Just as the hiss escaped her mouth, Shai detected something wrong with the overwhelming amount of emotions she was feeling. Well, it was mostly anger, fury, and rage. But they were all the emotions she felt these days. She wanted nothing more than to shred these bugs into oblivion. To dare take her things and ruin the pit that she fixed painstakingly.

She had worked relentlessly for a day, exhausting herself physically, mentally and spiritually to repair it to a workable station. Yet these mindless fucktards reaped from what she sowed. They even destroyed the large concealment constructs that took a whole four hours of incessant labour. Did these insects have any clue how hard it was to carve with your teeth? Her fangs were hellish sore like she had chewed stone all day.

These insects! I'm going to enjoy tearing them apart.

Shai knew that her anger was misplaced. She was blaming these mindless creatures for something, not their fault.

But Shai didn't care. For the first time since her rebirth, Shai let her fury out of control. She gave in to her instinctual need for blood and violence. These insects would pay for claiming what was hers. Oh, they will pay dearly.

Shai's blood pulsed with an intense rage, as she crept behind the huge centipedes.

[Centipede - Corrupt Chilopod Lvl 33]

[Centipede - Corrupt Chilopod Lvl 28]

[Golden Eyes] didn't let the rage cloud her judgement. The icy blood flowing through her veins kept her composed, as she stealthily entered the pit, her eyes fixed on the battle between the two corrupted centipedes.

Both of these tainted creatures were of copper ranks, but one's halo was a deeper shade of red than the other. Evidently, the deeper red- larger one- possessed greater strength. It dwarfed the smaller centipede, with its towering presence. If its huge form hadn't hindered its movements, it would have already defeated, eaten, and digested its counterparts with its overwhelming raw power.

It tossed the other centipede aside easily, but refrained from engaging further. Its insatiable appetite took precedence over finishing a potential enemy. It swiftly devoured the remains of a lizard, while the defeated smaller centipede settled for one of its fallen brethren on the sidelines.

A cold glint appeared in Shai's eyes as she refused to let them leave alive.

The centipede was closing in on its prey, preparing to feast upon the lifeless body, when Shai charged from behind. She hissed fiercely at the grotesque creature, catching its attention.

The centipede barely had time to turn as Shai retrieved a fabric ball from her inventory and swung her tail with precision, shooting the fist-sized ball towards the monster. The numerous-legged creature remained oblivious to its impending doom. Shai didn't forget to infuse the ball with potent essence, activating the construct.

In a burst of white smoke, the ball exploded mid-air, catching the centipede off guard. It screeched in surprise, whirling around for any sign of danger. However, it was already too late for the creature. The white smoke wasn't merely a diversion. The thick smokey air enveloped the humongous creature as it condensed into thick strands of spider silk, ensnaring the multi-legged beast within its intricate weave.

The ball was a script construct of one of the finest designs Shai had ever eyes laid upon. And it was pretty effective.

In a matter of seconds, the cobweb entwined with the struggling monster, rendering its attempts to break free utterly futile. Caught off guard and disoriented, the centipede squirmed helplessly, unable to apprehend the situation it found itself in.

Shai had managed to free herself from the engagement of the construct pretty easily with her tiny form. While it did capture the centipede in its trap, rendering it almost helpless, she remained uncertain of how long the construct would endure. Of course, she had three more of these constructs, though she didn't plan on wasting them.

With no time to waste, Shai ceased all contemplation and proceeded to quench her rage. She whipped her tail against a rugged stone and shot forward, energy surging through her being. [Empower] and [Golden Eyes] worked in perfect combination, granting her a slight advantage against the copper-rank monster's defences, as she charged forward, ready to penetrate the creature's formidable guard.

But before that, she unleashed [Arcane Shot], aiming to sever the centipede's antennas while the writhing beast desperately attempted to free itself. Shai didn't stop to see if the antennas were severed, her form rammed into the trapped monster. All essence power in her possession resonated within her, empowering her as she pierced through its segmented body.

The centipede was hard, even though she pierced into the segment between its carapace-like body. The obstruction weakened the effects of the [Empower], yet Shai clung to her rage, her resolve. Just a little longer. She had to endure a little longer.

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Shai unleashed a barrage of [Arcane Shots], biting into the little wound she created. The creature spun in a desperate attempt to break free. Unfortunately for the centipede, Shai was nearing the climax of her assault. Once she broke through to its touch defence, wreaking havoc in its inside became way easier.

The creature's lower region was relatively weaker in defence, so Shai carved her way there, digging her head through. With the rage in her heart usurping her reasons, Shai triggered [Essence Eater] as her maw scoured through the gore inside its body.

A terrible suction force arose out of her mouth--well, all parts of her body, but it was horribly powerful on her maw--engulfing the tainted blood and disgusting flesh inside of her.

Thankfully, Shai stopped her madness before she reached her limit.

Covered in a gruesome blend of purple blood and gore, Shai emerged from the hole she had carved in its body. The Corrupt Chilopod was still obstructed by the lingering webs, though it almost managed to get back its mobility.

She studied the writing creature, shooting a glare. Half the job is done, she acknowledged, fully aware that the second half would prove significantly easier.

The centipede continued to writhe and roll on the ground, as its purple blood and brownish goo seeped from the gaping hole. Shai briefly contemplated allowing it to suffer, knowing its Recovery wouldn't allow it to heal any time soon. Well, it would likely die, though it would take time. Besides, she had another centipede to attend to.

The hefty centipede glared back at her, screeching in a deranged display of madness. It finally broke free of the entanglement.

Yeah, go ahead and screech. You've made your point, horrid spawn! she retorted with disdain.

The centipede charged at her, its numerous legs thrusting it forward.

Oh, here we go again!

Shai's head hurt in a throbbing ache, resulting from her bold moves, but she didn't stop. She readjusted her mindset, ensuring her grasp of her essence.

Shai stood her ground and retrieved another ball from her inventory. It was considerably smaller than the previous one. She knew it wasn't a Spiderweb construct, but a different type designed to blind her target.

With a swift sweep of her tail, Shai hurled the ball toward the hefty foe, infusing it with the necessary energy to activate its blinding effects. The centipede struggled to evade the path of the construct, but the blinding light was meant to assault from all directions. The pitiful creature stood no chance against it.

With everything set, Shai turned her head and shut her eyes. Well, partially, as she didn't have freaking eyelids. Still, she saw an overbearing flash of light on for a moment, and then it went all dark again. Shai waited for precisely two breaths of time and turned to the centipede again.

The figure of the centipede greeted her gaze, momentarily blind, and caught completely off-guard, despite its preparation. That was what happened when you only had hunger in your head.

Seizing the momentum, Shai swiftly followed up with her second round of attack. First, she shot [Arcane Shots] into its momentarily blind eyes, wasting them for good, and then shot straight to the gaping wound she created.

The creature's agonised screech reverberated through the pit as Shai persisted, launching successive waves of [Arcane Shots] and biting her way through again.

The corpulent centipede tore in agony, writhing and rolling, trucking against the jagged stone as darkness engulfed all hope.

Shai left it alone, as her work was already done.

The grotesque insect, now with a bloodied head, rolled erratically in the pit, repeatedly slamming its body against jagged stone splinters.

Once Shai caught her breath, she decided to grant it mercy. She released a final shower of [Arcane Shots] in rapid succession, bringing its death.

[You have defeated Corrupt Chilopod (Copper) Lvl 33.]

It was almost laughably easy to dominate the creature, despite its level being double of hers. The taint presented it with unprecedented strength, but it almost made its stupid brain dysfunctional. In the end, it proved to be nothing but an incapacitated opponent when faced with a prepared enemy.

Shai repeated the same fate for the smaller centipede. It was already weakened from blood loss. Corruption didn't offer any healing capabilities, rendering its demise inevitable.

This battle required minimal effort on Shai's part, proving the advantages of being well-prepared. It was clear that her opponents, mindless fools that they were, posed no real challenge if she was prepared.

[You have defeated Corrupt Chilopod (Copper) Lvl 28.]

[You have achieved a small breakthrough. Your path has grown to Favoured Hatchling Lvl 16. +1 to all Primary Attributes, +1 Unallocated Point.]

[You have achieved a small breakthrough. Your path has grown to Favoured Hatchling Lvl 17. +1 to all Primary Attributes, +1 Unallocated Point.]

Shai achieved victory. By successfully eliminating the two nuisances that had destroyed her traps and stolen her belongings, she came two steps closer to gaining the Mark. Yet, despite her accomplishments, it didn't make her feel good at all.

The underlying anger still simmered within her. Shai let out a weary sigh as she surveyed the pit. The anger that burned inside her went beyond the immediate situation.

It wasn't solely directed at these mindless creatures. There was no reason for her to unleash such intense rage upon these insignificant insects, even if they wasted much of her resources.

It was all that spider's fault. Serenity. Because of her, Shai had to rummage into her past, the past she went above and beyond to seal away in the back of her mind. But once it was unleashed, she couldn't bottle it back anymore. Not all of it.

It stung. It writhed. It made her helpless.

With a hiss of frustration, Shai rammed her head against the lifeless centipede, trying to release her pent-up emotions. She wanted to scream, to express her anguish, but no tears welled up in her eyes. All that escaped her lips were hisses.

I refuse to be helpless. Not anymore.

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