Chương 61: The Weak Point

Arthur sprinted like a maniac, ignoring the message he received. With his life on the line, he did not have the time to sit and read the message. However, he guessed it must have been from the destruction of the Skeleton. Before he had run a distance of ten meters, he felt an unexplainable sensation of death. He was currently thinking about summoning another Skeleton to divert the Ant King's target.

'Clang!' The sound of a sword hitting crystal echoed. Arthur did not stop running, even though he felt the footsteps of his Skeleton that had already reached to save him. The Ant King looked very menacing. It had simply snapped Bathory in two in a single second. He wasn't sure how well the other Skeletons would fare. Hence, he decided to run until he could feel safe. As he ran, the noise of the fighting started to reduce. So, he slowly stopped running, turning back to see what the condition of the battle was.

Currently, Coburn and Dolph were battling the Ant King, whereas Maan was nowhere to be seen. Did it get destroyed? A thought came to his mind, but he quickly discarded it. Following which, he opened the message he received when Bathory got destroyed. [Warning: Skeleton Worker "Bathory" on your contract was destroyed.] [Revival Penalty Pending: 10 Revitalize Stones.] [Countdown Limit: 10 days.] [Failure Penalty: Triple the Contract Payment for your Next Skeleton Worker.] Arthur read through the details, feeling a wave of relief that he had only received a destruction notice for Bathory. That meant Maan was still alive. Just as the thought crossed his mind, Maan finally crested the steep cliff in the distance and started sprinting toward the fray to back up the other two. Quickly dismissing the system interface, Arthur refocused. He wasn't in the mood to worry about penalties right now; his remaining Skeletons were locked in a life-or-death struggle against the Ant King.

Arthur had no way of knowing the Ant King's exact Standard. Since this was a trial, there shouldn't have been monsters of varying tiers. Logically, it should have been an [Alpha] Standard monster, but its overwhelming power felt like it belonged to at least the [Delta] Standard. The proof was in the combat. Dolph, who was supposed to be at the same Standard as the beast, couldn't even pierce its crystalline skin.

Every time the Skeleton attempted to use [Piercing Thrust], the spear tip simply slipped off the slick armor Crystal. Coburn's attacks didn't fare any better; its long sword slashes failed to leave a single scratch on the creature's surface. Peering closely at the battlefield, Arthur watched Maan finally close the distance, lugging its massive shield as it joined the clash. He frowned in thought.

Though his Skeletons possessed a certain degree of intelligence, was it enough for them to independently seek out and target the Ant King's weak points? It was a highly debatable question. However, an even more pressing question was whether he had enough combat experience to discern those weak points himself. The answer was a resounding no. Still, he had to try to find a vulnerability somehow. If he didn't, against the Ant King's practically indestructible body, the rest of his Skeletons were bound to be destroyed.

Arthur made a decision: he had to participate in the battle if they were going to survive this impending predicament. Slowly, he made his way back toward the battlefield, ordering Maan to stay close and protect him in case the Ant King decided to switch targets. He made sure to maintain a safe distance, giving himself enough room to react if a surprise attack was sent his way. Up ahead, Dolph stepped directly in front of the Ant King, executing a [Piercing Thrust] aimed squarely at the monster's eyes.

But before the skill could connect, the Ant King jerked its head up and caught the spear shaft firmly in its jagged mandibles. While the beast was occupied in a violent tug-of-war with Dolph, Coburn flanked it, aiming a heavy swing at the exposed gaps near the creature's legs. Anticipating the strike, the Ant King quickly shifted its stance. The sword slammed into its crystalline exoskeleton with a sharp ' Ding!', failing to leave even a minor scratch.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Observing the clash from safely behind Maan's massive shield, Arthur's mind raced. The joints connecting a monster's limbs to its body were almost always weak points, and the Ant King shouldn't be an exception. Scanning the creature's segmented anatomy, he noticed several similar gaps. He quickly zeroed in on a prime target: the narrow center where the head and thorax connected to the abdomen.

"Coburn, Dolph! Target the petiole section!" Arthur commanded.

"Attack the gap in the middle!" Following his orders, the two Skeletons immediately shifted their tactics. Abandoning their random strikes against the creature's impenetrable Crystal Body, they coordinated to focus their assault entirely on its midsection. Sensing the shift in danger, the Ant King's behavior instantly changed. It began scrambling defensively, actively maneuvering its body away from the Skeletons to protect its exposed waist—especially keeping its distance from Dolph's deadly spear.

Arthur's guess was right on the mark: the joints and gaps between the Crystal body segments were indeed its weak points. He made a mental note to instill this knowledge into his Skeletons so they could exploit it automatically in future battles. However, even though the two Skeletons skillfully maneuvered to target the gaps in the midsection, they hadn't managed to land a successful strike just yet.

'Maybe piling on more pressure will create an opening to strike,' Arthur thought. Moving further back to ensure his own safety, he ordered Maan into the fray. If Maan could pressure the beast from the front, Dolph might finally get the distraction needed to land a critical hit. Shield Charge Maan activated the skill the moment it entered the clash. The massive shield slammed heavily into the side of the Ant King, striking with such immense impact that the giant insect was sent skidding backward across the dirt.

Seizing the momentum, the three Skeletons quickly rearranged their formation. Maan planted itself directly in front of the Ant King, acting as an immovable wall to constantly block and absorb its frontal assaults. Meanwhile, Coburn relentlessly hacked away from one flank, leaving Dolph to take the other. But even with this coordinated strategy, their attacks struggled to find purchase. Dolph continuously jabbed at the midsection, but the creature's crystalline shell was frustratingly slick.

Every time the spear struck, the tip simply glanced off the surface, slipping away helplessly like feet scrambling on an oil-slicked floor. BOOOM! Fortress Breaker! Maan suddenly unleashed its strongest ability right into the face of the Ant King. The sheer kinetic force of the shield bash smashed the creature's head into the ground, causing its heavy abdomen to pitch upward into the air.

Dolph, who had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to bypass the flurry of the Ant's defensive legs, immediately lunged forward. Channeling all of its power, the Skeleton executed a brutal, thrust straight through the newly exposed gap beneath the creature's legs, the spear point driving directly toward the vulnerable petiole section. Shink! The attack landed with a sickening crunch.

This time, the spear didn't glance off; guided by the force of the blow, the tip drove flawlessly into the narrow gap of the midsection. The spearhead buried itself deep inside, sending a web of jagged fissures spreading across the creature's crystalline body. The successful strike sent the Ant King into an absolute frenzy. It thrashed about frantically, snapping its jaws in blind rage.

Maan reacted just in time, raising its massive shield to block a devastating lunge from the same mandibles that had destroyed Bathory. Realizing it was at a disadvantage after its counterattack failed, the Ant King abruptly turned and bolted toward the quarry.

"Don't let it escape!" Arthur cried out. Now that they had finally inflicted a critical wound, they had a real chance of winning if they kept up the pressure. If they let the monster retreat to the safety of its cave, it would be all over for them. They had already suffered too much; letting it escape now would make Bathory's sacrifice meaningless. Following the command, Dolph immediately shifted its stance to activate [Hundred Spear Shadows]. The physical spear in its hands dissolved into a wisp of dark smoke.

In the next second, a massive array of black shadow spears materialized in the sky above. Just as the Ant King made it ten meters away from the melee, the deadly barrage rained down upon it. The relentless bombardment caused the Ant King to twitch and flounder, its legs scrambling wildly as it desperately tried to evade. But dodging a total of one hundred falling spears was an impossible task.

The violent commotion finally came to a halt as the last shadow spear struck the earth, and the physical spear seamlessly rematerialized in Dolph's bony hands. As the dust and debris slowly settled, Arthur, watching from afar, saw the unmoving silhouette of the monster. He approached cautiously, staying strictly behind the protection of Maan's shield just in case the Ant King was playing dead to launch a surprise attack. But no attack came. The Ant King was truly dead and unmoving.

The initial fissure Dolph had created in the creature's armor was the key to its defeat. Several of the shadow spears from the bombardment had landed directly on that compromised spot, completely shattering the beast's crystalline body in half.