Chapter 54: Matthias

In another part of the Grauwald mountain range, another fierce battle was taking place between a Demonic Beast and an applicant participating in the Helheim entrance examination.

The beast was a monstrous creature resembling a gigantic praying mantis, standing nearly six meters tall on four powerful hind limbs. Its elongated body was covered in overlapping plates of dark green chitin, while two enormous scythe-like forelimbs extended from its upper body.

Each blade was nearly three meters long, with serrated inner edges capable of slicing through thick tree trunks. Its triangular head rotated independently of its body, allowing its six crimson eyes to follow movement from several directions simultaneously. Despite its enormous size, the creature moved with terrifying speed, its long limbs carrying it across the rocky terrain in sudden, explosive bursts.

Fighting against this monster was a ten-year-old boy wielding a sword.

His name was Matthias Di Grandel, one of the six Main Line descendants participating in this year’s examination.

Matthias stood several meters from the creature, holding his sword loosely in his right hand. His ash-white hair stirred in the mountain breeze, and his iron-grey eyes remained fixed on the Demonic Beast.

There was no excitement on his face, no nervousness, and certainly no fear. He watched the creature with the quiet concentration of someone examining a problem whose solution he already understood.

The Demonic Beast attacked first.

Its enormous body shot forward, covering nearly twenty meters in an instant. One scythe descended toward Matthias’s head while the other swept horizontally across his waist, creating an attack that appeared to leave him no room to escape.

Matthias moved. He stepped diagonally between the two approaching blades, allowing the descending scythe to strike the ground behind him while the horizontal slash passed inches from his chest.

His sword flashed upward in the same movement, striking the inner joint of the creature’s extended forelimb.

CLANG!

Steel scraped against hardened chitin, leaving a thin white line across the protective shell.

The beast immediately twisted its upper body and brought the opposite scythe around from behind.

Matthias had already stepped away. The blade passed through empty air before smashing into a nearby boulder, splitting the enormous rock into several pieces. Fragments scattered across the clearing, but Matthias simply shifted his footing and allowed them to pass.

His expression never changed.

The creature lunged again, this time delivering four consecutive strikes with its scythes. Each attack came from a different angle, the enormous blades moving so quickly that they produced overlapping green afterimages.

Matthias avoided the first with a slight turn of his shoulders, stepped beneath the second, retreated half a pace from the third and slipped inside the fourth.

His movements were remarkably economical, never carrying him farther than necessary. While the beast’s attacks tore apart the surrounding terrain, his feet barely disturbed the ground.

His sword moved once.

SHNK!

A deep cut appeared across the creature’s abdomen. Dark green blood sprayed from the wound. The Demonic Beast screeched and retreated several meters, its scythes raised defensively as its crimson eyes focused on the boy.

Matthias glanced at the blood coating his blade before returning his attention to the creature.

The beast was fast. Its attacks were powerful enough to tear apart stone, and its hardened exoskeleton provided considerable protection against ordinary weapons. However, Matthias had already noticed something about the way it moved.

Before every attack, the creature’s abdomen contracted slightly. Its hind limbs adjusted their positions, transferring weight toward whichever side it intended to strike from.

Even when it attempted simultaneous attacks, the subtle movement of its joints revealed which blade would arrive first.

Once Matthias understood that rhythm, avoiding the attacks became considerably easier.

The Demonic Beast lowered its body. Its four hind limbs bent.

Matthias stepped forward before it moved.

The creature suddenly launched itself into the air, intending to descend upon him with both scythes crossed. However, Matthias had already shifted toward its right side, positioning himself outside the trajectory of its attack.

BOOM!

Both scythes smashed into the earth. The impact shattered the rocky ground and sent a violent shockwave through the clearing.

Matthias moved through the settling dust.

His sword flashed.

CRACK!

The blade struck the creature’s right hind limb directly above its joint, splitting the protective chitin and cutting deeply into the flesh beneath.

The beast screeched.

Its enormous body twisted violently as it attempted to strike him with its left scythe, but Matthias stepped backward before the attack began.

The blade swept past his face, missing by less than a hand’s breadth.

He immediately advanced again.His sword struck the same wounded joint.

SHNK!

The damaged limb was severed. The creature staggered, its remaining legs scraping against the rocky ground as it struggled to maintain balance.

Matthias watched its movements carefully. Even injured, the beast remained dangerous. Its enormous scythes possessed enough reach to attack from several directions, and its remaining limbs could still propel it forward at tremendous speed.

But its balance had changed.

Matthias adjusted his grip.

The Demonic Beast roared and attacked again, swinging both scythes in a furious series of slashes. Its movements had become more aggressive, each strike carrying enough force to shatter the surrounding rocks.

Matthias walked forward.

The first scythe passed beside his shoulder. He stepped beneath the second. The third descended toward his head, but Matthias shifted slightly to the left, allowing the enormous blade to strike the ground beside his foot.

He continued advancing.

The creature attacked faster.

Matthias moved faster. His sword flashed repeatedly, striking the joints connecting the scythes to the creature’s body. Each attack landed precisely where the protective chitin overlapped, gradually widening the cracks already forming beneath the repeated impacts.

The beast attempted to retreat.

Matthias followed. He accelerated with Vis flowing through his legs, closing the distance before the creature could escape. His sword struck upward, cutting through the exposed tissue beneath its left scythe.

CRACK!

The joint split. The enormous blade hung uselessly from the creature’s upper body.

Matthias immediately changed direction and struck the opposite joint.

SHNK!

The second scythe was severed completely.

It crashed into the ground beside him, its enormous serrated edge burying itself several feet into the earth.

The Demonic Beast staggered backward, dark green blood pouring from the ruined joints where its primary weapons had been attached.

Matthias stopped advancing. For several seconds, he simply watched.

The creature’s remaining limbs trembled beneath its enormous weight. Its triangular head rotated rapidly, six crimson eyes searching for an opening that no longer existed.

Then the beast did something unexpected. It lowered its body and opened its jaws.

A thick stream of corrosive green liquid erupted from its mouth.

Matthias moved before the liquid reached him.

He stepped sideways, allowing the first stream to splash against the ground. The stone immediately began dissolving, producing a sharp hissing sound as pale vapor rose from the damaged surface.

The beast turned its head, sweeping the corrosive liquid across the clearing in an attempt to catch him.

Matthias accelerated. He moved between the spreading pools, avoiding the liquid with the same precise footwork he’d used against the creature’s scythes. One stream passed close enough to burn through the edge of his sleeve, but he adjusted his direction before it touched his skin.

The creature continued spraying.

Matthias continued approaching.

Its head turned toward him.

His sword flashed.

SHNK!

The blade cut through the lower portion of its jaw, severing the muscles responsible for directing the corrosive discharge.

The beast screamed. The remaining liquid spilled uselessly from its ruined mouth, dissolving patches of earth beneath its feet.

Matthias stepped backward and examined the creature. It had lost one hind limb, both scythes and most of its lower jaw. Its enormous body trembled from blood loss, and the dark green fluid pouring from its wounds had already formed several puddles across the clearing.

Yet the creature remained alive.

Matthias slowly raised his sword. Vis began circulating through his body, flowing from his core into his arms before gathering along the length of his blade. The weapon emitted a faint vibration as the energy reinforced its edge.

The Demonic Beast sensed the approaching danger.

Its remaining legs scraped against the ground as it attempted to retreat.

Matthias advanced.The creature suddenly lunged forward with its remaining strength, opening its ruined jaws in a desperate attempt to bite him.

Matthias watched its head descend. His expression remained completely calm.

He stepped forward and his sword moved.

A single slash traveled upward through the creature’s body, beginning beneath its abdomen and continuing toward the center of its skull.

SHHHNK!

The blade passed through flesh, bone and hardened chitin. For a brief moment, the enormous Demonic Beast remained standing.

Then a thin line appeared along the center of its body.

Dark green blood began leaking from the opening.

The line widened.

The creature split apart. Its enormous body separated into two halves, each collapsing toward opposite sides of the clearing. Thick ropes of intestines spilled from the opened abdomen, followed by ruptured organs and torrents of dark blood that splashed across the shattered ground.

The remains struck the earth with tremendous force, scattering pieces of broken chitin and torn flesh several meters in every direction.

Matthias stood between the two halves.

His sword remained extended. Blood dripped from its edge. Slowly, he lowered the weapon and looked at the enormous pile of gore surrounding him.

His blue eyes were dead calm like a still lake. There was no disgust, no excitement, and not the slightest trace of hesitation on his face.

He simply observed the ruined corpse with the same expression he had worn throughout the battle.

Then Matthias flicked the blood from his sword.