After that fearful roar, the mutated insect opened its wings, flapping them to intimidate Dean.
The boy, though, remained indifferent when seeing that scene. He wasn't caring about those wings at all. Actually, he even expected the monster to do something of the sort. It was their nature to try to intimidate their prey. They knew that it was easier to hunt when the target was scared.
'That's another quirk of these monsters, they don't have sharp senses like canines. However, there is something more concerning about them. They can smell fear...'
That was a guess that Dean brought up after several days of studying those things. He was quite familiar with them.
When analyzing the Scythes closely, he concluded that they weren't especially good when tracking using their hearing or audition. They had antennas that oriented them and made them detect the movements of other animals, but they didn't have a wide range of reach and couldn't spot anything that was too far away.
Dean even considered that those things weren't capable to hear, smell, or see correctly.
That's why he guessed the fact that they can "smell fear". Maybe it was a technique that "Chaos" allowed them to have. It was quite useful for predators like them, who adored to eat particularly humans since they weren't as good when fighting against Dreads.
Since Dean had that information, he maintained himself composed when the Scythe was trying to scare him.
"Come at me, flying cockroach..." He muttered, looking intently at the monster and firming his feet on the ground.
When the beast realized that Dean wouldn't run away, nor show any trace of fear, it became even angrier.
Letting out another roar, the Scythe jumped towards Dean, using its wings to increase the range of his jump.
Dean somersaulted to the side, avoiding that its two weapons targeted his body.
Just as he thought, those exchanges would be more intense than the one that they had before.
The Scythes were good at close combat, particularly against swords. However, they lost all the techniques that they could develop through their life when letting the fury get the better of them.
Dean, since the start, wanted to take that thing off its balance, and there wasn't any better mean to do that than making it angry.
As the Scythe continued to leap and unleash several attacks against the boy, Dean simply dodged or parried its blows that now didn't even have the same surgical precision as before. The Dread was surely faster now, but there were some blows that Dean didn't even need to dodge.
'Ok, he is getting more and more frustrated. His attacks are getting wilder and their precision is all messed. I just need to hold on for some seconds more. No need to get desperate.' Dean thought while waving his body to the sides and avoiding a flurry of blows.
Meanwhile, Hector was still watching that battle.
He could notice that Dean was getting better and better throughout their journey, but the boy's progress was just too great. Instead of going one level at a time, Dean was leaping from level 1 to 15 in the blink of an eye.
'It's been a while since I can't give myself time to train, but when I did so, I remember that the Path of Ascendance wasn't just hard, but consumed a lot of time and needed extreme patience.'
Nonetheless, Dean was stepping on that concept.
'How can that naive and coward boy from before get so strong so quickly? Is it our fault? By making this boy a slave, did we create a monster capable of killing us?'
"Believe in me when I say that my sword won't stop the next time! I will kill you! I swear for the name of my homeland that I will do it!" Dean's words echoed in his mind and a chill ran down his spine.
He couldn't believe that he was afraid of a brat, but Hector couldn't deny it to himself.
That man took Dean's words lightly after Rick soothed the atmosphere. For them, he was just a shitty slave that talked too much. But now that they were more conscious of Dean, he was showing that nothing that he said before should be taken lightly.
Hector feared for his life.
He always was fearing for his life in every battle. Maybe that's why his long-range spells fit him so well. He couldn't imagine himself going to the frontline.
'Dean will win this...' He thought but didn't know if he was referring to the Scythe or their group.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, he heard a shriek of pain. He was aloof while thinking about those things and lost track of the battle.
He was kind o rooting for the Scythe to hurt Dean, but he got disappointed when he saw what really happened.
Dean's sword was poised in a way that showed that he just unleashed a wide swing with it.
The Scythe was standing in front of him, looking to his own body, precisely the left side... where his arm was missing.
The creature seemed both in shock and angered because of what happened. Its mind couldn't register that his prey could do such a thing to him, who was meant to be the ultimate hunter.
Before it could react again, Dean kicked the ground and rushed forward.
Now that he was certain of his victory, he began to increase the quantity of "Willpower" spread on his body. His speed and strength increased exponentially, getting to their peak when he stepped inside the guard of his opponent.
The Scythe tried to retaliate, its remaining claw got aimed at Dean's face. Nonetheless, the boy moved his upper body slightly to the side, avoiding being disfigured by the blow, which just scratched his cheek.
There wasn't time to dodge anymore. The Dread's wings wouldn't be strong enough to lift him in the air just in time to avoid the blow. And his natural lack of elasticity on the joints wouldn't allow him to avoid the blow.
With a sharp swing, using his whole body together to deliver that single blow, Dean's sword drew a bow on the air and split the Scythe in two without making any sound.
All he needed on that battle were only three attacks.