Mantis Mother
The giant claws of the White Stone Crab slowly descended from the sky.
It resembled an interstellar spaceship falling from the clouds, while a tiny black shadow, its wings fluttering and flashing, rushed towards it.
The stark difference in size and strength drew everyone's attention.
Everyone wanted to see how the battle between the two sides would end.
On the other claw of the White Stone Crab, Ian seemed somewhat disinterested.
After all, he knew very well what kind of overlord this crab under his feet was; its body was as hard as a diamond.
Even in the Dark Continent, a place inhabited by numerous bizarre and fantastical creatures.
It can earn a place to survive by virtue of its own hardness.
Moreover, it has now grown by hundreds of millions of times!
The creature mutated from Sashado is strong only against ordinary Nen users; however, against the White Stone Crab, its hardness and speed are meaningless.
Ian... has already foreseen the outcome.
Perhaps Sashado also saw this outcome clearly.
Located on the ground.
Sashado's Host Body had a pale face and a gloomy expression. He looked up at the situation in the sky, a conflicted look flashing across his face.
If I absolutely have to say something...
Since his recovery, he has devoted a great deal of effort to the "Heroic Insects".
The thought that his original plan to turn the tide and build a "Heroic Insects" army to retake the human world was about to be shattered.
Even he felt a sense of defeat.
Although he was resurrected in this era, it is no longer the era of him as the "Sun," and his reliable subordinates from the past have long since passed away.
It's not just that his own abilities have declined significantly.
Of the human Nen users he converted and recruited, not a single one was truly capable.
This left Sashado feeling increasingly exhausted the more he struggled.
If Ian could listen to Sashado's feelings, he would probably offer him some words of comfort.
When fortune smiles, heaven and earth lend their strength; when fortune turns, even heroes are powerless.
He was the sun of the old era.
But in this day and age, constantly innovating technology is the "new sun."
However, Ian possesses magical artifacts that are far more terrifying than the technology V5 has.
These gadgets from the 22nd century Doraemon world are far more imaginative and destructive than current technology.
"Whoosh!"
A sharp whooshing sound came from high above.
The Ise Mantis had already reached the giant pincers of the White Stone Crab. Its cold compound eyes completely ignored the behemoth in front of it. Its sharp forelimbs were raised high, and it instantly unleashed hundreds of sharp slashes!
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
However, all the strikes were like a kitchen knife hitting a hard stone, scattering Mars but leaving not even a white mark.
"Whoosh!"
The Ise Mantis quickly turned its body and flew to the side.
Although it ignored the size of the other party, it could still feel the terrifying power brewing on it, which was a potential energy that could instantly disintegrate any object once it touched it.
Its biological instincts prevented it from ever choosing to confront this immense, divinely inflicted force head-on.
Instead, by using its extremely high supersonic speed, it maintained the same speed as its opponent's descent, thus both escaping the opponent's terrifying gravitational potential energy and being able to launch continuous attacks.
The Ise Mantis hadn't expected that this behemoth would be so tough to deal with!
So much so that... its attacks had absolutely no effect.
These tactile sensations, which offered no feedback, even affected its combat thinking, causing a look of confusion to appear in its compound eyes.
This... I can't cut it!
Something's not right...
These minute details of the battle were almost invisible to the crowd below.
Ian, standing above, seemed to show a hint of interest.
He had assumed that this mantis creature, mutated by Sashado, would die instantly upon contact, but he hadn't expected it to possess such a strong fighting spirit.
The opponent truly relied on their fighting instincts to overcome the biggest challenge of fighting a stronger opponent with a weaker one.
Of course, this is all thanks to the opponent's high mobility.
Without this supersonic speed, a thousand Ise Mantis wouldn't be enough to withstand a single crushing blow from the White Stone Crab.
But ultimately...
The White Stone Crab also had his help to cheat, so it can only be said that... both creatures are quite excellent beings, but the growth assistance he and Sashado provided was different.
"Swish!" "Swish!" "Swish!"...
In mid-air, the giant pincers continued to fall, while the Ise Mantis transformed into countless afterimages, launching endless attacks with its fighting instincts.
Every second, this giant pincers endure nearly a hundred strikes!
This is a terrifyingly high-frequency number.
It is thanks to the unique body structure of the Ise Mantis that it can unleash such a terrifying and explosive attack.
This number of strikes per second was something Nobunaga once envied, and it was also the limit that Cat Teacher could reach before he surpassed it.
If its target is not the White Stone Crab, but any other creature.
No matter how big the size!
It would probably really be cleaved into pieces by its powerful attacks. It only needs to break through one weak point, and the rest is just tearing and widening the wound, taking advantage of the situation to dismember the enemy!
Unfortunately, the enemy it encountered... was precisely the one it was most difficult to deal with!
In mid-air, Mars flew up and covered almost every part of the giant pincers, obscuring the Ise Mantis's figure.
This also demonstrates the opponent's incredible speed, cutting from beginning to end...
During its brief descent, the Ise Mantis delivered at least several thousand slashes.
Until...
"Clang--"
With a crisp cracking sound, its two sharp alloy blades finally could no longer withstand such a strong load.
It broke apart mid-air!
At the moment of breakage, a hint of confusion seemed to appear in the compound eyes of the Ise Mantis.
For a fighting insect like it, losing its "blade" is equivalent to losing its weapon for survival, meaning it is about to face its own death.
It yearns for battle, yet retains the instincts of a living being.
In particular, it is currently carrying a new life inside its belly, and as a mother, both its biological instincts and fighting spirit are influencing it.
"Whoosh!"
Its body trembled violently, then it flapped its wings and took flight!
If it were a combat weapon, its "blade" would break, and it would die. But its maternal instincts prevented it from dying!
It was unaware of all this fighting.
It was all just a performance that a modern human and an ancient human wanted to see. It didn't understand these things and acted entirely on instinct.
"Buzz..."
Although the White Stone Crab didn't feel anything, it was naturally annoyed by the little thing after being tickled for so long!
Seeing that it was trying to escape, the White Stone Crab let out a muffled groan and prepared to swing its pincers to smash it.
For it, these were just side tasks, not worth mentioning!
But just as it was about to act...
"Stop, Little White!"
At the summit of its mountain-like left pincer, Ian shook his head, his gaze fixed intently on the Ise Mantis, its severed limb blade trembling as it tried to flee.
The reason for stopping it is simple.
He noticed that even though the opponent's limb blade was severed, he still used the severed forelimb to tightly cover his lower abdomen during the escape.
Looking at the other's plump abdomen and recalling Sashado's words, Ian realized that this was a praying mantis mother.