Retreating Mantis X Raindrops

Silver Mantis.

A creature found within the [Timely Rain Cloud]. Kevin was fortunate not to encounter this creature when he was initially in the Timely Rain Cloud.

Otherwise, he and Melusina would never have encountered Gray Scale and found a safe base by chance.

It might be directly knocked down by the Silver Mantis in the Fast Rain.

The Silver Mantis is a large insect whose entire body is silvery and can even reflect sunlight.

Kevin had only seen a few; he had only seen them three times in the [Timely Rain Cloud] over the past few months. The only thing he was certain of was that none of the three times were the same one.

Despite their small size, the Silver Mantis is one of the kinds of Demons and Snake Gods that Kevin mentioned earlier, those below the Lord.

Slightly smaller than a normal adult male, with a slender and graceful physique, he is clearly an agile hunter.

During their second encounter and subsequent conflict, Kevin used his Nen ability to obtain some basic biological information about the other party.

Kevin didn't know exactly how much data was stored in the Mechanical Chip given to him by the Mechanical City, but at least the creatures in the area surrounding the Mechanical Tower should all be recorded.

Therefore, they naturally obtained information about the Silver Mantis.

This reveals that the Silver Mantis is actually a creature capable of limited time manipulation.

That sounds outrageous.

The Silver Mantis isn't inherently fast; rather, it's because it can accelerate its own time.

The only outward manifestation is that when it accelerates its own time, the surface color will slightly develop a sheen.

Although they are creatures capable of manipulating time to some extent, the Silver Mantis is not a carnivore.

It is definitely a herbivore.

The food these silver mantises need is the "Instant Flower," which undergoes a cycle from growth and germination to withering, and then transforms into seeds and is reburied in the soil during the [Timely Rain Cloud].

This flower was found by Kevin after he saw the Silver Mantis and learned that it was a Time System- manipulating creature.

The specks of light that spray out from the Flower Bud when they first open are actually the energy seeds of this flower.

Originally, these seeds would hide in Raindrop during the Reverse Rain season, follow the backflow of Raindrop into the Rain Cloud, and then fall back down with the Raindrop during the next rain, thus beginning the cycle of growth.

Under normal circumstances, a few rain showers are enough for these flowers to bloom all over the mountains and fields.

However, under normal circumstances, you will find these flowers to be very difficult to find.

Naturally, this is because some creature wants to obtain the seeds they spray, and that creature is the Silver Mantis.

However, Kevin wanted it too.

That would inevitably lead to conflict with the Silver Mantis.

So this time he struck first.

Although Silver Mantis are not predators, they will not show mercy to creatures that dare to steal their food.

The sky was filled with countless silver blade flashes, making it impossible to see their movements.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen slashes came.

In such a Fast Rain, even with the potion that enhanced his mental speed, Kevin couldn't keep up with his opponent's pace.

A barrier of Nen Aura formed around his body, and silver scales covered his skin.

This double insurance maximized Kevin's defensive capabilities.

The sound of blades striking metal rose and fell, like the clanging of metal being hammered, echoing outwards in the torrential rain.

"Click!"

With a crisp, slicing sound.

The barrier shattered; the defense of Nen Aura was ultimately limited, not to mention that the opponent was also a powerful being.

From the perspective of the Dark Continent, Kevin's strength is just so-so.

While it won't become pure food, it shouldn't aspire to be a fearsome predator either.

As the barrier shattered, the silver blade instantly struck Kevin's scaly skin.

"Fool, these scales of mine are much tougher than my barrier."

It belongs to the category of Nen Aura barriers, and is ultimately an ability obtained from a low-level potion from a very early period.

Although Kevin's strength has improved and his toughness has also increased significantly, it is still at an average level.

The scales on Kevin's body were actually modeled after those of the Resentful Snake, ensuring exceptional hardness.

It is a Nen ability that can spread the damage from slashes around the body through scales, distributing the pressure and greatly increasing defensive capabilities.

In just five or six seconds.

Beneath a sky full of silver blade flashes.

Kevin's Nen Aura barrier was slashed open, and sparks flew from the scales on his body.

Some of the scales were chopped apart on the spot.

The fact that these scales were cleaved rather than sliced by the silver blades speaks volumes about their strength.

The Silver Mantis, a creature of the Dark Continent, differs greatly from ordinary insects and beasts in that it possesses intelligence far exceeding that of normal insects.

Upon discovering that Kevin's scales were broken, they immediately switched from slashing to stabbing.

The silvery shimmering light instantly transformed into a sharp, piercing beam of light.

When the sharp blade touched the shattered flesh and scales.

The arm, which should have had no time to react, moved the instant it touched the skin.

As if by reflex, the arm bent backward to dodge the stab, and the hand swung back into a knife-like palm, striking the back of the Silver Mantis's blade.

"Kaichi-!"

A very crisp cracking sound.

The Silver Mantis's right blade arm had a gap cut into it.

Grayish-silver blood flowed down from the gap and splattered into the air.

Right now.

The Fast Rain, and the Raindrop fell into the air, along with the gray-silver blood that had been scattered in mid-air.

The Raindrop began to rise.

The [Reverse Rain] has begun.

In the instant the Reverse Rain, Kevin froze on the spot.

Under Reverse Rain, the Silver Mantis was able to move normally, but its speed, which was previously lightning fast, became normal.

But even at normal speed, it's still much faster than Kevin standing still.

The grey-silver compound eyes stared at the motionless Kevin.

Despite being insect eyes, Kevin could read a cruel, menacing glint in their compound appearance.

Despite its injured right arm, it slowly raised it and thrust it directly at a gap in the scales on Kevin's shoulder.

"Brush!"

Xiao Hong and Little Blue appeared on either side of Kevin.

One held Meteor Hammer, the other Spiked Club.

Without hesitation, it swung its weapon at the Silver Mantis.

Although Kevin was unable to react defensively at this moment, it did not mean that the four Nen Beast left behind by Melusina would allow the opponent to act recklessly.

This is why Melusina is instructed to leave the rainy area before the rain begins.

This was to ensure that the four maids were not affected by the time zone in this area.

The Silver Mantis had never seen anything like this before; it was clear it had run into a tough opponent.

The Silver Mantis's advantage lies in the Fast Rain season, and it can also hunt during the Fast Rain season.

During periods of Reverse Rain, the Silver Mantis loses much of its advantage. While it can control time to some extent, it can only accelerate its own time. During periods of Reverse Rain, when overall time slows down, its acceleration allows it to move more normally than other creatures, but this is still limited.

It cannot be as unaffected and completely free as the Resentful Snake.

However, if there are similar creatures that are not significantly affected by the Reverse Rain, then the Silver Mantis is in danger.

Because it no longer had a speed advantage, and its body wasn't very tough, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to have its defenses broken through by Kevin's reflexive attack.

So, faced with the current situation, the Silver Mantis ran away without hesitation.

The body became silvery and ethereal, then receded backward and disappeared.

Kevin watched this scene; although his body was unable to open its mouth due to the passage of time, his mind was unrestricted.

Faced with this situation, all one can do is curse inwardly.

These shit-like creatures are disgusting, each one more repulsive than the last.

Even a creature with obvious weaknesses like the Silver Mantis is helpless in this situation.

After learning about the biological information of the Silver Mantis, Kevin did consider hunting it.

Because the opponent also has significant weaknesses, as long as you find the right techniques and leverage Melusina's strengths, you can defeat them.

However, the fact that a creature like the Silver Mantis can live so comfortably under these clouds and rain means it must have its own unique survival skills.

As a creature capable of controlling its own time to some extent, the Silver Mantis can reverse its own time during dangerous periods.

This reversal may seem abstract, but it allows for a rapid reversal, and according to available information, this reversal can even heal the opponent's injuries to some extent.

The figure would then retreat along the path it came from, and then flee.

Therefore, to take down the Silver Mantis, it is necessary to send another team to ambush the retreating enemy without them noticing.

This is because such a regression is limited and requires a long period of energy extraction to continue using it.

However, Kevin currently lacks the means to capture his opponent.

Making the other party back down is enough; his main target is still the flower seeds.

I've already received it.

Suddenly, as if he had seen something, Kevin's eyes were fixed on the gray-silver blood droplet in mid-air.

Um?

Yes, isn't this blood from the Silver Mantis?

This was an unexpected bonus, contrary to our initial goal.

Kevin didn't expect him to be able to hurt Silver Mantis, after all, the gap that Kevin created for Silver Mantis was its own fault.

Kevin's physical reactions are faster than his thoughts, so when faced with the Silver Mantis's attack, he reflexively dodges and attacks.

However, this also fully demonstrates that the Silver Mantis's defensive capabilities are indeed very poor, because the power of such a reflexive attack is limited.

This conditioned reflex primarily allows Kevin to dodge, to automatically evade when his mind cannot reach out.

As a result, he was injured despite being struck by a counterattack.

Therefore, although the Silver Mantis is mysterious, its biological level is still within the range that can be dealt with.

Kevin didn't need to give any instructions.

Little Yellow and Little Green picked up the medicine bottle and collected the blood droplets in the air.

Xiao Hong then took a seed from the container at Kevin's waist and let it float lightly in the air.

The seed was unaffected by the surrounding time; as if sensing something, it naturally drifted into a nearby raindrop.

Kevin's eyes lit up when he saw this.

It worked!

This is the material Kevin wanted.

Seeds are a material of time, and so is blood.

Based on the characteristics of seeds, they will merge into Raindrop and Raindrop the energy within them.

Communicate with them in this way.

Then they saw Little Blue take out a container she had prepared beforehand and put the Raindrop and seeds into it.

This time, the Raindrop carrying the seeds stayed obediently in the bottle, showing no intention of returning.

Kevin used this clever method to mix the two materials into one, creating a usable material that he possessed.

This is also part of nature.

I've received the A-Rank materials.

Xiao Hong continued to try, but not every seed had this ability.

Of the dozen or so seeds sprayed, only three blended perfectly with the Raindrop.

The remaining seeds, after floating in mid-air, simply followed the strange upward force of the rainwater.

They were caught again and put back into the bottle.

A slow wait.

They only sent Gray Scale away after he had had his fun.

Once outside the designated area.

Kevin then returned to normal.

The scales disappeared.

However, several areas of his body had skin missing, revealing gaps in the flesh beneath, and blood began to seep out.

A Healing Potion, injected into the body.

Melusina watched with a heavy heart.

"Can those mantises' blades pierce your scales?"

Kevin nodded.

After all, this is their first real head-on confrontation; the previous encounters were merely probing.

However, the inability to get injured can be considered a drawback of the changeable nature.

The changes in flesh and blood still result in something that is part of his body, not something that appears out of thin air.

Take scales, for example.

Essentially, it mimics Snake Scale on skin, transforming it into a Snake Scale structure. The scales are broken, making the skin in the area where the scales were located appear as if it has been peeled off.

"It's alright. Facing that monster, suffering only this kind of injury is already a good outcome."

That's not wrong.

The two chatted idly until the effects of the potion wore off, and new skin had grown over the wounds on Kevin's body.

Even its color doesn't look much different from the surrounding skin.

We didn't leave because we wanted to wait here.

We need to wait here for the rain to stop.

This time-dependent Rain Cloud is a special environment within this large area, meaning that the surrounding environment is closely related to it. When the Rain Cloud disappears and the sunlight shines again...

The entire forest fell silent in an instant.

Kevin and Melusina rushed into the area, taking advantage of the brief time to search for materials that only appeared during this period. The Danger Level was lowest at this time because the predators associated with it had obediently returned to their nests.

This is the best time to harvest materials.

The downtime is very short; we must get busy quickly.

This time, I should be able to gather all the necessary materials; it's time to prepare for my departure.