Chapter 16 — The Spectral Mantis Lord
The Abyss had grown quieter as I went deeper. Not silent like before, but expectant, like the cavern itself was holding its breath.
The pale glow of fungus lit the walls ahead. The spores swayed in an invisible draft, silver as drowned moonlight. Something moved behind them, too slow, too deliberate to be wind. My instincts sharpened, every plate of the Titan armor humming with tension.
Then it stepped out.
The Spectral Mantis Lord.
Its body was long and lean, car-sized, cloaked in translucent chitin that shimmered between reality and nothing. Emerald eyes burned like lamps in a storm. Its scythe-arms clicked once, and then it vanished.
Not hid. Not ran. Vanished.
A curl of black smoke drifted where it had been. My gut clenched.
The Titan Plate pulsed. A whisper of warning.
I spun—too late. The Mantis phased in behind me, its scythes screeching against my back. Sparks burst, smoke trailing, but the armor held. My body jolted with the impact, my legs sliding across stone, but not a single plate cracked.
The monster blinked again, gone in a smear of smoke.
The next minutes were chaos. Every time it reappeared, the Titan Plate stopped its blades, but I couldn't touch it. I swung the hammer—air. The katana—air. Every strike went through its ghost body like water.
It played with me. A predator testing its meal.
"Fine," I muttered, steadying my breath. "Let's play."
---
I stopped chasing.
Instead, I watched.
Each time it blinked, it left a smoke ribbon curling in the air. Each time it reappeared, it wasn't random—it was always within a lunge of my body. Always close enough to strike. The smoke wasn't just an afterimage—it was a trail.
The Mantis phased out, smoke bleeding like ink in water. My eyes tracked the faint drift, predicting where it would come back.
There.
It reappeared, scythes cutting for my throat. I didn't block. I pivoted and hurled one of my daggers into the thickest swirl of smoke.
The blade struck solid.
The Mantis screamed, a sound like knives dragged across glass, as translucent chitin split and ichor sprayed in green arcs. For the first time, it bled.
I smiled inside the helm. "So that's it."
---
The fight shifted.
Now I had its rhythm. Each blink left a mark, each reappearance came on a beat I could count. One dagger to force it solid, the hammer to punish the body.
It phased behind me—dagger already waiting. It blinked left—hammer crashed into its midsection as it materialized, knocking it across the cavern wall. It screeched and smoked, vanishing, reappearing, cutting—but the Titan Plate turned its scythes and my counterstrikes bit deeper each time.
My chest heaved, lungs scraping iron. My arms shook with every swing of the hammer, but I couldn't stop. If I slowed, it would reset the rhythm.
The Mantis blinked high above, scythes raised to cleave me in two. I hurled both daggers into its smoke trail and leapt. It phased back, materialized—daggers already sunk in its chest. Its body spasmed, trapped between worlds.
I came down with the hammer.
The blow drove it into the stone floor, cracks webbing out under the impact. Its head split, emerald eyes flaring once before dulling to glass.
The Spectral Mantis twitched, phased half in, half out—and then collapsed, its body unraveling into smoke that sank into my chest.
---
The Essence hit like ice water.
[System Notification]
Beast Defeated: Sacred Spectral Mantis Lord
Essence Absorption: Successful (Elder Heir Bypass)
DNA Essence Gained: 9 strands (Sacred)
New Trait Acquired: Smokeless Phase (Stage 1)
Trait Effects:
– Phase Step: Briefly become intangible for 1–2 seconds.
– Smoke Veil: Body leaks shadow-smoke when phasing.
– Phantom Strike: Weapons can partially phase, bypassing armor.
Weakness: Strong light/energy can disrupt phase.
Synergy Detected: Titan Plate + Smokeless Phase → Unique evolution path unlocked.