Lux and his friends headed to the Figaro Garden in high spirits. Their goal was to defeat the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis as a graduation ceremony for Colette and the others for reaching the Apostle Rank.
However, just as they entered the Garden, over a hundred dwarves could be seen near the Garden's entrance.
There were some Dwarves with injuries, a few of them already passed out. A grim expression was across their faces as they discussed with each other. All of them were Solaians and, from what Lux could tell, something major had happened. Otherwise, there was no reason for all of them to gather near the entrance instead of exploring the garden and hunting for monsters.
"Did something happen?" Colette asked one of the Cleric Dwarves that was tending the injured.
The Dwarf nodded and told her about the appearance of a mutated beast that they had never seen before.
Lux's and the other's expressions immediately changed after hearing this news. They had encountered a Mutated Carbuncle in the past, and it was quite troublesome.
"A five-meter tall red mantis now wanders around the Figaro Gardens," the Cleric explained. "A party that had just recently reached the Apostle Rank discovered it first. However, they didn't dare fight it because it was the mutated version of the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis. According to their estimate it was a peak Rank 3 Alpha Monster."
Colette frowned when she heard this news. The Red-Eyed Terror Mantis was only a peak Rank 2 Monster, and yet, it was powerful enough to threaten newly ascended Apostles. In fact, the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis' threat would explode exponentially when it entered a Berserk Mode.
During this state, all of its stats would increase by 50%, making it a very deadly monster to fight against.
Most parties would focus on defense when the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis entered this phase. As long as they survived its onslaught, it would soon revert to a weakened state, making it an easier opponent to defeat.
However, a Rank 3 Peak Alpha Monster was simply bad news for anyone in the Beginner's Zone. If that Monster activated its Berserk Skill, it would immediately jump to the Mid-stages of a Rank 4 Alpha Beast, making it a threat that was almost impossible to defeat for all Solaians inside Leaf Village.
"Where was it last seen?" Lux asked. "Do you know?"
The Dwarf Cleric shook his head. "When the Apostle Grade party discovered the beast, they immediately warned the other Dwarfs inside the Figaro Garden to escape to the entrance. Even now, they are out there looking for the others who are still in the garden."
Lux was quite surprised at how amazing the Apostle Party was. Not only did they decide to immediately warn others of the new threat that appeared in the gardens, they even went as far as to find every Dwarf that was currently inside the Garden in order to prevent them from encountering the Alpha Monster by accident.
"Diablo, Ishtar, Pazuzu, Come!" Lux ordered as he summoned his Named Creatures. "Scour the Garden and find the Mutated Mantis. Do not engage it. Once you find it, tell us its location immediately."
The three Named Creatures nodded as they headed in different directions.
Diablo and his Mount, Airon, headed towards the North, Pazuzu flew towards the West, and Ishtar ran to the East.
Lux knew that the Garden was a big place, so he also summoned the rest of his Skeleton Minions and asked them to scatter in different directions.
Eiko, on the other hand, summoned her Devil Slime, Blackie, and her Angel Slime, Whitey.
"Blackie! Whitey!" Eiko shouted. "Go!"
The Devil Slime flapped its wings and flew to the North East, while the Angel Slime flew towards the North West.
Lux wanted to go to the nearest Ant Nest to ask them if they knew where the Red Mantis was located, but he couldn't leave his friends unprotected.
For now, he just crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. He was able to see and hear what his Named Creatures could see and hear, so he decided to observe the surroundings with Pazuzu who was currently in the sky.
Twenty minutes later, the Demonic Protector noticed several giant flowers falling to the ground in the distance. Lux urged Pazuzu to investigate it and the latter flew towards the place where the commotion was happening.
A few minutes later, Lux was able to see a Red Mantis fighting against a couple of Dwarves, who were desperately trying to protect three Dwarf children behind them, who were seriously injured.
Just as the Dwarves found their situation more and more desperate, a blue tower shield descended from the sky and slammed into the body of the Red Mantis, sending it rolling across the ground.
"Run!" Pazuzu shouted as he faced off against the Alpha Monster, using his Shield Wall ability.
The Dwarves broke out of their daze and immediately supported the three younger Dwarves and ran away as fast as they could, while the Demonic Defender held the Red Mantis at bay.
A minute later, the Blue Tower Shield shattered and Pazuzu was blown away by the Red Mantis' powerful slash. In anger, the Mantis fired several red blades made of condensed energy towards the Demonic Defender who faced them head-on with his shield.
Due to his extremely high defense, Pazuzu was able to endure the blows. However, the other party's attacks were coming too fast, so he could do nothing else aside from defending.
Several minutes passed as Pazuzu entangled himself with the Mutated Alpha Monster. His health was almost depleted, but he stood firm.
Suddenly, two fire lances landed on the Red Mantis' body, pushing it to the side. The Alpha Monster glanced in the direction where the attack came from and saw a Black Knight riding on top of a flaming black horse.
Just as it was about to attack, several ice arrows landed on its body, making it take a defensive stance.
"Shadow Ball!"
"Holy Blast!"
Two balls of light collided with the Red Mantis body, making it take a step back.
Ishtar, Blackie, and Whitey arrived at the scene and encircled the Alpha Monster.
The Angel Slime used its healing ability to replenish Pazuzu's health, raising it back to half. Although they outnumbered their enemy, they knew that they would not be able to defeat it with just the five of them.
The Red Mantis shrieked at its enemies showing its anger. It was about to engage them in a battle when it heard the sound of several four-legged beasts in the distance.
Two minutes later, Lux, Colette, and her friends arrived at the scene while riding their Warg Mounts.
They then looked at the monster in front of them with a burning determination in their eyes. This was their graduation ceremony, and for them to graduate, they needed to beat the Mutated Alpha Monster in front of them.
"Battle Formation!" Colette ordered as she and Matty took the vanguard, while Andy, Axel, and Helen positioned themselves on the rear. "Clover, assist me!"
The baby mutated Carbuncle appeared beside Colette and moved towards the back. It was a supporting monster, so its combat abilities weren't the best.
"Arise!" Eiko shouted as she used her ability to copy her Papa's Skills and summoned several Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Grand Archers.
Lux did the same as he summoned all of his minions to fight against the monster in front of them.
To their surprise, the Apostle Party also returned. The injured Dwarves had been rescued by the Dwarves who had followed Lux's group when they headed towards the Red Mantis.
Now that they no longer had anything to worry about, they decided to join Lux and his friends to fight against the Red Mantis, as part of the tradition of the Dwarf Solaians, who had ascended to the Apostle Rank.
