Act 1: Blue Ocean Pavilion - Chapter 210: The Petra Scorpion's Terrifying Poison

Act 1: Blue Ocean Pavilion - Chapter 210: The Petra Scorpion's Terrifying Poison

The clash of the deer anima's metal antlers and the Petra Scorpion's stony claw resounded like thunder across the red mountain slope. The earth under their hooves and spidery legs cracked as they dug deeper to hold their ground as metal continued to clash against earth, a fierce battle between the elements. But Oscar's deer anima retreated to Oscar's side because it alone was not enough to overcome this Elite Exalt Beast.

Oscar patted and stroked his deer anima's head. The metal antlers on top were not cracked but worn down, very telling of the scorpion's tough exterior. The deer anima had received a big upgrade from Oscar's advancement, but it was only a piece of Oscar's full power.

"Any longer, and your antlers would have cracked." Oscar focused his Ein to recover his deer anima's antlers back to pristine condition. His deer anima grunted in response to his statement.

"Don't worry; I wanted to test how hard your antlers were. The Redback Ape was tough but did not have an impressive defense like this scorpion." Oscar canceled his deer anima's manifestation and charged ahead alone, intent on using this battle to get more experience.

The Petra Scorpion rattled its multiple black teeth in response to Oscar. Like terrifying pairs of scissors, massive pincers sliced and cut their way across to Oscar, carving out and upheaving the red ground. The destruction came upon Oscar like a devastating storm.

'Prinstyct'

Oscar's third eye glowed, causing the world around him to distort, but the scorpion's movements were static and obscured by its eidolon. He had to go deeper, Oscar told himself as he dodged and blocked the onslaught of the pincers. The memories of when he fought against his master, Draven, came into his mind.

A battle between Prinstycts was to be the one who read deeper and caught the intent faster. Going against an eidolon was no different. Oscar continued to stay passive against the Petra Scorpion to improve his Prinstyct to pierce through the veil of the eidolon.

However, his hand would be forced as something tore past his guard.

"Bastard." Oscar felt a slight pain in his shoulder as blood trickled out. "Those pincers are unusual." He was sure he had blocked that attack, but something damaged his shoulder.

"What is it doing?" Oscar kept a close eye on the scorpion's attacks and bided his time until the creature used its surprise attack again. When his buckler deflected its pincer, a sharp piece of its rocky shell shot out like a dart toward his leg.

'Edureisclad'

The dart barely pierced through his skin, unable to overcome Oscar's defense, only managing a trickle of blood like a nosebleed. Oscar retreated with the stone dart before the other pincer closed on him. This stone dart was the cause of his shoulder injury; it was made of the hardened shell of rock, husk, and Ein that encased the scorpion.

Oscar canceled his Prinstyct to get a clear look at the Petra Scorpion, noticing a small groove on its pincer that was slowly being filled in to return to its initial condition. This groove must have been where the stone dart was created and shot out, but the supply wasn't unlimited.U//ppTodated fr/o/m nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)\/m

"If my Prinstyct were good enough, it would see through the intent of shooting out the stone dart." Oscar clenched the dart in his hands, shattering it into pieces. "But that's the wrong line of thinking."

Together the duo charged in once again. The scorpion was more hesitant this time and stabbed its stinger multiple times so fast it almost appeared like it had eight of them.

Under the barrage of poisoned stingers, with the ground becoming a purple swamp around them, Oscar and his deer anima leaped up, the two suns shining behind them, illuminating them like a heroic knight, but it was just a man on a deer.

'Quad-pronged Attack'

Oscar landed like a meteor on the scorpion's craggily back, letting loose the power of his combination strike, but with half of his usual Reis. The collision was fierce as cracks appeared all over the scorpion, and it fell on its stomach to the ground, but the shell did not shatter this time.

Inconceivable!

The Petra Scorpion was in disbelief at the strength this little ant had, and the hard shell and pincers it was proud of were broken. Its pride had been damaged, and it retaliated in a fit of rage, releasing a black gooey substance that enveloped its entire body, even the exposed flesh of the pincer.

Hiss

Aghast, Oscar saw the black liquid start to corrode his 'Steel Drill', like hot magma, melting it down. A surge of pain rushed into his core as the same occurred for the hard metal hooves of his deer anima, which bleated in pain.

"Damned scorpion." Oscar leaped off the scorpion and unsummoned his deer anima before it suffered more damage. Right as he did, a shadow fell upon him. Looking up, he saw the stinger stab accurately toward him in the air; it was also coated in the black liquid.

"My buckler is only a grade one armament. Can it handle this poison?" Although ripe with misgivings, his arms lifted the buckler, which burned with Ein across its surface and Reis to support it. The sharp stinger was not deterred by the buckler and started to melt it.

Before the black goo could spread onto his arms, Oscar tossed the buckler away and retreated safely to the red ground. His expression was grave as he watched the buckler start to melt, leaving behind the tough thread made of Thousand Serpent sinew.

"That buckler was made with my master's finishing touch." Oscar felt his eyes heating up, not from sadness or longing but from unbridled fury. He heard the clattering of teeth coming from the Petra Scorpion. Was it laughing at him? Oscar walked with heavy steps and laughed coldly. "You're on your last leg, so just die already."

Although Oscar put on a tough display, he was frustrated at the current situation. The sudden appearance of the black goo was bad enough, but his Ein was not in good shape either. The power of an Elite Exalt was like a wild horse that he had yet to tame, so each spell, despite his best efforts with 'Ein Awaken', wasted too much Ein.

"What's the best course of action with how I am right now?" In his cold rage, Oscar pondered as the scorpion, covered in black goo, approached, intent on finishing Oscar off for good.