Chương 557: Chapter : 557

A giant, mutated green beetle charged at her. The beetle lowered its head. Its thick, glowing shell looked like a solid tank. It wanted to ram Zinia and crush her against a tree.

"You are not getting past me!" Zinia shouted fiercely. She stomped her boot on the ground.

"Earth Spikes!" Three sharp, jagged pillars of rock shot up from the dirt. The rocks aimed to pierce the beetle's stomach. But the beetle was heavily armored. The rocks hit the thick green shell and shattered into useless dust. The beetle did not even slow down. It kept charging.

"Its armor is too thick!" Jasmin yelled in panic. She hid behind Ken.

"Her rocks cannot break it!"

"Do not worry, Jasmin," Ken smiled lazily.

"The bug is very clumsy. Watch." Ken pointed his hidden finger at the charging beetle. He waited for the exact right millisecond.

"Pew," Ken whispered. The invisible cyan bullet hit the front left leg of the giant beetle. The beetle's leg was instantly teleported three inches upward. It was a very tiny shift. But when a massive monster is running at top speed, a three-inch shift is absolutely disastrous. The beetle completely tripped over its own missing footing. The massive bug tumbled forward. It flipped entirely upside down. It crashed onto its back. Its many legs kicked wildly in the air. It looked like a helpless, overturned turtle.

Its soft, unarmored underbelly was totally exposed to the sky. Zinia saw the flipped beetle. She laughed a deep, booming laugh.

"You are totally pathetic!" Zinia mocked the bug. She leaped high into the air. She brought both of her stone-covered fists down with devastating force. SMASH! Zinia crushed the soft underbelly of the mutant beetle. The bug squished into the dirt. The glowing purple veins faded away. The monster was totally defeated.

"This is amazing!" Zinia cheered loudly. She punched her fists together. Rock dust flew into the air.

"I am totally in the zone! They cannot even stand up straight around me!" The remaining mutant bugs realized Zinia was a massive threat. Three giant praying mantises turned their attention toward her. They hissed loudly. They raised their sharp scythe arms. They surrounded her in a tight circle. They wanted to attack her from all sides at the exact same time. Jasmin gasped in horror.

"They are going to trap her! Ken, we have to call for help!"

"Help is overrated," Ken replied casually. He took a bite of his meat skewer.

"Zinia has everything completely under control. She is a master tactician." Ken raised his hand behind the wooden sign again. He pointed his finger very fast. He aimed at all three praying mantises. Stolen novel; please report.

"Pew. Pew. Pew," Ken mumbled lazily. Three invisible cyan bullets zipped across the courtyard. They hit the mantises simultaneously. The first mantis was teleported three feet to the left. The second mantis was teleported three feet forward. The third mantis was teleported three feet to the right. The coordinated ambush entirely collapsed. The first mantis swung its scythe. But because it moved, it accidentally slashed the second mantis in the back. The second mantis shrieked and swung its arm blindly.

It accidentally punched the third mantis in the face. The three giant bugs crashed into a tangled, clumsy pile. They slashed and kicked each other in pure confusion. They totally forgot about Zinia. They just fought each other in a messy, uncoordinated brawl. Zinia stared at the pile of fighting bugs. Her jaw dropped open just a tiny bit. She had never seen monsters act so incredibly stupid.

"They are actually fighting each other," Zinia noted. She shook her head in disbelief.

"These mutants have absolutely zero brain cells." Zinia did not waste the opportunity. She slammed her hands onto the ground.

"Mud Pit!" The dirt beneath the fighting bugs instantly turned into a deep, thick pool of wet mud. The mantises sank into the mud. They struggled to pull their legs out. Zinia clapped her hands together. The mud instantly hardened into solid, unbreakable rock. The three bugs were completely trapped in stone. They could not move a single muscle. The school courtyard went totally quiet. The entire swarm of mutant bugs was completely defeated. The students stopped running. They looked around in pure shock.

They saw the giant bugs crushed, flipped over, or trapped in solid rock. They saw the tall, muscular earth mage standing victorious in the center of the destruction. The students erupted into massive, deafening cheers. They clapped their hands. They whistled loudly. They treated Zinia like an absolute superhero. Zinia stood in the middle of the cheering crowd. She breathed very fast. She wiped sweat from her forehead. She looked at her stone gauntlets. The rock crumbled away from her hands and fell to the floor.

She smiled a wide, incredibly proud smile. She felt completely amazing. She had protected the school. Jasmin ran out from behind the wooden sign. She ran straight up to Zinia. Her dark eyes sparkled with absolute awe and pure admiration.

"That was incredible!" Jasmin praised loudly. She clapped her hands together.

"You were totally amazing, Zinia! You crushed them all by yourself! Your coordination was absolutely perfect! You anticipated their every single move!" Zinia rubbed the back of her neck. She felt a little bit shy from the intense praise. She was not used to being the center of attention. She usually stood in the background while Naomi or Laxmi got all the cheers.

"Thank you, Jasmin," Zinia replied humbly. Her deep voice sounded very warm.

"But I did not do it entirely alone. The bugs just acted very strange today. They kept tripping over nothing. It was very lucky." Ken stepped out from behind the fallen sign. He finished his meat skewer. He tossed the wooden stick into a nearby trash can. He dusted off his navy blue suit pants. He slouched his shoulders. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets. He walked over to the two girls. He offered a massive, goofy, entirely relaxed grin.

"It was not luck at all," Ken announced casually. He stopped right next to Zinia. He playfully nudged her arm with his elbow. Ken looked up at Zinia. He winked his left eye. It was a very deliberate, goofy wink.

"We are just a completely flawless team," Ken declared happily. He pointed a thumb at himself, and then pointed at Zinia.

"We have absolute, perfect synergy. We communicate without even speaking. We are officially best buddies." Jasmin rolled her eyes. She groaned loudly.

"You literally hid behind a sign and ate meat, Ken. You did not do a single thing to help her."

"Moral support is a very tiring job, Jasmin," Ken argued lazily. He popped his collar.

"A good team needs a solid cheerleader. I provided top-tier cheering. Zinia knows exactly what I mean." Zinia stared at Ken. She saw his goofy wink. Her highly observant mind instantly put the pieces together. She remembered the bug tripping perfectly. She remembered the mantises randomly crashing into each other. She remembered how calm Ken looked behind the sign.