Velina screamed as one beast slammed her into a dune. She rolled, gasping, and stabbed up — but the sword was caught between pincers and flung away.
Ethan grabbed her arm and pulled her up just before a tail crushed the space she'd fallen in.
"Move!"
They ran. No direction, just away from the center. But the scorpions followed. All ten. They herded them like wolves, pincers swiping, tails stabbing. Ethan's blade finally struck a weak joint, but the creature twisted away, stinger slicing open his forearm in retaliation.
[HOST HARMED]
[HP: 17/20]
"DAMN IT!" he shouted, blood spraying.
He gritted his teeth.
No Lunge. Not yet. They fought like animals.
No time to think. No space to breathe. Ethan dodged, Velina parried. They protected each other, barely avoiding death by seconds at a time. Velina tried to leap over a pincer, it clipped her ankle and spun her mid-air. She landed hard, coughing blood. Ethan roared and ran to her side, blocking two simultaneous stinger strikes with his blade.
Each block rattled his bones. Each step drained his energy.
And yet, none of the beasts had fallen.
Not one.
Minutes passed.
Eight of the beasts were still in full condition. Two limped slightly from Ethan's counter-attacks, but even then, their strength remained terrifying. Velina was bruised, bleeding from the lip, her shoulder half-numb. Her armor was cracked, and she'd lost one of her daggers.
Ethan was worse. His left arm was cut deep. Blood soaked his sleeve. His back ached from multiple slams. His WRATH boiled, demanding to be used. But he kept resisting it.
Still…
Still not enough damage dealt. Still too early. He gritted his teeth.
"How're we doing?" Velina breathed.
"We're not."
She almost laughed. "Perfect."
The beasts surrounded them again. In silence. They weren't charging. Not now. They were studying. Testing.
Ethan narrowed his eyes. "They're...learning us."
"What?"
"They're not beasts. They're soldiers."
Velina's hand trembled on her sword. "So what now?"
Ethan's eyes burned as he stood tall, even as the WRATH roared in his chest.
"Now?"
He took a slow step forward, blade dragging in the sand.
"Now we survive."
-----
Velina's cry shattered the tense silence. Ethan spun, too slow. A scorpion's tail had cracked through her defense, curling like a whip of death. She'd misstepped, her boot sinking deeper into the dune, giving the beast the perfect opening.
The tail struck.
Aimed straight for her heart.
Time slowed.
No choice.
Ethan's WRATH ignited.
[SKILL ACTIVATED : ABYSSAL LUNGE]
[WRATH EXPENDED: 8]
[WRATH REMAINING : 27/35 | COOLDOWN: 8s]
The world shifted, reality bending. He vanished in a black blur, shadows streaking behind him like vapor trails.
CRACK!
He intercepted the tail mid-strike, shoulder-first, knocking it off-course. His blade flashed upward and pierced beneath the carapace, sliding into the soft tissue between armored plates.
The beast shrieked, spasming violently.
Its legs kicked at the sand, trying to retreat—but Ethan's blade tore free in a clean arc, leaving black ichor gushing across the ground. It thrashed once more before collapsing into the dust.
First kill.
[DESERT SCORDANA DEFEATED]
[+20EXP GAINED]
[+6WRATH EARNED | TOTAL WRATH: 33/35]
[CURRENT EXP: 28/500]
Velina coughed, crawling to her knees. "...I owe you."
Ethan's voice was low. "That's more than thwice. Don't make it go higher."
No time to breathe. The circle of beasts collapsed inward again, sensing the threat growing.
Second Scorpion.
It lunged, claws wide, trying to grab Ethan from the left flank. He stepped in instead. Blade reversed, he ducked under the pincer, and drove his dagger deep into its knee joint, pinning it into the sand. The creature screeched and tried to crush him. But Ethan vaulted backward, dragging his blade in a horizontal slash across its face.
The frontal plates shattered.
With a vicious snarl, he kicked off the beast's head, flipping into the air, and landed directly on its back, sword raised. He stabbed straight down, impaling it through the soft spot between the base of its neck and armored torso.
The monster spasmed, legs folding inward.
Dead.
[DESERT SCORDANA DEFEATED]
[+20EXP GAINED]
[+2WRATH EARNED | TOTAL WRATH: 35/35]
[CURRENT EXP: 48/500]
Velina limped beside him, drawing her spare dagger. "That was fast" They turned back-to-back again.
Eight left.
Third Scorpion.
Velina charged first this time. Ethan didn't stop her. She ducked under a pincer, spun, and sliced both antennae off. The beast reared up, disoriented. She stabbed it once in the eye, black fluid spraying across her face, and kicked off its head.
"Ethan!" she shouted.
He knew what she wanted. He launched forward, grabbing the beast's tail mid-swing and pulling it as hard as he could, dragging its back legs out of position. Velina leapt into the air and drove her sword downward like a spear.
The blade sank into the weak joint behind its jaw. The beast twitched and collapsed.
Third down.
Velina fell beside him, panting. "Damn... these things aren't normal Class IIs."
"They're not."
He glanced at the carapaces. "I don't know much, but they ar different"
She swallowed hard. "Then we'll kill these mistakes."
They barely had time to recover before two scorpions flanked from opposite ends.
Perfectly in sync. Velina threw a sand flash, running all over the place and raising dust, momentarily blinding the beasts.
"Go!" she screamed.
Ethan moved like a wraith. He spun low, dodging both pincers of one scorpion, and jammed his blade into its underbelly, right where its leg connected.
The beast shrieked, twisted. But Velina struck from behind, severing the tail in one clean arc. The venom gland ruptured. The fluid spilled onto the sand, melting it to glass. The scorpion twitched and rolled. Ethan finished it with a final plunge to the core.
Fourth dead.
[DESERT SCORDANA DEFEATED]
[+20EXP GAINED]
[CURRENT EXP: 68/500]
Velina wasn't done.
The second beast from the ambush spun toward her. She dove aside, not fast enough. One claw caught her in the ribs, hurling her against a dune. She screamed in pain, the breath ripped from her lungs.
Ethan's heart thudded.
[SKILL READY : ABYSSAL LUNGE ]
[WRATH COST: 8]
He gritted his teeth. No, save it. He moved manually, rushing low and fast. The scorpion turned to face him. Ethan raised his blade, then suddenly plunged it into the sand, vaulting upward off the hilt. He flipped over the beast, landing on its back.
It reared, trying to shake him.
But he was already stabbing, once, twice, three times, before jamming the blade horizontally into the upper segment of its shell. The monster spasmed, flailed, then collapsed, legs twitching.
Fifth kill.
[DESERT SCORDANA DEFEATED]
[+20EXP GAINED]
[CURRENT EXP: 88/500]