Tatehan could hardly see clearly. He felt overwhelmed by the presence of this monstrosity. The size of this thing, the body structure, how would a tiny human like him be able to defeat it? Not just defeat, but kill it.
If there was another option besides killing the monster to take the core, he would have taken it. And as he stood there, paralyzed by the scene in front of him, he looked at the monster's head and noticed a faint glow. It was visible through a translucent section of its skull, and he would have missed it if he wasn't looking closely enough.
Words flashed across his retina:
[Monster Name: Hexapod Mauler]
[Rank: Abyssal-Class Predator]
[Difficulty: Extreme]
[Abilities: Hydraulic Strength, Exoskeletal Armor, Tidal Roar, Regenerative Shell, Thermal Pressure Burst]
[Behavioral Pattern: Territorial. Hunts any lifeform within range]
[Known Weakness: None detected]
Tatehan stared at the words in confusion. He was genuinely befuddled.
What shocked him most was:
[Known Weakness: None detected]
So there wasn't an easier way to defeat this creature. No known weakness, or perhaps it didn't even have one.
The reason he had been able to keep defeating the brutenecks was because they had an obvious weakness: their vulnerable, exposed necks. Without that, those creatures would have been nearly impossible to kill.
He had even forgotten they were regeneration-capable monsters. When he first encountered one and tried targeting another part of its body apart from its neck, it had basically regrown the damaged limb.
His system seemed to detect that he didn't understand the mauler's abilities from the profile, so more words appeared across his retina:
[ABILITY BREAKDOWN]
[1. Hydraulic Strength] Limbs function as biological pistons. Each strike builds internal pressure, releasing bone-crushing force capable of shattering rock, metal, or armor in one blow.
[2. Exoskeletal Armor] Dense, regenerative shell plating. Damaged sections flake off to reveal fresh armor beneath. Nearly impervious unless subjected to extreme heat or internal rupture.
[3. Tidal Roar] Emits low-frequency sound waves that disorient enemies, disrupt balance, and can rupture eardrums at close range. Functions as both psychological and physical weapon.
[4. Regenerative Shell] Actively repairs damage over time. Broken limbs and cracked shells regrow during combat. Prolonged battles heavily favor the Mauler.
[5. Thermal Pressure Burst] Superheats internal fluids and releases explosive bursts of heat and concussive force through claws or vents. Capable of melting stone and incinerating nearby targets.
Tatehan could hardly believe what he had just read. It took him less than two seconds to comprehend what was shown, the information seemed to download directly into his brain.
This was basically a death sentence at this point. He had been expecting the mauler to be a normal monster. Strong and ruthless, yes, but without any out-of-the-ordinary abilities.
But it seemed everything needed abilities to survive on this godforsaken planet, even a deadly beast like this. Even a beast with this much power and ruthlessness needed abilities to survive.
Tatehan couldn't believe what he had just learned. This basically changed the entire purpose of the journey. His main plan earlier had been to come here and use his gravitational powers to defeat this monster. His partial regeneration had been pathetically low at that time.
That made Tatehan realize he didn't get it. The spaceship had said he would be able to do this even when he only had gravity manipulation at level one. No weapons, nothing, completely nothing!
What was the spaceship's AI thinking?
If he hadn't accumulated all these new abilities, the armor, and the sword, he wouldn't even be breathing right now.
And even with all the abilities he had, he wasn't sure. But then, he had to try. It wasn't like he had anything left to lose at this point. He had lost everything back on Earth—he had lost his girlfriend, he had lost his dog, he had lost his life.
Everything!
Every goddamn thing was gone!
He couldn't exploit the environment of this place to defeat this monster. He just had to go at it and somehow distract it in the middle of the fight.
Gritting his teeth, Tatehan stormed out of the cave, moving so quickly it startled the mauler.
That was it! This would give him some momentum.
He jumped as high as he could, using all his might—
THOOM!
He was high in the air, his sword clenched tightly in his hands, ready to cut a part of the mauler's body off.
Tatehan was so fast the mauler didn't seem to realize what was happening. Swipe! He aimed for one of its arms and struck it, but didn't cut through. The sword just sank into the flesh of the monster. Not all the way, just halfway, but it was deep enough that he couldn't pull it out again.
"Shit!"
Tatehan knew he was in big trouble now. He tried to yank it free, now standing on one of the monster's legs, but nothing worked.
The mauler howled and stomped its feet. It must have just used one of its abilities because Tatehan was flung off the creature so fast and so violently he thought he might have fractured his spine, if not for the armor, which absorbed seventy percent of the impact while the remaining thirty percent did its damage.
And even that thirty percent, just thirty, was a damn lot. Tatehan gritted his teeth as he stood up, gazing at the Hexapod mauler in shock.
The beast yanked the sword out of its leg and broke it in half with the other hand.
Tatehan stood there, speechless. The sword had been his only real hope against this monster, and now that it was broken, the loss hurt deeply.
He had really, really liked that sword. Loved it, even.
And now it was... broken.
Well, his gravity manipulation powers were still something, right? The spaceship's AI had told him to use that to defeat the mauler. He aimed a large boulder at the mauler's head, but it crushed the rock with a ferocious roar.
Yep. That was it. Tatehan realized he hated the spaceship's AI more than ever.
He remembered his own words before leaving the spaceship in search of the mauler:
"Well. Time to go die, I guess."
Those words felt like foreshadowing now, because that was exactly what he was about to do. He was about to die.
[Congratulations Host, your sword has been broken and destroyed]
Tatehan took this as mockery. Why was the system congratulating him? He had lost his sword. Was that supposed to be congratulations?
He felt hopeless at this point. He felt like this was the end of his story.
Well, there was an option to run...
As soon as the thought entered his mind, the mauler dashed at him, using one of its massive hands to strike him so hard he slammed into the high wall of the amphitheater.
[70% absorbed]
[30% impacted]
Tatehan could hardly breathe. His vision throbbed and blurred. If not for the kinetic absorption, he'd be dead by now, not even an enhanced human could survive hits like this.
Just as Tatehan was falling, the mauler grabbed him and flung him hard onto the ground.
[70% absorbed]
[30% impacted]
[Kinetic Absorption deactivated, cooldown required]
The mauler hit him again, and this time he felt everything.
[100% impact received]
His mouth filled with blood, so much it felt like drowning. The hit had broken most of his bones.
Another hit and he was done.
The mauler clearly wanted to weaken him before finishing him off.
With Tatehan nearly lifeless on the floor, he heard his system notification:
[Armor deactivated, excessive damage sustained]
And just like that, his armor and visor vanished. Only the backpack remained, which was basically useless at this point. He was now face-to-face with the mauler, the beast staring at him with intense viciousness and killing intent. He could truly see the monstrosity of this creature's face.
The mauler raised a claw, and as it descended toward Tatehan's chest, he stared at it, helpless.
He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. This was it.
Then, a flash of blue light.
Something spun through the air with a high-pitched whistle, slicing across the mauler's raised arm. The creature roared, jerking back, dark blood spraying from the cut.
Tatehan's eyes widened.
'What?'
The spinning disc curved in the air, arcing back toward the ridge above. A figure stood there, silhouetted against the orange Martian sky.
The disc snapped into his hand with a metallic clink.
"MOVE, BOY!" the man shouted, his voice rough and commanding.
Tatehan's vision blurred, but he saw the man leap down from the ridge, impossibly fast. No, not fast. He blinked out of existence in the middle of a jump and reappeared ten feet closer, landing in a crouch between Tatehan and the mauler.
The man stood slowly, twin chakrams spinning lazily on his fingers, glowing faintly blue and humming with energy.
He wore a tattered long coat that billowed slightly in the wind, his face half-covered by a dusty cloth wrap. Dark eyes, cold and shar, locked onto the mauler.
The Hexapod Mauler snarled, recognizing him.
The man's expression didn't change. He just flicked his wrist, and one chakram launched forward like a bullet, spinning horizontally. It struck the mauler's leg joint, sparks flew as metal met chitin.
The mauler stumbled.
The chakram boomeranged back, and the man caught it without looking.
'The stronger the weapon you awaken, the greater your chance of survival on Mars.'
The first words Tatehan had heard when he woke up in the spaceship. They were finally making sense.
"Get up," the man said flatly, not turning to face Tatehan. "Or die here."
Tatehan tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. His vision darkened at the edges.
The man sighed, then vanished in a flicker of light (Phantom Step) and reappeared beside Tatehan. He grabbed Tatehan's arm and blinked again, this time dragging him twenty feet away from the mauler in an instant.
Tatehan gasped as the world snapped back into focus. The teleportation left him disoriented and nauseous. He tried to open his eyes, but they wouldn't cooperate. He tried and tried, but all he could see was darkness.