'Curious.'
"The last weak point is on their back, approximately at the level where the eyes are. There's a slightly concave, discolored cavity in their armor. It is where several armor plates connect. The chitin there is comparatively thin. If you can pierce through it, you can destroy the brain directly. That will be a killing blow."
'That is good to know. However, that weak point was too high to be hit by a human — after all, scavengers were more than two meters tall!'
As though reading his thoughts, Nephis added:
"That weak point is very hard to target. Circling around a scavenger is almost impossible due to their size, speed and the attack range of their pincers."
She looked at him and calmly said:
"If we stumble on a single scavenger, I'll be the bait. My task will be to make it turn around and then restrain it, exposing the third weak point. Your task will be to kill it."
Sunny gulped.
"What if there's two of them?"
As usual, Nephis paused before answering.
"Don't die."
***
It wasn't long before they were left with no choice but to attempt a fight against a scavenger. Behind them, there was a long stretch of the labyrinth with no suitable branching paths for them to turn onto. Ahead of them, there was a small clearing with only one other passage leading out of it.
Not far into that passage, a massive scavenger was moving slowly in their direction.
Sunny quickly described the situation and waited for Changing Star's feedback. Without much delay, she gave him a nod.
"We fight in the clearing."
After that, Nephis gently guided Cassie to the wall of the labyrinth and helped her find a place to sit.
"Wait here. We'll be back."
After some thought, she added.
"Soon."
As Nephis moved to walk away, Cassie grabbed her hand. Her face was pale and tense.
"Neph, you… be careful, okay?"
Nephis blinked and tilted her head a little. Then, she smiled.
"Uh. Sure."
With that, she and Sunny hastily headed for the clearing.
By the time they got there, the scavenger was seconds from appearing. Sunny's shadow flew out of the passage and reattached itself to his feet. Without having to discuss things with Nephis, he quickly hid in the shadows and waited there, hoping for a chance to attack.
Nephis, on the other hand, strolled to the center of the clearing and calmly stood there, her shoulders relaxed and her back straight. An elegant longsword appeared in her hands, carelessly pointed to the ground.
Not knowing what else to do, Sunny silently repeated her words:
'Don't die.'
A second later, the scavenger walked into the clearing. When his tiny eyes spotted Nephis, an evil light ignited in them. Without wasting even a second, the massive monster screeched and rushed forward to attack.
Its huge pincer shot forward with terrifying speed, tearing the air in its path.
Nephis swiftly sidestepped, dodging the pincer, then leaped backward, removing herself from the path of the rushing monster. Simultaneously, her sword flashed in the air, cutting deep into the joint of one of the scavenger's front legs.
Azure blood spattered on the ground.
Of course, this small wound was too insignificant to slow the scavenger down. With surprising agility, it twisted and delivered a crushing sideways swipe. Nephis, who just barely landed on her feet, had no choice but to deflect the blow with her sword. She managed to disperse most of the impact by holding the blade at the right angle, but the remaining force was still enough to throw her off balance.
At that moment, the second pincer came down. Instead of trying to regain her equilibrium, Changing Star went with the fall and somersaulted over one hand, ending up distancing herself from the monster a bit. Her sword lashed out again.
The follow-up attack followed almost immediately.
However, Sunny did not care about the details anymore. The only thing he cared about was that, through this risky series of dodges and leaps, Nephis had managed to circle to the opposite side of the clearing, forcing the scavenger to turn its back to the shadow in which he hid.
'It's now or never!'
Gritting his teeth, Sunny lunged forward.
Before Changing Star finished her last dodge…
Before the scavenger's pincer crashed on her from above…
Before Sunny had time to become scared…
He closed the distance between himself and the monster and jumped with all his might, landing on top of its carapace. Then, he used all of his weight to thrust a hand forward.
Azure Blade shimmered into existence in his grip and was immediately swallowed by the shadow. A breath later, the dark blade hit precisely into the concave, discolorated cavity in the scavenger's armor. With a crack, the chitin broke, allowing the tip of the sword to sink deep into the scavenger's body.
The monster shuddered, and then heavily fell to the ground.
Sunny was thrown from its carapace, landing in the mud with a roll.
'That… that easy?'
It was already over?
As though to answer him, the Spell's voice resounded in the air:
[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
[...Your shadow grows stronger.]