Chapter 43 - Honorary kitsune versus mad scorpion (3)

Chapter 43: Chapter 43 - Honorary kitsune versus mad scorpion (3) The scorpion is banging on the barrier like a madman. This is not a good thing. When it was scuttling around, I could use a moment when it was further away to jump in and cast some magic. But this scenario doesn’t give me any breathing room. I need to make it give me some space. I wonder how it will react to an illusion. I know from my early life that scorpions have really bad eyesight but have the best light sensitivity in the entire animal kingdom. And I’ve been told that the so-called ’giant’ scorpions from the Barrens share this trait. I say ’so-called’ because those ’giant’ scorpions are the size of dogs. The creature in front of me is on a whole other level. Hm, time for some illusion, then. I use fire magic to create a strong light and air to refract it like a really bright flashlight, focused on the scorpion’s face. It reels back, screeching in agony. This is my cue. The creature is still very close to the barrier, only momentarily blinded and confused. So I quickly cast the taser aria, which is shorter and usually takes me a third of the time of the bolt to cast, and jump in. As soon as I’m at the other side, I touch one of its claws, sending an enormous jolt of electricity through its body, and then jump back before it has time to react. It worked. For the first time, the scorpion is not facing the barrier as it thrashes and screeches around. I decide to strike while the iron is hot, so I jump in again even before the lightning bolt aria is completed. I cast the bolt on the scorpion, which seems very fazed by all the pain. Instead of jumping back again, I smile and prepare another bolt without giving it time to recover. And then another. The injuries keep closing, but it seems that I’m making more before the last ones can fully close, so I am chipping its health bar, even if little by little. My smile would seem probably very sinister to any onlooker right now, as I release lightning over lightning at the poor scorpion. I can’t remember the last time I felt so thrilled. It was probably at some session at those nightclubs I used to frequent in my last life. I feel like the daughter of thunder itself, fully embodying my title. This power is pure ecstasy. I further empower my arias, putting more mana and adding more empowering words to them. I’m so drunk with my power that I don’t notice when the creature stopped screeching. Suddenly, I feel something hitting my side. It’s a powerful blow that sends me flying across the chamber. Oooof. I hit the wall at full force, then fall limp to the floor. In the moments it takes me to understand the situation, the scorpion is already closing in on me. I jump to the side, barely escaping its pincer. But the pain in my left side is overwhelming. Fuck. I might have broken some ribs. And now the scorpion is between me and the barrier. I got too cocky there, and now I pay the price. The scorpion is very badly hurt, but its injuries are already closing. Its eyes have a red brightness on them as it measures me, as if daring me to cast a lightning bolt again. I’m sorry, babe, but I have a different idea. I cast an illusion instead. Two copies of me run, one to the left and another to the right. I run straight in front, then I jump, sliding under the monster. I had no time to see what bait the scorpion took, if any, because of the speed at which I ran and jumped. I only know that, being right below its body, I can use an empowered version of the taser directly on its vulnerable side, hitting its most essential organs. The resulting screech told me that I was right on the money with this decision. I rolled to the side as the scorpion turned around, looking for me. It finds me before I can get up on my feet again, launching a vicious attack with its claw. Instead of trying to get up, I just try to keep rolling instead, and the claw misses me by millimeters. I don’t have time to appreciate it, because the claw was just a diversion. The real attack was already in position to hit me squarely. I have only the time to put one arm up, so its tail hit me there instead of on my head. I feel the poison enter my body with an excruciating pain, and I scream. The arm feels like it’s burning inside. I use the other arm to grab the tail and cast another taser on it. We are both faltering with pain right now, looking at each other. I know that there is the safety of the barrier behind me, but the scorpion is closer to me than I am to the barrier. And the pain is preventing me from getting up right now. Apparently my health regeneration doesn’t remove the poison from my body. So it just keeps reconstructing the injured tissues, which the poison injures back. Over and over again. The amulet pendant is still intact, which means this wasn’t a killing blow yet. I wonder if the amulet has any effectiveness at all against Damage over Time types of attacks. After all, if it only negates the tick of the poison that would kill me, then the next tick would kill me anyway. So I hope it negates the poison completely if it happens. The scorpion comes on the offensive, and I cast another lightning bolt, using my not-poisoned hand. The bolt hits it again, but this time it doesn’t recede like the other times. Instead, it keeps its momentum, hurling both claws towards me. I roll backwards in an effort to evade. Then I feel a sharp pain on my left ankle. When I manage to understand what’s happening, I’ve fallen on the floor, and the creature is coming again. I try to get up, but something is amiss. I look down. It had torn my left foot off with a clean cut from its pincer. I can see my left boot a few meters away, on a pool of blood. Probably my foot is inside it. Fuck. Okay, now I’m cooked. The scorpion picks me up with its claws, but it isn’t doing a cutting movement. Instead, it’s just taking me to its mouth. In complete despair, I cast a new lightning bolt, aiming at its eyes. The creature screeches and drops me to the floor. Then everything fades to black.