Chapter 71: Danger

Chapter 71: Danger

Bran couldn’t worry about that now. He knew someone was following him and his cousin. He let out a sharp whistle, the sound spreading in all directions, sending out his plea for help. Then he stopped running, turned, and stood his ground. They had already been caught up to. Running further was meaningless. Someone had to hold them back. He was really in trouble.

He felt his cousin and the others stop and move closer to him. Furious, Bran yelled, “Get lost! Don’t get in the way.”

“You run, I’ll stay.”

“Get lost!” Bran felt some regret. He shouldn’t have hidden his special traits these past few days. He was the most suitable one to buy time, but now his cousin Dia stood firmly in front of him, which made Bran feel the impulse to cough up blood.

“You should run. I’m begging you,” Bran said, his mouth tasting bitter.

“You’re the one who warned us not to come in,” Dia said with a stubborn look.

“I have a way to escape. I’m a Wizard. I have some abilities you don’t know about…” Then, Bran stopped trying to persuade them because the Predator following them had shown itself.

Dia raised her hand to push Bran away but pushed empty air. Bran had already moved around her and lunged at the monster. She heard Bran’s voice say, “As a Northlander, since you can’t help, at least don’t be a burden.”

A giant insect over two meters tall, like an enlarged mantis but with a more compact build—this was what Bran faced. Bran didn’t like such opponents. At a glance, this type was skilled in agility. Bran would provoke larger, stronger animals but would avoid the agile ones easily. Facing an agile hunter, any opening could decide life or death in an instant.

Bran’s mind was focused and sharp. The Black Cat Huahua also disappeared into the surrounding grass. At the same time, Bran slowly spread the tide within his Mana Web, completely enveloping his opponent. He no longer considered what his cousins’ reactions might be. Life and death were fate now; he could only take care of himself first.

Bran saw traces of intelligence in the insect’s eyes. He saw mockery, excitement, and bloodlust, like seeing himself and Huahua from a few days ago. So that was it. This was a purposeful selection. This insect was choosing prey that interested it. Not for food, just for fun. That’s why it chased so persistently.

As soon as Bran neared the insect’s attack range, its scythe-like claw slashed down. Bran dodged sideways and slashed his knife diagonally against the side of the claw. Bran was disappointed; he only left a white mark on the claw.

After this probe, the insect unleashed its attack. It made two faster consecutive slashes with its claws, but the expected feeling of contact didn’t happen, causing it to pause for a moment. Bran had already moved around its side, his knife following his body to slice across its thigh, but it was blocked by the leg’s exoskeleton. This seemingly sneaky and fatal attack only left a not-very-deep scratch.

Bran’s speed exceeded the insect’s expectations, making it excited. The hard wings folded on its back rubbed together, producing a grating noise.

Bran began to have a headache. The insect’s exoskeleton was simply unbreakable for him now. So his eyes began to scan the insect’s body, looking for a soft and easy-to-attack spot.

Just as the insect prepared to attack again, Huahua appeared on its head. A paw swiped across its protruding, crystal-like eye, then Huahua vanished from its head. But this attack didn’t cause obvious damage. Its eye was like real crystal, transparent and hard. The only effect was startling it, making it more alert and turning its mood frantic. It then directed this frenzy towards Bran.

After several probes from both sides, the insect realized Bran couldn’t cause serious harm to it. So its attacks became reckless, completely abandoning defense, which let its speed be fully unleashed. Luckily, Huahua found the insect’s weakness in time. It appeared several times at the insect’s abdomen, clawing out several wounds. Although it looked bloody, they were only superficial injuries. But this slowed the insect’s attacks considerably, diverting some of its attention to the Black Cat Huahua.

The onlookers, when Bran and the insect were probing each other, realized they couldn’t keep up with that speed. So they didn’t rashly join the fight. But they didn’t run away either. Instead, they prepared actively, waiting for a chance to lend support.

Now Bran was truly like a flea, playing a game called ‘you can’t hit me’. What made Bran feel more sorrow and anger was that his cousins didn’t take the chance to escape. This suppressed Bran’s thoughts of finding an opportunity to slip away…

He always felt he could hold on a bit longer, could delay a bit more. He seemed to still have some strength left. Hold on a bit longer, and maybe help would arrive. Holding onto this thought, like an old dog about to collapse from exhaustion, Bran gave up chances to escape alone again and again.

Then the real crisis came. Not from the insect in front of him, or not entirely from it. Bran had started to figure out and adapt to this insect’s attack style and speed. He was gradually rediscovering the thrill and excitement of dancing on the knife’s edge. He was preparing to gather strength for a counterattack. His companions behind him found a perfect opportunity. So, with the decisiveness unique to Northlanders, they acted without hesitation. Five sharp spears were thrown, heading straight for the insect’s abdomen.

Yes, this should be the insect’s most vulnerable area. But the insect’s proportions were too different from a human’s; its abdomen height was roughly below Bran’s head. Although the insect couldn’t land a fatal blow on Bran, it still held the initiative. So with a diagonal slash, it forced Bran onto the path of the thrown spears.

Through his Mana Web, Bran felt five deadly spears plunging towards his back. At that moment, only one word flashed in his mind: “Done!” In his final moments of life, all he wanted was to send his regards to the ancestors of these bratty kids, even though they were probably his own ancestors too.

Those bratty kids had already let out gasps and screams, but that seemed unlikely to solve the immediate crisis.

At that moment, every hair on Bran’s body stood on end. At this final life-or-death juncture, his potential was fully unleashed. Ever since Bran’s ability had undergone Evolution, his Mana Web and his own vision, smell, and touch had operated separately, even causing overlapping echoes due to repeated information feedback. Now, at this last moment, under the pressure of Death, they finally fused completely with Bran’s will and spirit.

So Bran felt everything slow down. At the instant the spears were about to hit him, he vanished from the sight of the insect and the bratty kids. He used his life-saving specialty—the Lazy Donkey Roll—rolling and scrambling along the ground, tumbling several meters away…

Bran’s escape turned the gasps into cheers, turning shock into pleasant surprise. At that moment, those five deadly spears were deeply embedded in the insect’s abdomen.

When Danny and several other unfamiliar Northland Warriors arrived, this was the scene they saw.

…

Danny ran to Bran’s side. She tightly hugged Bran, who was lying on the ground, momentarily too scared to get up, covered in mud and water. Perhaps the recent danger had also startled the Black Cat Huahua. Now the black cat, its legs weak, jumped onto Danny and squeezed into the warm embrace.