"Prepare to use the Ethereal-Lunacy Crystal." Sera said before twisting her upper body to look backwards while maintaining her flying speed.
Aaron nodded before retrieving the Confusion-Fragment from the wooden box after retrieving it from the Inventory Space and waited for the beauty to give him the signal to unfurl the piece of red silk fabric.
The woman focused on her target and the temperature of the air surrounding them dropped below zero in a matter of seconds!
'It's cold as balls in here! What is she trying to do?' Aaron thought while looking up and immediately noticed how blurry everything around Sera's face has become.
He couldn't help but panic once he saw the beauty not doing anything despite being aware that this frightening Poisonous Stone-Centipede is getting closer and closer to them with its green cloud.
*Screech* *Clack* *Creak*
The angry and hair-raising sound coming from the Centipede was more than enough deterrent for the kid but when that creature reached the shore of the lake it raised its head towards the sky and Aaron panicked because it managed to reach the height of 30~40 meters high in the air yet more than two-thirds of its body was stuck to the ground below, the green cloud surrounding its body was almost one-hundred meters in the air already!
When the ocelli on both corners of its head faced their direction, Aaron could instantly feel himself and Sera being targeted by these compounded-eyes.
The two long and flexible antennas flailed in the air and the fangs clattered intimidatingly before the abyss-like mouth opened wide and the Centipede hissed at its enemies once again.
Aaron's heart almost leaped out of his throat once he saw some purple colored liquid being secreted from countless glands within its mouth.
"Move!" He shouted while urging Sera to get out of the way.
But he noticed that the temperature was plummeting further and further, honestly at that time he wasn't even sure if he was shivering from cold or from fear.
"Now." The beauty said while unleashing her Soul technique towards the Centipede at the same time it was about to spit that purple liquid at her and the kid.
*Screech*
Aaron immediately gripped the Sapphire Ore within his hand and grunted in pain when the backlash of negative-emotions attempted to cloud his reason, the situation this time was completely different compared to when he first experienced holding this Confusion-Fragment.
For a moment there he felt like his mind went blank after fireworks went off within his brain which got overflooded with unhealthy thoughts!
He bit hard on the tip of his tongue to pull himself together and witnessed the Poisonous Stone-Centipede's massive body twisting from pain and making a mess of the forest below them while hissing from agony, Sera's Soul technique was perfectly timed to attack right before the Centipede spat that huge globe of purple liquid which ended up missing them by a few meters.
Of course the woman had to evade a few purple droplets that strayed from the globe and almost sprayed her and the kid.
*Phew*
'Damn. That was really, really dangerous! Thankfully I could control this Ethereal-Lunacy Crystal and Sera was alert and quick enough to avoid these purple droplets, but we shouldn't maintain a close distance with this bastard or it'd one-shot us to the afterlife if we do.' Aaron thought while watching Sera sneak further away from the maddened Centipede which started to wreak havoc in the forest once it recovered from the painful attack the beauty gave it earlier, it seemed like losing sight of its target after suffering that loss only enraged the Centipede which seemed like it wouldn't calm until it tear the tiny enemies to shreds.
"Heh."
"You're still in the mood to laugh?" Aaron felt like he's in the presence of a lunatic once he saw Sera in such a good mood.
The beauty smiled widely before looking towards the kid and saying : "Why wouldn't I be? Can't you see that our enemy is in a complete disadvantage?"
Aaron rolled his eyes at this overconfident woman and felt the necessary need to drag her back down to earth, "I don't mind you going on some delirious adventure on your own but don't drag me into this... shit," He pointed towards the Centipede before saying : "This big-ass Centipede doesn't seem like it's helpless to me at all because we're the ones vulnerable to its attacks in here, and one is all it would take for us to be swept aside for good from this fun game of yours."
"Oh shut up! The only way for me to leave a Soul-mark on this Bug is when it attacks us with one of its long-range shots, that's why I'm keeping my distance and being careful not to damage its weak Soul." Sera explained why she's taking this dangerous approach.
"Why are you being careful with that Centipede?" Aaron felt like he's going mad once he understood that she's not taking this fight seriously at all.
System : Quest Available.
Sera rolled her eyes at the kid before saying : "Because the mission was for our team to tame this Bug in the first place not killing it and definitely not to allow it to escape or hide from us."
"What are you going to do if it decides to run and dig itself below the ground then?" Aaron asked while checking the information within the notification window.
Sera's Important Mission Quest Type Optional Quest Requirement Help Sera tame the Poisonous Stone-Centipede Quest Reward Sera's blind trust, Unlocking the Neutral-Class Skills on the Skill-Tree Quest Difficulty Epic-Rank Quest Availability Until Sera tames the Poisonous Stone-Centipede or decides to abort mission
"Heh. I'd be happy if it tried to do so, going on the offensive is much more to my liking than passively waiting for its attacks before I counter them. Not to mention that I've already left a trace of my Soul power on its Soul, which means I can find it whenever I try to do so." Sera said before flying at an angle towards the west on the opposite-direction from Pine-Breeze Village.
"Now let's start round two, make up visible to this Bug."
"Alright." Aaron accepted the Optional-Quest before wrapping the Sapphire Ore with the piece of red silk fabric.
He also retrieved the Peach from his inventory and took two bites from it before Sera snatched it from his hand and ate the rest then stored the pit in her pocket while licking her lips then said : "I like the taste of this fruit, what is it called? I feel refreshed both in Soul and body, the effect is much better compared to yesterday when we ate the Cake."
*Screech*
Aaron wasn't feeling any of the beauty's light-hearted and joyous mood at that time at all because their enemy just targeted them and was barreling its way towards them which brought destruction and ruin to many trees.
*Roar* *Howl* *Growl*
The causalities among the animal-life was also growing since this furious Centipede wasn't differentiating between the innocent creatures and its target, everything that stood in its way was either pushed aside with force or crushed with the same force!
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"Peach. Now focus on what's important before I die, because you wouldn't taste another Peach if I do." Aaron said while checking his Mana bar which wasn't even halfway full yet despite eating this Peach to recover 120 points of Mana.
"Alright then. It's a deal, I keep you safe and you give me more of these sweet Peaches." Sera seemed very excited and she had fire burning within her eyes when she looked towards the approaching Centipede.
'Peaches indeed, if only I was able to give you any.' He thought while checking his stock of consumables which only had one each of the Mana Elixir and the White Potion plus one Apple, two Fried-Chickens, and seven Eggs!
Thankfully Sera was taking her role seriously and kept avoiding a barrage of purple globes of liquid before delivering her well-timed counterattack, this time Aaron didn't even need the beauty to tell him what he needs to do next and held the Confusion-Fragment once again.
Maybe it's because his agitated emotions were slightly calmer than before, the kid didn't struggle much to contain its backlash of negativity.
Still he kept studying the woman's condition after she retaliated against the Centipede twice and noticed that her breathing was slightly rushed and the temperature didn't severely drop like it did in her first attack.
The third time this Poisonous Stone-Centipede attempted to attack them something felt completely wrong in the eyes of Aaron who noticed how it managed to shrink the distance between them much faster than before!
"Tsk." Sera seemed slightly annoyed when it happened and she clicked her tongue before opening her mouth wide to scream at the massive creature, but no sound could be heard at all.
'Did she lose the remaining tower of her sanity?' Aaron thought while preparing himself to activate his Defensive-Skills because the Centipede's next long-range attack was about to happen.
Honestly if he wasn't at the mercy of the beauty who's carrying him in the sky, then he would've ran away long ago to save himself.
*Screech*
But the unexpected happened and the Poisonous Stone-Centipede twisted and thrashed around from pain!
"Hide us quickly." Sera urged him and she flew away from the Centipede once they disappeared from its vision, sweat trickled down from her face on his hair.
"Are you alright?" He asked while checking on the state of the Centipede, alarm bells started to ring in his head once he noticed how quickly it recovered from the previous attack.
The beauty breathed in hard before shaking her head, "This mission was supposed to be for a team not for me to do everything on my own. I thought that I could do it after I've powered-up and advanced my Soul but it's proving to be much harder than I expected," After a short pause which the woman did a few mental calculations she added : "My next attack is going to be my final attack, if it fails then we're getting out of here."
Aaron nodded his head, "Good," Then he continued to say : "It's better to stay careful around that thing, thankfully you can track it later with your "whatever" trace of Soul power that you left on its poor Soul." After saying that he added while twisting his neck to look at the woman : "Wait! Did you leave any trace on my pure Soul too?" Aaron had such a doubtful expression on his face when he asked that question.
"Heh." Sera smiled demonically before saying : "Of course I did."
"Take that shit off!" Aaron demanded.
"But-"
"No buts." He interrupted her with a tone of voice that wouldn't take no for an answer.
The beauty frowned before rolling her eyes at the kid, "Just let me finish," Seeing that he's listening she added : "I left two traces on your Soul already but there's something wrong with your Soul."
"What's wrong with my Soul?" He asked skeptically.
"I don't know exactly what's going on because my trace of Soul power keeps getting corroded until it wears off," Sera tugged at his T-Shirt while continuing to say : "First time it happened when you started wearing these weird clothes of yours and the rate of fading the trace of my Soul power increased by a lot and I had to reinforce it in your sleep, the second time it happened was after you killed the last Carnivorous-Vine then the rate of corrosion to my trace of Soul power increased further when you were on your way back to the Village after killing the Emerald Ghost-Anaconda."
'So one time was when each of my five Basic-Attributes received a boost of three points, the other time was when I gained a Level-UP!'
"I see." Aaron said while concluding that it'd be difficult for others to leave a trace on his Soul if he increased his Soul-related Attribute like Intelligence and Wisdom.
"Let's go." Sera said before preparing herself for the final and last attack for today, first because she's exhausted and feels like her Soul power is running out, second because it's getting dangerous to play this game with the Centipede in her condition, third is because she's not alone and Aaron's life is at stake here and she made a promise to her sisters and Snow to keep him safe.
Aaron covered the Sapphire Ore with the red silk and nervously watched as Sera dodged a few purple projectiles of liquid.
Until she timed her attack correctly a split-second before the Poisonous Stone-Centipede spat its next attack towards them.
*Screech*
This time the Centipede wailed from pain and made a long, sharp, grating noise before its head fell crashing towards the ground like a puppet with its strings cut off.
"Success!" Sera was so excited when it happened and she flew towards the massive creature.
"What are you doing?" Aaron was given the fright of a lifetime when he saw this foolish woman bringing him towards the Centipede as if to welcome some guest!
'Death is more likely to welcome us in this situation!' He thought while struggling to escape her arms since he's got better chances to live after falling from this height towards the trees of this forest rather than getting killed by poison from this gigantic insect.
"Now that I've tamed it, I'm taking it back with me to the branch." The beauty stopped and panicked when she almost lost her grip on the kid who would've fell to his death if it happened.
Aaron struggled even harder and shouted, "Let me go if you want to do that, I'm not risking any chances with that Centipede."
Sera smirked because she understands his fear, "Alright then, but don't wander away from us because we're already deep in the Dark-Forest." Then she flew down between the trees until their feet landed on the ground.
Aaron almost kneeled down to kiss the forest floor when it happened because so far since the beginning of it all he felt completely helpless in this struggle, he didn't even play any important or even a supportive role to this woman.
"Follow me." Sera said and the kid nodded then did as she asked while maintaining a distance of forty or fifty meters between them, once he saw the silhouette of the Centipede at the edge of the tree-line Aaron stopped and watched the beauty walk towards one of its many legs before climbing it then disappearing from his sight.
The rate of escalation to his emotions of worry, nervousness, and fear almost doubled when he couldn't see the woman anymore.
Still he could somewhat hear her grunts and the sound of her shoes clanking against the Centipede's exoskeleton which relieved him somewhat.
But that sound became harder to pick up by his sensitive ears when she moved further and further away on-top of the Centipede's back towards its head, the sound of his heart beats gradually gaining speed also made it even more difficult for him to focus.
*Screech*
The situation where he had to wait for what seemed like forever continued for a few minutes until the countless legs of this massive Centipede moved and the creature raised its head and half its body towards the sky while making a deafening sound.
"Run!" Sera's desperate shout could be heard at the end, she sounded like she's in extreme physical and emotional pain.
When he looked up, Aaron saw two massive compounded-eyes staring down at him from above and the beauty dangling near the mouth of that Centipede while being bundled up by one of the Antennae like a thief within a carpet!
'See! I told you so, this is some serious reckless shit.'
Despite all his fear from the massive creature and anger towards the impetuous beauty, the kid regretted not using the Confusion-Fragment to hide himself once he noticed the legs move on this Centipede because it would've allowed him to disappear before it targeted him.
'I hope your Basic-Attributes are not higher than Level 100 bro, or I'm going to fuck you up myself since that Invincibility Hat is too god damn costly.' Aaron thought while activating Lucid Nightmare and targeting the Centipede which entered its range when it leaned its head towards him from above the trees.
"Whoa!" Sera sensed the Antennae restricting her body losing strength and she struggled free.
While falling towards the ground, the beauty sensed how much Soul power she lost during her short duration of captivity!
'That part of its body can devour Soul power! No wonder our mission was to capture and tame this Bug!' Sera thought while struggling for a second to fix her disoriented balance during her fall until her feet touched the ground safely.
But she turned to look towards the kid who ran towards her a second later.
'Six more seconds.' Aaron thought while throwing two glass bottles towards the woman, "Quickly drink them and get us out of here."
Sensing the urgency and worry within Aaron's voice, Sera didn't waste a split second to check what kind of liquid within these two small vials before removing the corks and emptying them in her mouth one by one.
'Three more seconds.' Aaron thought while checking the state of this Centipede before looking towards Sera and what he saw was a frightening scene!
"What happened to your eyes?" He asked while taking a few steps back and shielding his face with one of his arms because coming from the woman was a pressure unlike any before, not even when she advanced yesterday.
The beauty looked around her for a second at the forest floor which its soil began to get pushed away along with the leaves, afterwards she looked up towards the head of the Centipede which began to struggle against the invisible restrictions from Aaron's illusion technique before saying : "It's time to put an end to your arrogance, how dare you play dead and play these cheap tricks on this lady?"
Afterwards she disappeared and once he looked around to search for her Aaron could see her floating right in front of the head of that Poisonous Stone-Centipede and within the range of its Antennas where it could capture the beauty once again, yet... it never attempted to attack the woman at all.
It didn't even make a single sound!
'Why did her eyes change color and become blue all of a sudden? Is it because of that Mana Elixir? Well it doesn't matter anymore because all of these Coins got wasted anyway, being broke really hurts both physically and emotionally.'