Chapter 45: A Despairing Struggle

Arion had no idea why the Queen Jawfiend needed him to be alive before it could eat him, but he was too preoccupied to think about it.

He didn't charge madly at it but instead waited for it to make a move. Other than not being reckless, he didn't have enough energy to waste by simply charging at it since he knew he would probably get squashed.

*Kreee!*

The Queen Jawfiend let out a low screech that sounded like a mocking screech to Arion. It was as if the Queen Jawfiend was finding it laughable that a puny human was brazen enough to stand before it, ready to take it on.

And the way the other Jawfiends retreated was its way of showing that it wanted to toy with him before killing him.

Otherwise, it would have ordered its children to kill him already...this was what Arion felt.

But Arion's eyes narrowed when he suddenly saw one of its giant legs moving towards him as if wanting to skewer him to the ground.

His eyes saw it coming as time seemed to slow down a bit, allowing him to move his body just in time.

'Wew, that was close!' Arion felt as if his heart almost fell out, seeing how its leg even broke a large stone into two halves. If he was standing in the same place, its leg would have punctured right through his chest, killing him within seconds.

He noticed how its foremost legs had small sharp claws which could pierce through human flesh easily.

Just when he thought his body would collapse from his previous injuries, he began to feel better bit by bit as time passed.

He didn't know if this was the so-called energy one would receive before their time of death or if his mind was fooling him as a self-defense mechanism. He also had no idea how he was able to react and move faster, especially when he didn't remember having such reflexes even in his previous life.

But all he focused on were its legs and the creepy needle-sharp mouthpart that looked similar to that of a mosquito.

He didn't dare to imagine what would happen to him if he got stung by its sharp stinger. And as he got a good look at it, he also saw that it had two pincers on its mouth that were at least half a meter long.

The Queen Jawfiend got a bit angry, seeing that this weak human was able to avoid its attack. It quickly moved its legs over by a certain angle and scurried towards Arion.

Arion gulped when he realized that the Queen Jawfiend cornered him towards the wall, not allowing him any room to dodge towards the side.

He gritted his teeth and decided to take a gamble. He patiently waited for the Queen Jawfiend to raise its legs to attack him, and right when it raised them, he quickly rushed forward in between its legs and got underneath it.

He didn't waste this chance and swung his axes with all his strength towards its legs.

*Spltck!*

Both his axes slashed against the same leg of the Queen Jawfiend, but Arion was shocked to find that the blades of his axes were barely able to make a deep cut, and only a thin line of blood was seen which could barely count as a scratch.

Arion didn't expect his axes to cut through its legs completely. Still, he at least expected to immobilize one of its legs and thus slow down its movements.

Seeing how tough its nimble hairy legs were, Arion felt that he would have to hack away at the same spot to make any difference at all. It didn't even let out any screech making him wonder if his slash even tickled it.

He then looked up towards its abdomen before quickly rolling away between its legs before he could get stung by its stinger.

'I should strike its stomach!' Arion quickly thought of another solution after finding out that going for its legs seemed an impossible task. He felt that its abdomen should be made of softer tissue, and his axes might be able to deal a painful blow to it.

Arion, however, did not dare to make rash moves as he knew the only reason he was able to survive till now was because of how his senses were getting sharper by the minute.

Before, his eyes wouldn't have registered the movements of a normal Jawfiend fast enough for him to kill it. But now, he could see the large legs of the Queen Jawfiend moving a bit slower in his eyes, and his ears were able to pick up the sound of its scrawny legs shifting from the ground as it moved.

Coupled with all the sensory inputs he was getting, he was able to predict its movements and dodge them before its attacks could reach him.

Before the Queen Jawfiend could turn towards his direction, Arion quickly made a dash for in between its legs and swung his right axe towards its abdomen to make a slash.

*Spltch!*

Arion's eyes lit up when he heard the sound of soft flesh being punctured and dark red blood dripping down right after he made a small laceration on its abdomen.

*KREEEEE!!*

But his smile stifled when the Queen Jawfiend let out a terrifying, angry screech that almost made Arion feel like his ears would go deaf.

But what followed the screech completely shocked Arion as it suddenly made a jump with its huge body and pinned him down to the ground using its sharp-clawed legs.

"Arghhh!!" Arion felt as if thousands of knives punctured through his flesh, making him even let go of his axes.

"AAHHHH!! DAMN IT!!"

All four of his limbs were pierced right through his flesh and over to the other side, making him howl in extreme agony.

He had no idea that the Queen Jawfiend wasn't taking him seriously at all for all this while. It only made this sudden move because Arion succeeded in pissing it off.

But Arion's breath froze when he saw it plunging its sharp stringer right through his heart!