realization slowly formed inside Clayne’s mind.

Then he muttered quietly.

"Does this thing have some kind of foresight?"

The words sounded ridiculous.

Completely ridiculous.

Yet the more he observed, the harder it became to reject the possibility.

Soon more monsters arrived.

Mutated dogs.

Mutated rats.

Mutated insects.

Various creatures were drawn toward the sac.

The Mother Mantis fought them all.

And Clayne carefully watched.

This time he was no longer focused solely on killing.

He wanted answers.

Every movement became evidence.

Every reaction became evidence.

Every battle became evidence.

Again and again, the same pattern appeared.

A mutated dog lunged.

The Mother Mantis moved before the attack fully began.

A giant beetle charged.

The Mother Mantis was already repositioning.

A winged predator dove from above.

The Mother Mantis reacted before the creature descended.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The evidence accumulated relentlessly.

Eventually, Clayne reached a conclusion.

The Mother Mantis could somehow sense incoming danger before it happened.

Whether it was true foresight.

Whether it was an evolved instinct.

Whether it was a mutation caused by the heavenly tribulation.

He did not know.

What he did know was that ordinary attacks were useless.

The creature always moved first.

Always.

The realization made the Mother Mantis far more terrifying than before.

Yet Clayne refused to give up.

Not after coming this far.

If prediction existed, then it still had limits.

Everything had limits.

Reaction consumed energy.

Movement consumed energy.

Awareness consumed energy.

Eventually, something would break.

Eventually, something would become exhausted.

So Clayne changed tactics.

No more tricks.

No more schemes.

No more traps.

He would simply outlast it.

Thus began a brutal battle of attrition.

Clayne attacked continuously.

Spiritually empowered fragments shot across the battlefield without pause.

The Mother Mantis continued evading.

Hours passed.

The attacks continued.

The evasion continued.

The battlefield became increasingly devastated.

Buildings collapsed.

Roads shattered.

Walls exploded.

Entire sections of the city were reduced to rubble.

Countless monsters died as collateral damage.

Yet the Mother Mantis never abandoned the sac.

Never retreated.

Never surrendered.

Clayne never stopped attacking.

One hour passed.

Then two.

Then three.

The sun slowly shifted across the sky.

The air became heavy with dust.

The city looked like a war zone.

Eventually, three full hours had passed.

Clayne finally lowered his arm.

His breathing had become heavy.

Sweat covered his forehead.

His muscles ached.

Even his concentration had begun to weaken.

Meanwhile, the Mother Mantis still stood there.

Its movements were slower than before.

Its posture showed signs of fatigue.

Yet it remained standing.

Still protecting the sac.

Still watching.

Still waiting.

Clayne stared at the giant insect.

Then stared at the basketball-sized sac.

Then stared at the countless corpses surrounding them.

The heavenly tribulation-powered dried mango.

The mutated insects.

The red mist.

The slaughter.

The Mother Mantis.

Everything seemed increasingly unbelievable.

Just what kind of monster had been created by that dried mango?

What kind of creature was growing inside that sac?

Clayne slowly sat down.

For the first time in hours, the battlefield became quiet.

No attacks were launched.

No explosions erupted.

No monsters charged.

Only silence remained.

The wind slowly carried dust across the ruined streets.

The Mother Mantis did not move.

Clayne did not move.

The strange stalemate continued.

Then Clayne slowly closed his eyes.

His breathing gradually stabilized.

His thoughts calmed.

Minutes passed.

Then more minutes.

The silence remained unbroken.

The Mother Mantis continued guarding the sac.

Clayne continued thinking.

Thinking about every movement.

Every attack.

Every evasion.

Every clue.

Every strange detail he had observed over the last several hours.

Eventually, after a very long time, his eyes slowly opened.

This time, however, the frustration inside them had disappeared.

In its place was something entirely different.

Understanding.