Psychic Parasite

Chapter 357: Initiation into a Healer (12)
There was a total of 30 Sand-Weaving Scorpions, their massive numbers casting a hulking presence over the land. Each Sand-Weaving Scorpion was five times the length of a grown man, their bodies covered by tough shells that resisted all forms of attacks.

The hooved beasts were currently fighting against them, using their sharp horns against the opponent’s pincers and stingers. There was mild injury and bleeding on most of the Sand-Weaving Scorpion’s faces, thanks to the charged-up attacks by the hooved beasts.

But, the hooved beasts were only specialised in charging-based attacks, their close-quarters combat ability paling in comparison. They used their superior agility to dodge the pincer and stinger attacks but failed to close in for another speared attack.

The Meka Clan Chief was solemn, gazing at the figure of a Sand-Weaving Scorpion that was thrice the size of the rest, the armour covering it was enormous, tough to the extent withstanding the hooved beast’s attacks with hardly a scratch. It was the Shield Beast, exactly as what the Divya Vaidya had informed him.

It had its right pincer poised at the front, blocking the charged-up attack of two hooved beasts, only sporting a mild scratch at the point of impact. It moved forward its pincer, sending the two hooved beasts flying.

A shadow flashed before a gaping hole appeared in one of the hooved beast’s head, large enough to swallow up its whole. The hooved beast twitched in the air once before dissipating into specks of starlight, disappearing soon after. The leader who had unleashed it became pale with fright, kneeling on the rock pillar in severe exhaustion.

He was someone who had become a leader quite recently, able to activate his tattoo only once. Now that his strength had been completely expended, he was exhausted, experiencing a state of momentary unconsciousness.

A warrior supported him from the back as he wheezed, gasping for breath. A breath later, he began to consume his ration, wishing to recover his strength as soon as possible. He looked at the horde of beasts, his voice stammering, ”…Chief.”

The second hooved beast that had been sent flying slammed into the sand, making a large trail as it crashed into a rock, cracking it before stopping. The hooved beast quickly shook its head and reoriented itself, leaping from its position as a pincer struck the place.

A Sand-Weaving Scorpion spammed attacks at it with its stinger, trying to corner it when a winged beast flashed past its stinger, making a deep cut that drew out blood. The winged beast stumbled along its flight from the impact, its attack failing to result in the desired damage.

The winged beast hurriedly flapped its wings, barely dodging a pincer strike from another Sand-Weaving Scorpion, getting a gash on its stomach that leaked out starlight. It crashed into the head of a Sand-Weaving Scorpion fighting ahead, unable to evade due to the lack of space.

It swiftly aimed itself, pecking at the Sand-Weaving Scorpion’s eyes, blinding it when a pair of pincers tore its body into pieces. All beasts possessed tremendous vitality, having survived in the treacherous desert conditions. So, it wasn’t easy to wound them.

Even though the tattoo could unleash the beasts they were sourced from, they weren’t as powerful as the beasts themselves. After all, they lacked a fleshly body while their energy density wasn’t high enough to make up for the difference.

Even the Fire-Tailed Snail from before had been wounded by multiple tattoo-based attacks, with two of them being attacks from the Meka Clan Chief and the Mosali Clan Chief. After suffering from those attacks, it still managed to escape and was only killed from a long pursuit battle. Even though a Fire-Tailed Snail was a lot stronger than a Sand-Weaving Scorpion, it still displayed how strong each beast was.

The Meka Clan Chief shouted, ”Leaders from the Raga Clan and the Mosali Clan, unleash the second wave.”

Each rock pillar had been erected to provide a foothold for a leader respectively, allowing them a place to activate their tattoos and obtain a clear line of sight to attack. The rock pillars were also placed to hinder the momentum of the Sand-Weaving Scorpions, allowing the warriors a high vantage point to attack from.

Everything had been planned based on their experience surviving in the desert for ages. It was the Meka Clan’s shaman that had created their battle plan. Upon the Meka Clan Chief’s shout, the leaders from the Raga Clan and the Mosali Clan jumped on their respective rock pillars, activating their tattoos.

A beast twice the height of a grown man, possessing thick stumps in place of legs, numbering in the dozens, a completely armoured creature was manifested by the leaders from the Raga Clan, numbering 16.

They were hulking monsters resembling trains due to their body length surpassing the height of 10 grown men combined. They were slow to move but made up for their deficiencies with their staggering defences. Also growing on their sides were blade-like projections, acting as the weapons to counterattack while defending.

Seeing their pitiful numbers as compared to the remaining Clans, the Raga Clan Chief sighed, ”If only our shaman knew to change the essences of various beasts into our Clan’s guardian beast.”

The essences usually had two modes of usage: engraving a tattoo while using the essence as is, or changing its inherent nature using another essence as reference.

To achieve the former, one had to know the tattoo to inscribe using the respective beast’s essence. If they didn’t have the knowledge, then it was impossible to use the essence. If the tattoo was incorrect, it was simply wastage of essence, neither would it activate nor was it recyclable.

So, in such cases, the Clan shaman would slowly change the nature of the retrieved essence using the Clan’s guardian beast to turn it into its essence. This way, it prevented the essence from being wasted; after all, every shaman had the tattoo recipe for their Clan’s guardian beast’s essence.

But, the method to change the essence into their Clan’s guardian beast could only be found out through decades of research, something the Raga Clan had yet to achieve. That’s why they had such a pitiful number of leaders. Thankfully, the cycle of their Clan’s guardian beast was almost the same as the Meka Clan’s guardian beast, the only reason they could amass 16 leaders.

As the hulled beasts unleashed by the Raga Clan leaders arrived at the front and began to act as barricades of sorts, numerous clawed beasts sprang forth from the gaps, numbering 40. They were swift, agile, also possessing immense strength hidden within their forms, and their skins were covered by tough armour.

They were all-rounded, raising a cloud of dust along their wake as they sped towards the Sand-Weaving Scorpions. The moment they joined the fray, the pressure faced by the hooved and winged beasts decreased. At least three tattoo beasts fought against a Sand-Weaving Scorpion, engaging in a chaotic battle.

The Sand-Weaving Scorpions tried their best to raise a sand storm once again but were repeatedly hindered by the hooved and clawed beasts while anything that formed was dissipated by the winged beast.

The hulled beasts were slowly closing in on the battlefield, trying to prevent the Sand-Weaving Scorpions from coming any closer to the Meka Clan. The Meka Clan Chief shouted, ”Leaders from the Odatha Clan, unleash the third wave.”

Unlike the other leaders, the Odatha Clan leaders jumped down from their rock pillars after looking at their targets, plunging their blades into the sand as they activated their tattoos. The wriggling sound of flesh resounded as something condensed from the radiance emitted on their backs, swiftly drilling into the sand before anyone could witness their appearance.

At the forefront, a Sand-Weaving Scorpion clamped its right pincer on a hooved beast’s head while using its left to aim at the winged beast, defending against its attacks. Its stinger flashed repeatedly, keeping the clawed beast at a distance.

Just when it tried to clamp its right pincer and crush the hooved beast’s head, the hooved beast used its spring-like legs to jump, using the momentum to move away, straining the Sand-Weaving Scorpion’s muscles while dragging its body forward.

The Sand-Weaving Scorpion screeched in anger. Just when it planned to retaliate, a serpentine beast drilled out from the ground and rushed into its mouth. The Sand-Weaving Scorpion swiftly clamped its mandibles, severing the serpentine beast’s body halfway while the remainder entered its mouth.

Even though its body was severed in half, the serpentine beast possessed tremendous vitality, swiftly moving past the Sand-Weaving Scorpion’s internal defences and wreaked havoc in its body. The Sand-Weaving Scorpion thrashed in pain, stomping on the sand while manipulating it, trying to raise a sand storm.

The other half of the serpentine beast coiled around its right arm, constricting it greatly, causing the pincer to loosen its hold, allowing the hooved beast to break free. The hooved beast immediately leapt into the air and kicked at the Sand-Weaving Scorpion’s face, creating a small dent.

The clawed beast used the chance to close in and afflict large gashes on its shell, even drawing blood from some weaker spots. Using the chance when it wasn’t clear-headed due to the pain, the winged beast swiftly flashed by, grabbing the stinger with its claw.

It flapped its wings, pulling at the stinger, preventing the Sand-Weaving Scorpion from using it again. The force the winged beast generated even lifted the Sand-Weaving Scorpion’s back to the air, decreasing the hold its legs had on the ground.

As the four beasts stacked damage on the Sand-Weaving Scorpion, gravely injuring it, the clawed beast flashed beside its head, seeking to deliver the killing blow when it dropped dead, its head had vanished. It dissipated into starlight instantly.

The hooved beast swiftly jumped up, trying to dodge the attack using its superior speed, but found its legs had disappeared while mid-air. Before it could reach the ground, a shadow flashed by as its head disappeared. It crumbled into starlight and vanished.

A pincer grabbed hold of the winged beast at speeds beyond its reaction, crushing it into starlight specks as the shadow of a massive beast loomed over the area. The Meka Clan Chief witnessed its dominating might, slowly lifting his scimitar as his back radiated with blinding light.

The Shield Beast had made its move!