As the closest mantis lunged at me, sweeping its scythe in a decapitating arc, I channeled mana into my legs. My newly synchronized agility kicked in. The creature's lightning-fast strike looked agonizingly slow.
I ducked smoothly under the claw, stepped right into the beast's guard, and grabbed its thick armored thorax with my free hand.
My grip crushed the chitin. My raw physical strength easily overpowered the massive insect. I hauled the shrieking beast upward, completely breaking its balance, and shoved the barrel of the Reaver directly under its jaw.
BANG! An armor-piercing slug tore through its head, blowing green ichor into the swamp.
I didn't stop moving. A mud-spider dropped from a branch directly above me. I pivoted, swinging the heavy stock of the shotgun like a baseball bat. The reinforced steel smashed into the spider's skull, shattering its exoskeleton and sending it skidding across the water.
