"Nice!"

Lucius saw the new talent quickly scroll past his vision as he continued to run. His boosted perception and intelligence allowed him to read it in an instant without taking his attention away from the task at hand. He felt the effects of the talent immediately. When he reached out to pull the sword back into his storage space, he was able to do so a bit quicker than he normally would, and the same was true for taking it back out. This skill would allow him to throw weapons more rapidly and farther away, since it also increased the distance from which items could be retrieved.

He continued to attack from a distance as he ran down the long tunnel, making for an interesting sight. To an onlooker, it would appear that Lucius had infinite swords. His high dexterity allowed him to throw the sword slightly faster than once every second, rapidly assaulting the centipede. The damage buffs from Assassinate began to add up, and the centipede noticed that it could not simply continue to shrug off the attacks. It did not have much room to dodge, but it was able to climb up the walls and sink its body into the earth to avoid the strikes. However, it couldn't dodge every attack, and the damage bonuses finally added up enough that Matriarch's Fury was able to pierce the creature's armor while being thrown.

Lucius threw the blade as usual, but this time, instead of bouncing off, it sunk into the left side of the centipede's face, moving a few inches past the hard black carapace. It had just dodged an attack by diving below the earth and was resurfacing when Lucius finally landed the damaging strike. The young man felt Leech Life ability kicking in from a distance and marveled at the system's ability to transfer vitality across empty space without the need for physical contact.

The moment the weapon pierced the centipede's armor, however, a change became apparent in his enemy that Lucius failed to notice. It seemed to realize it would lose the battle if something did not change, so the monster stopped conserving its magical power and began to use its ability to manipulate the earth to attack Lucius. The young man continued to race down the tunnel, unaware of the new danger. He collected his sword after the successful strike and went through the motions to send the next attack when the ground beneath his feet suddenly became soft.

"Shiiit!"

Lucius sank down to his waist, slowing his forward momentum as he sank forward through the soft earth. The centipede was able to catch up, diving forward to close the gap as it moved it's mandibles over Lucius' body. A rope of shadow wrapped around Lucius' waist, pulling him away from the snapping mandibles just in time to save his life, but not fast enough to prevent injury. The jagged tip of the pincer ripped across his back, tearing his shirt apart and leaving a wide laceration from his shoulder to his opposite hip.

"aaagh"

Lucius clenched his teeth as he felt the hard ground beneath his feet once again, dashing forward with all his might as the monster tore apart the earth where he had just stood. The pain wasn't the worst part; losing his stacks of Assassinate meant that he would need to build them back up again to allow his throws to break the creature's defense. Lucius didn't hesitate to resume his attack. Each throw strained the muscles in his back and caused the wound to release bursts of pain each time he swung his arms, but he didn't allow the pain to slow him down as he threw the sword with all his might. With the centipede so close behind him, Lucius was able to target his throws much more easily as he aimed for the joint between the armor on the monster's left antenna.

Latent talent detected

You have unlocked the talent Piercing Throw

Piercing Throw - Level 1 - High perception and dexterity allow you to better target your throws. +25% critical hit chance to weapons thrown within 10 meters.

The blade slipped between the constantly moving cylinders of armor that surrounded the two long antennae. Lucius knew the attack was successful because he felt the warm flow of Leech Life once again as the pain in his back slightly diminished. The centipede reacted more to this attack than any before, slowing its steps for a moment as it lowered the injured antenna down to it's face and scratched at the sword with its mandibles. Lucius quickly retrieved the blade, he couldn't allow the creature to grab it because it was impossible for him to retrieve items that someone else had possession of with his ring. His enemy only hesitated for a moment before continuing, this time sending a massive burst of magical power into the ground beneath his feet, emptying its reservoir in an attempt to end the fight with a single move by creating a massive trap that stretched down the tunnel.

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This time, Whisper was ready for the trick and pressed against the bottom of Lucius' feet with his shadows to allow the young man to continue to run.

"Nice job, Whisper!"

Lucius gave a mental thumbs up to his companion as he raced over the long stretch of liquified earth, using the shadows as stepping stones to rapidly move through the trap. By the time he reached the other side, beads of sweat had begun to collect on his forehead, and he could feel a sense of exhaustion rising inside him.

"Why am I suddenly so tired?"

"It cost a great deal of Magic Power to create shadows strong enough to support your weight over such a distance, Father. Our enemy should have exhausted its magic with that attack as well. It won't be able to move through the earth for some time. If you can get behind it, it will be helpless to defend itself from your attacks."

Lucius glanced back at the creature, noticing its decreased speed and the slight drooping of its antennae.

"I have an idea. How much Magic do you have left?"

He discussed his plan with Whisper for a few seconds as the two came to an agreement. Then, after his next throw, he suddenly pressed his feet against the ground beneath him, sliding forward a few inches as he rapidly followed the blade toward his enemy. The centipede lifted its head to attack when it noticed the change, but when Lucius was about to enter its attack range, two shadows with the same shape and weight as his own body split off from inside him, each attempting to move past the creature's head in different directions. Lucius was betting on the fact that the centipede used senses other than sight to determine his position, so it would not be able to identify which of the copies was real at a glance.

The creature's own exhaustion, combined with the confusion created by the trick, was enough to delay its reaction for a few moments, stealing away its final opportunity to win the fight as all three bodies slipped past without issue. The beast knew it was in trouble and immediately attempted to escape down the tunnel, but that was a desperate move with nearly no chance of succeeding. Whisper wrapped a length of shadow around the fleeing monster's body, passing it to Lucius as the young man landed on the hard black armor of its back.

Holding on with one hand, Lucius collected his sword as he quickly got to work repaying the beast for all the suffering and wasted time it had caused him and Maryanne. Matriarch's Fury flashed with red light as its additional magic damage triggered with each blow, and with his full strength behind each attack, it only took him a moment to carve away a square of carapace. Lucius reached down, digging his sharp nails into one of the slices he had created, and pulled hard on the black material.

SCREEE!

The creature released another of its ear-piercing screams as a square of carapace was slowly torn from its back, like a fingernail being ripped from a finger. The centipede slammed its head against the wall of the tunnel again and again. It stopped trying to run and started attempting to dig through the earth to create enough room to turn around. The hard earth and stone of the tunnel were being slowly torn away, but it would never be done in time to save itself. Lucius tossed the piece of armor aside and used his sword and claws to tear past the top layer of flesh, exposing the vital organs below. Then he took his time slicing the slippery innards apart, using only his sword to ensure he received the full benefits of Leech Life.

The beast was so large that he was forced to move inside its body to finish the job, getting covered in thick yellow slime that smelled like saltwater. He could sense the beating heart a few feet past the wall of flesh in front of him. Ever since he had undergone mythification, he had become keenly attuned to the heartbeats and flow of blood in the living things around him. He had been able to determine the general location of the centipede's heart by instinct, even from a distance.

As the final layer of flesh was parted by his blade, a massive blue heart became visible. He reached back to stab the organ and put an end to the fight, but the longer his eyes lingered on the beating heart, the stronger a different desire rising inside of him became.

Lucius tongue ran across the sharp fangs at the top of his mouth as he stared forward.