Chapter 512: 512. Don’t forget I am here too

The moment the boulder attached at the end of the dragon’s tail closed in, Theo’s spatial sense made everything appear slower.

But the tremors he could feel beneath his feet felt slowed as well, creating a nauseating mix of dizziness and splitting headache that made him want to vomit on the spot.

But there was no time for it.

He had to move.

But a second later, when getting hit by the beast felt inevitable, Theo just braced himself.

But right at that moment, a blinding light descended between them from heaven, and in the next moment, the dragon’s tail with the boulder attached was knocked away as if something had kicked it aside.

To all the students watching, Theo’s beast seemed to have moved a greater distance by using its ability almost all the time it was there in the arena; it was weird.

The dragon glared at the mantis blocking its path, and its rage only intensified.

And in that moment, the mantis fully gave in to its wild instincts.

It skittered toward the dragon at a terrifying speed while the beast prepared its tail once again.

A single emotion flowed through the bond, and Theo immediately decided to work on it no matter what since he understood what the mantis wanted.

Gritting his teeth, Theo forced himself to move to the side while the ground still trembled beneath him. No matter how many steps he took, the ground simply never stopped shaking.

Just as the fragon believed the mantis had entered the perfect trajectory for its tail strike, it whipped the weapon horizontally.

But it failed to realize one thing.

When it was just a few inches away from being hit by the boulder, the mantis lowered its body in perfect synchronization.

Though the mantis lacked spatial awareness, it still possessed the spatial energy and overwhelming speed of a Tyrant.

The instant the tail whipped away, the mantis unleashed another high-pressure spray burst right at the beast’s face.

The moment the dragon inhaled the spores, its eyes rolled back and its wings went limp for the first time.

The mantis didn’t wait for the dragon to hit the ground. No, there were no missed opportunities in front of you when the mantis was involved.

It turned into a blur once again, and the next moment, a burst of pressure erupted from the dragon’s body, sending the mantis flying backward.

Seeing this, the referee, with his red glowing eyes, raised the red flag toward Theo’s side.

"Second hit out of three has been made by Apex Bloom Tryant," he announced.

Theo was still on all fours, doing his best to crawl out of the quaking ground.

But after just 30 seconds of enduring the attack that had earned the mantis a point, Theo felt his head spinning violently. Then, in a single split second, the quaking finally stopped.

He managed to pull himself up.

Theo stumbled way too many times, trying his best to be steady himself. All those relentless vibrations had rattled his senses so badly that all he wanted to do was lie flat on the ground until the dizziness faded.

Serisca saw the dragon lying limp on the ground after the attack, and panic gripped her heart. For the first time since Theo’s attacks began, she rushed toward the dragon.

But the moment the mantis sensed the tremors of her footsteps, its neck slowly elongated, and its two beady eyes locked directly onto the prey running toward it.

Serisca lost the strength in her knees the moment the mantis lay its eye on her, cold sweat forming on her face.

She collapsed onto both knees right, her eyes stuck on the mantis without even blinking.

To the other students, it looked like a bizarre fight. Theo had been writing on the ground moments ago for seemingly no reason, and now Serisca was on her knees while staring at Theo’s beast with a horrified expression.

"This beast, what exactly is it?" one of the professors asked while staring intently at the mantis.

"...I haven’t seen one this large," another professor muttered under his breath, still studying it carefully.

"All of its characteristics point toward a beast type known as mantis. There are many variants that share the same classification," the professor explained, but his words only raised more confusion and shock among the others.

"But... are these mantis-type insects supposed to be this big..." the professor added, stretching two fingers apart to show what looked like only a few inches at best.

The headmaster suddenly spoke with a smug smile, gently stroking his white beard streaked with brown.

"Do you think I would accept any student in the middle of the year, have him complete his entire first-year studies in a measly three months, and then let him compete in the Kingdom Games selection during the very first month of his second year without reason?"

All the professors around him were at a loss for words.

Still, a small group among them smiled proudly, the ones who had taught Theo during his ’first’ year.

Once Theo felt like he was okay now, he looked toward the dragon, which was on the ground, shaking its head repeatedly in an attempt to get the paralyzing spores out of itself.

The dragon glared at the mantis as though it had found a moral enemy of sorts and wanted nothing more than charge at it and attack no matter what.

But at that moment, more spores clinging to its scales were inhaled through its nose, making it stumble wildly once again as it desperately tried to stay steady.

Theo turned toward the mantis, only to find it already looking back at him.

At that moment, Theo couldn’t help but feel a grin forming on his face.

Many students watched the second-year student standing confidently in the arena, grinning while looking down at a disoriented dragon hatchling.

Everyone witnessing the scene was at a loss for words.

None of them understood what was happening.

Every step Theo made was being observed in great detail.

And now, it was time to end things.