Insect Tamer's Ascension

Theo was in a hurry, so he tried throwing the opened white sheet right away. But Clara tugged his hand and grabbed the white sheet.

He frowned and looked at her for a second—every moment counted as the viper could just crawl out anytime.

It was then that he saw Clara looking in the front, not at the hole.

Theo did the same and went pale, he saw many heads bobbing from the tall grass near them.

He quickly got up and made distance. Being too close to the hole after being dazed could potentially help the viper hurt him, if not kill him.

Now that their cover was blown, three vipers came out of the tall grass right away, and Theo looked at Clara, who had a serious expression on her face.

He looked down again and saw that the viper had still not come out, which was good.

He quickly came back to his senses and found that the mantis had already left his shoulder. Theo did not care about finding it and just started giving out commands.

'Kill all the vipers but leave the one in the hole,' He gave the command and clicked his tongue.

The command was not very clear, and while its intelligence was high, Theo didn't want any loose ends.

But now that the command was already given, it would just confuse the mantis if he were to change it.

Fortunately, Theo saw the kill message and the head of one of the three vipers on the ground, and then its body.

He nodded toward Clara, who was doing nothing. Theo did not know why she had not sent the boar and the pup to take care of them till now.

He saw another viper fall to the ground with a thud. The cut grass on the ground rustled, yet there was no kill message.

Theo deduced that it was just the mantis who had used the 'spore lash' on one of them.

He looked at Clara again, who was looking ahead with vigilance. Her hands were in front of both the boar and the pup as if calming them down, who were ready to fight.

Their eyes met for a second, where Theo told her to attack in sign language.

He saw a smile bloom on her face, and it was only then that the boar and the pup moved forward.

'What the hell?' Theo thought for a second yet shook his head—there was no time left.

He quickly bobbed his head after moving toward the hole vigilantly, once both the boar and the pup had moved past him.

And there it was—the viper had stopped eating already and was in the hole with its tail by the side of its face.

'Is it feeling safe in there?' Theo thought. As he realized that the viper was not readying itself to pounce at him, he threw the cloth fully open inside the hole quickly without thinking, it was now or never.

The viper's eyes zoomed in and out a few times, and it tried moving, yet it was futile—the cloth had covered it fully.

Theo quickly took the branch he kept on the ground and crouched toward the hole. He could see the outline of the viper trying to move forward and get out of the cloth from the side.

He quickly moved while still crouched and reached the side of the hole from where the viper was going to emerge.

Theo's eyes sharpened. He had his full trust in his mantis and Clara's beasts—they were going to look after his back.

Clara quickly came and sat beside Theo. She took in the situation around them once before getting the dagger out of her waist belt.

Theo was focused, and when he first saw the viper slowly bob its head out, he forcefully stabbed its face with widened eyes and gritted teeth.

SMACK!

The 'V'-shaped part of the branch dug at the sides, and Theo felt happy—the viper's head was stuck because of the branch.

The viper's whole body moved except the head, and before Theo knew it, its tail also came out.

The plan did not go as planned, but one thing was clear—the branch had worked properly.

Clara saw the scene and then looked at Theo. There was pride in her eyes. She looked up again and saw the boar and the pup coming toward her while the mantis just started devouring the dead viper's body near the tall grass.

"Woah," Theo yelped while the viper tried getting its head out of the 'V'-shaped trap. Its head was surprisingly strong, and Theo felt like he couldn't hold on for long.

The only possible way for the viper to stop moving was if it died.

"Shit, I need to do something about that tail…" Theo thought aloud.

"Would you like me to take care of the tail?" Clara spoke almost instantly.

Theo frowned and, in a confused state, just bobbed his head.

It was then that Clara threw the dagger in her hand with a grin and pierced the tail in one go.

The dagger dug itself into the ground, and the tail that should have been stuck was cut in half.

Theo frowned. He didn't know if there was something written about the viper being perfectly healthy or not.

But now that the tail of the viper was moving around frantically in pain, he quickly shouted, "Quick! Hold its head like this, Clara."

Clara did as she was told and kept one hand on the branch and then the other.

Theo slowly loosened his grip, and it was then that he realized it wasn't needed—veins could be seen around Clara's slender arms as if she was buffed or something.

And the viper's head, which had been moving under his hold, completely stopped.

"D-Don't push too hard," Theo stated, his face pale, was she going to kill it with that strength?

He quickly jumped down into the hole.

Clara had a concerned look now—the part she thought to be dangerous was already here.

Theo took the rope out of his waist belt. It was time to do the worst part.