The Prince of Heaven's Gate - Last Stand At World's End

“Everyone, scatter!” Lux ordered as he rode his mount forward.

Colette and the others headed in different directions in order to decrease the number of targets that the two Alpha Monsters were aiming at.

A few seconds later, Lux wasn’t able to stop himself from cursing because the two Crimson Mantis were hot on his heels.

“Jed, go to the right, now!” Lux ordered as he urged his mount to make a sharp turn, to evade two Crimson Blades that flew in the location he was a few seconds ago.

The Half-Elf used the plants as a natural barrier against his pursuers, but it was of no use. The two Alpha Beasts only unleashed another barrage of Crimson Blades and cut off everything that stood in their path.

Lux knew that Pazuzu and Diablo wouldn’t allow the two beasts to escape them that easily, so there was only one reason why they weren’t here. Both of them had already used their taunting skill, which was Duel [EX], yet the monster still chose to ignore them and run after Lux’s group in order to kill them.

As for why the two Crimson Mantis’ were targeting Lux, the answer was really simple. It was because he had red hair.

The Crimson Mantis was attracted to the color red, and the Half-Elf’s hair stood out from the rest, making him a suitable target. Although it sounded absurd, it was the reality that Lux wasn’t aware of. He just thought that since he was bigger than the Dwarves, he was a more delectable target to feast on in the eyes of the Crimson Mantises.

Knowing that he couldn’t keep running forever, Lux decided to take a gamble and urged Jed to another location. A minute later, he arrived at a place where an underground hole was located. The Half-Elf then ordered Jed to dive at the hole without batting an eye.

The two Mantises were almost upon him, and he barely managed to escape a slash that took a few strands of his hair.

The two Mantises flew past him, but immediately turned around to follow him inside the hole.

Suddenly, several Horned Army Ants (Rank 1) appeared in his vision, the tight group that was blocking the way made a narrow path that would allow Lux to pass through if he dismounted._-.

Understanding the Ants’ intention, Lux unsummoned his Mount and hurriedly slipped through the blockade that was meant to defend the Ant Nest from the invaders.

The Ants were a pacifist race inside the Figaro Gardens, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t know how to fight back. As soon as the two Mantis appeared in their visions, they hurriedly unleashed a barrage of Formic Acid at the two Mantises that didn’t even decrease their running speed.

Since the underground passage was too narrow to fly, the Crimson Mantises crawled down the passageway just to hunt Lux down, which meant that they had already marked him as their prey, using their Hunter’s Mark skill.

This meant that no matter where Lux went, they would follow him without fail.

The exoskeleton of the Crimson Mantis was thrice as hard as the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis’, who was considered to be the Apex Creature of the Figaro Garden. Although the two Mantises’ bodies were covered in Acid, the Acid posed no threat to them whatsoever.

They bulldozed through the blockade, leaving only sliced up ant bodies behind, as they pursued Lux deeper into the Ant Colony.

The Rank 2 Defenders of the Ant Colonies known as the Armored Jaws also joined the battle. They had powerful mandibles and their bodies were as hard as steel.

Although they managed to deal significant damage to the Mantises, they were simply no match for Rank 4 Alpha Monsters whose claws could cut through steel.

Lux knew that he could no longer trouble the Ants when it came to dealing with the two Alpha Monsters so he decided to head to the nearest exit in order to bring the two Monsters to the surface.

When the two Mantises exited the Ant Nest they found themselves being bombarded by arrows, bone spears, and fire lances.

Perhaps due to its already low health, or perhaps the skill’s duration had ended, the Doppelganger of the Crimson Mantis disappeared, which made everyone shift their attacks to the enemy that remained in front of them.

It was also at this moment when Lux’s Demonic Defender descended from the sky, and smashed its Tower Shield against the Mantis’ head, making it cry out in pain.

However, due to the rage Pazuzu felt for failing to hold back the Alpha Monster, it swung its mace and gave the Crimson Mantis an uppercut. Although his strength stat was low, and the damage he could dish out was very little, his passive ability triggered, making the Mantis enter a state of Fear.

“Coup!” Eiko shouted as she copied one of the Monster’s skills and fired a Crimson Blade at its head, making it shriek in frustration due to the increased damage it received.

But, just like Pazuzu, the Baby Slime wasn’t finished just yet.

“Doppel!” Eiko created a clone of herself, which jumped down onto Lux’s shoulder.

“Blackie! Whitey!”

The Devil Slime and the Angel Slime appeared, but this time, they were not alone. Another pair of Devil and Angel Slimes appeared, which immediately bombarded the two Mantises with their Dark and Holy Magic.

Eiko’s dopple also summoned its own Skeleton Minions, bringing Lux’s Skeleton Army to over sixty in number.

“Attack!” Lux ordered the Skeleton Fighters, who had taken a defensive position earlier, to charge at Alpha Monster and hack it with all of their might.

Naturally, they didn’t last long because a single sweep of the Mantis Claws killed three to four Skeletons at once.

“Hydro Ball!”

“Fire Lance!”

“Divine Zap!”

Three spells flew out of nowhere and collided with the Mantis’ head making it stagger.

“Big Brother, we are here!” Colette shouted as she charged at the Alpha Monster, while riding on her Warg.

Colette swung her Mythical Mace fearlessly. At the same time her Warg Jumped towards the monster’s head, in order to help its Master deliver a crushing blow to their enemy.

A metallic ring reverberated in the surroundings as Colette gave the Alpha Monster a mace uppercut, powered by her Smite Skill, which added additional Holy Damage to her attacks. Unlike Lux, Paladins were capable of mounted combat, so fighting with her Warg wasn’t a big deal to Colette.

“Cross Slash!” Matty sent a cross-like slash towards the Mantis’ head, drawing crimson blood.

“Charge!” The leader of the Apostle Grade Party threw caution to the wind and charged at the Monster with his shield raised high. He was a Shield Warrior and his role was to always be at the front of his party, protecting his allies from the enemy’s attack.

The Dwarf smashed his shield on the Crimson Mantis’ front leg, breaking its defensive stance.

Just like wild monkeys that were off to a gang war, the Dwarves attacked the Alpha Monster simultaneously, like a gang beating up a single individual.

Naturally, the Alpha Monster wasn’t a punching bag, so it also counter-attacked the Dwarves. However, due to Pazuzu’s and the Shield Warrior’s tenacity, they were able to block its attacks, and keep the Dwarves and their allies safe.

The Skeleton Fighters also used their shields as an extra wall, to prevent casualties from happening.

Although the Dwarves received injuries during the battle, including Colette whose left cheek was bleeding after getting grazed by the Mantis’ Claws, as well as Matty who received a deep cut on his left arm, after exchanging a blow with their enemy, none of them faltered.

“Dwarves are scary,” Lux muttered as he continued to use his Mana Drain to siphon the Alpha Monster’s mana, preventing it from using its skills in battle, Eiko and her Doppelganger did the same, which left the Crimson Mantis helpless.

After several minutes of intense combat, the Mantis’ movement became dull, and the glow in its eyes diminished by a good margin.

“Its Berserk Phase is over!” Lux shouted. “Smash ii with everything you got!”

If the Dwarves were fearlessly attacking the Crimson Mantis before, now their attacks increased in ferocity as if they had all been injected by chicken blood. The Crimson Mantis was pushed into a corner as it received blow, after blow, after blow, each coming from a different direction.

Without any Mana remaining, and its Berserk Skill spent, it was now subjected to a devastating beating by infuriated Dwarves, Skeletons, Slimes, as well as the Ants, who had come out of their Ant Nest to get revenge on the bastard that dared to invade their territory.

The Armored Jaw Ants bit on the Alpha Monster’s legs and pulled hard, with the intention of cutting them completely off its body. Over thirty of these ants emerged from the Ant Nest and pinned the Crimson Mantis in place, allowing Colette and Matty to repeatedly hack its head without mercy until the Mantis’ eyes were smashed to a pulp.

“Pa!” Eiko who was about to jump in and fight at close range was held firmly by her Papa who could only shake his head at the one-sided beating that was happening in front of him. Not one part of the Crimson Mantis was spared as the Dwarves hacked, smashed, and slashed its body.

Even Andy, Axel, and Helen were using their staffs to whack the Alpha Monster’s body with angry expressions on their faces.

Clearly, they had been infected by the battle lust that permeated the air that was also affecting the baby Slime who struggled to get out of Lux’s hands in order to give the Crimson Mantis a piece of her mind.

“Settle down, Eiko,” Lux said. “It’s already dead, see?”

“Pa?” Eiko tilted her head as she stopped struggling.

Just like Lux said, the Crimson Mantis had stopped its struggle and remained motionless. A few seconds later, its body turned into particles of light, leaving four pairs of Crimson Claws—that were as long as a spear, a red exoskeleton, and a Rank 3 Beast Core behind.

The Armored Jaw Ants returned to their nest after the enemy was eliminated, leaving the Dwarves and the Half-Elf to share the spoils of war.

“Please, take this pair of claws with you,” Lux said to the leader of the Apostle Grade Party as he pointed at two of the four claws that were lying on the ground. “All of you fought well. That was an incredible graduation ceremony, don’t you think so?”

“Thank you,” the Dwarf replied with a smile. Although he felt that Lux and the others should receive everything, he still appreciated the gesture and took the two Crimson Claws that he believed were enough to be crafted into a mythical weapon.

“If you guys don’t mind, I’ll take the Beast Core,” Lux said as he negotiated with Colette and her friends. “You can take everything else.”

“Okay, Big Brother!” Colette replied with a big smile on her face.

Lux knew that if he didn’t take anything from the loot, Colette and the others would force him to take it all. Since he didn’t want this to happen, he settled for the Beast Core that held great value to him.

In truth, after the Mantis died, he received a series of notifications, which were similar to the ones he got after defeating the Mutated Carbuncle. But, since he couldn’t tell this to the others, he could only smile as he watched his friends celebrate their successful graduation ceremony.