'Thud, Thud, Thud.'
The silent sybil was anything but quiet. Using all eight of its fingers, it scuttled towards me at an alarming speed. It was the size of a small SUV, and its human head was as large as a giant watermelon.
My hands clutched the katana like a wet towel, and I fixed my glare upon the scorpion mutant, yet my legs remained paralyzed, unwilling to respond.
'Move dumb ass or you'll die.'
Time seemed to slow down, and my gaze was fixed on the human-like head of the scorpion, its crimson eyes piercing into mine.
I glanced at the towering Kapok tree behind me. There, Evelyn was licking a blue fungus, her tongue protruding like a serpent.
"Is she really planning to leave me alone with the monster?"
'Ba-dump, Ba-dump.'
My heart hammered in my chest, each beat pounding louder as the monstrous scorpion scuttled closer.
The mood I found myself in was a profound sense of betrayal, accompanied by the despair of realizing that my legs refused to obey my commands.
"Blood Art Technique: Aura," I yelled, desperately trying to activate my unique skill.
[Ding... You have not met the hidden conditions to activate your unique skill.]
"Fuck," I muttered.
The creature was less than three meters away from me, its face parted to reveal rows of sharp teeth similar to a shark's jaw.
Surprisingly, a smile curved around my lips as if I had embraced death, and my limbs felt numb, like I was having a lucid dream.
'I refused to die like a pussy; if I am going down, the least I could do is go out with a bang.'
With an ironic smirk gracing my lips, I surged, narrowing the gap between myself and the scorpion.
I raised the katana above my head, positioning it over my right ear, and imagined a clock had appeared in front of me.
At close range, my arms move a precise arc from 1 o'clock to 7 o'clock, forming a flawless slash.
However, the silent sybil moved with greater speed than I had foreseen. Using one of the massive fingers fixed to its body, it intercepted my sword, trapping the blade in its flesh.
'Eeeeeek!'
The creature's cry resembled that of a newborn infant, a jarring contrast to the mature face attached to its form.
With a single motion, the scorpion hurled the slashed finger toward a Kpok tree, and the swing propelled me violently against the tree trunk.
As my noise began to bleed, pain cursed through my ribs like a giant was squashing them with his hands.
Struggling to get up after collapsing, the monster quickly closed in on me. It raised its left finger, poised to shatter my skull into fragments.
Swiftly, I rolled to the right, evading the descending finger, yet the monster persisted in pursuit. Its face was split into two, and it lowered its head, aiming to decapitate me with its countless rows of jagged teeth, spiraling inward like a tunnel.
Driven by desperation, I stumbled backward before quickly rising to my feet. Without hesitation, I began running, pursued by the scorpion with its left finger stained with blood.
Upon noticing a kapok tree with a broad trunk, I sprinted toward it, intending to use it as a platform to execute a backflip, soaring above the monster and evading its clutches.
However, when I attempted to traverse the tree like a ninja, my foot slipped, and I fell onto my back. With no options remaining, I was compelled to turn and confront the creature directly.
As I stood guard, holding my katana tightly like a wet sponge, I raised it above my right ear in anticipation of the incoming scorpion.
Drawing shallow breaths, I advanced despite a possible broken rib, extending my arms and relaxing my shoulders.
My left hand swept forward, tracing a wide arc aimed at the creature's human head. To my dismay, the scorpion abruptly halted, deftly parrying my strike with its claws.
The clash of my sword against the claw produced a cascade of orange sparks, resembling the burst of fireworks.
Determined to prevent the scorpion from mounting any counterattack, I raised my katana and executed a strike from 11 o'clock to 5 o'clock at an angle of 45 degrees. The creature parried, but I swiftly followed with another strike, this time at a perpendicular angle from 1 o'clock to 7 o'clock.
The monster and I engage in relentless attacks and counterattacks, turning our confrontation into a test of stamina.
Each strike I delivered upon the monster's thick nails was met with a jarring recoil that urged me to relinquish my sword. The recoil was akin to being struck on the palms by the fists of a silverback gorilla.
Suddenly, mere moments into our recurring interaction, the scorpion manifested a long, razor-sharp stinger from its back. The stinger descended swiftly and forcefully, targeting my face.
In a split-second decision, I swiftly tilted my neck to the side, narrowly escaping certain death.
The Scorpion's stinger lodged itself into the trunk of the Kpok tree. Seizing the opportunity, I moved in an arc, tracing a circular path until I positioned myself directly behind the Scorpion.
With remarkable swiftness, I released my sword and retrieved one of the two bottles of Stardust potion from my pocket.
I drank half of it to replenish my stamina and heal my wounds.
Without hesitation, I extended my right hand and clasped it firmly with my left fist. My index finger directed itself toward the middle joint of the silent sybil's left finger, marking that precise point.
"Blood Art Technique: Negative Touch," I yelled.
From the tip of my finger, a spherical gravity wave emerged, approximately the size of a pumpkin. It struck the middle joint of the monster's limb with force.
The recoil caused my finger to snap backward like a spring, blending my bones with the flesh.
[Mana - 10%]
Clenching my teeth to dull the pain, I pointed my middle finger toward the right giant finger of the enormous scorpion.
By activating my gravity wave for the second time, I successfully incapacitated the monster's second limb.
[Mana - 10%]
"Aaaah!"
The monster let out a piercing scream, shaking its six remaining fingers as it rattled with great aggression. Its immense power caused the ground to quake violently beneath it.
With my index and middle fingers missing, my hand resembled a smashed potato, oozing blood and barely keeping the shattered bones intact by a fragile strip of skin.
'Ba-dump, Ba-dump.'
I maneuvered to the left side of the scorpion and extended my pinky finger. With a deep breath, I unleashed the third gravity wave, severing its front limb.
Without pausing to catch a breath, I extended my thumb toward one of the two remaining limbs on the scorpion's left side. Without hesitation, I unleashed another gravity wave, striking the middle section of the targeted giant finger with precision.
Finally, I used my fourth finger to unleash a massive gravity wave resembling a giant pumpkin. This wave broke apart the last colossal finger supporting the scorpion's left side, causing it to collapse onto that side and make the ground tremble beneath its immense weight.
At that moment, the recoil had crushed all the fingers on my right hand, reducing them to mangled flesh and shattered bones.
With my clothes drenched in sweat, I reached into my pocket, pulled out the half-empty potion, and drank it without hesitation.
The silent sybil wept like an infant, eyes oozing black blood as it turned its head from side to side, enduring the agony of having five of its limbs obliterated.
The creature pivoted in my direction, employing its remaining fingers to drag itself closer. Its mouth gaped open, exposing rows of razor-sharp teeth, clearly signaling its intent to consume me.
With steadfast resolve, I extended my left fist and tightened it into a firm clench. I drew in a deep breath and exhaled with the composure of a monk.
My eyes blinked twice in anticipation of harnessing the full potential of my Lota core.
"Blood Art Technique: Negative Touch," I declared.
My blood vessels contracted and expanded, allowing a surge of gravitational force to emanate from my heart and travel to my clenched fist.
In an instant, the human head of the silent sybil was obliterated, and my body was hurled backward, crashing into a nearby tree.
As expected, the recoil dislocated my hand and nearly fractured my back. What surprised me, however, was that instead of experiencing pain, I felt nothing, as though pain had become an intrinsic part of me.
'Gulp, Gulp.'
I consumed half of the potion I had; it healed my injury and restored my stamina.
[Ding... Congratulations, you have triumphed over The Silent Sybil.]
[Reward... You obtained your Mark of Divinity (Ocean Eyes).]
[New Subclass Unlocked: Vessel of the Demon God.]