My Eros System Grants Me Infinite Romance Routes
Chapter 16: Weak Points Identified...
CHAPTER 16: WEAK POINTS IDENTIFIED...
The guardian attacked a gain, m oving faster than before.
Akira raised his dagger subcon s ciously, trying to block. The Mantis’s claw came down like a guillotine blade. T he Mantis’s sharp claw dropped like a g uillotine blade. His dagger hit the c reature’s tough arm, making sparks fly, but the met al was too hard. His blade couldn’t even leave a mark.
The force of the impact sent vibrations u p Akira’s arm, numbing his finger s.
"The skin is too h ard!" he yelled. "Nothing’s getting throu gh!"
Before he could process tha t, the Mantis’s leg shot out i n a hard kick t hat caught him straight in the chest. He was thrown back so hard the a ir rushed out of him. His body slid across the stone floor for a few feet until he hit something solid.
His back hit a metal s uppor t pillar with fo rce. White-hot pain erupted through his spine. He crumpled to the ground, gasping for ai r th at wouldn’t come.
"Akira!" Ayaka’s voice sounded distan t, muffled by t he ringing in his ears.
He groaned, trying to push himself up. "I... I didn’t sign up for this shit..."
[SCANNING COMPLETE]
The te xt flashe d across his vision, past the pain and disorientation.
Suddenly, a detailed digital sketch of the G uardian materiali sed in front of him, like a wireframe model rotating slowly.
Most of the creature’s body was highlighted in angry red, indicating impenetrable armour. But two specific areas glowed bright green: the cluster of multi-faceted eye s covering its head, a nd a small join t located between where its t wo rear leg s connected to its body.
[WEAK POINTS IDENTIFIED]
[TARGET ZONE ALPHA : OCULAR ARRAY (HEAD)]
[TARGET ZONE BETA: POSTERIOR JOINT (LOWER BODY)]
"Finally!" Akira wheezed, forcing hi mself to his knees. "Took you long enough, Ai!"
"Better late than never, darling," Ai’s voice purred in his mind. "Those are your only openings. Everything else is Grade-4 demon chitin, harder than ste el. Miss those spots, and you might as well be throwi ng pebbles."
The Mantis was advancing again, moving in an almost playful way. It knew it had them cornered.
"You... hurt... easy..." it chittered. "I... expected... more... from... essence... bearer..."
"Essence bearer?" Ayaka’ s eyes w idened. "It knows what you are?"
"Apparently!" Akira spat blood from his m outh, tasting iron. "Not exactly comforting information right now!"
[CHOICE DETECTED]
The system’s screen popped u p, showing him two choices:
[A: END THIS QUICKLY - Strike at weak points immediately. High risk, high reward. RISK: Single attempt, fatal if you fail REWARD: +100 PERV-POINTS, SKILL: PRECISION STRIKE (LVL 1), TITLE: QUICK KILLER]
[B: TACTICAL EVASION - Taunt and evade for 5 minut es, then strike when Guard ian is exhausted. RISK: Sustained concentration requ ired, one mistake could be fatal REWARD: + 150 PERV-POINTS, SKILL : ENHANCED REFLEXES (LVL 2), SKILL: COM BAT ANALYSIS (LVL 1), TITLE: TACTICI AN]
"Are you kidding me?" Akira growled at the interface. "Those are my options?"
"What options?" Ayaka demanded, sending another burst of energy at the Mantis to buy time. It barely slowed the creature down. "What is it telling you?"
"It’s asking if I want to go for the kill or just try to survive f or five minutes!"
"Can we eve n last five minutes against t his thing?" Ayaka’s voice sounded strained. "The system wants us to wear it down through evasion? That’s... actually st rategi c, b ut incredibly dangerous."
"Exactly. "
"My po wer is almost depleted. I can give you m aybe two more distractions, three if I push it."
The Mantis l aughed again, enjoying their situati on before charging at them.
"Akira, darling!" Ai purred. "You have to make a choice... NOW!"
Akira’s mind rac ed. Option A was insane: one shot at those weak points with a creature this fast? The chances of success were slim.
But Option B meant taking hits for five full min utes from something that ha d just kicked him across a room like a soccer ball.
His body a ched badly. His ribs were bruised, his back was ki lling him, and the cut on his cheek was bleeding.
But the memory of Sakura’s mocking face and words, Kenji’s arrogant grin, and every look that dismissed him as a nobody fueled h is r age.
He wanted po wer, revenge, and the chance to build an empire.
Five minutes of running like a coward, or one perfect moment of execution?
"Fuck s urviving," Akira muttered, ti ghtening his grip on the dagger. "I didn’t come here to run."
The Manti s was almost on him now, raising its b lade-like li mbs for a killing blow.
"I’m goin g for A!" Akira shouted to Ayak a . "Distract it one more time! Make it count!"
"You’re insane!" Ayaka’s hands glowed with t he last reserves of her power. "But I suppose that’s why you were chosen!"
She released everything she had left in a massive burst o f crimson energy that exp loded against the Mantis’s side. The creature shrieked, actu ally stumbling this tim e, its con centration br oken for a crucial second.
[CHOICE CONFIRMED: OPTION A]
[WARNING: SINGLE ATTEMPT ONLY. FAILURE MEA NS DEATH.]
[TARGETING ASSI STANCE ACTIVATED]
Green tar geting reticles a ppeared in Akira’s vision, tracking the Mantis’s movements and predicting i ts next position . The ocular ar ray pulsed with a soft glow, marking it as the primary t arget. T he joint between its legs flickered as a secondary option.
"Come o n," Akira whispere d, watching the crea ture recover from Ayaka’s blast. "Just one opening. That’s all I ne ed."
The Mantis turned its attention fu lly to Ayaka now, seeing her as the more immediate threat after that powerful attack. It moved toward her with murderous intent.
"That... h urt... You. .. PAY..."
Ay aka backed away, her hands trembling with ex haustion. "Akira... what ever you’re going to do... do it NOW!"
The creature raised b oth blade-arms high, preparing to cut her down.
And in that moment, with its attention comple tely focused on Ayaka, with its body fully extended and ex posed, Akira saw his chance.
He pushed off the pillar, ignoring the pain i n his back. His legs pumped, carrying him fo rward faster than he’d ever moved in his li fe. The targeting reticles tracked his approach, calculating angles, distances, and optimal strike zones.
The Mantis began to sense that something was wrong. Its head started to turn, but it was too late.
"This is for every time I got knocked down!" Akira screamed, launching h imself into the air.
He held h is dag ger tightly in his right hand as he pushed it forward with all his might.
The blade was aimed directly at the cluster of mult i-faceted eyes that covered the creature’s skull: Target Zone Alpha, glowing brigh t green in his vision.
Time seemed to slow as he closed the distance, the Mantis’s horrible co mpound eyes reflecting his own determined face hundreds of times over.
Then the tip of the dag ger made contact.