"I'm luring them all right here."
Arin's blue eyes widened with animalistic fear when he heard the Ishogian's words. As per usual, his brief moment of respite had been destroyed by another bad situation more dire than the last. However, this scenario differed from the others he'd been in recently. Because now, for the first time in his entire life, a very real threat on his life was approaching. And it was approaching rather fast.
"Why would you ever want to do something so... So fucking stupid?!"
Arin couldn't see a thing, but he somehow knew that Renota's bloody yellow teeth were spread out in a wide grin.
"Because it's our best bet."
Arin was utterly confused.
"There's no world where suicide is the best path to survival!"
"I'm not bringing those bugs to fight them all, I'm doing it to run away."
By this point, Arin didn't even have anything else to say.
"When I was fighting that bug, I realized something interesting. Its eyes are the same as ours. That means, without anything bright, they can't see a thing. And then I thought, 'If I lure as many as them to one spot as I can, then I can just leave that spot before they get there!'"
Arin was less than impressed by Renota's 'genius' plan to escape the scythed hands of the moonless grassland's insects.
"Great! They can't see us. But what if they can hear us, even if we're quiet?! They probably can, considering that they can't see!" Arin's valid criticism towards his plan didn't do much to faze Renota. After all, it was just a strategy he quickly came up with after he realized he was being far too loud.
"If they can hear us while we're being quiet, then there's probably nothing that could've been done..." Renota had been trying hard to rationalize the plan, both to him and Arin, but that was before he suddenly came up with a few other, more reasonable courses of action he could've taken instead. He was lucky to have the lightless night obscuring his guilt-ridden face. "...But that doesn't matter anymore! The plan's set in stone. So, either come with me, or get butchered by a big scythe you can't even see."
Arin grit his teeth in anger. He wanted to lash out at Renota for forcing him into a situation so risky and dangerous. He, honestly, wanted to kill him.
Although it was Renota's fault he was in this terrible situation, his anger towards the Ishogian couldn't shake the feeling that he was still the best chance at survival. This feeling terrified Arin.
'If the Ishog is my best chance... I really am fucked.'
***
For a while, Renota's plan was working out rather well. They had already made it far past the location where Renota had been shouting, and they only occasionally were forced to be near a small amount of the insects who hadn't been lured in by Renota. Currently, they were in such an occasion, but they were still managing to sneak past rather well.
That is, until Renota sent out a suppressed, but still rather loud cry of pain.
'I knew it would be a fatal mistake to work with an Ishog!'
The twenty-nine eyes, which were previously looking towards the location of Renota's calls, now turned to look at Renota's current location, who quickly ignited his fists with yellow flame, garnering the full attention of twenty human-like eyes. No longer hidden by the darkness, Arin also became the target of the remaining nine eyes. Renota's flames were only bright enough to illuminate himself, Arin, and a small amount of their surroundings, which consisted of the standard grass and a rare great oak.
Looking down, Renota noticed his toes were crushed up against the base of the tree. He found it rather comedic that he might die today because he'd stubbed his toe.
Renota dismissed the hilarious thoughts and assumed a loose and adaptable fighting stance, his right fist held above his left, both beneath his head. His left foot was placed in front of his right, and he faced the two currently obscured creatures with a suddenly serious and determined gaze, uncharacteristic for the usually cheerful and carefree man.
Arin widened his stance and bent his knees, tightening his grip on the onyx and azure hilt of his katana. His blue eyes stared intensely into largest of the insect's nine functioning human-like eyes, filled with a grim resolve. The two young men were prepared for battle.
Renota wanted to step in quickly and get the advantage on the two insects, but reluctantly decided to allow them to come to him. He couldn't just let Arin fight such a dangerous beast completely blind. And of course, Arin couldn't just jump into the darkness without being able to see the creature's terrible scythes. So, the two of them slowly backed up, patiently waiting for their opponents' first move. They quickly reached as far back as they could, each other's own backs, and then held their ground.
The first of the five combatants to make a move was one of the two insects facing off against Renota, and the other two beasts soon followed suit. A terrifying bone scythe was quickly swung directly at Renota's throat, which he narrowly but easily weaved under. The insect's other arm attempted to cut him in half vertically, however Renota's unreasonably incredible martial arts skills continued to carry him towards the creature, no matter what attack it threw at him. In nearly an instant, his right fist crashed into the creature's side, illuminating its crab-like set of six hairy chitin legs. The creature was launched into the one next to it, knocking them both to the ground with significant damages. He was pretty sure they weren't going to get up for at least little while.
When he turned around to assist his companion, a horrific scene was waiting for him.
If the strange insects of the moonless field were described best as disgusting and unholy beasts, then the creature Arin was facing off against was nothing short of diabolical. The nine-eyed insect's appearance was somewhat comparable to that of its brethren, possessing hairy chitin skin, a tarantula-like head, a mantis-like body and arms, held up by crab-like legs. However, every putrid aspect about the creature was on an entirely different tier of foulness.
It's crab-esque legs were much beefier and volatilely shaped than that of its brethren, and it also seemed to be riddled with a number of strange and large bumps resembling barnacles. Its mantis-like chest was roughly the same as the other creatures, except for the fact that it was roughly twice as thick and hairy. The arms extending from it were a similar case, with thick hairy arms and bone scythes twice as large as the other creatures. However, unlike the similar creatures who possessed only 2 arms, this beastly insect possessed 4 vile arms, bone scythes extending from each.
Its head was mostly the same as its brethren, possessing the same inconsistent teeth, gaping maw, and tarantula-like mandibles. The only noticeable difference is that one of its nine eyes was smashed in from a battle it had been in long ago.
Further unsimilar to its brethren, which were usually only a little taller than Arin, this beast was easily a whole foot taller than Renota, likely even taller.
Right now, Arin was barely able to hold his obsidian-bladed sword in a blocking position as two terrifying bone scythes were pushing down on him with incredible force. The other two scythes were... not being used. It wasn't because they were injured or unusable, but rather because the creature was choosing to toy with its prey.
Although its barely closable maw of a mouth was completely unable to portray emotion, the two unprepared Campaigners could've sworn that its mouth was curved upwards in a heinous grin.