Ryn forced his trembling legs beneath him, gripping his blade with both hands. Aquila flared weakly along his limbs, light trailing behind him in a thin, flickering line.
He lunged.
[Aquila — Burst Step]
The world snapped forward. In a blink, Ryn was already in front of Scorpio, blade angled straight for the throat—the same spot that killed him moments ago.
He tried to go for a killing blow while Scorpio was unstable. However, the man didn't even flinch.
Ryn's blade slammed into Scorpio's bare forearm… and stopped. Before Ryn could react—
CRACK—!!
The sword snapped in half.
The upper half spun through the air, clattering uselessly against the far wall.
Scorpio stared at the broken hilt in Ryn's hand, then laughed—a distorted, layered sound that echoed through the ruined street.
"Cute," he said mockingly. "You thought that'd work again?"
He flicked his wrist, knocking away the remaining shard of steel like it was nothing more than a twig.
Ryn stumbled backward, breath catching.
"…Run."
Amelia reached for him, voice barely a whisper. "What?"
He grabbed her hand.
"RUN!"
Ryn yanked Amelia forward, and they sprinted into the nearest street.
BOOM—!!
Stone exploded behind them as the monster lunged straight through the wall, not bothering with the alley entrance at all. The impact shook dust from rooftops and sent shattered bricks flying past Ryn's head.
They darted under a hanging sign.
Scorpio didn't duck.
He ripped through it, wood splintering like paper.
The tail came down with a whistling crack—
THUD—!!
Ryn dragged Amelia aside just in time. The tail carved a meter-deep groove into the street where they had stood.
"Keep moving!" Ryn gasped.
They bolted through a vendor's lane, knocking over crates of fruit and sacks of barley. People screamed and scattered as the two tore past.
Then Scorpio came barreling after them like a living catastrophe, completely obliterating wooden tables and crates. A vendor shrieked as his entire stand was torn in half by Scorpio's tail.
"HE'S NOT SLOWING DOWN!" Amelia cried.
"He doesn't need to!"
Ryn caught her arm and pulled her right just as Scorpio launched again.
CRASSSH—!!
He landed on a rooftop, collapsing it instantly. Tiles rained down, one slicing Ryn's cheek as they ran beneath the falling debris.
But Ryn yanked Amelia hard to the left.
"Here—inside!"
They slipped into an abandoned store, its door hanging off broken hinges. Ryn quietly pushed it shut, bracing it with a toppled shelf.
The interior was pitch black, smelling of mostly dust and wood grains.
Amelia pressed a hand over her mouth, trembling.
Somewhere beyond the thin wooden walls came the faint, methodical tapping of claws against stone.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Ryn froze in place, hardly daring to breathe.
Amelia leaned in close, whispering so quietly he almost missed it,
"Ryn… what do we do?"
He looked down at the broken hilt in his hand. The half sword was useless. They had nothing to damage him…except—
"Amelia, you have to kill him."
Amelia froze.
"…Me?"
Ryn nodded. "Your magic. It's the only way we can survive and win."
He'd never seen this transformation before. Even in his past life, Scorpio never used it.
But he did know one thing.
No transformation buffs were perfect, and it definitely took something out of Scorpio to maintain.
He whispered over his shoulder, barely audible:
"Amelia… don't try to kill him."
"What?" she breathed.
"Just hit him. Again. And again. And again."
Her eyes widened. "Ryn, that won't do anything—"
"It's not supposed to," he said. "We're not injuring him. We're exhausting him."
Scorpio's head twitched, like he sensed their whispers.
Ryn tightened his grip on the broken hilt—even though it was useless. It gave his hands something to do.
"You're the damage dealer now. He can't maintain that form for long. If we're not—"
He didn't finish.
Because the door exploded.
Scorpio stepped through the debris, stone dust trailing behind him. His tail curled, venom dripping in slow, heavy drops.
"There you are," he purred. "I was getting bored."
Ryn whispered:
"Remember, every shot counts."
Amelia nodded, gripping her fingers tight enough to whiten her knuckles. Fire flared around her fingertips, faint but growing.
Scorpio cocked his head.
"Oh?" he purred. "Is the little princess going to try something?"
Ryn stepped forward, blocking Amelia from view.
"You bet she is."
Scorpio smiled.
"Good."
Ryn's heart pounded once, twice.
Then—
"AMELIA—NOW!"
A blazing projectile shot out, the kind that Scorpio could easily dodge if it had gone against his earlier form.
But this time—
BOOOOM—!!
The blast slammed into Scorpio's left shoulder, exploding against the chitin plating in a burst of flames.
The impact rocked him back a full step, scraping deep grooves into the stone beneath him.
Scorpio snarled.
The sound was low, guttural, nothing like the mocking drawl from before.
Amelia gasped. "I—I hit him! I actually—!"
Scorpio lifted his head, smoke curling off the scorched plating of his shoulder. His lips peeled back, revealing jagged, shifting teeth.
"…You insolent little—"
Amelia took an instinctive step back.
Ryn grabbed her wrist. "No, this is good. Keep firing!"
Scorpio's tail slammed into the floorboards, cracking the ground. Ryn dashed forward to meet him.
He slid under the first tail slam, the attack going wide and taking a chunk out of a nearby stone wall. Using his half-broken sword, Ryn still managed to leave a shallow slice underneath his scorpion tail.
Which was all he needed for a certain technique.
Frost Bloom.
Ice erupted from the wound, since the cut was shallow, it didn't manage to pierce through Scorpio's whole body. But it still managed to cause him to physically go numb from the cold.
That gave Amelia enough time to fire another spell.
A second bolt of fire rocketed through the air and slammed into Scorpio. Sending him flying into a nearby wall.
And then Ryn noticed it. Instead of blood, sand spilled out from the wounds both him and Amelia had inflicted.
He thought this was strange before but never paid it any mind. But now it clicked. Scorpio was holding this form together with his mana, which meant that if he ran out, they could win.
Though he couldn't linger on the thought, as Scorpio had already recovered. Ryn raised his blade, expecting him to lunge…but it was a terrible mistake.
Scorpio didn't aim for Ryn.
He aimed for her.
The giant tail snapped forward with a speed that didn't match his slowing limbs—a sudden, vicious strike aimed straight at Amelia's heart.
Ryn saw it too late.
"AMELIA!"
He channeled Aquila once more, even if there was no path of light, he was destined to get there.
THWIP—!!
Everything inside him lurched upward.
The stinger punched through Ryn's side, just below the ribs, tearing fresh blood across the floor.
His breath ripped out of him.
He slammed into the wall, pinned by the tail, legs dangling inches off the ground. Venom dripped from the wound in slow, burning trails.
[HP: 10/150, CRITICAL CONDITION]
[MP: 10/110]
Amelia's scream tore through the air.
"Ryn—NO—!"
He gritted his teeth, forcing a ragged exhale as Scorpio leaned in, eyes glowing like molten amber.
"You're still standing?" Scorpio hissed, voice distorted by sand grinding inside his throat. "You idiots just… don't… die."
The tail twisted, dropping him.
Pain exploded across Ryn's body.
He felt something crack inside his chest—
Amelia reached for him with shaking hands. "Ryn—Ryn, please—stay with me—!"
He couldn't speak.
Ryn's vision blurred at the edges, swallowing both color and light.
The world around him, Scorpio's footsteps, Amelia's screams, all became murky, as if he heard it underwater.
His body tumbled backward, weightless.
Is this it…?
I couldn't protect anyone, again.
The monster's silhouette blurred at the edge of Ryn's fading vision, tail raised for the final strike.
Then…the world peeled away in shimmering layers, replaced by a vast expanse of purple skies.
Ryn felt his feet land on something solid, yet not. A glass-like surface reflecting galaxies beneath it.
He stood at the center of an endless cosmic horizon.
Starlight drifted around him in slow, spiraling currents, like dust motes caught in a silent breeze.
And in that sky, he saw a gleam. It started with one, then slowly connected together until it formed something…a shape.
The towering outline, formed only by starlight, resembled a human holding…a bow?
Ryn's pulse hammered.
What… is this?
The sight was alienating, but beautiful. Ryn had thought this was some kind of afterlife. But the presence of his pulse said otherwise.
Then a voice entered his head.
"Told you we'd meet again."
Ryn staggered.
"It's you! The hunter…Orion was it?"
The starlit figure regarded Ryn with a calm, ancient weight.
"Why… help me?" Ryn asked, voice small in the cosmic dark.
The being's outline flickered, bow-shaped light tracing his arm.
Ryn stared, breath trembling.
"Long ago, I fought a creature like your Scorpio. I protected someone precious to me—and paid the price."
Ryn swallowed hard.
"And now I see you—another hunter standing between a monster and the one you refuse to lose."
Amelia's face flashed in Ryn's mind.
The figure stepped closer, placing a warm, steady hand over Ryn's chest.
"I will not watch the story repeat."
"You will not die as I did."
The stars dimmed one by one, coalescing into a singular mass that entered Ryn's body.
He felt nothing until a familiar system message appeared.
[ Blessing Granted: Orion (S-Rank) ]