Raising A Few Wives in a Beast Apocalypse

"What? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" Muku asked provocatively.

The CSK looked at his beat-up face for a bit then looked a little lower. Its eyes reflected Muku's hand grabbing its claw just before his shoulder.

That's right, for the first time since the fight began, Muku was actually able to stop one of its attacks.

Interestingly enough, it was all by mistake. It wasn't as intentional as he made it seem.

The thing was, after being beaten so badly. It hurt just to keep his eyes open. So, he closed them soon after taunting it. There was no point in keeping them open when it hurt to do so. They were useless anyway.

He was actually hoping it would finish him off. That way Mrs C would end the trial. He saw no hope of winning it, after all.

That's when something amazing happened. With his eyes closed. He could actually "see" the CSK. His hearing was somehow creating a mental image based on sound!

It was probably only possible due to his greatly enhanced senses. He was finally able to follow the CSK's movements. Which he wasn't able to do with his eyes.

The whole situation was a coincidental surprise. A welcomed coincidental surprise. So, with a slight smirk, he made his move. He perfectly caught the beast's claw.

Then spoke a few words to make it seem cool and all. Unfortunately for him, his beat-up face sucked away all the aura. The scene still seemed more funny than cool.

And Mrs C's laughter in Room Zero was a testament to that. Though she was genuinely happy that he had finally found a way to actually make headway in the battle. She was really considering pulling the plug, after all. She didn't enjoy seeing her son getting beaten up with no benefit to it.

Anyway, back to the fight. The Cynocephalus King backed off a bit. It jumped a few metres back. It then looked at Muku intensely trying to figure out how he did what he did.

After scanning his body for a few seconds, he saw that nothing about him seemed to have changed. Well, except for the arrogant grin on his face.

The CSK made a move again. It figured that Muku stopping its attack was just a lucky block. So, there was no need to pay attention to him.

As for his irritating grin... Well, it was about to wipe it off his face by ripping an arm off. After all, for him to smile like that. It only meant that it was too lenient with him before.

It was time to get a bit more serious. Taking away a hand would just be the start. He was going to know pain!

Whoosh!

Boom!

A familiar scene occurred. One side committed to a sure-kill attack. Then the other side easily dodged it. Which led to the attacking side slamming hard into rubble.

The only difference was the switch in roles. It was the CSK which attacked and Muku who dodged.

BOOM!

Rubble flew everywhere. The angered CSK was revealed. Unlike Muku, it wasn't injured by the crush at all. It immediately got up and it was pissed.

It was one thing to block its attack. But to mock it by copying its move? How dare the ant do such a thing! Did he think they were on equal footing?

Boom!

Instead of its prior refined movement technique which made no sound. The CSK exploded forward at full speed this time. It was no longer in the mood for jokes. It just wanted to rip Muku apart.

"Hmm", Muku made a thinking sound as the CSK approached. His eyes were still closed.

And he dared not open them. What if the auditory mental map was a fluke? He could risk losing it before the battle was won. It wasn't as good or as clear as his mana sense. But it was way better than his eyes. It had given him a fighting chance after all.

Which brought him to his current problem. While he could "see" the CSK now. He wasn't sure if his attacks could actually do significant damage to it.

Its hide seemed thick and tough after all. Which he felt was the case from how it was unfazed by the crash before.

So, his axe might not be able to easily break through with his limited strength. Maybe he would be able to make little cuts with it. However, unless he could make a thousand of them to form the legendary "death by a thousand cuts", he doubted a few cuts would do anything.

And it wasn't like the CSK would just let him axe it all over. So, he really didn't know what to do.

Well, whatever, he'll focus on keeping it at bay first. Then come up with a plan on how to injure it as the fight progresses...

Jump! Miss!

Just before the raging CSK reached him. Muku jumped into the sky. Which made it miss again.

Although the CSK didn't expect another miss. It was prepared for it. So, it didn't smash into something like before. It somehow managed to make a perfect turn and come back for another attack despite the momentum.

Its beastly speed ripped apart the ground wherever it stepped in its quest to decimate Muku.

Unfortunately for it, he somehow managed to evade every attempt. If it were a brainless creature. Its anger would have only increased. However, it was quite intelligent.

And because it was intelligent, it had long figured out that Muku wasn't dodging it by chance. He also didn't block the first attack by luck. He had definitely found a method to counter its speed.

It just hadn't figured out what that method was. Which was why despite having calmed down. It kept up the mad act as it studied Muku.

That way he wouldn't put his guard up. And it can destroy him with ease the moment it figures things out.

Its act paid off. It soon figured out how Muku was able to track it. It noticed his closed eyes and his subtle actions. Muku would always turn his head away from it ever so slightly. Which positioned his ears in the optimal hearing spot.

Seeing such actions, and his subtly twitching ears. The CSK instantly discovered his trick. Its eyes glowed in delight the moment it did.

It was finally time to continue having fun with him. The inactive wings on its back began twitching as it came to a halt some distance away from Muku.

Soon the twitching turned to weak flapping. Which then turned into strong flapping that made dirt fly all over the place. Then...

BOOOM!

It took off into the sky. Initially, it held off from using its wings because there was no need. Muku was simply too weak for such an effort. Afterwards, Muku started dodging its attacks, so it wanted to figure things out first before putting another card on the table.

When it realised Muku's technique. It immediately decided on what to do. It took off into the sky.

While the takeoff was rather "loud". The moment it got into the air, Muku's expression turned grim.

He instantly realised that the CSK had a troublesome skill. It was literally the one thing he hoped it didn't have. And that was, soundless flight!

That's right, it had the rare "soundless" flight that a few owl species in the Old World had. Which was quite surprising.

However, that's not what mattered to him. What mattered was... His new skill was now useless. Just when he was starting to get used to heaven, he was thrown back down into hell.

His eyes instantly snapped open. The swelling on his face had long gone down. Which was one of the perks of being an Evolver. Even without healing spells or fruits and whatnot. An Evolver's natural healing capabilities were already decent enough.

It was only when the Evolver had serious injuries that external help was needed. Which wasn't the case for Muku. The CSK had been focusing on pain instead of long-lasting, serious injuries. So, while dodging its attacks, Muku recovered significantly.

While things still looked bleak. At the very least he could clearly see his end coming now.

He looked up to face the CSK. It looked down at him with a familiar arrogant expression. It was as if it was silently saying, "I've figured out your trick, what's next?"

The look it gave him was really irritating. However, there was nothing he could do about it. Without his usual cheats, he really was outmatched by the beast.

He really wished Mrs C had left him his Telekinesis at least. That way, he wouldn't have been completely at its mercy like now.

It was really frustrating. To think he thought he had finally found a way out for himself. Yet there he was back at the starting line again.

Suddenly everything turned grey in front of his eyes. It seemed like the world around him had been paused. His body had been paused along with it. All he could move were his eyes.

The CSK seemed to have it worse though. It was completely frozen along with the background. The scene seemed quite eerie.

However, Muku wasn't scared or anything. He knew who the culprit was after all.

{Tsk, you could at least pretend to be afraid} A familiar yet dissatisfied voice sounded in Muku's head.