Vampire's Blood Ascension-Chapter 40: Ashen Juggernaut, Rare.

Both of them travelled the dark desert while ignoring all of the dreadborns, and a few hours later, their gaze fell on a ruined stone tower.

Sera slowed down as she pointed at the tower and said, "That’s our stop."

Rudy glanced at the tower and mumbled while scratching the back of his head, "You sure? We may find better spots if we continue further."

She shook her head and explained, "The night here is only for seven hours."

Rudy blinked and asked with a genuinely surprised expression, "How do you know that?"

She shrugged and stepped forward. "I counted it."

He stared at her back and mumbled in disbelief, "Counted it...?"

He shook his head and called out, "Wait!"

She, in fact, did not wait and just dashed towards the nearby rubble.

He furrowed his brows and ran behind her. "Why did you come here?"

She placed a finger on her lips. "Shh... wait for it."

Rudy frowned. ’Did she see something—"

Before he could finish his thought, the dark sand between them and the tower shifted, and the head of a noon scorpion shot out of it, followed by its whole body.

Rudy’s eyes glowed red, and he noted in his head, ’A deviant demon.’

Outwardly, his expression darkened, and he mumbled, horrified, "What are we going to do now?"

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and stated, as if there was no other answer to his question, "What else? We are going to kill it."

"Are you crazy?" He spewed with a terrified face.

She furrowed her brows. "Do you have a better plan?"

Rudy fell silent for a few moments before he said, "We can wait for the day."

"We can..." she whispered as she peeked at the tower some distance away, and said, "But what if there’s a dreadborn within that tower?"

’Hmm?’ Genuinely confused by her question, Rudy tilted his head and asked, "Won’t it turn to bones?"

Sera shook her head. "When I had first entered those stone chambers, I had found dawn antlions hiding in them... and it was during the day. So as long as they are not on the sand, they won’t turn into bones."

"I didn’t know that," he commented while glancing at the noon scorpion.

"Of course," Sera whispered.

A vein throbbed at his forehead, and he spewed inwardly, ’What the hell?’

She turned around as she slightly lifted her head to look straight into his eyes, and asked, "What’s your attribute?"

Hearing her question, Rudy’s face turned cold.

He stared into her golden eyes, grip tightening around the hilt of his long sword.

Asking an irregular about their attribute was no different from asking them their deepest secrets, and rarely did the irregulars take such questions lightly.

Seeing the sudden change, Sera spoke calmly, "My attribute is Dancing Weaver, rare, which allows me to create essence strings that I can use to bind, swing, and much more. If I channel more essence into those strings, I can make them stronger and sharper."

’Dancing Weaver, rare, huh... she could be lying about it.’

Rudy’s expression lost its sharpness, and he stared at her with a dumbfounded expression.

She stepped closer. "So? Now that you know mine. Shouldn’t you tell yours, Vlad? After all, to survive this place, we need to know what each of us can do."

Rudy stayed silent for a moment, his eyes reflecting that he was considering her words.

He heaved a deep sigh before he took a step back and gestured grandly at himself from head to toe as he revealed, "It isn’t that much of a secret anyway."

"My attribute is Ashen Juggernaut, also rare. Its main effect is passive, transforming my body into what I am right now, and makes it easier for me to control my essence."

He rubbed the back of his neck as he added with a sheepish smile, "For some reason, it also changed my life essence’s appearance to red."

For the first time, a surprised expression appeared on Sera’s face, and she mumbled, "That’s all?"

He nodded with a wry smile and whispered grimly, "Yes, that’s it..."

She turned back towards the scorpion. "Well. It’s still a rare attribute, so you shouldn’t beat yourself up."

’Is she pitying me?’ He thought, his lips trembling to lift into a grin, but he forced it down.

Seeing his trembling lips from the corner of her eye, she spoke, "You don’t have to force yourself to look fine."

’What?’ He frowned. "I wasn’t—"

"It’s okay, I understand your sorrow, but we have to take care of that dreadborn," She muttered as she stepped away from the rubble.

’What is wrong with her? Let me speak, would you?’ he sighed inwardly and nodded his head.

Sera narrowed her eyes, and golden light seeped from her hand, solidifying into golden strings as she added, "Just keep shifting its attention."

"Alright."

She took a calm, deep breath and declared, "Now!"

The dark sand rose as both of them zipped towards the noon scorpion.

Sera’s strings gleamed golden while Rudy’s blade shone red.

Just as before, the scorpion instantly turned towards them.

As it turned towards them, Sera jumped to the right and shouted, "Jump left!"

Rudy jumped to the left, and the next moment, the scorpion’s stinger went past them and slammed into the ground.

"Duck!" She shouted, and Rudy followed.

The next moment, the stinger flew above him.

’How advanced is her foresight?’ Rudy wondered.

Sera neared the scorpion, her golden strings shot towards its limbs and coiled around them.

She stopped in her tracks, stilled her stance, and channeled more dream essence into her threads.

The threads shone brightly as they grew much stronger and sharper, and began to dig into its limbs.

"Attack it!" She yelled with gritted teeth.

’At this point, she should just tell me that she lied,’ Rudy added inwardly as he appeared beside the scorpion and brought his sword down on its left claw.

Cracks spread across its pale yellow chitin, and his blade dug into its flesh.

The scorpion hissed, and Sera’s strings cut two of its front right limbs.

Blood pooled under it, and she guided her strings and Rudy.

"Attack its limbs."

Rudy immediately turned towards its limbs and swung at them, severing the one at the front.

The scorpion cried, and her strings wrapped around the claw’s joints, and she rolled to the left.

The place where she was exploded as it smashed its stinger.

The dark sand flew, and white sparks flickered around her hands as two golden, glassy chakrams appeared in them.

The scorpion violently shook its body.

"Ugh!" Rudy slammed into it and was sent rolling back, while Sera rose from the ground and flew towards the scorpion.

It swung its stinger towards her, and she calmly shortened her strings and came closer to the scorpion.

The stinger flew past, and her golden chakrams dug into its claw’s joints, blood spraying out of it.

It thrashed its claw, and at the same time, Rudy plunged his sword into its side and moved it in a wide arc, cleaving it.

More blood poured out of its body, it swung its left claw towards him, and before Sera could alert him, it slammed into him.

"Fu— ugh!"

Rudy’s head burst open, and he flew off the ground before he crashed into it.

Sera gritted her teeth, channeled her aura into the chakrams, and slammed them at its back.

Her attacks cut through the pale yellow chitin, and blood gurgled out of the wounds, but none of it was lethal.

"It can’t continue like this," she mumbled grimly, her gaze drifted towards the stinger that the scorpion couldn’t use because she was on its back.

"VLAD!" She shouted.

A few meters away, Rudy grabbed his head as he rose to his feet and mumbled, "What’s she trying now?"

"Tilt it from the left!"

Her words reached him, and he blinked a few times. "What?"

He shook his head. "I hope it isn’t something stupid."

Sera uncoiled her strings from the claw’s joint and stepped to the right as she sprinted towards its stinger while channeling essence into her feet.

Rudy also channeled essence into his feet and dashed towards the scorpion.

Sera wrapped her strings around the stinger, jumped off the scorpion, and shortened them as she used them as a rope to swing around its stinger before she let go of her strings and flew towards its head with her chakrams at the front.

At the same time, Rudy neared the scorpion, and, seeing her fly towards its head like a golden streak, he muttered, "Damned woman!"

All of his essence coursed through his body at the same time as he jumped and crashed into the scorpion.

A boom echoed, and the impact lifted the scorpion to the left.

The next moment, she poured all of her essence into her chakrams and slashed at its head like a golden ray.

She crashed into the dark sand and rolled for a few moments before she came to a stop and mumbled, "I missed it..."

The lower half of the scorpion’s neck was cut open, blood pouring out of it as it shook violently, and before it could collect itself, a gleaming red blade chopped its head off its body.

[You have slain a Deviant Demon: Noon Scorpion.]

[Your blood has grown pure.]

He trudged a few steps before he fell to his knees and stammered, "I-I never want to do this again!"

Sera glanced between Rudy and the dead noon scorpion for a few moments before she rose to her feet and muttered, "Get up, we have to move."

She then walked to her chakrams, picked them up, and stored them in her spatial ring.

Rudy shot him a furious glare that disappeared without any words, and shook his head.

"Never mind," he mumbled as he forced himself upright, and said, "Let’s go."

She looked into his eyes for a moment before she nodded, and both of them moved towards the tower in the distance.