Judging by the sharpness of the beast's claws, if they landed, they would instantly leave a fatal wound on Joey's head.
But before the claws could fall, a fist struck them first.
The immense force of the punch deflected the claws, leaving them gripping the air. Then, the rapid-fire of gunfire erupted through the forest.
Joey, rifle in hand, aimed at the Chimera Ant that had been hit by the Stand and launched an attack.
The bullet pierced the Chimera Ant's body and snapped the tree trunk it was on. Before the Chimera Ant and the tree trunk could fall together, Joey dove out, dodging its attack.
In a fleeting glance, he also caught a glimpse of the hidden killer's face.
It was a Chimera Ant with a ferocious, ape-like appearance.
Even in its death, falling from the tree, the Chimera Ant's eyes still radiated a savage aura, sending chills down one's spine.
However, its head had been pierced by bullets, making it clearly beyond saving. Therefore, Joey didn't linger on its body for even a second longer. Instead, he rolled to his feet and instantly swung his gun at another spot where a sudden burst of fire had appeared.
There, a chimera ant with a dog's head was being blown away by the explosion.
At the same time, the Withered Heart Chariot roared towards the distant dense forest.
Clearly, there were more chimera ants lurking in the forest.
Joey's bullets swept past the dog-headed chimera ant's corpse, and his gaze followed the chariot but he didn't see any chimera ants.
But just then, a dark figure suddenly leaped out from the bushes a short distance to his side. Its speed was incredible. The Killer Queen spotted it immediately, but it was too late to attack and stop it. She could only bend her arm to shield Joey's side.
The immense force of the impact sent the Killer Queen staggering back several steps, crashing directly into Joey.
The sudden situation caused Joey, who was a beat slow to react, to stumble and fall to the ground. The rifle slipped from his hand, but fortunately, it was held in place by the shoulder strap and was not thrown far away. However, it caused Joey a sharp pain in his ribs.
At the same time, a burning pain shot through his right arm, clearly indicating that the sudden impact had damaged the Stand that was blocking.
The damage to the Stand is reflected in the user, so Joey immediately felt the pain in his arm.
Of course, the damage to the user also affected the Stand immediately, but unless it was limb destruction, the Stand wouldn't show much injury or be affected by most injuries.
However, the fallen Joey took the opportunity to clearly see the attacker blocked by Killer Queen.
It was a Chimera Ant swarming like a pill bug, its attack method being a tire-like rolling assault.
Now, unexpectedly blocked by Killer Queen, its movements paused noticeably, clearly due to confusion from not being able to see the Stand.
But this didn't stop it from quickly adjusting; several seemingly weak legs suddenly extended from the sides of its carapace, and with a swipe of the legs on the ground, it rolled its tire-like body to the side before Killer Queen could throw a punch.
Boom!
The sound of the tank's explosion echoed in the distance. Joey, barely managing to stand, saw the pill bug adjust its course and accelerate towards him again.
Quickly drawing his pistol, Joey emptied the magazine at the charging chimera ant.
Although a few shots missed, several still landed squarely on the ant's rolling body.
However, the bullet damage seemed insufficient to kill the ant; instead, it fueled its frenzy, making it roll faster and more violently.
At the same time, Joey heard the tank's second explosion.
Clearly, the tank's attack had malfunctioned; he didn't know if the enemy had discovered the tread tracks or used some other method.
But Joey couldn't worry about the hiding chimera ant for the moment. As the pill bug-chimera ant rolled towards him, he abruptly dropped his pistol and lunged to the side.
At the same time, as he lunged forward, Killer Queen unleashed a punch at the side of the rolling pill bug.
*Bang!*
The attack was direct and straightforward, and the pill bug, unable to see Killer Queen, took the full force of the punch. Although it managed to roll a short distance, it ultimately crashed to the ground.
Killer Queen is a close-range power-type Stand, with a destructive power rating of A-rank.
The overturned pill bug stretched out its curled-up body on the ground, trying to get up, but as soon as it opened its body, a round thing rolled into its multi-legged embrace. *
Boom!* An explosion followed.
The grenade that Joey had carried finally came in handy.
The pill bug's entire body was blasted away by the grenade, its soft abdomen and numerous legs completely mangled and scattered across the ground.
Even so, the bug, lying on the ground, still emitted an unpleasant chirping sound and struggled to wriggle its body, trying to stand up again.
Joey, who had already stood up after throwing the grenade, didn't rush to deliver the final blow. Instead, he turned to look at the firelight from the explosion in the forest.
This was the fourth explosion of the Skull Tank.
Watching the tank surge forward again, Joey narrowed his eyes.
The last remaining Chimera Ant wouldn't be easy to deal with!
With this thought flashing through his mind, Joey turned and ignored the still-chasing Skull Tank and the struggling Pill Bug, running towards a direction where the trees weren't too dense.
Just before leaving, his finger silently touched a large tree beside him.
The next second, Joey vanished into the forest.
Actually, while counting his bullets, Joey had received a warning from Killer Queen about the Chimera Ants.
Two Chimera Ants had avoided Joey's direction of sight, exposing themselves to his Stand's view, and one of them had even stealthily approached.
While not being able to share his Stand's vision was a bit of a disappointment for Joey, since many Stands in the anime could share their vision with their Stand users...
Fortunately, the Killer Queen wasn't stupid; she understood his meaning and gave him timely feedback.
This gave Joey ample time to make arrangements, especially since the Killer Queen's blatant observation went undetected, which gave Joey confidence and confirmed that the Chimera Ants that appeared were neither powerful Chimera Ants nor beings capable of seeing Stands.
However, Joey didn't act rashly. Instead, he secretly adjusted the angle of his rifle to facilitate a counterattack immediately, while also quietly releasing the Withering Heart Strike.
This led to the instant kills of the ape and the dog-headed Chimera Ant.
The appearance of the pill bug and the unknown Chimera Ant wasn't entirely unexpected for Joey, but it was still somewhat beyond his expectations.
What wasn't unexpected was Joey's guess that there might be more than two of them, perhaps several more hiding in the dimly lit forest.
What was unexpected was the ferocity and suddenness of the pill bug's attack, and the difficulty the unknown Chimera Ant faced with the tank's attack; even the tank's continuous explosions seemed unable to harm the hidden creature.
Fortunately, after so much time had passed, Joey was able to confirm that there were only four Chimera Ants nearby.
This number was still within his acceptable range after he quickly dealt with two and a half. If there had been one or two more, Joey might have been in a life-or-death situation when he was hit by a pill bug.
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