Nightmare Scorpion

Hifumi left the cave/tunnel with a stressed face and met up with his hunting party. Set inside the tunnel, finally left alone, asked the system, "System, draw our a map for me.

[. . .]

[Done.]

Set saw the map and started to move accordingly. After about an hour of walking, he began to feel anxious, which was a clear indication that he was about to face a powerful foe. Yet, compared to that scary owl, it was nothing, it was like comparing a child to an adult. Yet, compared to King Raven, this beast was certainly more powerful. Meaning it was a mid-level World beast while the King Raven and the scary owl were low-level and high-level celestial beasts accordingly.

The more Set neared the beast, the more restlessness he felt, but no matter what he felt he was determined to get the celestial treasure. Besides, with his Space cloak, the beast wouldn't even realize he was there, right? After around another hour of walking, he finally entered the cave where the creature resided.

The cave was small, and thanks to the light crystals in the tunnel and the cave. He felt like he was walking into a well-lit room. But small was just relative, compared to the cave in which he found the Titan Blade, it was small. But compared to a one-room apartment, it was very large, so large, in fact, there was a small pond in there that seemed to be bottomless. A few meters away from the pond, there was a golden scorpion with black patterns all over its body and deep red eyes, making it look menacing. And to add to the menacing feel, there were countless fish bones scattered around the cave.

Looking at the Nightmare Scorpion, Set felt chills run down his spine. The Scorpion was definitely not a foe to be taken lightly. And much to Set's delight, the scorpion did not notice him at all. Although going up against a World-class beast while still, a Demon hunter was basically suicide, the Titan Blade, the King Raven brass knuckle, and the Space Cloak Combine would certainly give him a chance at slaying the beast.

'Alright system, where is the celestial treasure?'

[The Celestial treasure is located at the bottom of the pond.]

Set hearing the system's clicked his tongue. He now had to be extra careful not to make splashes or even slight ripples while entering the water. And to make it worse, the scorpion stood staring at the pond as though its life depended on it, not even turning its eyes away for a second. As Set was thinking about what it was doing there was a loud splash in the pond, water flew in every direction. As Set recovered from an unexpected occurrence, he saw it.

The stinger of the Nightmare scorpion had been driven through a meter long fish! Blood dripped from the fish's gill and injury as it squirmed about trying to free itself, but it was all in vain. As shortly after the fish died from the poison injected by the scorpion stinger. Shortly after meaning it didn't even survive five seconds!

Set seeing the spectacle flabbergasted and repeatedly praised the gods for blessing him with the Titan Blade. If not for that Set probably wouldn't have had a chance to beat such an opponent, as he hadn't even seen the stinger move.

'SUCH SPEED!' While King Raven was fast, he was a beast specializing in speed and agility to maneuver through the air. In the face of the explosive speed and power of the stinger, it was nothing more than a measly fly being swatted. But, of course, that couldn't keep Set away.

The Nightmare scorpion munched on the fish it had caught, and in a matter of seconds, it was nothing more than bones. Then the scorpion returned to his place and stood at the edge of the pond waiting for Its next meal, like an immovable mountain. Until finally, it caught a fish, after munching on it and throwing away the bones, it returned to the edge of the pond, waiting for the next meal. Set witnessed this happening over and over and over.... and over again.

It was the fourth day after he had entered the cave and the scorpion was still doing its routine. Its routine being standing at the edge of the pond, waiting for fish, catching fish, stinging fish, munching on fish, throwing bones away, and then standing at the edge of the pond, waiting for its next meal. Not once did it deviate from its routine. Not once did it stop to take a good night's sleep or a short nap.

"What a glutton!" Set had seen the scorpion eat up to a hundred fish a day, and that was on a bad day! On a good one, It could eat as much as two hundred and fifty! But what amazed him more than the scorpion's planet-sized appetite was the pond. 'How deep does it go?' was the question on his mind, as he saw fish after fish get eaten by the scorpion.

But on the fifth day, the scorpion's routine suddenly changed. It stepped away from the pond and lay down on the ground, closing its eyes and entering into a deep sleep. Set seeing the scorpion sleep was skeptical, so he asked the system, "What's wrong with it?"

And after a while, the system responded,

[The brain wave frequencies suggest that it is sleeping.]

Set hearing this, smiled, and sat down to wait a little longer, so as not to wake up his patterned companion. After waiting for half a day, he eventually mustered up the courage to enter the pond. And because he was still at the entrance of the cave, he had to cross his way to the pond in silence before entering. Set began his journey, but he found that he was walking on a literal land mine. If he so much as stepped on one of the fish bones scattered on the ground, he could guarantee that he would receive a sting from the scorpion. And sadly, he couldn't use his Titan Blade because it would change the room temperature of the cave. And considering the heightened senses of the World Beast, the difference could easily be detected.

Slowly, Set made his way to the pond and reached it successfully without awakening the beast. Now it was the hard part... just kidding! Of course, Set had prepared for this. Out of the system inventory, he pulled out a gas bomb with an image of a King Raven on it.

Slowly, he pulled the pin and threw the bomb at the scorpion. As the smoke bomb made its way through the air, green gas was left in its wake. But, of course, with the senses of the World Beast, it awakened in fury. Its stinger was aimed at the smoke bomb. The stinger struck the can, releasing a mini cloud of the toxic gas right into its face.

After breathing in the toxic gas, the scorpion began to lose its balance. After that, it dropped to the ground and lost consciousness.

"As I thought, it's nothing against the toxic powers of King Raven! Before it even a mid-level world beast is nothing!"

Set the lept in the pond, leaving the scorpion behind. While he could have killed it easily (Yeah, there was no way he could kill it easily), he chose to leave it as a kind of guard dog, defending the pond against Hifumi and the hunting party.