Chương 20: Chapter20-A Fisherman's Gain

Seeing the space rift appear, Howard remained calm, feigning a look of astonishment as he exclaimed, "Mr. Sterling, what are you intending to do?"

"Heh heh heh heh! What am I going to do?"

"Obviously, to send a piece of trash like you to your death!"

"Considering you are about to die, I'll allow you to be a ghost with clarity."

With a nefarious smile, Sterling spoke, "The headmaster has promised me, as long as I can kill you, I will be promoted to the position of guidance director! By then, heh heh heh heh..."

"My God, wasn't Headmaster Jay asking you to help me level up? It's impossible for him to want to harm me!"

Howard continued to play his part, his gaze, however, was fixated intently on the emerging space rift.

Once a space rift successfully formed, alien beings akin to BOSS-level monsters were certain to descend...

Even for a LV 50 awakened like Sterling, it would be a challenging adversary to face.

"What a foolish young man!"

"It's time for me to send you on your way!"

Twisting his neck, Sterling was about to rush towards Howard with a fist ready to strike when suddenly, a green Dual Blades Mantis leapt out from the rift behind him.

"Hiss—"

A crisp sound echoed as the Dual Blades Mantis appeared, its fierce gaze instantly fixed on Sterling's back.

The next moment, it flapped its wings violently, flying towards Sterling at a furious speed, its mantis blades swinging as if ready to tear the very space asunder.

Sensing the tumultuous gust behind him, the battle-hardened Sterling reacted instantly. Setting aside Howard, he spun around with a forceful punch.

"Splurch!"

"Ahh!"

A scream resonated. Sterling, caught off guard by the ambush, was hardly a match for the lightning-fast mantis.

Just as he turned, the blade of the mantis struck his shoulder, sending sprays of blood flying.

"Damn it, how could a space rift appear here?!"

Sterling's face drastically changed, but this wasn't the time for astonishment.

The Dual Blades Mantis, its eyes cold, positioned its blades across its chest, showcasing a shocking strength that seemed to gather from all directions.

Clearly, it was preparing to unleash a skill.

A chill ran down Sterling's spine. Rather than retreating, he advanced with clenched right fist.

Lunging forward, his fist shot upwards, delivering a rising punch.

"Strong Hook Punch!"

He unleashed a burst skill.

In an attempt to preempt the Mantis' impending attack, Sterling managed to strike first, despite being the latter to initiate, sending the Dual Blades Mantis flying away.

But Sterling dared not take it lightly.

With a roar, he pounced again, his fists falling like rain, furiously striking the Dual Blades Mantis.

Skills were unleashed intermittently; Crushing Fist, Power Punch, Straight Rushing Burst Punch, effectively suppressing the Dual Blades Mantis.

Witnessing this, Howard allowed a slow smile to curve upon his lips as he leisurely cast a Divination spell to inspect the creature's attributes.

[Dual Blades Mantis· Alfapa]

[Level: lv50]

[Tier: Gold]

[Description: An extraplanar spell beast hailing from another dimension. Its forelimbs are as sharp as blades, possessing both exceptional speed and agility.]

[HP: 51000/51000]

[Attack power: 4175-5688]

[Defense value: 2200]

[Skills: Cross Slash, Death Hunt, Leap Attack]

A level 50 Gold Extraplanar being, with notably remarkable attributes, at least thrice as formidable as the previous Red Phosphorus Serpent King!

Even Howard would find it a challenge to face it easily.

Fortunately, Sterling was here.

Extraplanar beings wouldn't care about the relationship between Howard and Sterling.

In their eyes, all inhabitants of the Azure Sphere were targets to be eliminated.

Thus, the Dual Blades Mantis had ambushed Sterling the moment it descended.

That was precisely why, upon spotting the space rift, Howard opted not to engage, but to play a role instead.

The aim was to divert Sterling's attention, allowing the extraplanar creature to ambush him, ideally resulting in both parties being seriously injured and providing Howard with an opportunity to reap the benefits of their duel.

Things were proceeding just as Howard had anticipated.

Following the ambush, Sterling became increasingly weak as blood flowed incessantly from his wounds.

Consequently, the strength behind his punches thrown at the Dual Blades Mantis diminished significantly.

"Roar!"

As Sterling weakened, the Dual Blades Mantis seized the opportunity to counterattack.

With a roar, it vibrated its mantis blade fiercely, forcing Sterling to retreat and stumble to the ground.

"Roar!"

The Dual Blades Mantis roared towards the heavens, its blades crossing again as a powerful gust of wind swept out.

"Damn it, it's a high-tier extraplanar being!"

"Howard, come and help me quickly!"

Seeing the ferocious assault of the Dual Blades Mantis, Sterling began to panic.

But why would Howard help him?

Whirr—

The whistling gust heralded the appearance of silver-white wind blades congregating before the Dual Blades Mantis.

"Fack, Howard, you bastard, wait until I deal with this damned Dual Blades Mantis, you'll see!"

Gritting his teeth, Sterling hastily retrieved a potion from his pocket and swallowed it down.

Gurgle—

The sound of liquid traversing his throat echoed as Sterling's body began to swell, his limbs becoming enormously robust.

A terrifying surge of strength emanated from within him, a force so fierce that even the extraplanar entity, the Dual Blades Mantis, couldn't help but shudder.

Swoosh—

With the skill fully charged, the silver-white wind blades howled out, tearing through space to land a direct hit on Sterling.

"Dang!"

But the wind blade striking Sterling was like hitting a steel plate, resulting in a resonant clang of metal.

Astonishingly, Sterling's skin remained unbroken!

"To hell with you!"

"Power Punch!"

As his body enlarged, Sterling's attributes skyrocketed.

He leapt forward, delivering a mighty punch to the head of the Dual Blades Mantis, leaving it dazed and unable to maintain its footing.

"-2217!"

The damage number surfaced above its head.

"Heiya, take this punch!"

As if venting all his pent-up anger, Sterling's fists swung in relentless succession, battering the Dual Blades Mantis continuously as pale red damage numbers emerged one after another from its head.

Witnessing the rapid depletion of the Dual Blades Mantis' HP, Howard couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly.

"Hahaha!"

"Just a mere extraplanar creature! If not for your sneak attack, I would have torn you apart with my bare hands!" Sterling laughed.

Just as the Dual Blades Mantis had but a sliver of HP left, a searing heat abruptly swept over, giving Sterling the sensation of being plunged into a furnace as his body involuntarily shuddered.

In that fleeting moment of distraction, a crimson entity materialized — a dragon formed entirely of flames emerged, unleashing a ball of fire that engulfed the Dual Blades Mantis in its consuming maw.

Boom—

Already on its last legs, how could the Mantis stand against the S-level skill of the Dragonfire spell?

Whoosh—

Golden coins rained down, glittering in the fiery glow.

Next to Howard, the crisp chime of a system notification rang out.

[Ding Dong! Congratulations Awakened Howard, you have successfully defeated the LV50 Gold Extraplanar creature, Dual Blades Mantis Alfapa, gaining 50,000 experience points!]

The substantial experience reward caused golden lights to blink at Howard's feet, signaling his ascent to level 9.

"You… Ah!"

At that moment, Sterling finally realized what had transpired — the Dual Blades Mantis, which he had painstakingly whittled down, had been snatched away by Howard!

Enraged beyond measure, Sterling shrieked, "Damn you, Howard, you dare steal my spoils of war... I'll tear you to pieces!"

"Kill me?"

A smirk curled at the corners of Howard's mouth.

With a slight mental command, the fire dragon descended, spiraling beside him.

"You consumed the Bloodburn Potion earlier to forcibly enhance your attributes. The effects should have worn off by now. In your current weakened state, do you still think you can kill me?"

Howard advanced slowly towards Sterling, the fire dragon following suit.

"Roar!"

A resonant dragon's roar echoed, the blistering heat resembling that of a furnace, grilling Sterling and striking fear into his heart.

"You... how can a F-level trash awakened summon a fire dragon?"

"What exactly is your identity?"

Fear-stricken, Sterling raised his voice to question, his right hand discreetly moving behind him.

"What is my identity?"

"I am an existence you will never reach!"

Howard had no intention to waste time with such a minor character.

Detecting Sterling's subtle movement, he didn't afford him any opportunity, swiftly commanding the fire dragon to unleash the Scorching Firelines skill.

A jet of flame erupted, completely engulfing the weakened Sterling.

As the flames dissipated, Sterling's figure was nowhere to be found within the field, leaving behind only a pile of ashes.