Chapter 69: Starry Soldiers
As soon as Percy overcame the shock of seeing a wasp as large as he was, he thought he’d have an easy time slaying the overgrown bug. Its slick black carapace still glittered with colours like its smaller cousins, but the soldier was large enough that its camouflage was essentially useless.
After all, the motes of light slowly falling from the mushrooms above couldn’t possibly conceal the man-sized creature, nor could they obscure the dense Yellow shape thrumming within Percy’s Mana Sense. So, with nowhere to hide and with such a bulky frame, how hard could it be to hit it with his sickle?
Well…
Near impossible it turned out.
‘I really need to stop jinxing everything.’
The soldier’s stinger was about the shape and length of a rapier, delivering a barrage of lunges, trying to turn his head into a kebab. Strictly speaking, Percy didn’t have much difficulty dodging the blows – they were more forgiving than the mage’s stone javelins. Especially with the bug’s soul betraying its intentions ahead of time.
Still, it was landing his own attacks that proved challenging. Unlike his human opponent who had stood in place like a sitting duck, Percy couldn’t pin the wasp down. Despite its larger frame, the soldier was even more agile than the Orange variants. Hitting it from a distance was a tall order.
Then, there was the strategy Percy had used against the workers at the beginning. Back when he was weaker, he’d resorted to well-timed counterattacks to dispatch the bugs. Sadly, that wasn’t applicable right now. His only means of defending himself had grown obsolete once more. And there wasn’t much he could do about that.
‘There’s no way to block a Yellow beast’s attacks with pure mana from a Red core.’