Although the blow didn't crack the armor, the concussive force traveled through the creature's body like a thunderclap. It let out a gurgling shriek and thrashed wildly.
Overwhelmed by the sudden attack, the beast screamed, abandoned its ambush, and burrowed, trying to dive deep into the sand and shake this parasite from its back.
Noticing this, a savage grin appeared on Shura's face in the darkness.
"Heh! You want to wrestle down here?"
He wrapped both arms around the beast's upper body and planted himself on its back like a leech, ready to truly go all out and use the martial art he had learned.
Of course, what he learnt was not some elegant human martial art, it was the Han Clan Asura Fist • Eightfold Hellbreaker Style.
A style made for brutal close combat, crushing bones, tearing flesh, and overpowering enemies with savage force. And right now, in the suffocating darkness beneath the sand, it suited him perfectly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His fists rained down like hammers, and each blow smashed into the monster's back, making it spin madly, trying to scrape Shura off against rocks, even going so far as to slam its huge body through layers of compacted sand to crush him.
But Shura clung to it like a curse.
In a desperate move, one of the scorpion's hind legs shot backward, aimed at Shura's face, only to be grabbed by him, who, with a grin that was all teeth and madness, pulled it with all his strength.
Crack!
The leg was torn straight off.
"Screeeeech—!"
A shriek of pure agony came out of the scorpion's mouth, so violent that the surrounding sand trembled.
In the meantime, the curious Shura held the beast's leg in one hand and then bit down experimentally.
Right away, his face darkened, and he spat it out.
"Bleh! Disgusting."
For a moment, Shura wanted to give this beast a few more hits, but had to release his position and roll aside in the sand as a jet of black venom sprayed from the beast's tail, hissing through the area where his head had been.
Then the true brutal fight began.
"Come on, you oversized bug!"
Shura roared, caught the beast's claws, and twisted them violently.
Crack!
The first pincer snapped at the joint, causing the scorpion to convulse and lash out with the other pincer immediately, hitting Shura across the ribs and sending him crashing through a wall of packed sand and stone.
Pain flared through his side. But he felt no fear, only a rising tide of euphoria, making him throw his head back and let out a wild laugh.
"Hahaha! That's the stuff! Again!"
He charged back in like a madman, and the scorpion's venomous tail stabbed down to meet him.
This time, he was ready. He caught it with one hand, and then, ignoring the pain of the barb tearing through his palm, he used the tail as a rope to drag the whole beast toward him, and—
Boom!
Shura punched into the creature's head, causing its shell to finally crack.
The scorpion tried to recoil and retreat into the sand, but Shura gave it no time, not a fraction of a second before pouncing on it and raining his fists on it like falling meteors.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each hit was heavier than the last, but he didn't stop until—
Crack! Crack!
All of the beast's remaining pincers broke, and it spasmed wildly, at which point Shura grabbed its tail and, with a roar, tore it off with brute force.
The scorpion convulsed twice before it went still, and only then did the light of madness in Shura's eyes slowly fade.
He stood over the corpse in the dark sand, chest heaving, covered in both his and the creature's blood, his heart pounding with a fierce exhilaration.
'Ah... this is what real strength feels like.'
After standing there in silence for a moment, he crouched down and tore open the cracked area near the creature's core with bare hands. Ignoring the gush of foul-smelling fluids that spilled out, he continued digging until his fingers closed around something hard.
It was a faintly glowing purple crystal that he pulled out.
But unlike ordinary crystals, this one carried a savage aura and far denser energy.
"A beast crystal... Now this is good stuff." His eyes lit up.
It was far better than an ordinary purple crystal, so without hesitation, he pocketed it and began forcing his way upward through the sand, finally breaking through to the surface with a gasp of air after some struggle.
"Die, you beast!"
However, the moment his head broke through the sand, a war cry rang out above him.
Shura barely had time to look up before he saw Zeshi descending from the air, gripping her pink dagger.
Clearly, after seeing the sand explode and losing sight of both him and the scorpion, she had assumed the worst and launched a preemptive strike the instant something emerged.
But as she finally recognized his face in mid-air, her beautiful eyes widened in horror.
"Ah—!"
She pulled back the dagger first and then tried to change her direction.
Unfortunately, it was too late to change direction.
On the other side, reacting on pure instinct, Shura twisted his body to catch her.
Unfortunately, his reflexes, though quick, were not quite quick enough.
Bang!
She slammed directly into him, and the two tumbled backward into the sand, rolling over and over until they came to a halt at the base.
"Ugh!"
Shura grunted as her full weight crashed onto his chest, knocking the wind out of him. But the discomfort was soon replaced by a strange new sensation as his hand, which extended out to steady them, landed on something incredibly soft.
Squish-squish!
His fingers contracted instinctively, testing the texture. It was soft yet firm, a supple, springy softness that could only belong to one place on a woman's well-developed body.
For a second, Shura's mind went completely blank as the realization of what he was holding and squeezing dawned upon him.
But despite realizing it, his hand still refused to release its prize.
And it was only when Zeshi scrambled off him with a face so red it looked like steam might pour from her ears that Shura finally let go with some reluctant disappointment in his eyes.
"I-I'm so sorry, Sir! I thought it was the scorpion!"
Despite her overwhelming shame, Zeshi apologized for nearly causing a catastrophe, not daring to look him in the eyes.
In that moment, she really looked like a flustered, shy girl, making Shura reconsider his earlier suspicions about her motives.
Before he could dwell on it, however, Zeshi exclaimed.
"What happened to it? Where is it?"
Shura slowly pushed himself up, casually brushed sand from his clothes, and replied calmly.
"I killed it."
"...You killed it?"
Shura nodded calmly, and for a moment, Zeshi simply stared at him.
Then her gaze shifted to the blood on his body, the torn clothes, and the murderous aura that still faintly lingered around him.
"You... you actually killed it."
Her small mouth was a perfect 'O' of disbelief, but instead of clarifying, Shura extended his hand and asked,
"Can you still walk?"
Zeshi stared at his hand for a heartbeat before hesitantly placing her own in it.
As he pulled her up, she looked at him with an expression that had changed completely from before. The timidity and caution were still there, but now they were mingled with something new and undeniable.
Shura caught the change but couldn't quite figure it out, so he simply turned his gaze toward the vast, unforgiving expanse of desert that stretched before them.
"We should move. If there's one of these things here, there are bound to be more."
"Right."
Zeshi nodded instantly and moved to his side. This time, she stood even closer than before as the two resumed their journey.