Humans classified Gastrea into five stages, I to V, based on their specific characteristics.
Generally speaking, Gastrea that had infected the DNA of one species and possessed its abilities belonged to the weakest Stage [I]. Their epidermis and shell hardness were poor, and they didn't have an absolute advantage against ordinary people and police weapons. Their regenerative ability wasn't too powerful either.
However, Gastrea that had infected the DNA of two or three or more species and had evolved by combining the DNA abilities of those two or three different species reached Stage [II]. Gastrea of this level were no longer something that police and ordinary people could handle. Apart from their inherent Gastrea Virus infection ability, their defensive capabilities and regenerative abilities, at a minimum comparable to a military Humvee, were enough to make lightly armed infantry feel exceptionally powerless. Only the concentrated fire of Varanium metal ammunition or large-caliber sniper rifles and heavy machine guns could deal with these terrifying creatures.
As for Gastrea that reached Stage [III] and [IV], they generally possessed the advantages of multiple species' DNA, and their regenerative abilities were close to reaching a level that could only be described as "terrifying"!
...
"I'll attract its attention, Kohina, you find an opening to attack!!!"
Seeing the ferocious appearance of the giant-clawed snake monster, and determining that the opponent definitely belonged to Stage [III], the corner of Morin's mouth twitched slightly. He unhesitatingly took the Tang sword in his hand and then loudly ordered Kohina.
Before Kohina could answer, Morin had already proactively thrown a flashbang towards the giant-clawed snake monster!
The flashbang, exploding with a bang in front of the giant-clawed snake monster, successfully attracted the attention of this Stage [III] Gastrea the giant-clawed snake monster had originally been staring at Kohina. Its pair of scarlet giant eyes suddenly noticed a small object falling and instinctively paid attention, then was fiercely flashed by the white light of the exploding flashbang. Even though it hadn't suffered any damage, the giant-clawed snake monster was directly enraged. With a roar, it directly abandoned its original target, Kohina, slightly adjusted its massive body's direction, and then leaped out to kill Morin, who had just provoked it!
The giant-clawed snake monster, whose size was comparable to a train car, charged with great momentum, but its massive size was surprisingly agile, reaching Morin in almost the blink of an eye!
"I'll dodge!"
Seeing the roaring momentum of the charging giant-clawed snake monster, Morin, who had no doubt that even a main battle tank in its path would be turned into scrap metal, wasn't foolish enough to meet it head-on. He unhesitatingly leaped up and then strangely stepped in mid-air, successfully dodging the giant-clawed snake monster's pounce and the hidden sweep of its tail.
The slender Tang sword was swung out by Morin's hand, cutting through the giant-clawed snake monster's tail as it swept past less than two meters away.
Amidst the ear-piercing metallic screech, although the dark super-Varanium metal alloy blade cut through the scales on the giant-clawed snake monster's body, it wasn't as easy as cutting through the Type [II] Gastrea before. Instead, it only entered the flesh by half a foot, giving the slow feeling of a woodcutter's axe sinking into wood. Morin pulled it out quickly to avoid it getting stuck in the giant-clawed snake monster's body!
This is way too hard, isn't it?
Is this Stage [III] Gastrea really this strong?
Feeling the recoil from his probing attack, Morin, who had just landed and exchanged a glance with Kohina, looked at the giant-clawed snake monster with shock.
In the past few days, Morin hadn't avoided dealing with Stage [II] Gastrea. He could even kill them with enough Varanium metal bullets (automatic rifle needed to hit vital points), and Kohina could easily harvest those Stage [II] Gastrea with just her two kodachi, making Morin slightly underestimate these terrifying Gastrea monsters.
Now, after personally clashing with a Stage [III] Gastrea, Morin knew that he had previously underestimated Stage [III] Gastrea too much!
"Hiss hiss!!!"
Before Morin could adjust his posture, the giant-clawed snake monster, its originally scarlet pupils fixed on Morin, trembled all over, trying to turn its head and attack with an angry roar.
Behind the giant-clawed snake monster, Kohina's fast figure retreated rapidly, but more than ten of the giant-clawed snake monster's blackish-brown centipede-like appendages had already disappeared. The appendages as thick as bowls on both sides of its abdomen were directly cut off by the kodachi, and jets of black blood spurted out from the clean cuts.
The giant-clawed snake monster obviously hadn't reached the level of ignoring injuries, or perhaps it hadn't reached the level of ignoring the pain caused by the loss of limbs. Moreover, the injuries caused by the super-Varanium metal alloy directly greatly suppressed the giant-clawed snake monster's own regenerative ability. The appendages that had been directly severed and lay on the ground, even if they still retained some activity, couldn't be directly healed by the giant-clawed snake monster. Even the wounds where the appendages were cut off didn't heal immediately, instead bringing the giant-clawed snake monster even more intense pain. As a result, the giant-clawed snake monster, whose brain capacity wasn't actually very high, had its attention, which had just been focused on Morin, drawn away by the intense pain. Its body, which had the advantages of snake and other species' DNA, suddenly coiled up, directly using the strangulation method unique to snakes, trying to wrap Kohina inside.
Of course, Kohina wouldn't be foolish enough to fight the giant-clawed snake monster head-on. She began to fully unleash the power of the Mantis Factor!
By the time the giant-clawed snake monster's serpentine body coiled and contracted, Kohina's figure had already dodged out of the attack range. Then, Kohina saw Morin himself had already rushed close to the giant-clawed snake monster's back, and the Tang sword in his hand slashed at the joint connecting one of the giant-clawed snake monster's giant claws.
Morin's charged strike this time had an excellent effect. The giant-clawed snake monster's giant claws, as hard as steel, weren't that fragile, but the joint connecting the claws was different. The Tang sword followed the momentum and cut open the joint gap!
"Kohina, scatter and attract its attention! Don't fight this monster head-on!!!"
Morin, who had succeeded in this attack, didn't even look at the result. He retreated, feeling the sharp wind brush past his head, and then dodged the pincer attack of the giant-clawed snake monster's remaining giant claw, shouting directly.
"Understood!!!"
Accompanying Kohina's crisp shout was the rapid dash of her petite figure like lightning.
Amidst the sharp light of the blades, the giant-clawed snake monster with only one giant claw remaining raised its head and let out a piercing painful howl, but it didn't have time to seek revenge on Morin for losing a giant claw. Instead, it fell into the predicament of being attacked from the front and back by Morin and Kohina, unable to attend to both ends.
Facing the extremely fast Morin and Kohina, the giant-clawed snake monster's massive size and weapons like giant claws and a snake tail, which had been invincible against other Gastrea in the past, fell into a situation where it couldn't hit its targets and wasted its energy those giant claws were powerful enough to instantly penetrate the armor of a main battle tank, and its snake tail could twist even solid steel pillars into spirals with a smash and a coil. Its massive body, combined with the regenerative ability of Stage [III], meant that even a tank-level armored unit facing the giant-clawed snake monster might be directly defeated by it!
However, if the giant-clawed snake monster's massive body couldn't catch up to its opponents, and its opponents could inflict enough damage on it, the giant-clawed snake monster fell into a grueling battle akin to being slowly sliced to pieces...
...
"Hiss hiss"
"Bang!!!"
"Quickly sever its appendages!"
"Understood!"
"Chirp!!!"...
On the battlefield that had already lasted for nearly ten minutes, the giant-clawed snake monster frantically flipped its body, as if it had a deep hatred for the surrounding environment, easily destroying the surroundings with its massive form.
At first glance, both of the giant-clawed snake monster's massive claws had been severed, and its numerous centipede-like legs on its serpentine body were scattered and broken. Many of its scales, which had a blackish-red metallic texture, had also fallen off. Deep wounds at least a meter long covered the giant-clawed snake monster's entire body, and the gushing black blood had even dyed many parts of the ground black.
In stark contrast to the giant-clawed snake monster, Morin and Kohina didn't show much of a disheveled appearance.
Kohina, unleashing the Mantis Factor, was extremely fast, and with Morin acting as the MT to constantly draw the giant-clawed snake monster's combat power, she didn't need to worry about the Promoter like other Initiators, fully displaying her combat prowess.
As for Morin, his own strength was certainly not as great as a monster of the giant-clawed snake monster's level, but Morin, who had already surpassed the range of ordinary people, was no pushover. The rich combat experience he brought from SAO, combined with the [Repulsion Barrier], allowed Morin to make many evasive and offensive movements that ordinary people couldn't imagine such as using the [Repulsion Barrier] for an aerial dash, or suddenly accelerating to attack and then disengaging!
The giant-clawed snake monster, whose intelligence was probably even lower than a dolphin's, couldn't keep up with Morin's rhythm at all. After Morin successively severed one of its giant claws and blinded one of its eyes, this thing was now staring intently at Morin!
[Now, the outcome is no longer in doubt!]
Seeing the giant-clawed snake monster, now covered in wounds and even slowed down, Morin felt a surge of joy in his heart, but became even more cautious.
The giant-clawed snake monster, with hundreds of large and small wounds, unable to heal them with its regeneration ability, and even unable to touch Morin and Kohina, had its danger greatly reduced. Morin, besides being wary of a possible death throes outburst from the giant-clawed snake monster, focused more of his attention on the surrounding environment, guarding against any Gastrea that might come to interfere.
However, it seemed that this Stage [III] Gastrea was the strongest individual Gastrea in the vicinity. The fierce battle and roars didn't attract any other Gastrea, and even the dying outburst that Morin had worried about didn't occur.
Seven minutes later, as Morin thrust the Tang sword into the back of its head, the heavily wounded giant-clawed snake monster finally collapsed with a thud!
...
"Brother, did we win?!"
Seeing the giant-clawed snake monster finally fall, Kohina couldn't help but excitedly call out to Morin.
For Kohina, a Stage [III] Gastrea was not the weak trash of Stage [I] and [II] that she had faced before. Even Kohina hadn't hunted many Stage [III] Gastrea!
"That's right!"
Morin looked at the giant-clawed snake monster's corpse, which occasionally twitched but had its danger pattern disappear from his [Enemy Search] skill. He suddenly had a strong urge to light a cigarette. After looking around to confirm that no other Gastrea or humans were interfering, he looked at the giant-clawed snake monster's corpse, as large as a small hill, and felt a headache coming on:
"Seriously, how are we supposed to get this thing back to the settlement area?!"
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Need More Chapters
Every 300 Power Stones
2 Bonus chapter
Every 500 Power Stones
4 Bonus chapter.
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