119 THE SCORPION IS HERE

119 THE SCORPION IS HERE

As the skeletal monstrosity closed in, Leo stepped to the edge of the boat, his muscles tensing. With a well-timed leap, he swung a powerful fist, striking the creature mid-leap. The impact was devastating—bone cracked and splintered as the fish-like beast was sent hurtling back.

Dragon-like claws erupted from Leo's hands, their gleaming edges as sharp as any blade.

"Dragon Rakhshasa Transformation Sutra."

"The Body Enhancement magic lets me summon dragon claws", Leo said.

As the skeletal fish lunged once more, its grotesque form closing in with deadly speed, Leo slashed with precision and power again.

The claws sliced through the creature, splitting its skeletal body into several pieces that scattered across the murky water.

"Too bad I couldn't turn it into sashimi, it has no flesh," Leo quipped, smirking at the bony remains of the undead fish.

Yun-Yun, however, was less amused.

Her eyes darted warily across the swamp's shadowy expanse. "We're sitting ducks out here. This swamp is crawling with creatures like that—or worse."

Leo paused, considering. "We could use our magic cloaks to camouflage ourselves," he suggested, then frowned. "But that won't do anything cover the fucking boat."

Soon, their boat drifted silently through the misty swamp, Leo and Yun-Yun noticed flashes of fire cutting through the fog. The distant sound of shouting and clashing weapons grew louder.

"Something is fighting ahead", Yun-Yun observed.

"We'll observe them in concealment", Leo suggested.

Their boat slowed moving around thick roots and trees for cover until they came upon a group of explorers. The group were stranded expeditioners, their feet trapped in the thick, clinging mud, while skeletal, scorpion-like creatures swarmed them. The creatures moved with unnerving speed, their segmented bodies rattling as they darted through the swamp.

"What are those fucking scorpions?" Leo asked.

"Be careful these creatures usually come in a pack", Yun-Yun warned as they found cover behind the vegetation to watch.

Ash and smoke filled the air as the explorers unleashed flaming fireballs in a desperate bid to fend off the attackers.

"Our spells are missing most of the time!" one of the mages shouted, frustration clear in his voice as another fireball went wide, striking the water with a hiss.

"This swamp is too cramped for proper casting! And there are too many of these damned crawlies!" another explorer yelled, his panic barely contained.

Several warriors swung flaming swords at the creatures, the blades igniting the swampy air with trails of fire.

But their strikes were slow, their movements hindered by the mud that clung to their legs and weighed them down. Some of the fighters were caked in muck, their armor and clothes drenched, their attempts to maneuver reduced to futile struggles.

Then it happened.

One of the fighters, a man who appeared to be at the peak of Cakra Mula faltered and fell. "Help me—!" he cried, but the skeletal scorpions were faster.

In an instant, the creatures swarmed him, their pincers flashing as they tore into his body. His screams echoed through the swamp before cutting off abruptly, leaving only the sickening sound of ripping flesh and cracking bone.

"Should we help them?" Yun-Yun asked, her gaze flicking to the struggling explorers.

Leo didn't even glance in their direction. "No," he said flatly.

"We don't know them." Then, with a cruel pragmatism, he added, "Even if we did, there's nothing to gain in saving them. Risking ourselves for these fools isn't part of the plan."

"It is better to be safe," Yun-Yun replied, her tone distant as she watched the carnage unfold.

"I am the strongest mage in the West Sodom Academy of Magic! These creatures will not end me!" a defiant voice roared above the chaos.

At the center of the battlefield, someone stood tall.

His body was suddenly engulfed in an inferno. Flames roared around him, creating an impenetrable barrier that kept the skeletal scorpions at bay.

"That is a cool spell," Leo remarked, his tone laced with casual indifference.

"He's mastered a lesser form of body enhancement magic," Yun-Yun explained. "It gives him the protection of flame."

With a fierce gesture, the mage unleashed a devastating wave of fire.

The inferno swept across the swamp, incinerating everything in its path. The skeletal scorpions, once menacing and relentless, now lay charred and broken in the swamp. The spell was devastatingly effective—but indiscriminate. Many of the soldiers accompanying the expedition participant also fell, consumed by the same flame.

"He's fucking killing his own people to save himself," Leo observed, his eyes narrowing as she watched the merciless carnage.

Yun-Yun nodded in acknowledgment. "Body enhancement magic is very useful, but not everyone can control it properly, especially at lower magic tiers," she explained again.

Leo observed the man and noted, "You're right. The receptors attached to his body enhancement aren't fully developed."

Leo had mastered body enhancement magic ahead of his magic tier, but he could wield it perfectly because he had hacked the magic. He had given himself perfect magic receptors, coding wise, to utilize the enhancement flawlessly.

Coding magic in this realm is almost like the casting and perfecting of spells and magic.

Suddenly, a deafening roar shattered the swamp's uneasy silence. The ground trembled as something massive stirred beneath the murky waters.

With a sudden eruption, an enormous creature emerged, dwarfing the scorpions that had fallen before the flames. It stood five times taller than a human, its grotesque, skeletal form unmistakably related to the smaller scorpions—but far more menacing. Its claws gleamed like razors, and its eyes burned with an unnatural, calculating intelligence.

"The scorpion mother is here," Yun-Yun murmured, her voice low and tense.

The monstrous creature turned its gaze to the battlefield, surveying the devastation.

"Rawwwrrrr"

With terrifying speed, it lunged forward. The surviving soldiers, mired in the swamp's thick mud, tried desperately to flee, but their movements were sluggish and hopelessly slow.

The scorpion mother struck with precision. Her massive pincers closed around a cluster of soldiers, crushing them with a sickening crunch before moving on to the next.

"Arggghhh," the people screamed.

One by one, the scorpion mother dispatched the weaker fighters, her actions deliberate and chillingly intelligent. When the soldiers were no more, she turned her attention back to the champion, who remained encased in his fiery shield, still contending with his inferno-enhanced body.

With a guttural roar, the scorpion mother lunged at him.