Marcus walked towards it, his steps light and deliberate.
Even if he was in the 20-degree arc of the safe zone, he wouldn't want to make unnecessary noise, and the more he moved further, the more the safe zone space reduced due to the arc that extended from the thorax region of the beast.
Using his eyes to measure every path he walked while gripping the metal beam with both hands, he was now about two feet from the beast.
With his five-foot metal beam, Marcus could smash its thorax region and break it into two.
If he were to move a few inches to the right or the left, he would step on the beast's sensory range immediately.
'This is my chance'
Marcus felt the need to get it over with. If it was an ordinary cricket, with a single smash of his palm, he would have broken it into pieces, but this was a mutant beast.
He wasn't feeling any fear, although its size was monstrous, with how it perched on the loose earth, it was as tall as Marcus.
But that didn't matter after all, it had a very weak sight, Marcus thought as long as he was in the safe zone, he had the upper hand.
Marcus extended the metal beam of five feet over the back of the beast cricket which perched on the ground, ready to strike.
The metal beam was now three feet long across the back of the beast cricket but it didn't extend over the mutant beast completely.
'When it is on the verge of hitting it, I will move forward a bit so the beam can break it into two completely'
Marcus wanted to make it a clean hit, not a half-assed work, because he thought, if he were to hit it, its body wouldn't separate completely given the I-beam wasn't extended completely across its back.
Marcus readied his weapon, ready to squash the beast from the middle part.
With one swift movement, he raised the I-beam upward and brought it downward.
When Marcus saw it was about a couple of feet from hitting the back of the beast, he moved forward a couple of inches to ensure a clean hit that would break it into two completely.
SWOOSH!!...
"Shit!!"
Marcus' eyes widened and his heart jumped and hammered against his chest as he stepped on something and slipped.
He managed to catch a glimpse of what he stepped on before falling, it was a sleet.
"Holy shit!... but it didn't snow today!"
Marcus muttered frustratedly and fell immediately.
He tried to support himself but his left kneel had touched the sensory range just a couple of inches from the left side of the safe zone.
"I blew it!"
BANG!!
The I-beam Marcus held seemed to do the job as it landed on the flattened and broad head of the Beast mole cricket.
SQUASH!!
The head squashed immediately and the metal beam fell off from his hand.
Marcus' heart jumped for joy immediately, even though it wasn't where he was aiming, he managed to fuck up the beast's head.
Looking at it, it was a mess, the left eye popped out, the sight was unsettling, greenish fluid oozed out, mingling with fragments of its internal tissues, tiny bits of the beast's brain matter, and shattered pieces of its exoskeleton scattered around, creating a macabre mosaic on the loose earth around.
"Eek!!"
[Host luck isn't helping at all!]
"Fuck off!!"
Marcus yelled, not until thick earth sprayed on his body from above.
Eh!
He looked up, Marcus thought the beast mole cricket was supposed to be dead, its flattened broad head was already a mess.
"What the hell!"
Marcus was surprised at the sight unfolding, the wings were now spreading and rising upwards like it wanted to take off which caused the thick earth it was smeared in to fall off and sprayed on him.
[Insect can survive for a week without a head!]
"Shit!" He rushed towards the safe zone immediately, surprisingly, the beast cricket didn't move around, it only moved its transparent wings which spread out.
"Don't tell me it wanted to stridulate"
[Exactly!]
"But I have already moved away from the sensory range!"
"Wait" a smile curled on Marcus' lips.
"Can't the sound affect it"
Marcus reasoned that if the sound could affect it, then it would be a matter of tenacity between both of them.
The winner would be the last creature standing, and given his constitution stat point which was thrice of an average human, Marcus was sure to win in that case.
[Since it is a mutant beast, organs have evolved to withstand its attack]
"Fuck!"
Marcus' eyes widened, and his brain was starting to process how the destruction would be.
'No I can't take it, 170 Decibels!' he yelled inwardly then turned to dash away.
"Shit!"
RRWRRING!!!....RRWRRING....
RRWRRING!!!....RRWRRING...
Marcus's head throbbed as the grating noise penetrated his ears, bringing an instant headache.
It was akin to the chirp of a normal cricket, yet magnified in intensity to an unbearable level. Gritting his teeth, he braced myself as another sound emerged.
POW!!
POH!!
The sound brought an inexplicable pain, Marcus' legs gave way immediately and he spurted out a volume of blood.
His vision started swimming then he started shedding tears, tears of blood, and his eyes became bloodshot immediately.
[Two organs burst!!]
[Host body is in a critical state!]
It was as if hell as a whole was placed inside his body, with every sound, Marcus spurted out thick blood as tumbled and sprawled on the ground unable to move an inch.
It was as if a balloon was bursting from pressure.
RRWRRING!!!....RRWRRING....
RRWRRING!!!....RRWRRING...
"Damn it, so I'm gonna die here"
POW!!
UHGh!!
He spurted out thick blood, his upper body started to feel empty as if all the organs that carried weight were deflating, Marcus tried to clutch at his stomach.
POW!!
[Left lung is burst! Eardrum burst!]
[System will take appropriate measures!]
'What measure? I'm obviously gonna die here with the shit punishment you gave me'
Marcus let out a derisive laugh even as pain coursed throughout his body. He started gasping for air, his breath already growing faint.
He thought about what the parasitic system said.
"'Symbiotic relationship' that means if I die, it will die also"
'Serve you right, shithead'
His body almost lost in the throes of pain that coursed through him.