"Flank it. Wait for my shot."
Leon's whisper barely disturbed the oppressive silence of the chamber. His Elite Grave Mage drifted left while the reconstructed assassin melted into the shadows on the right. Blue energy swirled around spectral fingertips as his undead positioned themselves.
The mantis boss loomed in the doorway like a living nightmare. Its triangular head tilted with predatory curiosity, and its compound eyes reflected phosphorescent light in fractal patterns. The creature's carapace absorbed shadows, making its outline difficult to discern.
Leon's muscles coiled with tension. Every instinct screamed danger as he studied the monster's stance. This was no mindless beast—intelligence gleamed behind those alien eyes.
Then the mantis moved.
The speed that defied physics instantly carried eight feet of bladed death across twenty feet of stone. Leon's gun barked, the mana round striking center mass. Chitin cracked but held; the shot merely scored the creature's natural armor.
The assassin struck from the side, twin knives seeking gaps between armored plates. Steel scraped harmlessly across the hardened carapace as the mantis twisted with impossible flexibility.
Freezing energy erupted from the Grave Mage's position. Spectral ice wrapped around one of the creature's rear legs, anchoring it momentarily. The mantis shrieked—a sound like breaking glass mixed with animal fury.
Leon rolled behind a fallen pillar as razor-sharp forearms swept through the space where his head had just been. Stone chips exploded where the creature's weapons struck, each impact powerful enough to shatter bone.
The chamber reeked of disturbed earth and a metallic scent that made Leon's teeth ache. Ancient dust swirled, kicked up by the mantis's violent movements.
Then, the creation vanished.
Not invisibility—something worse. The mantis seemed to merge with the darkness, becoming one with shadows that shouldn't exist in the phosphorescent chamber.
Leon dropped to one knee, signaling his undead to freeze. He slowed his breathing to barely perceptible movements. Sound became his primary sense as vision failed him.
A whisper of displaced air above his position.
Leon threw himself sideways as the mantis dropped like a falling blade from the ceiling. Its forearms punched into the stone where he had knelt, the impact sending tremors through the floor.
The assassin moved instantly, zig-zagging across the chamber in erratic patterns designed to confuse and distract. Her movements were fluid and unpredictable—bait for a predator that relied on anticipating its prey's actions.
The Grave Mage attempted to illuminate the darkness, blue fire blazing brighter than usual. The mantis's outline flickered and shimmered, caught between shadow and light like a half-remembered nightmare.
The creature took the bait.
Compound eyes tracked the assassin's movement for three seconds—long enough to predict her next position. The mantis lunged with surgical precision.
Mandibles crunched through spectral flesh and bone. The assassin's left arm, dark ichor spraying across the chamber walls, separated at the shoulder. But instead of retreating, she drove her remaining knife upward into the creature's mouth.
Steel punched through softer tissue behind the mandibles. The mantis recoiled, shrieking again, giving Leon the opening he needed.
The creature's back leg revealed a pale membrane at the joint where the armor plates met. Leon's shot tore through the vulnerable gap, severing tendons and ligaments. Dark fluid gushed from the wound.
The Grave Mage seized the moment of distraction. Spectral chains erupted from the chamber floor, wrapping around the mantis's damaged leg and spreading upward. Ice crystallized around the bonds, anchoring the creature to the stone.
For one precious heartbeat, the boss was immobilized.
The mantis's response was immediate and catastrophic. Muscles bunched beneath its carapace as it strained against the mystical restraints. Spectral ice cracked, then shattered like glass hitting concrete.
This time, the creature's shriek carried a rage beyond animal fury. It had been wounded, trapped, humiliated by prey that should have died in the first exchange.
The mantis fixed its compound eyes on Leon with laser focus. Every other target became irrelevant. This human had marked it, hurt it, and defied its natural superiority.
The charge came like a living avalanche.
Eight feet of armored death crossed the chamber in explosive motion. Forearms swept aside stone debris and spectral attacks with equal disdain. Nothing would prevent it from reaching the source of its pain.
Leon's world narrowed to tunnel vision. Every sense focused on the approaching nightmare. His hands moved automatically, raising the mana gun and settling into a firing stance.
Time stretched like elastic as his finger found the trigger. The mantis filled his entire field of view, compound eyes blazing with alien hatred.
This was the moment that would determine everything.