My Seven Wives in One Body and Me, her Manager-Chapter 78: First Round, Battle Against Rank A Crawler

Ivan, carrying a sword as large as his own body, was followed by Sasha spinning her spear, Minji twirling her twin blades, and Hyunjin extending his arms as about ten energy-infused knives flew in orbits around him. Brad carried a sword over his shoulder, and Akira brought his sniper rifle as they moved forward to the center of the arena. Their location was a vast, dark desert where black snow fell from above, vanishing into thin air before hitting the ground.

"Skrieeeeek,"

In front of them appeared a truly massive Chimaera Beetle, perhaps larger than a container truck and definitely taller. The pincers on its rhinoceros beetle head were like a giant pair of scissors, constantly snapping at the air, while its mosquito head was enormous. It possessed a long scorpion tail that moved like a snake, whipping around in every direction like a whip. But seeing such a colossal monster before them, Ivan and the others seemed relaxed—not underestimating it, and remaining on high alert, but maintaining calm expressions.

"Alright, let’s begin, just like in training," Ivan said.

"Yeah," Sasha, Brad, Hyunjin, Minji, and Akira replied in unison.

The six of them immediately braced themselves. The ground trembled as the Chimaera Beetle charged toward them, intending to gore them with the tips of its pincers. Sasha, Minji, Hyunjin, and Akira instantly leaped to the sides, while Hyunjin and Akira moved to the back, leaving Ivan and Brad in the center. Akira immediately aimed at the scorpion tail that was targeting his teammates to knock it away, while Hyunjin attacked the mosquito head with his knives. The Chimaera Beetle closed in on Ivan and Brad.

"Get ready, Ivan," Brad said.

"Yeah, don’t mess up," Ivan replied.

"Of course," Brad countered.

When the Chimaera Beetle reached Ivan, he immediately crossed his sword. "Clang," the creature’s scissor-like pincers were jammed by Ivan’s massive blade, though Ivan was pushed back by the beetle’s momentum. Meanwhile, Brad crouched and dropped low so he was underneath the Chimaera Beetle as the monster passed over him while pushing Ivan. "Stab," Brad instantly plunged his sword into the monster’s belly from below and released his energy, causing his sword to extend upward, impaling the monster’s stomach and pushing until the creature flipped onto its back.

Once the monster stopped, it deployed its dragonfly wings, preparing to fly to right itself, but Minji moved instantly to slash one wing and immediately leaped toward the other. But "Watch out, Minji!" Sasha screamed. Minji turned to see the scorpion tail lunging at her. "Clang," Ivan parried the tip of the tail with his greatsword and immediately sliced it off. Then, the mosquito head hovered on its long neck and spat liquid at Ivan.

Ivan and Minji dodged, causing the liquid to hit the monster’s own belly, instantly turning its hide to stone. Akira opened a portal with several gun barrels emerging from within and immediately blasted the mosquito head from behind until it was destroyed.

Then, Hyunjin leaped into the air and fired hundreds of knives into the monster’s petrified belly, shattering its thick skin like a chisel peeling away the surface of a rock. After that, Sasha, spinning like a tornado with her spear pointed down, slammed into the hole in the monster’s stomach, entering and shredding the creature’s internal organs until it stopped moving altogether.

"Wow," Dennis, Daisy, Gary, Olivia, Jason, and Kimberly, who were watching, looked amazed by the teamwork of Ivan’s entire squad. They had easily defeated a rank-A crawler—one that wasn’t easy to take down because of its tough hide, even if it didn’t possess lethal offensive power. "Beeeep," a long alarm sounded, signaling that the simulation was over.

Then, the countdown on the screen showed 25 : 11, having stopped its descent; in other words, Ivan’s team only needed 4 minutes and 49 seconds to defeat the enemy and finish the first round. Light once again filled the arena, and the display on the screen vanished. Dennis, Daisy, Gary, Olivia, Jason, Kimberly, Rika, and Elisa immediately stood up and clapped loudly.

Ivan and the others looked toward the spectator seats, smiling and raising their hands, but shortly after, "booooo," a deafening sound of jeering erupted from the group of Willow schoolgirls. Naturally, Daisy, Olivia, and Kimberly immediately turned to look at the mob of students shouting scoffs at Ivan’s team and the others.

Then, the sound of a microphone was heard reading out the results of the recent fight, starting from the time, the team’s condition, and the cooperation score, which was an A. After that, Ivan’s team was seen walking back to their corner; soon after, Rachel’s team from Willow stepped into the center, and cheers echoed through the arena again as their supporters shouted at the top of their lungs.

"They are seriously annoying," Daisy said, looking toward the Willow girls’ supporters.

"Forget it, don’t pay them any mind. It’s not a given that they can do the same thing Ivan’s team did," Dennis said, calming his wife down.

"True. I’m sure we could beat that crawler, but doing it in under five minutes? I’m not so sure about that," Gary said.

"That’s right. Besides, Ivan and the others didn’t look like they were using all their power. Their faces were so calm while fighting that monster; it’s obvious they’ve practiced against it before," Olivia added.

"I didn’t know Akira could do that. I can do it too, but only with three portals... looks like I need to train harder," Jason muttered, observing Akira as he chatted with the others.

"Same. I feel like I’m still lacking too, babe," Kimberly added to Jason.

"He’s right; more than five minutes would be bad... I’d definitely be raging all over the place if we were the ones fighting that monster," Dennis muttered in his heart while looking at his senior team below.

Suddenly, a massive cheer erupted once again. Rachel’s team stood in the center, preparing for the first round, and the alarm blared. The room went dark again, and the broadcast reappeared on the glass. Rachel and her team stood in the middle of a vast, dark desert, and the Chimaera Beetle had already appeared before them.

When the monster charged forward to attack, Sofia, who carried a large kite shield, manifested faint, shimmering angel wings and instantly halted the Chimaera Beetle’s momentum without being pushed back at all. In fact, the Chimaera Beetle’s body even lifted slightly, as if it had slammed into an immovable stone hill.

After that, Rachel, who was standing in the back, was seen raising her hand. A pair of giant skeletal hands erupted from the ground and grabbed the Chimaera Beetle’s body to trap it and stop its movements. Once the Chimaera Beetle could no longer move,

"Three minutes," Rachel shouted, raising her hand and forming the number three with her fingers.

"Yes," Brigitte, Harumi, Natasha, and Margaret replied in unison.

Immediately, they all attacked the Chimaera Beetle simultaneously using their own unique abilities and moves. Dennis, watching the broadcast on the screen, could be seen tightening his jaw, his hands clenched into fists because he was slightly annoyed hearing Rachel shout that they could defeat the enemy in three minutes.

But the more he watched, the more Dennis realized that Brigitte, Harumi, Natasha, Margaret, Sofia, and Rachel were attacking the enemy without any coordination, relying purely on their individual skills. The Chimaera Beetle, unable to fight back, seemed to just take the beating and the slashes without feeling a thing.

After three minutes, Rachel used her skill again, once more trapping the Chimaera’s body with new giant skeletal hands; this time, she also grabbed the tail and the long-necked mosquito head. Dennis, Daisy, Gary, Olivia, Jason, and Kimberly, watching the broadcast, began to get bored seeing the disorganized and overlapping attacks that couldn’t pierce the Chimaera Beetle’s thick, shell-like hide.

"Huh... good at the start, but now they’re pathetic," Olivia muttered.

"Hmmm, Mr. Steve was right... they have no teamwork. Everyone is moving on their own and, unlike Ivan’s team, they aren’t focusing their attacks on a single point," Gary muttered.

"Turns out they’re mediocre... but... come to think of it, we might end up just like them," Kimberly added.

"No, not if we train together often. It’s obvious they were just formed and rarely practice," Jason said.

"Exactly. We have to train frequently so we can be like Ivan’s team," Dennis said.

Then Dennis turned to see his wife, who was shaking her head with her arms crossed over her chest, her face full of disdain for the opposing team. Occasionally, she glanced at the opposing team’s supporters, most of whom were now praying or sitting in silence.

.

"You’re being awfully quiet, honey," Dennis asked Daisy, who seemed totally silent and even looked a bit sleepy.

"They’re pathetic. I’d only need one minute to take that monster down by myself," Daisy said casually.

"Yeah, I believe you," Dennis replied. "Of course it would only take a minute; with all six personalities coming out one after another and hitting a single spot, a monster that big wouldn’t stand a chance," Dennis muttered in his heart.

Finally, when the countdown hit 19:05, Rachel’s team managed to defeat the Chimaera Beetle without taking a single hit—mostly because the monster hadn’t been able to move that whole time. The first round, the battle against the Rank A Crawler, was won by Ivan’s team.