The sky burned a clear, merciless blue.
The desert, vast and soulless, silenced even the winds, as if the world itself were watching. In front of the Colossal Black Centipede, a living aberration made of chitin, teeth and pure hatred...
Seth was alone. No weapons. No armor. No plan.
Just him. His body. His strength.
And the raw will to survive.
[Time left to survive: 29 min]
KRSSSHHHHHH!!!
The attack came like a cannon.
The centipede lunged violently, its segmented body snaking like a living wave. Its jaws dug into the ground where Seth had been half a second before and the ground exploded in a shower of sand and stone.
Seth was already in the air.
Spinning.
He used the explosion of the impact to propel himself, his muscles screaming with effort. The wind whistled against his body like razors. His golden eyes focused on the top of the black shell. His hands reached out, found a crack in the chitin. He spun in the air like a human lightning bolt and fell with both feet firmly on the centipede.
CRACK!
"Come on... so you're not so invulnerable, huh?" Seth whispered, sliding over the creature's plates.
It squirmed furiously, trying to shake him off.
But it had already jumped again.
Seth hooked his fingers into one of the folds of the shell, the muscles in his arms stretched out like ropes. His body swayed for a second as the centipede reared up, spinning violently, trying to crush him against the walls of the ravine.
WHAM!
He let go seconds before being shredded, spinning in the air, and fell rolling down the monster's back, until he reached one of the joints in its front legs.
"Ouch!!! That hurt! Let's see how you do without that!" Seth stiffened his body, pulled in his knee and then kicked the centipede as hard as he could.
BOOM!
The joint snapped, and a viscous, black liquid exploded from the impact.
The centipede screamed.
One, two legs on its right side gave way, causing the colossal body to topple over for an instant. Seth rolled away from the fall with his body covered in sand and monstrous blood. A shadow loomed over him - the creature's tail, spinning like a whip.
He reacted on pure instinct.
WHOOOSH!
He leapt to the side, but the tip of the tail brushed his shoulder, throwing him away like a rag doll. He hit a rock and slid to the ground, gasping.
"Shit... that was almost..." he muttered, spitting out sand and blood.
But before he could think, she was on him again.
The centipede's head plunged from the sky, teeth first.
Seth rolled - under - feeling the teeth pass inches from his spine.
In an almost suicidal move, he leapt straight at the open jaw, propelling himself with his right leg, and grabbed one of the creature's fangs.
"It's your turn to feel pain, damn it!" With a primal scream, Seth pulled with all his might and broke the fang.
SNAP!
The monster squirmed, roaring, banging its head against the ground like a crazed bull.
Seth was thrown through the air on impact, spinning like a projectile. He fell to the ground and slid across the sand, making grooves with his body. But even before he stopped, he was back on his feet - chest heaving, eyes glowing, blood trickling from a cut on his eyebrow.
"You're no big deal...!" he shouted, spitting out blood and sand. "I've already run away from thirty-two hungry sons of bitches. You're just another dumb animal trying to eat me."
The centipede advanced with its undulating body. It was a living wall coming towards him.
Seth didn't back down.
He ran.
With every fiber of his body burning, he ran straight towards the monster.
BAM! A blow from the monster's leg came from the side, trying to crush it.
Seth dived underneath, sliding like an arrow between the segmented legs, until he emerged again next to the head, rising in a vertical thrust.
He ran down the side of the centipede.
Ten meters. Twenty. Thirty.
Climbing up the plates, dodging hooks and splinters, until he reached the top of the monstrous skull.
The creature shook its head violently.
He almost fell.
But with one hand clamped into a fissure, Seth jumped with his whole body, spinning in the air, and then came down with a punch straight into the center of the skull - where the eyes were concentrated.
BOOOOOOM!
The impact reverberated like an explosion.
The centipede's eyes burst like blisters of hot blood. The creature roared in absurd pain, momentarily losing its balance.
It was the chance.
Seth ran up the monster's back, and before it could regain control, it leapt off its tail with an acrobatic spin and fell behind him.
He spun on his heels, panting, staring at the blinded, crazed monster.
"Are you still standing...? Damn... what a pushy bug..." Seth spat, his fists balled, his arms covered in bruises and cuts. "But so am I."
The creature spun around, trying to locate him, its senses dulled by pain.
Seth felt something different inside him.
An energy pulsed.
The desert... reacted.
His body vibrated. The title of King of the Desert was active, as if the entire environment were its extension.
He clenched his fists, lowered his center of gravity.
"No skills now. No tricks. Just the body."
And then he ran again.
He became a blur.
Dry, direct, fast movements. Blows so precise they cut through the wind. Every dodge was millimetric. Each impact tore plates from the centipede as if its body were made of battering ram.
[You Leveled Up!]
[You Leveled Up!]
[You Leveled Up!]
The system's notifications flashed like lightning before his eyes, but Seth ignored them all. His world had been reduced to the sound of fighting... flesh, bone and hatred.
He no longer counted the levels.
He no longer counted the blows.
It was kill or be killed.
And he was winning.
Then, in a quick turn, Seth looked over his shoulder... and saw the impossible.
During the battle, the centipede, blinded by fury and pain, had crushed the monsters that Seth had left buried under the rock rubble. There were eighteen of them. Creatures he hadn't had the strength to finish off.
Now they were all dying at the paws of the monster he was facing alone.
[You've Leveled Up!]
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Seth laughed.
An uncontrolled, insane, almost feverish laugh. Adrenaline and bloodlust burned in his chest like acid. It was as if the centipede itself was unknowingly clearing the battlefield for him. Clearing the way. Letting him shine on his own... giving him strength every second he was desperate...
CRACK!
He turned his body one last time, concentrating all his strength in his fists. And then he threw a direct punch, a brutal hammer, which smashed the shell of the centipede's head like a stone egg. Black fragments flew in all directions.
The flesh underneath was moist. Soft. Perfectly conductive.
Seth stopped. He stared at that living, pulsating wound as he stood over it, keeping his balance perfectly.
A demonic smile broke out on his face, "I didn't use the rays because it was obvious that your plates would deny them... but your exposed skull won't stand it." He spoke.
His arms began to sizzle. Sparks erupted like embers from a newborn thunderstorm. He drew mana from deep within his body, as if sucking it from his very soul. His muscles trembled. His veins popped.
"...I have few memories of my mother," he said in a low voice, as his arms were wrapped in dancing, growing, roaring electric rays. "But I remember the name she gave me. Seth."
The sky above roared.
"She named me after a god... because she wanted me to be strong."
Thunder answered the call. Dense clouds appeared as if the world recognized the divinity in their actions. Electricity danced from finger to finger, pulsing like a heart of war.
Then he remembered.
That lightning bolt.
That divine bolt of lightning that Connie had hurled at the damned Esthair, shattering the sky in fury... the night he was freed from the bonds of Fate...
"Yes... I'll borrow it from you, my beautiful wife." He said to himself as the centipede squirmed trying to get him off her.
[You have learned the Skill: "Storm Lance (Rank-A)"]
His body shook.
And a spear began to form in his hand.
Not metal.
But of pure lightning.
Lines of energy braided together like glowing serpents. The base burned the air. The tip seemed to pierce the veil between worlds. It was a weapon worthy of the heavens. Of thunder. Of the name it bore.
Seth swung his arm back, and the lightning roared.
The centipede was still struggling, even though it was dying. But he didn't hesitate.
"My survival is more important than yours." With a scream that split the air, Seth drove the Storm Lance straight into the exposed flesh of the monster's skull.
KRAKOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
The explosion was total.
A column of electric light rose into the sky and was seen all over the desert. The centipede shook in agony, its muscles contracting as the energy coursed through its gigantic body. Each segment exploded like dynamite. The already dead eyes glowed one last time - and then melted away.
The creature's body sank slowly, trembling.
Until finally...
Silence.
Seth stood still.
Gasping.
Covered in blood. Sand. And electricity.
The smell of burning flesh hung in the air like a warning. The ground still crackled with energy. Storm Lance had already fallen apart, but its presence remained etched in the rocks. And in the hearts of those who saw it.
Seth closed his eyes for a moment.
Then, without saying a word, he smiled.
[You have reached level 23]
[You have obtained 10,000 Gold for defeating a Rank-D Dungeon alone]
[You have obtained 5. 000 bonus Gold for killing the boss in the first punishment]
[the Title "King of the Desert" has been upgraded to "Sovereign of the Desert" 70% Status in desert locations]
[You have passed the Desert ordeal, you have obtained 1x Reward Box (Deserted) ]
[New Functions have been upgraded 'Shop' and "Inventory"]
[The Daily Quest has been upgraded. New punishments added.]
[You have completed the punishment!]