'Distance.'
Luciel immediately separated himself from the Alpha's towering frame before its sharp talons swiped at him furiously.
It was extremely angry, flailing its long limbs chaotically, smashing the ground, and destroying everything in its vicinity in the process.
'My goodness. If it were anywhere near the dead Skulkers, my loot would've been gone.'
As Luciel silently comforted himself, another attack aimed at his flank, threatening to split him in half.
Luciel took a step back in a rush and dodged it by a hair's breadth. Consequently, however, its talons—which had been clawing at the ground—brought up a mouthful of dirt and spewed it all over Luciel's face, making him disoriented.
'No. Stop thinking about money. You're facing death here!'
He spat out the dirt that flew in his mouth as he dodged another strike and wiped his eyes as the talons came at him again. He nimbly rolled his body to the side and quickly got up to ascertain the situation.
Its attacks were chaotic with no order or thought at all, but Luciel couldn't do anything because it was too fast. All he could muster up right now was constant dodging.
The dagger didn't help either. His range of attack was way shorter than the creature's now that it was actively fighting. The pressure of its attacks was no joke, too. He doubted that a dagger could withstand much impact against the sharpened talons.
Furthermore, he hadn't accounted for when its goons would start to show up. With a deafening shriek like that, those Skulkers were definitely sprinting this way.
The only promising thing about this miserable encounter was that Luciel was still unscathed—albeit barely. But that was it. He needed to decide what to do next, or he'd meet a pathetic end right here in the Outlands.
'Think, think, think. I can't kill it by just dodging. I need to widen its swing and create an opening somehow.'
He tightened his grip on the dagger and changed tactics. He switched his momentum, swinging his body to the side instead of retreating.
The talons lashed out again, but wider this time. He braced his body and rolled in the direction of the swing, keeping low. The blade of air hissed past his ear.
Quickly catching his balance, he sprinted again like a madman; sweat finally broke across his brow.
Luciel didn't just run horizontally, of course, but diagonally away from the Alpha to lead its focus off-center.
The mandibles clicked faster, a rapid metallic chatter. The creature shifted—its deformed arm cocking back high over its head.
Luciel's gut screamed a warning. He needed to time the dodge perfectly if he wanted to keep his life.
A shattering slash ripped through the air, its sheer pressure rocking the wind like a hurricane awakening. The ground split behind him like paper. One of the steel beams nearby was cleaved cleanly in two.
The moment he felt the wind prickling at his body, goosebumps spread.
'Dodge!'
He immediately drifted his footing and rolled straight towards the Alpha, missing the sharp talons by a few centimeters. He landed and dashed at maximum speed towards the slight opening he'd created. Scarlet flame flickered to life, concentrated into one spot.
The creature's chitin was too sturdy for his flame to break through, so his only hope was the jagged slit where mandibles parted, exposing its flesh beneath the chitin.
The creature roared even louder, possibly reacting to the flame. Without flinching, Luciel fired off a potent flaming beam at its flaring mouth. He left it no time to react as the flame set off a small explosion. The impact cracked like thunder, and the air rippled with the stench of scorched flesh.
The creature oozed out azure blood—mouth now deformed and foaming with acidic bubbles. It let out another cacophony even more horrendous than the last.
'That worked. One more strike.'
As the creature wobbled, Luciel set his foot and drove the dagger into its underbelly, where soft flesh was unprotected. He wreathed the dagger in flame and detonated another explosion within its body.
The dark-veined chitin glowed red from the extreme heat. From afar, the creature glowed like a red lantern—flickering weakly, about to gutter out. It let out a deep gurgling sound as the dagger buried deeper into its flesh.
Seeing its armor cracked around the underbelly, Luciel decisively traced the dagger upward, slicing its front like a surgeon. Another wave of azure blood gushed out, this time showering him endlessly.
The creature staggered as it produced a weak growl. Then it stilled—twitching faintly, as if life was flickering out.
With blade and hand stuck inside its flesh, Luciel stood frozen, his breath loud in the sudden silence.
He calmly pulled the dagger out and flicked his wrist to clean the blade of blood. The once silver gleam now donned itself a midnight blue coating.
'Cool aesthetic.'
He thought the dagger was pretty. It could be a family heirloom if he ever considered a family in the future—not that he wanted it. Just a passing thought.
As he daydreamed, something shifted.
At that moment, he heard a dreadful bellow that made his body subconsciously jolt. The sound was too close for comfort. Way too close.
He gazed up immediately and found the towering stature looking down at him with its scorched mouth. The miasma of its breath hung close to his face, warm and disgusting.
The hulking figure covered the sky—its mouth badly mangled but very much alive.
The only thought in his mind echoed, 'Retreat!'
In an instant, its mouth fell on the spot Luciel used to stand. He was almost devoured if not for his reflex snapping into action just in time. But it didn't end there.
Its right limb fired off again towards the young boy.
'Damn.'
He had no time to do any dodging maneuvers. Instead, he angled himself toward a softer joint in its armor and used the momentum of the dagger to absorb the blow. It would be foolish to retreat further in panic just to be mangled by its sharp talons.
He brought his right arm close to his body to cover his face, dagger held diagonally for extra defense.
Immediately, a terrible pressure coursed through his entire body. Within a blink, he flew across the dirt like a ragdoll before crashing into the tall grass nearby, muscles tensed from the blow. For a second, he thought his arm had snapped in two until he saw the dagger's broken blade in his grip.
'There goes the family heirloom.'
Luciel quickly propped himself up, surprised he hadn't blacked out. He looked ahead to see that the Alpha was sprinting towards him—albeit much slower and clumsier than before.
'This guy is like a cockroach.'
He gritted his teeth as he moved. His bones didn't snap, but the pain was rather unbearable. Fatigue had caught up to him also—his breathing much more erratic and rough.
However, he didn't feel like he could die. Maybe adrenaline had taken over his mind. Pain flared, breathing ragged. But Luciel was certain he couldn't lose. He refused to yield. Not to this bug.
He took a step forward, another step, and then another step. His eyes brimmed with calculated madness. His grip tightened around the broken dagger.
Then, scarlet flames surged brightly, covering his whole arm. The warmth steadied his breathing but made the Alpha frenzied. The two closed the distance in an instant.
The creature wailed ferociously—its limbs flung again with no destined path. Luciel followed his instincts and brought forth his flaming arm and dagger. His blade danced in fluid but brutal arcs, deflecting and parrying the never-ending series of slashes and swipes.
He sharpened all of his five senses—the wind's shift and pressure, the stench in the air, his saliva, and sweat. Everything moved—except his eyes. His sight was dead set on the gouge on its belly. It shimmered faintly in its blue hue as though calling for him to deliver the final blow.
Little by little, the fiery blade chipped chunks of chitin off the creature. The metallic clash rang throughout the Outlands like war drums celebrating carnage.
Its breath became hoarse the more it swung its limbs. A fierce standoff was about to come to an end.
The creature threw out a desperate swing wide to cover the ground, but Luciel dodged easily and took another step forward. Finally sensing an opening, he gathered all his strength, burst forward, and thrust the broken dagger with as much force as he could.
The dagger pierced into its belly again, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. He twisted the dagger and dug even deeper until his whole arm vanished into the beast's flesh.
Luciel unleashed his scarlet flame to its extremity, scorching everything that made up the monster. It let out its final screech as it fell backwards. The large statue crashed into the dirt—its impact left a lasting echo, dust billowing around the scorched corpse.
Luciel's arm was bathed in azure blood, the dagger still pointing at the corpse.
He drew a rough and painful breath. 'I might collapse any moment.'
But his will didn't let him. Five other Skulkers had already come into view, though their behavior was weird. They twitched and jerked more than normal, its head spinning around crazily.
In any case, he couldn't celebrate yet. He inhaled another breath; a sharp pain washed over his body as he groaned.
No. No rest. Not yet.
He flipped the dagger, reversed the grip, and started his advance towards the five Skulkers.
'I'd really bit off more than I could chew.'
That was the case, so he'd better finish what he started.