Chapter 98: Chapter 9: Two of Them!
Yan Luo took down the long-barreled shotgun, holding it in his hand, eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings, and his perception module entered a semi-active state.
The magic moth could perceive the fluctuations of sonar, so Yan Luo did not activate the sonar.
All the surrounding information was transformed into images, presented in front of Yan Luo.
Scales attached to the trunk and leaves were consecutively discovered by Yan Luo; he knew he was very close to the location of the magic moth.
This bright blue powder stuck on the plants was as obvious as fleas on a hairless cat, easily spotted by Yan Luo at a glance.
Yet, there seemed to be too many scales in this forest, somewhat beyond Yan Luo’s expectations.
Fortunately, an increase in the number of scales was not a sign that the magic moth had become a city-breaking level demon; Yan Luo was not worried about a city-breaking level demon suddenly popping up here.
Now, he could only deal with dangerous-level demons; city-breaking level demons were absolutely beyond him, even with a hot-melt axe in hand.
Yan Luo stealthily maneuvered around the target, looking at the magic moth perched high on the tree trunk, and subtly raised the muzzle of the shotgun in his hand.
For a hunter, magic moths were easy to deal with; as long as one avoided surprise attacks from the magic moth, the oxygen system of the exoskeleton could be used early on to isolate the scales.
Besides using scales for attacks, the magic moth could also cast some minor spells, though they were essentially triggered by the magic power contained within the scales, so observing the flight trajectory of the scales made it easy to dodge spells.
The magic moth crouched on the tree trunk was a dangerous-level demon, which was easy for the current Yan Luo to handle, although caution was still necessary.
Taking a deep breath, Yan Luo suddenly rushed out from the shadows, stepping on the trunk, and the foot propulsion system erupted, aiding Yan Luo to continue ascending.
The magic moth on the tree was instantly startled, flapping its wings to scatter a large amount of scale powder as it flew up and away from the trees.
Yan Luo suddenly swung out a grappling hook, grabbing another tree, letting the grappling gun carry him over.
The scales on the magic moth were not infinite; within a short period, it could only spread scales in a fixed quantity, so if unable to kill it, one could also try to deplete its scales.
When the magic moth’s scales were exhausted, it became a piece of meat ready to be slaughtered.
As Yan Luo dodged, the sparkling blue dust in the air abruptly lit up with sparks, immediately triggering a violent explosion.
The hot wind rushed towards him, completely blocked by the exoskeleton armor.
Using the hot wind, the magic moth flew further, then looped back, scattering scales from high above.
Yan Luo let go of the grapple, landed on the ground, only to see the scales in the air morphing into gust bullets, rushing at him.
Though they were gust bullets, they were essentially wind.
Yan Luo didn’t move, allowing the gust bullets to hit his body; only slight vibrations were transmitted to his surface, the remaining impact absorbed by the exoskeleton armor.
The power of the gust bullets was comparable to a standard rifle bullet; had Yan Luo been wearing his previous set of exoskeletons, his body would have been subjected to more impact. But the Tenglong II model was different; even at close range against rifle fire, its defense wouldn’t be breached.
Yan Luo landed on the ground and immediately rushed towards the magic moth’s direction.
The magic moth flapped its wings, gracefully circling around, hiding behind a tree.
Compared to other demons, the magic moth’s body was relatively fragile; a close shot with even a self-defense pistol could kill it.
To survive, the magic moth evolved a more flexible mind than other demons.
It wouldn’t recklessly fight to the death like other demons; it would use the surrounding environment to set traps, avoid attacks.
Yan Luo didn’t recklessly chase after it, knowing the traits the magic moth possessed; only an idiot would pursue directly.
Yan Luo circled widely around the trees where the magic moth was hiding.
While running, he didn’t forget to observe the surroundings, keeping an eye on the scales stuck to the tree trunks and leaves, avoiding contact.
Even though the scales were separated from the magic moth’s body, as long as the blue color on the powder hadn’t completely faded, the magic moth could trigger the scales to use magic.
Yan Luo consumed oxygen faster than ordinary people, and merely during this ten-second battle, he used up one-twentieth of a full 2-liter oxygen tank.
Thus, he had to fight quickly and decisively.
Noticing the commotion Yan Luo created, the magic moth prepared to circumvent the trees once more, but Yan Luo wouldn’t give it another chance.
A concussion grenade was tossed out with full force by Yan Luo, bouncing off the tree and exploding mid-air.
With the sound and light exploding, the magic moth’s body stiffened, falling from the air.
Yan Luo dashed over, drawing his blade to strike.
The long blade split the magic moth’s fragile body in two, its halves twitched a few more times before slowly stiffening.
The magic moth’s body dispersed, condensing into a pair of compound eyes.
"Tsk!" Yan Luo disdainfully picked up the compound eyes.
Besides scales, other drops from the magic moth were worthless, even hunting guild consignment couldn’t find a buyer.
If it weren’t for consuming some materials in killing this magic moth, Yan Luo wouldn’t even want to pick up those compound eyes.
Just then, Yan Luo’s perception module suddenly alerted him, reflecting the image behind him in front of Yan Luo.
A magic moth silently appeared behind Yan Luo, flapping its wings.
"What?!"
Even someone as composed as Yan Luo couldn’t help but shout in surprise.
Scales were swept towards Yan Luo, landing on his back; before he could react, he was blasted away from the spot by an explosion.
Boom!
Yan Luo’s body heavily struck a tree, shaking loose the scales on the branches.
Some scales fell onto Yan Luo, and were again triggered to explode by the magic moth.
Were it not for wearing the Tenglong II model, Yan Luo would have been severely injured if not dead.
The armor mitigated a large amount of impact and heat, ultimately transmitting to Yan Luo’s body, leaving him somewhat dazed, vision blurry.
"Damn it!"
Yan Luo cursed, fighting dizziness, hitting the ground with a fist and staggering to his feet, running away from the place.
As he ran away, ice crystals emerged there, freezing half a tree.
Fleeing hastily, Yan Luo inevitably got some scales on him, triggered by the magic moth, converting into frost.
Frost froze Yan Luo, infiltrating the joints of the exoskeleton, making movement significantly harder.
No longer concerned with conserving resources, Yan Luo hurled a concussion grenade behind him, trying to control the second magic moth, but this magic moth seemed smarter than the previous one, using scales to launch gust bullets and knock the grenade away.
However, this also provided Yan Luo some respite.
During this time, Yan Luo packed all the information about the surroundings into his mind, and started pondering the presence of a second magic moth.
Though two magic moths belonged to the same species with identical abilities, the idea of ’peaceful coexistence’ among demons was nonexistent.
Even among the same species, they would hunt each other.
The hunting range of a single magic moth could encompass the entire forest; however, a second magic moth was present, seemingly more skilled in combat than the first, indicating this magic moth was not newly spawned.
The time taken to hunt one magic moth was simply not enough for a second one to arrive from outside the forest, meaning this magic moth was there from the start.
Two demons of the same level coexisting?
Yan Luo was sure he wasn’t losing his mind; it was just hard to accept this answer.
Could demons truly coexist peacefully? It’s simply a huge joke!
Yan Luo raised the shotgun, putting aside distracting thoughts, charging directly at the second magic moth.
The magic moth flapped its wings, stirring a strong wind in the forest.
Though the wind couldn’t disturb Yan Luo, it allowed the magic moth to accelerate its flight, quickly dispersing scales.
Upon seeing this, Yan Luo’s eyes narrowed slightly.
This magic moth’s battle intelligence far surpassed the previous one; defeating it swiftly was unlikely.
Then, switch tactics—
Find a way to deplete this magic moth’s scale reserves, turning it into a lamb for slaughter!