The Thorne of Destiny-Chapter 161: Head-On Collision

Even though the scorpion hadn't been killed by the poison, it had been severely weakened by it. Its current power was only that of a peak Rank 3 beast, if that. That meant that he still had a chance, no matter how small it was.

Adrian drew in a deep breath and forced his Qi to circulate at full speed.

His meridians roared to life, heat flooding through his limbs. Flames danced along the surface of his sword as he shot forward, exploding into motion.

'Astral Steps.' Without even speaking, he activated his movement technique, his figure vanishing into the void while dashing towards the beast.

The scorpion met him head-on, stinger streaking downward. Adrian slid beneath it, blade carving a spiral through the air, and severed a chunk of the stinger's edge.

Not the whole stinger, though. It was far too tough for his current strength. Even his cutting off the tip was only due to his Soul Rank weapon. However, it was enough to make the beast recoil in pain, with molten venom sputtering violently from its tip.

Adrian didn't waste the opening. He leaped onto one of its legs and sprinted upward along the joint. The scorpion bucked wildly—but he held on, plunging his sword into one of the softer segments between its armor-like carapace.

SQKSH!

Molten fire sprayed upward, scorching his forearm. Adrian gritted his teeth but pushed deeper, twisting the blade. With his body cultivation strength, he was able to force the sword even further into the carapace.

The scorpion convulsed violently, throwing him off. Adrian rolled across the cavern floor, coughing from the heat, gripping his blade tightly. However, there was no hesitation on his face.

The beast staggered, its movements became unsteady and uneven. The poison was still in effect, and with every injury, it was circulating even more inside its body.

This was good news for him. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Adrian rose again, ready to continue the fight. This time, he attacked with precision. He struck from the side, carving another deep wound into the soft joint beneath its carapace. The scorpion shrieked and lashed out.

Adrian dodged, his blade moving in a fluid arc, redirecting the pincer with the flat of his sword. Its stinger plunged down, forcing Adrian to twist, using the momentum of his dodge to slice along the stinger's length again.

CRACK—!

A long fissure opened along the stinger's surface. The scorpion let out a more pained screech. The beast's movements became more frantic, more desperate. It seemed to know it was losing.

Adrian took a deep breath and steadied his stance. He sprinted forward, fire Qi flaring violently around his blade, his martial skill flaring into action.

The scorpion charged, its wounded legs trembling, but its murderous aura rising in a final burst of fury. Adrian didn't step back; instead, he rushed directly toward it.

Their movements collided in a blur of metal, venom, and flame. The scorpion's massive pincer came down with earth-shattering force. Adrian met it with a full-powered upward slash, fire erupting along his blade.

BOOOOOM—!!!

The collision from his Sword of Flames and the scorpion's pincer was immense. The shockwave hurled him back several meters. However, he wasn't the only one to receive the impact. The scorpion's pincer had a thin, hairline crack along it.

Not severed. But cracked.

The beast shrieked in agony, stomping around in erratic movements. It raised its wounded stinger and stabbed downward, attempting to pierce him. Adrian leaped forward, sliding across the ground under its body.

His sword flared once again with searing heat. He slashed upward, right through the soft underbelly. His sword was only able to pierce a little bit, but it was enough to do some damage to it. Molten venom gushed out like liquid fire.

The scorpion lurched backward, stumbling as its legs buckled. Adrian rolled away before the venom hit the ground.

He rose to his feet, breathing heavily. The fight was taking an incredible toll on him, and he didn't know how much longer he would last. He stumbled, his heel striking a raised ridge of stone, and only then did he realize where he'd been driven.

His back was nearly touching the Fire Vein Origin Stone. The Scorpion, seeing Adrian so close to its treasure, roared in fury.

The beast reared, its entire carapace glowing like a slab of heated metal. It lowered its head, mandibles twitching in agitation, and charged with terrifying force.

Adrian's instincts screamed. He threw himself sideways, rolling across jagged stone just as the scorpion barreled forward. Heat scorched his cheek as the monster tore past him.

Then—

CRACK—BOOM!

The scorpion's armored head slammed full-force into the Fire Vein Origin Stone.

A shockwave of heat blasted outward, knocking Adrian flat on his back. The stone shuddered violently, the molten patterns inside writhing like living flame. Fractures spider-webbed along the edges of its earth it was encrusted in. Dust and fragments rained down from the cavern ceiling.

The impact rang through the entire chamber. The Rank 4 beast reeled backward, its legs skidding. The front of its carapace was cracked—hairline fractures running from its mandibles up toward its eyes. Dark, viscous blood sizzled as it dripped onto the heated ground.

Adrian's eyes widened at the sheer damage it had taken. He had been fighting for a while now, but had only been able to dish out superficial damage. Now, just from crashing into the Fire Vein Origin stone, it was injured that much.

The scorpion reeled back violently, staggering in drunken, disoriented motions. A deep dent marred the center of its forehead, where the fracture stemmed from. One of its eyes flickered rapidly, dimming.

Adrian's gaze flicked to the Fire Vein Origin Stone. Where the scorpion had struck it, the supporting rock had cracked. The stone itself had shifted in its nest of ore and hardened magma. What would have taken hours of dangerous mining with specialized tools… now seemed only shallowly embedded.

Adrian swallowed hard, adrenaline and realization mixing into something dangerously close to hope.

The scorpion screeched, furious and in pain. Its movements were still powerful but noticeably unstable. Its footing was uneven, and its senses disoriented from the impact and the lingering poison.

For the first time, Adrian saw opportunity instead of doom. Now, he actually had a chance to kill this damn beast.

He tightened his grip on his sword. His exhaustion, his pain, the heat—he forced it all down. With renewed vigor, he got up, his legs shaking slightly due to the exhaustion of the fight.

He charged at the beast, kicking up a wave of dust and debris from his charge. The scorpion couldn't see him, since he was approaching from its blind spot. Its one injured eye was the catalyst for it not being able to sense it. Combined with its delirious state, this was a heaven-sent opportunity.

Using Astral Steps, he vanished just as he was about to enter the scorpion's field of vision. He appeared right above the beast, his sword ready to pierce it.

He landed on it with a thud, the sheer force causing its delirious head to sway a bit. With the momentum of the fall, he drove his sword through the cracks that were present on the collapsed part of its head.

With the cracks, it was far easier for his sword to penetrate its carapace. He drove his sword deeply, eliciting a pained screech from the scorpion. The beast began thrashing around, trying to shake off the ant that was on its head.

Adrian swayed back and forth, but was able to steady himself by hanging on to the sword embedded in the scorpion. With severe determination, he dislodged his sword before driving it even further into the scorpion's head.

SCREEECH!

The scorpion let out another pained-filled screech, before its thrashing intensified. However, Adrian was like a sailor at sea. No matter the swaying of the boat, he stood steadfast like a mast, unable to be swayed.

PCHK! PCHK! PCHK!

Adrian drove his sword into the head of the scorpion repeatedly, making wet, squelching noises. After repeating this action multiple times, Adrian could feel the beast beneath him weaken in its thrashing efforts.

His strikes were working, and the beast seemed to be losing its strength. With renewed efforts, Adrian raised his sword high above his head once again.

This time, the sword was surrounded by a blazing fire that engulfed it in its entirety. With a desperate last cry, Adrian shouted

"Sword of Flames!"

If someone else were watching, they would notice the flames morph into what resembled a sword phantom, making Adrian's sword look like a huge greatword made of flames.

With all the strength left in his body, he drove the sword down through the carapace of the beast. The strike was strong enough to penetrate its skull, giving the flames free access to the scorpion's brain.

The flames ran rampant in the beast's skull, roasting the brain of the beast thoroughly. The pain was immense, and after one last seemingly mournful screech, the scorpion collapsed on the ground.

The light in its one remaining eye had dulled, and it was thoroughly and effectively dead.