Chapter 583 - 583 - Bloody Battle

Looking at the looming threat as it lurked closer and closer both Scarlet and Drake were clear that there was no point in even attempting to communicate with the monstrous entity.

The creature snarled viciously as the pair of dark globules, its pair of compound eyes focused on the royal siblings just a dozen or so yards ahead of it. A few sharp snarls were heard from it only, its eerie howling was silent and low as it continued creeping closer, walking from light source to light source. 

Whilst it was undeniable that its tied-up captive kin above was intelligent, cunning, and scheming, they weren't too inclined to reason with them. Their deep-seated hatred and killing intent were painfully obvious.

Both siblings gripped their weapons firmly in their hands, gripping them tightly in murderous fury. Slowly, Drake unsheathed Mort from its holster and held it with its facing blade downwards the ground by his side. 

Meanwhile Scarlet held both her daggers in her hands. They both looked at the savage, monstrous entity, standing in this sudden face-off. 

Time stretched too painfully, making this small few ticking seconds feel like entire lifetimes as the two sides did nothing but scrutinize the other. The two feeble humans, the 'Bareskinks' stood in front of this creature, one of the 4 Great Tribes surviving the apocalyptic clash between the guardians of this realm. 

The siblings knew they had to be focused, keeping their attention on the creature's every heartbeat, every breath it took. The unholy fusion of insect and beast as so far both creatures of this unknown species were seen, could not be underestimated. As its kin had shown before they were savage, cruel, ruthless, and worst of all, incredibly powerful.

The siblings were facing the massive monster, the gigantic insect-beast that stood in front of them, head bowed slightly to the side and licking its lips as it towered over them.

The bloodthirsty monster continued to show no interest in the siblings, but stood silently, waiting for either of them to make the first move.

After what seemed like a forever of tense stillness, it was Scarlet that reacted first and launched herself into action thus marking the start of their battle, their fight for survival between human and monster.

In the blink of an eye, Scarlet threw a fierce blow at the creature's head, a vicious blow that connected, the bloodied head snapping as the head fell from its muscular neck to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, Scarlet hands shot forward, jumping to the left side and inching closer to the tunnel's rocky wall. As a fierce shout, the roar befitting even an amazon escaped her lips, she jumped up, using her legs as support to run up sideways at the vertical terrain as it rushed towards the creature.

It ran sideways along the wall only for a brief instant, using its sturdy surface as an additional source of support to give even more explosive burst to his sudden momentum, and shot herself towards the standing, seemingly non-reactive enemy.

Tightly holding onto both of her daggers in both of her balled fists, Scarlet shot across the air, the sharp edges of her daggers glinting dangerously in the flickering pillars of light.

Drake wasn't standing still, with a shout, matching that of her sister's sudden, explosive bravery, it rushed towards the beast. All the muscles in his right arm were flexed, stretched to their limits, ready to unleash a vicious, brutal swipe in an instant.

In response, the creature flipped his body around as it jumped backward, swiping with its massive, chitinous portion of its tail at both the incoming, attacking siblings.

The powerful strike, swiped both attempts away, blocking and parrying both the daggers and the humming sword. 

As the first round of attacks quickly came to an end, it marked the beginning of a blood-curdling, horrific and bloody battle for survival.

Not giving any time to rest and think about its situation, Scarlet was ready to jump back into the fray. She attacked the creature's legs and flailed her blades wildly. At the same time, as if already knowing his sister's thoughts, Drake lounged himself at the creature from the right side, striking diagonally with his treasured sword. Its blade that usually shined with a silvery luster, and hummed like an eager, easily-excited child was emitting a faint, pale blueish luster, that slowly, gradually increased in intensity as the fight turned more and more heated.

Once again, the creature was prepared, reacting to both sides simultaneously. For the incoming sharp daggers that looked like deathly scissors attempting to sever its tendons and cause the creature to lose its stance, it swung its body causing its chitinous tail to fly and thwart the attack. 

At the same time, as the creature turned its body to focus by instinct on the more dangerous of the two opponents, the boy, it swiped both its claws at the blade and its expertly wielding hand. It wanted to not just simply block the incoming attack, but also provide an instant counter and disarm the annoying buzzing fly.

The creature's reaction time and speed were inhumane. Much higher than what the siblings were used to. From their viewpoint, the so-far mostly calmly standing insectoid monster's body flickered for a moment, before its stance abruptly changed, blocking both attacks instantly.

Yet, there was one thing, one crucial problem, the beast did not seem to count with. The blueish hollow light that Mort's blade emitted wasn't simply a show of light, but it carried a mystical source of energy. It was the materialized intent of the sword spirit residing inside the fabled royal artifact. Similar to an aura, yet it wasn't wielded by a living creature but it came from the artifact, etching the blade with a power that shouldn't be overlooked.

Suddenly a blood-curdling scream, a guttural, pain-filled shout exploded from the beast's lungs as it was abruptly deprived of one-third of its attacking arsenal, severing its right hand from its wrist as the glimmering blade sliced through the ebony blockade like if it was empty, hot air.

At the same time, this caused him to instinctively lunge backward, causing the creature to fail in its attempt to dish out any counter and damage its opponent.

The beast lunged backward, creating a bit of space between itself and the two humans, grabbings its mutilated right wrist, sneering viciously with a murderous intent.

As if giving the young siblings a proper warning, the creature unleashed a monstrous scream, a malevolent one, an ancient warning. 

A shriek so powerful it sent powerful soundwaves rippling across the air, causing the tunnel walls to shake in agony. 

The beast's body started to vibrate responding to its own call, emitting powerful waves of pain, agony, and torment to its surroundings. 

As its body continued to tremble and shiver, its previously dark eyes began to glimmer, as a source of dark red appeared at its center, slowly spreading around replacing the eerie, ominous dark glow.

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