Keiko licked her dry lips, and a dangerous smile appeared on her face behind the visor.
She was going to make a high-stakes bet here. One wrong move and then she had to say goodbye to this strange world that she barely fitted into.
Would she return to her own time if she died here?
Keiko shook her head helplessly and let out a wry smile. Such a defeatist mindset couldn't help her defeat this terrifying monster!
She needed to focus all of her attention on the next move if she wanted to survive and come back alive.
From a crouching position on the ground, she suddenly jumped up and pounced at the monster like a cheetah.
The monster screamed in anger and slashed at Keiko with both of its scythes furiously.
But Keiko, who was as slippery as an eel, quickly avoided the monster's wild attack.
And then, without paying attention to the wounds on her body that were caused by the sharp thorns on the top of the scythe, she hugged the Devil Mantis' right arms like she was hugging a lover, roaring louder than the beast.
The monster became more enraged when it realized its right scythe was suddenly being restrained by Keiko. In a fit of anger, it frantically swung its left blade at Keiko.
Seeing the opportunity, Keiko suddenly stepped on the monster's left scythe, leaped around to the back of the monster with the huge scythe still in her arms. She then landed on the predator's back and used it as extra support for pulling its own right arm.
The sounds of cracking and shattering echoed in the air as the monster's right arm was forcibly broken by Keiko. All of the bones had been fractured and broken, leaving only a few strains of muscle that were still connected, causing the arm to limply dangle.
The monster started to squirm about desperately, trying to throw Keiko off. Its left scythe also reached behind, almost slashing Keiko several times, but Keiko dodged them all in a thrilling way. Even so, there were still several new slashing wounds appearing on her body.
Shaking, bumping, jumping, flying, spinning, rolling, no matter how the monster tried to throw Keiko off its back, it still failed to shake off Keiko.
This person was latching onto its body like being stuck with a strong glue; it couldn't get rid of her at all.
Despite seemingly having the upper hand, Keiko wasn't having a good time either.
The monster's struggling actions had left many wounds on her body. Her flawless skin was marred by bruises, scratching wounds, and some pieces of shattered twigs even stuck deep into her flesh. Not only that, but her head was also slammed to the ground several times and her neck was almost twisted.
At this moment, she felt a head-splitting pain in her head and was almost unable to hold on, but she was still stubbornly holding onto the Devil Mantis' right scythe.
Finally, the opportunity she had been waiting for came.
The monster had been struggling madly for so long and eventually grew tired, and the power in the monster's left scythe was weakened.
Keiko saw the window of opportunity and suddenly stretched out his hand to restrain the left sickle.
The monster seemed to realize what Keiko was about to do, producing a shrill scream that almost pierced Keiko's eardrums, and then tried to change the trajectory of its left arm to break free from Keiko's clutch.
Keiko roared furiously, struggling with all her strength. Ignoring the bleeding from her hands, she finally controlled the left sickle and directed it toward the monster's right shoulder.
Slash—
The monster's left scythe slashed downward, ripping the whole right arm from the Devil Mantis' shoulder.
"Pfft!" Blood was crazily gushing out from the cutting wound, soaking Keiko's body entirely, and finally, the scythe slipped off the monster's body.
Keiko quickly kicked the monster, tossing it around 5 meters away from her. The monster, which was currently in excruciating pain, couldn't avoid Keiko's kick and then rolling away on the ground.
Keiko fell to the ground at the same time, panting heavily; her entire body felt numb. But she knew that she didn't have time to breathe, so she struggled to get up from the ground and picked up the falling scythe.
It was a little rough in the hand, and she could barely hold onto it. Holding the scythe in both of her hands, she roared again, striding towards the monster like the "Death Reaper" she had always known to be...
***
"I want you to open the city gate right now! You bastard!" Sistine's roar echoed at the Trudheim city gate.
"No, this is the commander's order to close the city gate. We couldn't open the gate without authorization," The officer guarding the gate and standing in front of Sistine right now was a brown-skinned, middle-aged man with a big beard, and his black, narrow eyes looked very sinister.
There was no expression on his face. No matter how Sistine grabbed his collar and yelled furiously at him, he didn't mean to give in at all.
"Commander?! Who is your commander? Frode? You're Rajeev Shanker, the dignified Colonel of the Trudheim garrison, right?! Who else could order you other than him?! Ah?!" Sistine was furious.
"Yes, it was Major General Frode's order. He told me to close the city gate and wait for rescue."
"Bullshit! Rajeev, let me tell you, Admiral Armstrong's most beloved daughter is in danger just outside the city! Are you ready to face a Seven Stars General's wrath?"
However, Colonel Rajeev didn't budge an inch and simply kept his silence.
Sistine was so mad that he went wild, pulling out the gun from his waist and pressing it against Rajeev's forehead. He gritted his teeth and growled in a low voice.
"I want you to open the city gate right now!!"
At the same time, Sistine directed his gun's nozzle at Colonel Rajeev, all the surrounding garrison soldiers raised their guns at him, surrounded him, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
"Major Sistine!" Suddenly, Captain Amanda's voice came from behind. She strode into the encirclement with steady steps, raised her hand, and slowly pulled down the gun that Sistine pointed at Rajeev's forehead and said softly.
"Major Sistine, calm down.. I have something to tell you."