Even with its lower body submerged in the ice, the monster towered over them with a height of over 3.0m. It would take a hell of a jump to land on its back.
That was a perfect opportunity but he missed.
"Tch..."
With a fallen leg beside him, the ice ground, and his body smeared with blue blood Raith held his sword together ready for the next instant the monster was going to come at him again.
Even after losing one leg, it was unbothered, it had probably a hundred more, each of them sharp and extending out of each segment of its long body. It was like a centipede.
A centipede that possessed a body that seemed to be specifically built to inhabit this climate condition. Its hull on the back was white and thick, almost resembling a layer of frost acting as both armor and camouflage.
The monster could stay hidden in a pile of ice, burying its leg into its body and no one would have any idea that a monster was there.
The hull was dotted with intricate patterns and almost looked like they were woven by frost. It gave the frost centipede a mesmerizing beauty. If it was younger it'd be a good monster to tame.
But right now, it was nothing but a voracious creature that was trying to have Raith's head for intruding into its habitat.
With his foresight now working without fault, Raith was getting accustomed. He jumped into the air and a second later the monster lunged into the floor again.
Its mandibles were very strong and easily crashed into the ice again. But this time it was easier for Raith to land on its back.
He ran over its head and sprinted up its body but as the monster extracted its head, wriggling its body, Raith lost balance and almost fell off. But he stabbed Bal into the dividing segment between the thick hulls of the centipede prompting a deafening shriek out of the beautiful horror.
Raith flung himself back to the top of the hull and pushed his sword further inside, hoping to rupture its organs as much as he could.
The monster shrieked again vividly informing the entire air that it was in pain, one would have almost pitied it. But it was a monster and Raith was a hunter.
Even Mok Jun-Seo who watched helplessly from below was a hunter.
Nothing could save the monster from Raith's grasp of death.
He was about to pull out the sword to stab another place but the sword was stuck, Raith dematerialized the sword and tightened his fist.
A thought briefly crossed his mind.
'With a strength stat of over 300, how much damage can I do to a monster'
Sparkling with curiosity he pummeled a blow into the monster.
He had at least expected the thick hull to crack, but his eyes widened, the shadow helmet dissolving from his face. His hand was inside the monster, easily broken into the hull and blue blood splashing out.
The monster shook more intensely and shrieked louder than before the moment Raith punched it. But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't shake Raith off, his hand was stuck inside after all.
Finally resolving to extreme measures. The monster shrieked loudly once more, this time it was more of a rage cry than a pain cry.
It lunged itself downward, burrowing into the ground with Raith on its back.
Raith belatedly recovering from the shock of how strong his power was now found himself struggling to breathe underwater.
He quickly held his breath to prevent water from entering his lungs but weirdly enough he felt like he could hold on for quite a long. It was impossible to get a human even if they were a very powerful hunter to hold their breath for too long, it could cause suffocation.
But if the person in question was a human with two hearts and the second heart operated on principles that were not comprehensible by the concepts of the world.
Raith's knowledge about his new heart was too little. Even right now, he didn't know–the effects on his physical strength which were very visible were what he took notice of.
But it went beyond that.
'Damnit!'
The monster swam underwater like a snake and just kept going. Raith's hand was still stuck inside its hull and it must have known, it explained the reason why it kept going and at an increasing speed.
Raith first struggled even though he had no issues holding his breath for three minutes since being underwater. But as the monster's speed continued to increase he gained stability. He held on to one of the monster's legs which were acting as a good swimmer for it.
Then he pulled it out violently.
But the monster let out no shriek.
The first time too... Raith remembered that the first time he cut down the monster's leg it didn't make a big deal out of it.
Legs to its was disposable goods. It had a hundred of them. The hull Raith smashed, however? That was straight into its back.
Raith pulled his hand out of the monster's hull and held on tightly to the frame of the hole carved by his fist although now painted blue by the monster's blood–both his hand and the white hull of the monster.
The monster's speed suddenly slowed down a little bit. It must have thought that Raith had been shaken off.
Just as it was swimming back to the surface, it let out another shriek but was muggled by the water and causing a lot of bubbles.
Blood flowed out of the monster's back flowing into the water like a blue powder. And then, the monster plunged out of the ice in frenzy, letting out a loud cry as it soared into the air with Raith on its back.
Enjoying how easy his strength had made this. Raith pulled out his fist with a grin and pummeled another hole into the monster.
He pulled out his hand, letting go of the monster but as he fell through the air, he materialized Bal—delivering a spin strike that cleaved right through the segmented part that separated each hull from the next.
Stomp!
As he landed on the ground, the lower part of the monster collapsed and the upper part fell a second later filling the ice with blue blemishes here and there.
Raith sighed and looked to his front.
Several Frost Centipedes were towering before him. Like ten.
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