"Target confirmed."

"Hunter Beetle: creature of similar size class, flying type, speed-oriented."

The clear water surface began to ripple as the Hunter Beetle, which had been circling the Gah-Gah Beasts in the water, instantly detected them and prepared to strike, camouflaged among the distant trees.

"Looks like I have to play bait again, and this time the main attacker too," Gah-Gah lamented, feeling a bit tearful.

Fully focused, Gah-Gah watched the beetle on the shoreline trees. The beetle was already secretly accelerating through the forest, and Gah-Gah believed that revealing enough of himself would prompt the creature to dive at him, leaving life-threatening wounds with its bladed limbs.

Extending his mental perception to its utmost sensitivity, Gah-Gah first exposed his visible horn above the water, but the Hunter Beetle was uninterested in such a minor target, continuing its unpredictable flight through the forest.

Slowly accumulating internal energy, Gah-Gah's electrical power started building steadily.

"All or nothing."

With a determined heart, Gah-Gah raised his head entirely above the water, maintaining a position that would allow for a quick escape.

Time ticked by, but the Hunter Beetle showed not the slightest intention of attacking.

Neck... upper body... lower... "I can't float up any further."

"Darn it, do I have to crawl onto the shore for you, you bastard?"

Why was this happening?

Gah-Gah was puzzled why the beetle wasn't attacking. He had made his presence obvious, yet there was no sign of an attack, not even a shadow?

"Wait, no shadow..."

"This isn't good." Intensely focused on his all-around mental perception, Gah-Gah pushed his auditory senses to the maximum. The enemy's shadow had vanished from the forest, likely a sign of imminent attack.

Meanwhile, the Gah-Gah Beasts lurking just below the surface with pent-up energy also tensed.

Whirr—

The sound of wings slicing through air came from the left rear. Without waiting to confirm the target, Gah-Gah released his electricity, enveloping himself in a powerful current.

"Ouch!" Gah—

A sharp pain shot through his right shoulder, just as Gah-Gah realized a Hunter Beetle had appeared on his mental perception, its blade already embedded in his right shoulder.

The electrical shock seemed effective, causing the beetle to pause briefly.

Seizing the moment, despite his own brief pause from the shoulder injury, Gah-Gah twisted his head to bite the limb stuck in his shoulder.

Whirr—

Just then, the beetle snapped out of its paralysis, flapping its wings to lift its body again. Its right wing sent a spray of water into the air, barely avoiding the snapping jaws of another Gah-Gah Beast that had leapt from the water. It seemed as if the beetle's fragile wing had pulled the Gah-Gah Beast out of the river.

But by then, Gah-Gah's powerful jaws had clamped down, even as the blade withdrew from his shoulder, now holding a bloody limb piece.

"Damn, wrong target."

A tearing pain from his right cheek brought him back to reality; he'd bitten into part of the beetle's limb and its sharp blade, slicing through his mouth. But Gah-Gah knew releasing it now meant losing everything.

Sensing danger, the Hunter Beetle flapped its wings, trying to pull the limb from Gah-Gah's mouth while thrusting other blades towards him.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"If I don't pull you underwater, I..."

Ignoring the incoming blades, Gah-Gah bit down hard, using his body's strength to drag the beetle into the water. The lurking Gah-Gah Beasts were ready to strike as the beetle's limb neared the water.

But reality can be cruel.

As Gah-Gah was about to drag the beetle's limb underwater, the beetle's appendage snapped under the tremendous tension, right at the root.

The powerful lift of its wings sent the beetle soaring several meters high. The blades aimed at Gah-Gah only managed to scrape a faint spark against his scales before flying up along with the beetle's body.

And Gah-Gah, still clutching the blade that had wounded him, fell back into the swarm of Gah-Gah Beasts.

"Failed."

Ignoring the blade in his mouth, Gah-Gah furiously crunched it to pieces, spitting out the fragments and swallowing the remains.

"Damn it, you could do that? What are you, a gecko or a beetle, you bastard... Ugh..."

A dry heave overtook him, and Gah-Gah swallowed a few mouthfuls of river water in frustration.

"Didn't expect it to taste so bad."

He glared at the Hunter Beetle overhead, which was still adjusting to its lost limb, green blood oozing from the stump. It wavered unsteadily, clearly not used to having flown so high so unexpectedly.

"What now, do we really retreat to the riverbank and try something else?"

Gah-Gah felt unwilling. If he couldn't defeat this beetle, could he ever venture into the forest again, let alone aim to become terrestrial? Earlier, he'd been so close to success...

"What to do?"

"Another ambush?" Gah-Gah wasn't sure if it would work twice on this beetle.

Whirr—

"Hmm?" He turned his gaze back to the Hunter Beetle, still wobbling in the air.

Whirr— Whirr—

"No." Gah-Gah quickly scanned the surroundings; the sound was unmistakably coming from deeper within the forest.

Whirr-whirr—whirr—whirr—

A dense buzzing approached, and shadows began to flicker in the forest depths as a fast-moving creature came into view.

"Damn it, all this for one leg?" Countless Hunter Beetles emerged from the forest depths, leaving Gah-Gah speechless. He quickly led his companions to hide beneath the river's depth. "You call this self-defense? That bug cornered us for ages and even killed two Gah-Gah Beasts. Do they need their whole extended family here?"

Above, the Hunter Beetle still wobbled, oblivious to its incoming... reinforcements?

"Is this some kind of summoning dance?" Gah-Gah wondered, confused.

But reality seemed different, for better or worse.

Hiding underwater, Gah-Gah watched the sky as countless flying insects blocked the sun. Leading the charge was a cluster of smaller insects, identities unclear to Gah-Gah. They flew beneath the confused Hunter Beetle without a glance at anything else.

Then came the swarm of Hunter Beetles, ignoring their struggling comrade in the air, only veering aside as they neared it, their turbulence throwing it off-balance again.

"Chasing those little ones? Just passing through?" Gah-Gah felt dumbfounded by his own conclusion.

Before he could ponder further absurdities, a new twist arrived. Following the Hunter Beetle flyby was a larger swarm of various flying insects, mostly giant ones, but also some smaller beetles, a few even emitting sparks.

"What on earth is happening? An insect flying marathon?" Gah-Gah thought it impossible.

"Oh, what's that? Huge, at least four meters long," a gigantic creature, nearly four meters in length with a six- or seven-meter wingspan and eight huge wings distributed along its body, grazed the perplexed Hunter Beetle, sending it spinning again.

"The poor beetle, flying so high was its mistake."

The Hunter Beetle felt this was its cursed day.

First, losing a limb to prey, then getting disoriented by its kin's turbulence—usually solitary, why were they so united now, not even mating season.

And as it sought revenge, something struck its back, destabilizing it once more.

Oh dear, what did I just see?

It turned to see the ruler of the sky, who had bumped into it, flying off anxiously into the forest.

Did I survive?

Maybe today was a bit lucky after all, the Hunter Beetle mused.

Survived an ambush losing only one limb, witnessed a rare kin gathering outside mating season, even getting hit by the sky king and living.

I should pursue my kin, see what's up.

Grateful to the forest, the Hunter Beetle turned to catch up, only to feel another collision, this time tinged with the paralysis of the ambush.

What's this? Magnetic Beetle!

A shadow flew over the Hunter Beetle. Recognizing the perpetrator, the injured beetle felt another impact, its consciousness slipping away.

These traffic rule violators!

From beneath the water, Gah-Gah and company watched these aerial collisions, the perpetrators long gone. Gah-Gah didn't consider chasing them down, thinking, "I'm no cop."

They seemed like oval black beetles, forearms shaped like mantis scythes, smaller, with two more limb pairs behind and massive mandibles. But when they collided with the Hunter Beetle, visible currents transferred to it.

Those sparks piqued Gah-Gah’s interest, but his attention quickly shifted.

“So speechless!”

Indeed, anyone would be dumbfounded seeing a long-chased enemy, one they failed to ambush, get road-killed by random passersby, then drop at their feet.

"What's going on, prey from the sky?"

Gah-Gah was stunned. The situation shifted rapidly—from ambush to the enemy dropping in barely a minute.

But his companions weren’t stunned. Instantly recognizing opportunity, the Gah-Gah Beasts bit into the fallen Hunter Beetle. Gah-Gah belatedly joined.

"Siblings, for revenge, let's dismember it."

Confident it was indeed dead, Gah-Gah and several Gah-Gah Beasts tore into the unfortunate Hunter Beetle, ripping it apart.

[20 Evolution Points Gained]

[New Component Acquired]

"What, it wasn't dead?" Gah-Gah shook his confused head, "Well, it's dead now. Poor thing, I’ll remember you in food memory, marked by..."

"A life of misfortune, tasted terrible in death."