At Albert's command, everyone went on alert.
The knights' weapons began to glow with mana as they took defensive positions, keeping their distance from the creature's stinger.
No one moved closer.
Not out of fear.
Out of experience.
One mistake against a Class B poisonous creature was enough to die.
The scorpion slowly raised its tail.
Its black stinger hung above them like a spear.
Then it advanced.
It was not fast.
It did not need to be.
Every step the creature took made the ground tremble.
The first knight attacked.
His mana-enhanced sword struck directly against the monster's shell.
Clang.
The sound echoed throughout the clearing.
The sword did not penetrate.
It did not even leave a deep mark.
The knight stepped back, his arms numb from the impact.
—What...?
The scorpion answered with one of its claws.
The attack was so fast that they barely saw it move.
Charles appeared in front of the knight and blocked with his shield.
The force of the impact dragged him several meters across the ground.
Even a Lord-Delta had been forced to stop it with his entire body.
The creature, the size of a carriage, raised its black, razor-sharp tail. A deep screech reverberated through the forest clearing.
The scorpion attacked without warning.
One of its claws shot forward.
The knight tried to dodge, but he was too late.
The pincer closed around his body.
For an instant, the forest fell silent.
The creature lifted him from the ground as if he weighed nothing.
The sound of twisting metal echoed through the clearing.
The armor had absorbed the first impact.
That alone was the reason he was still alive.
Without it, that blow would have split his body in half.
—Fall back! —Albert roared.
The stinger descended.
Too fast.
The knight could not move. The pressure from the claw destroyed his stance and left him barely able to breathe.
Then Albert appeared.
His sword intercepted the stinger an instant before it pierced the armor.
The collision sent a cloud of dust into the air and shook the ground beneath them.
Albert gritted his teeth.
Even while holding it back, the creature's strength was monstrous.
—Attack from different angles! —he ordered.
Several knights reacted immediately.
Swords, spears, and axes struck the scorpion's shell from multiple directions.
The creature did not even flinch.
The claw continued tightening.
The knight screamed.
The metal began to bend under the pressure.
He would not last much longer.
Lusian remained several meters away, mounted on Thunder.
The magical horse's silver mane crackled with small sparks of electricity, as if tiny lightning bolts were running through every strand of hair.
Albert raised his hand and unleashed a wave of flames that struck the scorpion directly.
The fire engulfed the creature for only an instant.
Then the shell was covered in a dark glow.
The mana accumulated beneath its plates absorbed most of the impact, leaving only a few blackened marks on the surface.
Lusian recognized it immediately.
Shadow Scorpion. Class B.
Its shell was saturated with mana. Elemental attacks could barely break through its defenses.
The monster rose on its hind legs, and a burst of force exploded around it, forcing the knights backward.
Between its claws, the soldier could barely move. His armor creaked under the pressure.
He would not last much longer.
Lusian narrowed his eyes.
—Your turn, Thunder.
The horse answered with a thunderous neigh and charged forward.
The ground shattered beneath its hooves as a blue storm wrapped around its body. Lightning jumped between its mane and spread across the terrain, leaving a trail of scorched grass behind.
The bond between them protected Lusian from the electricity. Thunder's mana recognized him as part of itself.
Rider and mount passed beneath the scorpion's stinger.
Thunder released all the stored electricity directly into the joint of the claw holding the knight.
The shell endured the impact.
Only shallow cracks appeared.
But the muscles beneath the armor contracted involuntarily.
The claw opened a few centimeters.
That was enough.
—Now! —Albert roared.
Charles lunged forward, grabbed the soldier by his breastplate, and pulled with all his strength while another knight covered their retreat with his shield.
The scorpion tried to close its claw again.
Too late.
The man fell onto the grass, gasping for breath. The left side of his armor was completely deformed, and several plates had been crushed against his chest.
He was alive.
Barely.
Albert raised his sword.
—Containment formation! Avoid the poison! —he ordered firmly.
Two knights dragged the wounded soldier behind the defensive line while another covered their retreat with his shield.
The formation closed again.
This time, no one celebrated.
No one spoke.
Everyone had seen the same thing.
An opening.
A single mistake.
And one of them would have died.
Across from them, the scorpion did not advance.
Its stinger remained raised.
Waiting.
Albert narrowed his eyes.
—Do not attack.
Several knights turned toward him.
—Sir?
—It is not retreating.
The creature slowly moved its legs, adjusting its position. It never took its eyes off them.
It was waiting.
Not for a chance to attack.
For a chance for them to make a mistake.
Lusian studied the dark shell.
The defense was still active, but it was no longer the same.
The layer of mana had become thinner. The cracks took longer to close.
It is spending more than it can recover.
Then the scorpion struck the ground.
Everyone raised their weapons.
Some knights instinctively stepped back.
But the creature did not attack.
A cloud of dust covered the clearing.
When their vision returned, the scorpion had retreated several meters.
Albert let out a faint smile.
—Intelligent.
—A monster with intelligence? —one of the knights asked.
Albert did not take his eyes off the creature.
—Those that survive for a long time in a place like Cymopelia do not do so through brute strength.
He paused.
—They survive because they know when to fight.
Lusian stared at the creature.
The scorpion did not want a prolonged battle either.
It was protecting its own life.
Just like them.
—It is waiting for us to run out of energy first.
Albert nodded.
—Exactly.
The old man slowly raised his sword.
But he did not take a defensive stance.
The tip of the blade lowered.
Preparing to advance.
Lusian's expression changed.
That was not the posture of someone preparing to endure.
It was the posture of someone willing to risk everything.
—What is the plan?
Albert smiled.
—We exhaust its mana. We attack in turns and keep a safe distance. No charging in all at once. If it maintains that defense, sooner or later it will run out of energy.
The knights nodded.
The first group advanced.
They did not run.
They did not shout.
Every movement was measured.
One sword struck a leg.
Another attacked a joint.
A fire spell forced the scorpion to reinforce its shell once again.
The dark layer appeared.
It resisted.
But each time, it took slightly longer to cover its body.
The scorpion retreated.
Not out of fear.
Out of calculation.
Lusian watched in silence.
The creature was adapting to the battle.
It no longer tried to attack everyone.
It searched for the weakest point.
The one who separated.
The one who made a mistake.
A knight took one step too far.
The stinger moved.
—Back!
Albert slammed his sword into the ground, and a wall of fire forced the scorpion to stop.
The knight stumbled backward, pale-faced.
One second later, and he would have lost a leg.
After that, no one moved without thinking.
Time passed.
The breathing of some warriors grew heavier.
Their weapons still shone, but with less intensity.
The scorpion was changing as well.
Its defense was no longer perfect.
The cracks in its shell remained longer.
But then something happened.
The creature stopped retreating.
Lusian felt a different kind of pressure.
It was not exhaustion.
It was determination.
—Albert...
The old man noticed it too.
—Everyone, fall back.
The knights obeyed.
The scorpion dug its legs into the earth.
The mana around it began to move.
Not toward its shell.
Toward its tail.
The dark layer protecting its body disappeared.
For the first time since the battle began, it was exposed.
But no one attacked.
Because everyone understood.
It was not lowering its defense.
It was preparing something.
The tail slowly curved upward.
The stinger began glowing with a dark reddish light.
Lusian felt a chill.
He had seen attacks like this in the game.
An emergency ability.
A final resort.
The scorpion was concentrating all of its remaining mana into a single strike.
If it landed...
Armor would not matter.
The knight would die anyway.
—Do not let it attack! —Albert shouted.
But it was too late.
The creature had already chosen its target.
And then...
A shadow crossed between the trees.
Neither the knights saw it coming.
Nor did the scorpion.
Because it had been waiting the entire battle.
Umber appeared like a black streak across the ground.
He did not attack the shell.
He did not attack the legs.
He went straight for the weakest point.
The stinger.
His jaws closed around it.
For an instant, their mana collided.
Darkness against darkness.
The scorpion tried to react.
Too late.
Crack.
The stinger fell to the ground.
The creature released a roar that shook the forest.
The knights moved with discipline, closing the distance around the creature.
But this time, things were different.
The scorpion no longer controlled the battlefield.
Its dark defense began to fail in intervals.
The layer that had once covered its entire body now appeared only where the danger was greatest.
The scorpion had understood the situation.
It was no longer trying to win every exchange.
It was waiting for the exact moment to change the flow of the battle.
Because even exhausted, a beast of that level was still capable of killing.
Its claws moved slowly from side to side, searching for an opening.
It was not defeated.
It was waiting for a mistake.
Three meters of pure instinct and contained violence.
Then it attacked.
The claw shot toward the nearest knight.
Charles intercepted the blow.
The impact forced the Lord-Delta several steps backward, but this time he did not give way.
—Now!
The knights took advantage of the opening.
They attacked from both sides, aiming for the areas where the shell could no longer maintain its protection.
Albert unleashed another burst of flames.
Not to damage it.
To force it to spend the last remains of its mana on defense.
The enchanted swords struck the exposed joints.
One of the claws fell to the ground with a heavy crash.
The scorpion roared.
It tried to raise its remaining stinger.
It was its final weapon.
But Thunder had already moved.
The magical horse crossed the battlefield wrapped in lightning and released a bolt directly into the base of the tail.
The creature lost its balance.
For the first time, the dark shell vanished completely.
Albert did not waste the opportunity.
He charged forward with a roar.
His sword was wrapped in flames.
This time, there was no resistance.
The strike pierced through the weakened defense and severed the blackened stinger.
The scorpion collapsed onto its front legs, still trying to rise.
The remaining knights closed the circle.
Physical and magical attacks struck one after another until the creature finally fell with a thunderous crash.
Its body continued trembling from the residual electricity.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Absolute.
Albert exhaled in relief as he cleaned his sword.
—Class B Shadow Scorpion. Five hundred points.
One of the knights sealed the corpse inside a spatial storage device.
Lusian remained mounted on Thunder, staring at the smoking remains.
He could feel it.
The condensed mana within the monster.
In this world, magical creatures were not simply flesh and blood. Their entire bodies were saturated with mana.
That was the reason they could become strength for humans.
Consuming them was a way to become stronger.
Thunder softly snorted.
—Good work, my friend —Lusian murmured, gently stroking his neck.
Sparks still crackled across Thunder's body, but they did not harm him.
Their bond kept them synchronized.
Albert approached and looked at him with approval.
—Good judgment, young master. You waited for the right moment.
Lusian remained on Thunder, looking at the place where the creature had fallen.
A Class B monster should not have reached this area.
Not during the breeding season.
Not without something forcing it away from its territory.
His gaze shifted toward the fog covering the depths of Cymopelia Forest.
If a Shadow Scorpion had descended this far...
Then perhaps it was not the only one.