Chapter 64: Venom
Scar’s jaw clenched tight. A D-Rank Galactic Beast was as strong as a B-Rank Magical Beast. The Earth Smasher he had fought days ago had been an E-Rank, and it had nearly killed him. This Serpenthis was leagues above it; a monster that even seasoned A-Rank combat mages and hunters would hesitate to engage alone. And yet, here it was, its glowing eyes locked firmly onto his figure.
Scar’s mind went into immediate overdrive. He remembered what Felicity said about running if the fight got too tough. He hadn’t even engaged the beast yet, but the fact was undeniable; taking on the Serpenthis alone would be a very risky move, even for him.
He considered running, but the thought of the massive experience Points a D-Rank galactic beast would yield was a compelling incentive. Besides, the beast was already coiled to strike. It could attack at any moment. Serpents were naturally fast, but this beast was undoubtedly much much more faster than an average snake. If he turned his back now, he would be a dead man before his body even moved.
He couldn’t afford to underestimate the beast’s speed.
And he was right not to. Because, just then—without warning, the beast launched itself from the tree at an insane speed. It looked like a localized blur of green scales, crossing the space between them in a matter of seconds.
Scar immediately activated Accelerated Perception.
[-5 Ep]
The world plunged into a crawl. The beast’s horrific, unhinged jaw inched toward him, venom suspending in the air like glass beads. Moving entirely in slow motion, Scar calculated the trajectory, threw his weight backward, and leaped out of the direct path of the strike. The Serpenthis missed by a fraction of an inch, its massive body sailing past him.
As Scar landed with a heavy skid, he immediately deactivated AP to conserve his rapidly draining stamina.
But that was a big mistake.
After evading, he had assumed the beast’s momentum was linear and would crash straight into a tree or something. But as the Serpenthis sailed past, it slammed its heavy tail against a nearby boulder, anchoring itself. Then, using its own insane momentum, it twisted its upper body like a spring and snapped back laterally, directly at Scar, who didn’t see it coming.
As Scar raised his head, the beast was already right in front of him. Its massive, terrifying maw eclipsed his vision. He tried to leap away, but his feet had barely left the ground when the beast’s momentum caught up to him.
The Serpenthis snapped its jaws shut directly onto Scar’s left arm, and its fangs, each the size of a short sword, pierced effortlessly through his flesh, tearing through muscle and scraping agonizingly against his humerus bone.
A sharp groan tore from Scar’s throat as the intense pain registered. The beast didn’t stop moving; its momentum carried them both forward, pushing Scar violently through the dirt. The beast’s fangs remained buried deep in his flesh, violently pumping a massive payload of venom directly into his bloodstream. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt—a horrific combination of crushing pressure and a blinding, searing heat that felt like liquid fire coursing through his veins.
Gritting his teeth against the sheer agony, Scar refused to give in. He gripped his dagger tightly, located the beast’s massive green eye and drove the blade directly into it.
The Serpenthis let out a deafening, gurgling screech, but its jaws remained locked on his arm, refusing to let go.
Scar clenched his jaw and began stabbing the ruined eye continuously, driven by pure adrenaline and desperation. His right arm moved at a terrifying speed, delivering ten jabs per second. And within seconds, he turned the beast’s socket into a ruined, bleeding crater.
Unable to withstand the pain any longer, the Serpenthis finally unhinged its jaw and thrashed wildly, flinging Scar away like a ragdoll.
Scar flew through the air and slammed into the trunk of a massive tree. His spine cracked from the impact, and he hit the ground with a thud, his teeth grinding together to hold back a scream. He forced himself to stand immediately, gripping his bleeding left arm, which was now practically useless. Across the clearing, the massive serpent was thrashing violently, its tail whipping and shattering trees in the sheer agony of having its eye obliterated.
Meanwhile, Scar’s vision was aggressively overridden by red system alerts.
[-70 Hp]
[-50 Hp]
[-40 Hp]
[-20 Hp]
[Alert! Host’s health pool is dropping rapidly]
[Health Regeneration is now active]
[-26 EP]
[Host is advised to refrain from taking further damage during the regeneration period]
Scar felt the familiar, cooling sensation in his spine as the wounds and fractures from the crash began to heal. But something was horribly wrong. The wounds his left arm wasn’t healing; rather it was getting worse.
Then, his vision suddenly blurred, a wave of intense nausea washing over him. His lungs began to hurt and his breathing became ragged. The muscles in his legs spasmed violently and he instantly felt weak.
Just then, a terrifying new notification flashed in the center of his vision.
[Alert! Host’s body has been exposed to a severe hemotoxic venom]
[Warning! Elevated heart rate is accelerating venom circulation]
[Alert! Accelerated venom spread is causing delays in Host’s regeneration]
Scar’s eyes widened in horror. What was happening? Wasn’t health regeneration supposed to automatically purge the venom in his body?
But instead of providing an answer, the system only brought up more reasons to panic.
[Alert! Full-body contamination imminent]
[Host is advised to remain still to reduce speed of venom spread]
Scar eyes widened in realization. He now understood what was happening. It wasn’t as if his regeneration couldn’t fight the venom... it could. But because his baseline heart rate was already higher than a normal human’s, and heavily accelerated by the adrenaline of combat, the venom was spreading faster than his system could neutralize it. It was a flaw in his biology.
So basically, this was a biochemical race between the venom and his healing factor.
And right now, his healing factor was losing badly. The veins in his left arm were turning completely black, the dark webbing creeping visibly up toward his shoulder and chest. His eyes darkened, and his skin turned pale.
[Roy!] Miley’s voice screamed in his mind, sharp with unprecedented urgency. [You have to stop panicking and remain calm!]