Lux had fought many battles.
Perhaps, two of the scariest encounters he had was the battle against the Abyssal Monster which had attacked White Bridge City in the Kingdom of Gweliven, as well as the Indus Death Worm that he had met in Keoza's Dungeon.
Both times, he felt as if he had no chance of winning against them, and his only option was to escape as fast as he could.
Although the Elemental Tempest that was guarding the Forest of Beginnings was many times stronger than the Crimson Berserk Mantis that had just exterminated all the Red Giant Hornets in the surroundings, Lux didn't feel as if the Elemental Monster planned to kill him.
However, this time, it was different. He knew, with every fiber of his being that the Giant Mantis had no intention of letting anyone leave the battlefield alive.
Perhaps, the Ants knew this as well. So, instead of running away, they held their ground and simply took the initiative to attack the World Boss, whose deadly claws were capable of cutting the hard Adamantium Exoskeleton of the Deimos-Ranked Ants.
"Sh*t...," Lux muttered as a grim expression appeared on his face.
Suddenly, an idea appeared inside his head so he immediately acted on it, not caring if it would succeed or not.
The Half-Elf flew towards the Deimos-Ranked Ants who had taken defensive stances beside their brethren who had lost two of its legs.
"Let's have a ceasefire for now!" Lux shouted as soon as he neared the Ants.
He then pointed at the Giant Crimson Mantis that was looking down at them with disdain from the sky, and made a proposal to the Ants.
"Let's all work together to fight that thing," Lux stated. "If you don't kill it now, there's a chance that it will attack your colony later, and kill your Queen!"
Lux knew that the Ants were loyal to their Queen, and would fight to defend her at all cost.
When he was still in Leaf Village, he accidentally came across Ants who were pacifists in nature. Because of that, he was able to visit their Ant Nest and interact with them on a regular basis.
Although the Tetramorium Ants was a very aggressive species, he hoped that he could find a middle ground, so that all of them could work together.
Unfortunately, for the Ants, the only one they trusted was their own kind. They understood what the Half-Elf was trying to say, but for them, they would never work together with other species to fight their battles for them.
One of the Adamantium-Ranked Ants didn't hesitate and fired an Adamantium Bullet in Lux's direction, forcing the Half-Elf to evade and fly away.
It was then when the telepathic voice of the Giant Termite reached his ears.
"It's no use talking to these Ants," the Giant Termite said. "What you should do is evacuate this place as fast as you can. I know that you have the ability to do that. The residents of Abingdon Town can no longer be saved. I'm afraid that this is where they will all die."
The Giant Termite then painstakingly tried to prop itself up from the ground as it rekindled the flames that had almost disappeared from its body.
After losing two of its legs, and suffering many serious injuries, it could no longer move from its location. However, it could still unleash its powerful spells, which it hoped would be strong enough to burn the Giant Crimson Mantis' body.
The Giant Crimson Mantis then descended from the sky and flew straight towards the Giant Termite, whose flames covered its entire body.
Knowing that the World Boss planned to get rid of it first, the Giant Termite faced his enemy fearlessly, as it gathered all of its magical energy, preparing to unleash all of its attack spells at the same time.
Immediately, several layers of Fire Wall appeared in front of the Giant Termite, and a giant magic circle appeared in the sky above its head.
"Fire Storm!"
Fireballs rained from the sky, making the temperature in the surroundings rise dramatically. However, the Crimson Berserk Mantis easily avoided these fireballs, as it made its way towards the Giant Termite, who was surrounded by blazing flames.
A few seconds later, the Giant Termite spewed flames from its mouth, passing through the Fire Walls it created.
Lux gasped in surprise because he knew that the Giant Termite had used its skill, Flamethrower. However, the thing that surprised Lux was when the Fire Breath hit the Walls of Fire in front of it.
The flames that the Giant Termite unleashed expanded, doubling its size. But, it didn't end there. The Flamethrower continued to become bigger, and stronger, until it finally hit the Giant Mantis' body, making it screech in pain.
The Giant Crimson Mantis didn't see the attack right away until it was too late because its surroundings were covered in flames.
Truth be told, the Fire Storm, and the Firewall were simply a smokescreen to create a trap that would allow the Giant Termite to hit the World Boss with its strongest attack in its arsenal.
This was the Giant Termite's Trump Card that it had developed over the years, harnessing the power of flames in its surroundings to fuel its attacks, increasing their attack power exponentially.
Even the Deimos-Ranked World Boss wasn't able to shrug off the blazing flames that hit its body dead center.
As if seeing the perfect opportunity to take revenge for their fallen comrades, all of the Deimos-Ranked Ants unleashed a Spiked Adamantium Bullet the size of a wrecking ball.
These deadly giant cannonballs, which were out for blood, flew straight and true at the screeching Giant Crimson Mantis.
Their attacks connected which sent the World Boss skidding hundreds of meters across the ground while its body was still covered in flames.
Just as the Ants were about to fire another round of Steel Bullets at the Giant Mantis, the latter did something unexpected, which made Lux cry out in shock.
In a matter of seconds, the Giant Crimson Mantis disappeared from where it was before reappearing a hundred meters away from the Giant Termite, whose body had already returned to normal.
It had used everything in that last attack, and was already a spent candle. Because of this, its movement, and reaction abilities had almost slowed down to a complete halt, making it unable to defend itself.
Time seemed to slow down as Lux used his Skeleton Make Skill to create a giant spear in an attempt to save the Giant Termite from the screeching Giant Mantis, whose razor sharp claws had turned a deadly crimson hue.
The Giant Mantis had used its skill, Burst Speed, giving it a momentarily boost in speed, propelling it to travel short distances almost instantly for a short period of time.
It was also why fighting against the Giant Mantis was very dangerous because it could appear in its opponent's blindspot at any given time.
Just as Lux was about to throw his Giant Skeletal Spear, the Crimson Berserker Mantis had once again disappeared from its spot, and reappeared a few meters away from the Giant Termite.
With one quick slash of its claws, the Giant Termite's body was cleanly cut in half, giving it no time to scream in pain.
After delivering the attack, the Giant Mantis once again flew into the sky, as if waiting for its Speed Burst ability's cooldown to end.
The upper, and lower part of the Giant Termite's body crashed on the ground, spilling molten blood that melted the ground under it.
Surprisingly, the Giant Termite was not instantly killed by that attack, but the light in its eyes was slowly fading away.
The Giant Mantis no longer paid the dying Giant Termite any attention as it shifted its gaze to the three Adamantium Ants, whom it considered the three creatures that could still threaten it on the battlefield.
"Noooooooo!" Lux shouted as he dispersed the giant skeleton spear that he was about to throw at the Giant Mantis.
Without even looking at the World Boss, the Half-Elf immediately flew towards the direction of the dying creature, who was at death's door.
He knew this was a futile effort on his part because no matter what he did, the Giant Termite's death was assured.
However, for some reason, something compelled him to go to the creature, who had come to lend its hand to them, even though it had already said that it was not going to help.
It was as if someone had pushed him in the back, giving him a strong urge to talk to the Giant Termite one last time before it drew its last breath, and join his one and only friend, Drystan, in the afterlife.
