Insect Tamer's Ascension-Chapter 341. A fight of realization

When he reached the bottom of the slope, the beast entered Theo’s sword range and suddenly started digging more aggressively.

And with Theo being so close to it now, all the loosened soil under his boots just slid down like a landslide, making him lose all his footing.

He felt himself slip, and as he tried to stabilise himself using his right foot again, the world seemed to have frozen.

His eyes subconsciously locked onto a claw that seemed to be racing toward his neck, moving with a speed he had never expected, especially while he was still falling down.

Sweat seemed to crawl upward instead of down as a violent shiver ran through his spine. For the first time, Theo was truly afraid of his own demise.

His body reacted on instinct, and he twisted away just in time, the curved claw missing his neck by mere inches. Theo scrambled backward, trying to create distance, his eyes wide with shock.

When he looked back at the beast, he couldn’t help but feel at a loss for words.

The beast was slowly licking the claw it had just tried to hit him with.

Just then, a faint prickling sensation flared on his neck. He reached a hand only to find out that there was a shallow cut on his neck and blood was slowly dripping from it.

’Just a little later and I would have died by now...’ he thought, completely shaken.

Never had he feared for his life more than right now. There was no one to help him, no backup to fend the beast away.

It was just him and a beast three levels above him, fighting for survival.

And clearly, the beast held the advantage thanks to the environment.

The beast wasn’t done and didn’t hesitate. Once again, it tried taking advantage of the situation.

It dug its claws deep into the ground and started tearing up the soil. Chunks of earth flew out as the slope collapsed down again.

Theo stopped thinking and started moving again.

’How am I supposed to defeat this thing?’ Theo asked himself as he resumed running in circles around the damned beast.

After completing another full circle with no clear plan, one thought persisted firmly in his mind.

’I need to attack it before it can show that speed again. That’s my only way out.’

Thinking about attacking the beast before it could counter was easy. But the only variable in this was that the beast was clearly faster than him, and that put Theo at a crossroads.

He could just retreat, leave the grounds and tell his father there was no way he could defeat something like this on his own. It was as if every disadvantage was stacked against him, while the beast had none.

On the other hand, he knew he needed to complete this challenge.

This was his first ever solo challenge he had fortunately got a chance with.

But deep down, he had a feeling that if he were to not complete this mission, he would be more haunted for not doing it than by dying while trying to.

He clenched his teeth and stared at the creatures with a hard, judging gaze.

If the creature possessed any sane intelligence, it might have started wondering why it was even being judged for.

But Theo didn’t care; he dropped lower to the ground, still moving to the side as the beast tried to collapse the ground beneath him again.

It had started becoming a smartass, predicting where Theo would land and tearing up the ground there. Luckily, Theo’s body was a lot stronger and more athletic now. He took that time to jump and move past it by maintaining his footing as the soil gradually stabilised.

With every second and every circle Theo ran around the beast something was changing. He was getting closer and closer to the center of it all, closer to where the beast resided.

On the third circular run, Theo felt it, like it was the right time.

’NOW.’

He faked moving forward with a jump but instead launched himself straight at the beast, surprising even himself.

The sheer recklessness it could have taken to jump directly toward such a lethal beast was absurd.

Even the beast seemed surprised, freezing for a second before it started moving its body upward, trying to defend itself.

But it was too late and couldn’t react in time.

Theo’s kick slammed into the side of its body.

He wanted to either get away from it immediately or strike again as soon as possible.

But it seemed like the latter was the only option he was left with, as the beast had already got hold of his leg with its clawed forelegs.

It let out an annoyingly high-pitched shriek that made Theo want to cover his ears, but he didn’t have the time.

With his leg still trapped in its grip, Theo used the beast’s hold as leverage to drive his other free leg straight into its hunched shoulder.

Theo kicked with such strength in that mere second that the beast let out a crying roar, its pain evident from the cry.

"UGH..." Theo grimaced, feeling like his eardrums would start bleeding if he were to let the beast screech any longer.

The beast still hadn’t let go of his leg, and Theo crashed to the ground shoulder-first while still staring daggers at the beast, his eyes never leaving it.

While both of its clawed forelegs were wrapped tightly around his one leg, Theo didn’t hesitate anymore. He gathered all the strength he could muster and swung his sword in a horizontal slash.

Within seconds, the blade cut into the beast’s torso.

Another shrill scream pierced the otherwise silent surroundings as the beast cried out in pain, making Theo wince, but he kept pushing the blade inside, driving it deeper into the wound.

When he finally pulled the sword free from its torso and looked at the result, his world seemed to have collapsed for a moment.

There was barely any blood oozing out.

It felt like his attack had almost no cutting power at all.

For the first time, the beast let go of Theo’s forelegs and retreated, preparing to strike a killing blow, one Theo wasn’t ready for.