Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 772 - Taming the Fifth Year - Everything Goes in Love and War - 9

The tamer believed that the enormous difference in size and resistance would become a decisive factor that invisibility couldnʼt overcome. Just take one hit and the mantis will be revealed, then…

One solid hit from bear paws would crush the insect regardless of how many tricks it knew.

The bear planted itself with a defensive posture. Waiting patiently for the inevitable attack.

Ren observed this tactical shift with a thoughtful expression.

ʼI could order to attack from a distance,ʼ he considered while weighing his options. ʼLaunch elemental attacks until wearing it down with powerful elemental control through some small attrition. That would be a safe approach.ʼ

ʼBut it would also take more time than I want to spend…

Using many elements here and there also could show too much of my stamina range. Providing unnecessary data points people could use to infer how many bonuses I actually have accumulated.ʼ

And more importantly, he wasnʼt trying to look weak, just hiding some of his power just in case… But he was ready to take on some healthy pride too, as Lin calls it. He didnʼt want spectators thinking they could simply tank and ignore his mantis because it was Bronze 2 rank. He made a decision that would establish expectations for how his mantis should be treated regardless of rank disparity.

”Anti-defense cut,” he ordered while inventing a name in the heat of the moment because this skill didnʼt have an official designation.

It was not even a skill in the first place, just a plain hit from the mantis.

His mantis moved with a speed that made its almost perfect invisibility itself seem irrelevant.

There was no warning that observers could detect. No sound of approach despite air displacement that should have been audible. No visible signal that the attack was coming despite watching the arena intently.

The scythe-blades simply appeared from nothing.

Two blade-arms manifested directly in front of the bear, already in cutting motion, gleaming with concentrated green mana that made the air itself vibrate with the power being channeled.

The bear had no time to react to a threat it couldnʼt see coming.

The blades impacted with force that transcended normal physical attack and strength.

And the Silver 2 beast with all its robustness and natural tank resistance that should have made it basically invulnerable to Bronze-rank attacks...

Disintegrated.

It wasnʼt damaged through accumulated strikes. It wasnʼt attacked at a weak point that bypassed defenses. No special skill was activated, no additional techniques beyond a high and pure physical attack power. It wasnʼt even luck or a critical hit...

It was cleanly cut through as if defenses didnʼt exist. Obliterated through force so disproportionate that even the bearʼs decent physical defense simply couldnʼt contain the damage.

The strength bonus and extra attack bonus feedback loop were so big that even Silver 2 natural high defensive capabilities meant nothing against them and could not give a real approximate of Renʼs mantis..

It wasnʼt damaged through accumulated strikes. It wasnʼt attacked at a weak point that bypassed defenses. No special skill was activated, no additional techniques beyond a high and pure physical attack power. It was cleanly cut through as if defenses didnʼt exist. Obliterated through force so disproportionate that even the bearʼs decent physical defense simply couldnʼt contain the damage.

It wasnʼt even luck or a critical hit...

The strength bonus and extra attack bonus feedback loop were so big that even Silver 2 natural high defensive capabilities meant nothing against them and could not give a real approximate of Renʼs mantis..

The creature split in half exploded into mana dispersion that dissolved in air, returning to ambient energy rather than leaving corpse.

Absolute silence descended over the practice field.

Because everyone had just witnessed the Bronze 2 beast eliminate the Silver 2 opponent with a single strike that shouldnʼt be possible according to everything they understood about rank advantages.

The bearʼs tamer stood frozen in shock bigger than the severed link pain, staring at empty space where his beast had existed seconds ago. Processing what had occurred but unable to reconcile observation with the understanding of how combat should work.

”What...?” he managed to articulate, a single word carrying confusion and disbelief.

But there was no answer that could satisfy him or make sense of what everyone had witnessed.

No explanation that would reconcile Bronze 2 rank with power to obliterate Silver 2 in a single hit.

Master Lin raised her hand, her own expression showing a small smile impossible to suppress despite attempting professional neutrality.

”Victory: Ren Patinder. Score: 8-9.”

The announcement broke the silence, allowing murmurs to spread through observers who were still trying to process the implications of what theyʼd just seen.

Because if Bronze 2 mantis could do that to Silver 2 opponent...

What would happen when it faced the remaining two fighters who were now questioning whether their beasts could survive even a single hit from a creature that shouldnʼt possess that level of power?

The psychological advantage was complete before the second fight even began.

Team Twelveʼs remaining fighters exchanged glances that showed uncertainty replacing the confidence theyʼd felt moments ago.

And Ren stood calmly waiting for the next opponent to enter the arena, his expression suggesting this outcome had been exactly what heʼd expected rather than a surprising result.

Because heʼd known what his mantis could do.

The accumulated bonuses shared through fusion made rank comparisons meaningless when power differential became this extreme.

The question now wasnʼt whether he could win the remaining two fights.

It was whether his opponents would even try after seeing what awaited them in the arena.

SECOND BATTLE

The silence between matches was oppressing.

Team Twelveʼs remaining fighters stood together, discussing strategy in hushed voices that carried undertones of desperation rather than confidence. The bearʼs obliteration had shattered assumptions about what Bronze 2 rank meant when applied to Renʼs beasts.

Roran stood slightly apart from his remaining teammates, arms crossed, his expression thoughtful rather than defeated.

”I know what youʼre thinking,” he said to the girl preparing to enter second. ”You saw what happened to the bear.”

”Hard to miss,” she responded with dark humor failing at covering her fear. ”One hit. Just... gone.”

”So donʼt get hit,” Roran suggested, though his tone suggested he knew how hollow that advice sounded. ”Lets see… Underground! Make him work for it. I wanna see more.”

He paused, meeting her eyes directly.

”Iʼm not sending you thinking youʼll win. Iʼm being honest about that. But maybe you can learn something about his limits before going down. Maybe tire his beast enough that the next fighter has a chance.”

It was brutal calculus but practical.

She nodded slowly, appreciating the honesty even if it stung. ”So Iʼm the sacrifice to probe for ceiling?”

”We all are,” Roran admitted with grim acceptance. ”The question is whether that ceiling even exists at our level, or if weʼre all just small pebbles trying to gauge the height of a mountain.”

♢♢♢♢

The second opponent entered the arena with visible caution that came from witnessing what awaited her. The Earth Beast materializing beside her.

Sheʼd seen what happened to the bear with its vaunted tank defenses.

She wasnʼt going to commit the same error of underestimating the mantisʼs attack power just because of rank disparity after that...

”Underground, now,” she ordered her beast the instant combat began, not wasting a second on probing or testing.

The beast didnʼt hesitate, sinking into the arena floor like it was liquid rather than solid stone. Earth manipulation at its finest…

Underground it would be practically invisible to normal senses, just like the mantis above. And the mantisʼs strong water element wouldnʼt affect it if it went deep enough, earth absorbing moisture without suffering damage.

It was going to be a stalemate strategy rather than victory-seeking. If she couldnʼt win, at least she could force the beast to exhaust itself trying. Maybe with extreme luck even force Ren to deploy another beast to avoid running out of the maximum time in this match, creating joint elimination that would count as a draw.

Making Ren spend sufficient mana would already be something worth bragging about, would improve her ranking score for grade advancement and maybe even nobility title if she hadnʼt secured hers yet.

Ren remained relaxed in his position, expression suggesting heʼd anticipated this exact type of tactic.

He said only one word. ”No.”

Then his mantis moved.

Or rather… It didnʼt move. But weʼre talking about the earth... Not the mantis, since whether the mantis moved nobody could confirm since it remained invisible.

The earth beast was confused…

Stone that should have parted easily became rigid, refusing commands from the beast that had manipulated it effortlessly seconds ago.

The realization came too late.

The mantis had indeed moved.

Earth wasnʼt the mantisʼs weakness, it was just another element in its repertoire.

The ground resisting with some invisible force was indeed the Mantis superior control.

It appeared above the beast while it was still disoriented from the unexpected counter control, positioning perfect for an attack it couldnʼt defend against.

Her blade-arms struck in an X-pattern, crossing motion that generated clean cuts through the beastsʼs body.

Two strikes executed so quickly they registered as single motion to observers without enhanced perception.

For a moment the beast seemed intact.

Then it separated along those cut lines, sections sliding apart as structural integrity failed catastrophically. The mana form holding the creature together collapsed like a building losing its foundation.

Master Linʼs voice cut through the girlʼs shock and pain. ”Victory: Ren Patinder. Score: 9-9.”