Chương 59: 58. The Penta-Scorpion

A veteran had once told me that extreme fights always brought on extreme reactions. Depending on their experience, a person would blank their mind or freeze up completely. I didn't freeze up. All the issues holding me back suddenly disappeared. Pain, fear, even the annoying curse Harlequin had given me vanished as I fell towards the scorpion below. It was humongous—larger than a house, colored bright black and amber, with two massive pincers and five stinger tails. That's where its name came from.

Unlike other scorpions, this one was completely static: its size and tails prevented it from moving about freely, requiring that the scalper scorpions constantly bring it food. To some degree, it was possible for that to have been the reason for its attack. Highly aggressive, it would kill almost anything that approached it, including other members of its own nest. The only exceptions were scalper scorpions and the queen herself.

Some had speculated that the penta-scorpion's purpose was just to fuck the queen—a task he supposedly could only do once, after which he was sealed off in his own chamber of the nest. Personally, I saw Harlequin's invisible hand at play. The scorpion hadn't caused the ground to break, and the odds of me stumbling into the sealed-off entrance to his chamber were practically zero. Regardless, I was in for a fight. I pulled up my trousers.

Having them around my knees would restrict my movement to a level I couldn't recover. Summoning Serp, I then performed a series of thread strikes. The attacks bounced off the insect's massive armor as if they were nothing. Time stretched to a near standstill. From what I remembered, the creature had only two methods of attack: it would either strike me with its tails or try to grab me with its pincers. Both were lethal, but it was the pincers that I was worried about more than anything else.

The stings could be deflected. With a bit of luck, I could even get Serp to cut into the thin gap where the lethal organ emerged from the tail. The pincers, though, were unbreakable with what I had. Green flames surrounded my saber. I didn't envision them helping terribly much, but when fighting to the death, every little bit helped. Then, the scorpion made its move. A single stinger moved, aiming to skewer me the moment I came within reach. Unlike the scorpion guards from before, this creature was cautious.

For a split second, I saw its eye. It was full of magic, glowing like a solidified ball of flame. I could only imagine the number of mages that had been killed, believing their spells would give them the upper hand. And while nothing in its cards suggested that it could perform magic, it could probably see spell circles the same way I did. A single question formed in my mind: do I go for the stinger or do I aim for the eye? Do your thing! I threw Serp at the eye. The opportunity was too good to miss.

I had seen what the serpent blade had done to the centipede, so why not do the same to a scorpion? Using the Archer card, I threw the sword at the monster's eye. A split second later, the tip of the venomous stinger moved towards my chest. Five of Chains! I drew my divine blades from my inventory and blocked. Restrict! The force was overwhelming, sending me flying backward. The serpent blade split the air, approaching its target with flawless precision.

The aether within it allowed Serp to aim for the connection between eye and body. Before he could strike, a layer of ice emerged just above the scorpion's eye. Ice shield, I thought. I had seen it used frequently in battle, though not by a Minor Arcana. The Ice Keeper was the Grand Arcana card that had full control of ice, both offensive and defensive, yet whatever the penta-scorpion was using also had an effect. Serp struck the ice, piercing well over half. Sadly, that wasn't enough.

Suddenly, another tail whipped towards me from behind. I twisted in the air, performing a double arc attack. Dark silver struck, doing as little as a dent. Restrict! I thought, rendering another of his tails useless. Not wasting a moment, I twisted around. If the scorpion had followed up with a second attack, there would be at least three more. The third stinger was flying right at me. Using the Five of Chains, I performed another block, while simultaneously restricting the action and hardening my bones as well.

A shot of burning pain radiated from my back. Instinctively, I looked down only to see a stinger emerge from the right side of my chest. Careful, old man! Serp shouted in my head. Don't go dying on me like that! Fucking hell! I cursed. How had I failed to see that? It was so obvious that a rookie would have known, and still I hadn't sensed it one bit. Even after everything, I remained so damn weak! I needed to triple my efforts and claim more Major Arcana cards.

As Harlequin had shown me, minors weren't going to cut it. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Leaning forward despite the pain, I moved my legs back, pushing my body off the venomous skewer I had ended up on. The action must have caught the scorpion by surprise, for no immediate attack followed. No doubt it wasn't used to watching its prey escape after death.

Gripping my blades, I went all out, bombarding the creature with as many thread strikes as I could. None of them had the strength to cut through the impregnable shell, yet they provided a distraction. One tail remained ready to attack, but I knew precisely the direction it would come. Any semi-intelligent creature would have used one of the other tails to catch me off guard. One more wound and the Eight of Chalice wouldn't be able to keep me alive. Instinct took over, forcing it to make the attack I expected.

Then, I played the only hand I had. Using the width of my blades for defense, I crossed them at the precise spot the stinger aimed to hit. Being indestructible, the weapons transferred the power through me. The force of the attack threw me backward, stronger than anything before. I split the air like an arrow and slammed into the chamber's walls. My ribs felt on fire. The shards in my lungs amplified the pain of my wound. I wanted to cough and gasp for air, but my sealed lips prevented me. I'll kill you!

I shouted in my mind, using the agony to build up my determination. There was no way I'd let myself die here! I was going to slaughter it and every other monster in this trial! Gravity took hold, gently pulling me to the chamber floor. There was a lot more sand than I expected. The scorpion's tails swung about wildly. I was too far from the monster's reach. The lack of poison told me that the insect was old. It likely had been decades since its poison glands had been functional.

Its inability to move anchored it in the middle, effectively making it one big sitting duck. Now you'll pay! I put away my divine blades and summoned Serp back to me. The monster's weakness was its underbelly. Unable to move or turn, it was virtually defenseless. All I needed was to limp my way behind it, then do a single power thrust for Serp to finish it off. Just as I was about to, strands of aether spread from beneath the scorpion, seeping into the ground.

For a moment, I thought it was attempting another attack. A second later, I saw that it was worse. The Gravedigger … I thought. It was an atypical ring card, as nasty as it was useless. Being one of the necromancer cards, I could bring the dead back to life as puppets to be controlled. Having it in a graveyard was phenomenal, but out of the hundreds of trials I had been to, I had only seen it utilized adequately twice, and both times by monsters.

The requirements were what made it particularly unusable, specifically the need for dead remains. Having a skeleton miss a few limbs and ribs was fine, though the majority of the bones were necessary. Additionally, using it required vast amounts of attention, preventing a participant from doing anything else. In this case, the penta-scorpion didn't have any distractions. A shipped pincer emerged from the sand, only confirming what my magic sight was letting me see.

The entire floor of the chamber was filled with insect carcasses. At some point, guards and other members of the nest must have been thrown in here for decades. Now they composed the entire lower half of the chamber. Limping forward, I struck the ground with Serp. Although no monster had appeared, I could clearly see the aether outlines. Knowing no mercy, the serpent blade severed the magic, transforming the creature back into insect remains. Why aren't you growing? I asked. What do you expect?

The sword snapped back at me. There's nothing living in them! That was the catch. Serp needed living matter to consume and grow. The insect remains had nothing living in them; they were puppetted by aether threads and the penta-scorpion's skill. Guess it'll be the hard way. I sliced the air, performing a horizontal thread slash. An aether line flew in the direction of the creature. Instants before reaching it, a wave of undead insects emerged, creating a defensive wall.

Nowhere near as strong as they had been while alive, the monsters shattered on impact, only stopping the strike through sheer numbers. The single attack had severed hundreds of aether threads, but plenty more remained. Not only that, but a new cluster emerged from the scorpion, raising a new crop. I struck the ground beneath me with a power thrust. Clusters of aether strands snapped, breaking the link between the undead puppets and the scorpion.

A dozen more undead entities leaped out of the sand, going straight at me. In their state, I didn't have to be worried about poison. Due to my curse, however, every additional wound could be lethal. I slashed the air, performing a three-sixty strike. The creatures shattered like porcelain, yet for every one that I destroyed, three more seemed to appear. Don't let me down! I persisted, dragging my leg forward. This had changed into a battle of attrition. If I managed to physically reach my enemy, I would win.

If I allowed myself to be swallowed up by the layers of corpses beneath the sandy ground, my run would end. Threads slashes filled the space, taking down dozens of the disgusting insects, but it was never enough. The aether threads coming out of the penta-scorpion were like a cluster of roots that had filled up the pot they were placed in. Get ready, I thought as I kept on slashing. And leave the sphere when you kill it. You gone senile, old man?! Serp protested. How do you expect me to grow?!

I didn't argue, nor did I threaten. Even with his newfound powers, Serp remained a card in my possession. Maybe I had cut him too much slack, but he still knew how things stood. Removing all questions from my mind, I concentrated on my single path to victory. I wasn't in a condition to prolong this much more. Maybe if both my legs were working, I could dash up to the scorpion before the carcasses overwhelmed me. As I stood now, I'd be lucky to halve the distance. I swung the saber in the pattern of a figure eight.

The walls of undead kept on growing, yet with each strike a gap would form, moving closer and closer towards the target. There! I spotted the weak spot. It was a gamble. If the creature used the Ten of Chalice, my attack would be rendered inefficient just like last time. Still, it was the best chance I would get. Back in my previous run, an old necromancer had shared that it wasn't the magic that was the issue when it came to controlling undead puppets, but the overall amount.

Despite what everyone thought, undead puppets didn't have an autopilot. Every single one of them had to constantly receive instructions, and that was taxing. I clearly remembered both his hands being covered in memory rings, and he still didn't find it nearly enough. Don't fail! I threw the sword through the opening in the carcass wall.