After lingering for a couple of breaths, the sounds of the skeletal scorpion's movements faded away.
Lune peeked over the edge of the wall, confirming the coast was clear.
'That was close…' he thought, taking in his new surroundings.
Instantly, his quest came to mind.
'Find the Temple of the Hollow God…'
They wouldn't give him a quest that was impossible to complete. He had questioned if the system had made a mistake, but now, realizing the crimson desert was a monster and not a desert, things began to make sense. If he was going to find a temple, it would be here, in these ruins.
With his thirst half-satisfied and his quest now seeming possible, a newfound energy fired in his heart.
He took a step out of the ruined building, confidence surging. But the moment his foot touched the clay earth, a loud hiss pierced the quiet from above. He looked up. On the wall of the building he had just left, a skeletal scorpion sat poised.
It hissed again, then lunged, its pincers heading straight for him.
He rolled back into the ruined building, summoning his glaive as he moved.
'Should've rolled outside!' he cursed inwardly as the creature scuttled inside after him.
The scorpion lingered for a moment, moving from side to side as if deciding how to strike. Lune mirrored its steps, unsure of its tactic but unwilling to give it an opening. Unlike the reckless vultures, this creature seemed calculating, almost intelligent.
Then, it finally lunged.
At the same moment, Lune rushed forward, narrowly avoiding the strike. The pincer crushed into the half-standing wall behind him, the impact rattling the whole structure. With a groan of shifting stone, the ruins collapsed, crashing down on top of the monster.
Lune paused, watching with perplexed relief as the building buried the creature.
"Easier than I thought," he muttered, turning to walk away.
But then, a sudden realization dawned on him.
The system… it hadn't announced the kill.
At that moment, a sudden hiss split the air as one of the creature's pincers tore up through the rubble.
Lune's eyes widened. A second pincer followed, crushing the stone with ease and scattering rocks in every direction.
The creature, now visibly enraged, lunged from the debris toward Lune.
The good thing was that his glaive met the monster's pincer just in time, blocking the strike. The bad thing was the loud crack that echoed as the pincer closed around the shaft. The weapon held, but the sound was terrifying. The second pincer was already swinging wide, trying to grab him.
He moved in a circle, desperately holding off one pincer while dodging the other, his mind racing for a plan.
Then, an idea came to him.
The scorpion was stronger, heavier, and its skeletal frame gave him little to pierce. But the creature had one weakness: it was driven by pure rage, throwing its whole body into every attack. If he was going to kill it, he had to use that against it.
Lune shifted his weight, letting the glaive's shaft slide free from the locked pincer with a sharp twist. Instead of fighting the force, he angled backward, baiting the enraged monster.
"Come on, you ugly bastard!"
The skeletal beast hissed, raised both pincers, and slammed forward. Lune sidestepped at the last possible moment, guiding the glaive's blade into the joint where the pincer met its body. The strike rang out, sparks flying as bone chipped. The monster staggered, its limb now moving sluggishly.
But it wasn't enough to kill.
The tail lashed out in a furious, violent arc. He ducked, rolling over the debris, nearly skewered as the stinger cracked the stone where his head had been just a second before.
He scrambled back toward the collapsed wall, forcing the scorpion to follow him over the unstable ground. Each of its steps shook the earth. Lune planted his feet against a large slab, waiting. As the creature lunged again, its tail whipped down. At the exact moment, he twisted aside.
The stinger plunged deep into the fallen stones, wedging itself instantly.
The beast screeched, thrashing violently to free itself.
But Lune didn't waste the second. He vaulted up the rubble, raised the glaive high, and drove the beak-like blade straight down into the skull between its glowing eye sockets. Bone cracked, and the creature's hiss was cut short.
This time, the voice of the system rang clear in his head.
[You have slain a Bronze Stage Dormant Monster: Skeletal Scorpion.]
[You have received a Relic: Boneforged Carapace Armour.]
'Armour?' Lune repeated the word between his ragged breathing.
He wanted to inspect it immediately, but instinct screamed at him to move. He scrambled away from the corpse, putting as much distance as he could before stumbling into another half-collapsed ruin. The vultures had come in pairs; he wasn't waiting around to see if the scorpions did too.
Finally hidden, he allowed himself a moment. Before even reading the description, he focused and summoned the armor.
In an instant, form-fitting leather and cloth wrapped around his torso and limbs, secured by tight straps. Vital areas were reinforced with plates of a matte-black, bone-like material. He moved his arms and legs, testing it. The armor was light, flexible, and protective.
He pulled up his status and focused on the new item.
***
Relic: [Boneforged Carapace Armour]
Relic Rank: Dormant
Relic Type: Armour
Relic Description: [Hidden beneath the abyss of sand, only bones remain]
***
'...only bones remain.'
He stared at the words, a cold knot tightening in his stomach. Was that his fate too? He shook his head, forcing the thought away. He had a chance they didn't. If he could find the temple and make a sacrifice... he would survive.
A fierce resolve burned inside him. He would succeed, no matter what.
He dismissed the window and scanned his new shelter. It was empty, filled by just rock and mud, any signs of past life had been long erased by time or monsters.
Then, a sudden, earth-shaking roar tore through the ruined city, vibrating through the ground and shaking the fragile walls around him to their foundations.