Chapter 694 - 693: Whatever You Do, Don’t Get Caught

Chapter 694: Chapter 693: Whatever You Do, Don’t Get Caught

The humans had already suffered considerable casualties against the goblins and trolls, and with Baka now forcing several of their more experienced warriors to concentrate on dealing with it, the fighting had become even more difficult.

But while Baka was proving to be a troublesome opponent, the creature that had accompanied it was about to turn an already grueling battle into something far worse.

Unlike the other monsters, Dummy had little interest in fighting the humans. It wanted to eat them, and judging by how eagerly it approached the nearest soldiers, it had no intention of being particular about which one it caught first.

Unfortunately, the warriors moving to intercept it had yet to realize that.

A group of them moved to surround the creature, relying on the same tactics that had allowed them to hold their ground against the cursed trolls. One attacked from the front while the others approached its flanks, their weapons aimed at openings that should’ve been difficult for a creature of its size to defend.

Dummy barely acknowledged them.

The first sword struck its body, followed by another from the opposite side. Both swords surprisingly found their mark easily. The swords didn’t pierce deep enough, but it was enough to be considered a deep wound.

However, the warrior who had attacked Dummy from the front quickly realized that something was wrong.

His sword had entered what appeared to be one of the creature’s most vulnerable areas, yet instead of piercing its flesh, the blade had slipped between the enormous teeth lining the mouth that ran vertically through its torso.

And before he could withdraw his weapon, the mouth began to close.

The warrior instinctively tried to pull his sword free, but the teeth had already caught the blade. A moment later, he heard the sound of metal breaking as Dummy’s jaws bit straight through it.

Unfortunately, there was little reason to expect anything else.

Dummy’s teeth were sharp enough to tear through materials far more durable than ordinary steel. Unless a weapon was a relic, an ancient artifact, or at least reinforced with a considerable amount of mana, there was little chance of it surviving between the creature’s jaws.

And the warrior’s sword was none of those things.

Before he could recover from losing his weapon, Dummy lunged toward him.

The soldier raised his shield, only for the creature to crash into him with enough strength to knock him off his feet.

Before he could recover, the enormous mouth on Dummy’s face opened.

The soldier attempted to raise his shield again, but Dummy bit down on his shoulder and chest, its enormous teeth tearing through his armor as it lifted him from the ground. The man screamed as his body was crushed between its jaws, his legs kicking helplessly before the beast jerked its head and tore away a large portion of his upper body.

The remaining warriors hurried to attack, hoping to force the creature away from their fallen companion. Their swords came down repeatedly, hacking into Dummy’s arms and shoulders as they attempted to cripple the beast.

One of them even managed to carve a deep gash across its neck, but despite the injuries accumulating across its body, Dummy showed little interest in defending itself.

It was too occupied with eating.

By the time Dummy finally raised its head, there was little left of the soldier beyond the blood staining the ground. But what was even more alarming than watching their companion being devoured was how quickly it had happened.

Not even twenty seconds had passed.

While they still needed to adjust mentally to what they were facing, the creature had already turned toward the next human.

The warriors attempted to retreat, but Dummy lunged after them, catching a woman before she could escape. Its enormous hands closed around her body, lifting her off the ground despite her desperate attempts to break free.

Before her companions could intervene, the giant mouth running vertically through Dummy’s torso opened. The creature brought the woman toward it, using both hands to bend her body almost in half as it forced her toward the waiting jaws.

The woman screamed as her body was pressed against the enormous teeth. She desperately tried to straighten herself, but Dummy’s grip was far too strong, and with another push, the creature forced her deeper into its mouth.

Its jaws closed, crushing her folded body between the rows of teeth. Her cries grew louder as blood spilled down Dummy’s torso, only to grow weaker when the creature bit down again. With another push, Dummy forced what remained of her into its mouth, swallowing the woman along with the last of her fading cries.

The other warriors could do little more than watch. This didn’t feel like a war anymore.

Fear was beginning to take hold of the nearby warriors, and several began shouting desperately for assistance. Their cries were so frantic that even the mages occupied with fighting elsewhere turned their attention toward them, wondering what could’ve happened to provoke such terror when the battlefield was already filled with death and suffering.

What they saw was enough to make several of them immediately redirect their spells toward Dummy. Fire and other magic struck the creature in quick succession, burning away portions of its fur and cracking several of the layers of hardened skin protecting its body.

But rather than defending itself, Dummy continued pursuing the humans closest to it.

Another soldier attempted to escape, only for the beast to catch him with one of its enormous hands. The man drove his sword into Dummy’s wrist, hoping to force it to release him, but the creature merely tightened its grip.

And then the mouth on its palm opened.

Rows of teeth emerged from the creature’s hand, closing around the soldier’s torso before he could understand what was happening. His armor crumpled as the jaws bit into him, and with another movement of Dummy’s hand, the man’s body was torn apart.

The sight was enough to make several of the nearby warriors hesitate.

They had already witnessed the creature devouring their companions with its enormous jaws, but apparently, even its hands were capable of doing the same thing.

And they hadn’t seen the worst of it.

Dummy was still occupied with its latest victim when two warriors attempted to approach from behind, hoping to take advantage of its distraction.

Unfortunately, the creature finished its meal just as the first warrior committed to his attack. Dummy turned toward him, leaving the man with little opportunity to retreat before the mouth on its torso opened.

With a single bite, Dummy tore away most of the soldier’s upper body, leaving an irregular portion of his torso still attached to his lower half as it collapsed to the ground.

The other warrior stumbled backward, narrowly avoiding the same fate, though only because Dummy was more interested in finishing what it had caught than pursuing him.

Rather than giving chase, Dummy lowered itself toward the remains. Its mouth opened wide enough to engulf what was left of the soldier, along with a considerable amount of the blood-soaked earth under him. With a single bite, it scooped everything into its mouth, leaving little more than a shallow depression where the body had fallen.

By now, the humans were beginning to lose their composure.

They had fought monsters capable of tearing people apart before, but even those creatures rarely went to the extremes that Dummy did.

Everyone who had come to this battlefield understood that they might die, and few had expected their deaths to be peaceful. Yet after witnessing what had happened to their companions, even the more experienced adventurers were beginning to hesitate.

It didn’t matter that some of the deaths had been relatively quick. They couldn’t help imagining themselves in the victims’ places, and the thought of meeting such a gruesome end was enough to make them reluctant to approach the creature again.

And the beast showed no indication that it was satisfied.

The mages attempted to restrain it.

The ground around Dummy’s legs suddenly softened, sinking under its weight as the earth began closing around its limbs. Against the trolls, this had proven particularly effective, allowing the warriors enough time to concentrate their attacks while the monsters struggled to free themselves.

But Dummy’s reaction went far beyond what they were expecting.

The moment the ground began swallowing its legs, the creature instinctively responded with its own earth mana. The soil that should’ve hardened around its limbs loosened instead, allowing it to pull itself free before the mages could complete their spell.

The sudden interference caught them off guard.

They hadn’t expected the beast to possess an affinity for earth magic, much less enough control to interfere with their own abilities.

And before they could attempt another spell, Dummy had already reached another group of soldiers.

The remaining soldiers hurriedly retreated as the beast swallowed its latest meal.

By now, the humans had lost several warriors to Dummy alone, and with every moment they spent trying to stop it, more of their companions were being forced to abandon their own fights to assist.

They couldn’t afford to let the creature continue.

Unfortunately, restraining something of Dummy’s size wasn’t a simple matter. The earth mages possessed spells capable of trapping even enormous monsters, but the amount of mana required increased considerably with the size and depth of the area they needed to manipulate.

Against the goblins and trolls, such an expenditure would’ve been difficult to justify when smaller spells were already proving effective. Even Baka, whose strength made it a far greater physical threat, moved too unpredictably for them to risk concentrating so much mana on a trap it might never enter.

Dummy, however, was different.

Despite its unusual abilities, the creature had shown almost no interest in avoiding their attacks or changing its approach. Whenever a human retreated, Dummy followed, and as long as there was someone ahead of it, the beast seemed content to ignore everything else.

That gave the mages an opportunity.

Several began coordinating their spells, manipulating the ground farther ahead of the creature while the warriors deliberately withdrew to draw it toward them.

And Dummy followed.

The mages had to maintain their concentration while their companions continued risking their lives to keep the monster occupied. More than once, Dummy nearly caught one of the retreating warriors, forcing the others to intervene before the creature could reach him.

But eventually, they managed to lure it into position.