Chapter 920: Earth Region 4.
Alec had only been able to notice a weakness thanks to Hunter’s strike that managed to pierce through its defence, with his Energy Eyes special active, Alec picked up details invisible to others.
He observed that whenever the caterpillar prepared to attack or defend, its carapace shifted slightly to accumulate mana, creating a tiny gap in its impenetrable defence, that fleeting space and gaps that appeared just happened to be its weak spot.
Though its carapace appeared impenetrable, Alec knew that someone far stronger and in a higher realm could shatter it with ease.
However, he and his golems weren’t at that level yet, so he had to rely on the only option available, exploiting that momentary weakness.
With his Energy Eyes active, Alec was confident he could land a strike far more effective than anything they had tried so far.
He willed his limiters to release.
Thud.
The four limiters strapped across his body fell to the ground, one after another, as his aura surged, his realm rose sharply, climbing until it settled at the High Tier 6 mage realm.
Without hesitation, Alec bent his knees and sprang off the ground with nothing but raw physical strength, feeling the surreal difference of moving unhindered by augmentation.
Mid-lunge, he ordered his golems to watch for the fleeting gap in the caterpillar’s defences before it launched its next attack.
But before his command could even finish, the caterpillar opened its maw and spat a massive glob of green liquid at him, the stench alone screaming of toxicity.
Instinctively, Alec swung his right claw forward.
[> Low Bloodline Ability – Shadow Rend. <]
A surge of dark energy burst forth in the direction of his slash, stretching a few meters ahead before expanding into a circular, portal-like rift.
Alec’s body vanished into it just before the poisonous spit could reach him.
Bang!
A sharp explosion tore through the air as the venom collided with the shadow portal, spreading a cloud of toxic green smoke, the caterpillar screeched in fury, thrashing its lower body violently in frustration at missing its prey yet again.
Hunter, Butcher, and Oni braced themselves against the storm of tail blades, struggling to climb onto the caterpillar’s body and secure their footing.
Meanwhile, Alec emerged from the nearest shadow, the one cast beneath the caterpillar itself.
Because he hadn’t set a destination point in his rush to cast Shadow Rend, the ability ejected him at random into the closest shadow nearby.
Fortunately, it was still within striking range, without hesitation, he clawed his way up the caterpillar’s massive frame, plunging his claws into a fleeting gap that had opened in the carapace as the Caterpillar spat another ball of toxic spit on its body , at the location Oni was in.
That little moment , Alec used the opportunity to pierce his claws through, the beast went berserk from the pain, thrashing more violently than before as it couldn’t even complete its attack before Alec’s action.
All four of them were forced to dig into its body to keep from being flung off, but the danger only escalated when the caterpillar hurled itself backward, slamming its body into the ground in an attempt to crush and suffocate them beneath its immense weight.
Alec felt his consciousness slipping from the suffocating pressure, a fate he could not allow, summoning every ounce of will, he tightened his grip, channelling his Qi into his claws.
Cracks splintered through the hardened carapace, the sound sharp and satisfying to his ears.
With his newly heightened strength, Alec wrenched back, ripping free a jagged portion of the beast’s armour.
The caterpillar shrieked in agony, twisting violently as fresh pain coursed through its body.
The narrow escape gave Alec and his golems the chance to leap off the demonic beast, none of them daring to remain aboard after experiencing the suffocating sand and the countless bladed legs hacking at them from every angle.
Alec’s body was riddled with cuts, blood dripping steadily.
Though his werewolf regeneration was at work, however it was clear it would take time before he fully recovered from the caterpillar’s devastating assault.
Crack!!!
Just as they steadied themselves, something strange occurred.
The caterpillar’s massive body began to shrink at an alarming speed.
Within seconds, its monstrous bulk condensed into a humanoid form. Alec’s eyes widened in shock as he witnessed the transformation of a Tier 7 demonic beast into its human-like shape.
He knew this was possible after all, Tier 7 beasts were said to gain humanoid forms, but most never controlled the ability properly at such an early stage at the High ranks.
And they rarely used it, as their proficiency in this form was lacking. Alec, however, had failed to consider one vital detail: the beasts of the Beast Forest were nothing like those of beasts in the outer realm.
Even their pill quality of the beast he refined from the beast forest was always of superior quality, surpassing those of demonic beasts slain outside and dragged to the amulet space.
When the transformation was complete, Alec realized the caterpillar was, in fact, female.
Her entire body gleamed in brownish-gold armour reminiscent of her carapace, at her belly was a gaping hole, the very spot Alec had torn apart moments ago.
A faint reminder of the wound marred her otherwise formidable appearance.
On her head, two small, almost inconspicuous antennae twitched faintly, and in her right hand she wielded a whip.
Its material was grotesque yet mesmerizing, seemingly crafted from the spinal cord of some other creature.
Each segmented length of the weapon moved with a sinuous, eerie grace, exuding a deadly aura all its own.
Not only that, but she still had twelve eyes glaring from her head, their eerie glow making Alec’s skin crawl.
“You’ll pay for that,” she hissed, lashing her whip toward him.
The weapon elongated unnaturally, each jagged bone segment moving with seamless precision under her control.
As it closed in, Alec finally grasped the secret behind her weapon. The strangely angled bones weren’t connected by strings or any physical bindings at all, her mana was the invisible force linking them together, animating
the whip and making it function like a living, deadly extension of her will.