Scorpion Man and Scorpion Woman
“This is the source, the source of everything!” Leylin sighed. If not for the Scorpion Man dying here while carrying the bloodline of the female bronze giant, the entire world of ice would not have been formed. Hence, it wasn’t too much of a stretch to call him this world’s progenitor.
Leylin’s body floated up to the place and slowly descended, arriving at the floor of the hollowed-out area. After seeing the Scorpion Man in full view, his pupils suddenly narrowed.
In front of him was reclined the corpse of an enormous creature, half human half scorpion. Streaks of icy blue connected to the Scorpion Man through his skin like a spider web, injecting great amounts of life force and icy energy into him.
And on the back of the Scorpion Man, strange green blood wriggled as if it had a life of its own. It even covered the Scorpion Man’s entire back, spreading in all directions.
Green veins bulged all over the Scorpion Man’s body, writhing around. They were like lifeless pupils, full of eeriness.
The corrosion of the green blood and blood vessels had slightly transformed the Scorpion Man’s appearance.
Compared to the body in Leylin’s memory, the Scorpion Man’s now seemed thinner. Even its face had become more exquisite, appearing more feminine. Female characteristics were showing on its upper body as well.
“Oh, no no no! This isn’t a corpse!” Leylin was astonished. Only after drawing close had he realised that the Scorpion Man had a weak breath, his chest slowly throbbing.
However, the small waves of life force seemed incomparably small when paired with the huge body, so small in fact that Leylin had neglected them at the start.
“This Scorpion Man is actually alive!” Leylin stumbled a few steps back. At the same time, the Scorpion Man suddenly opened his eyes.
“You’re here!” A familiar soul force wave began to attack Leylin’s defences.
“You’re not the Scorpion Man! You’re the Arctic Queen… No, you’re the guardian of the Icy World, the female bronze giant!” Leylin blurted out. Dense black scales covered his entire body, and a few test tubes containing potions exploded out, forming a huge screen of light. His earring was activated, in standby to attack.
Even as he was currently, Leylin did not dare to take the risk of facing an ancient creature that comprehended laws. Although he had made a rough guess before, the truth coming out still dazed him slightly.
As he saw this scene, all the events flashed across Leylin’s mind rapidly, and he managed to establish a picture of what had happened quite quickly. The Snake Dowager had attacked the Icy World, and the female bronze giant had died during the war. A drop of her blood fell on the Scorpion Man’s body as he fell into a spatial crack, accompanying him as he arrived here by chance. The Scorpion Man had died on the spot, but the green blood on his back had survived!
The female bronze giant was a terrifying creature that had crossed rank 7! She could even control certain laws and can reborn from a single drop of blood!
Her bloodline inherited a part of her spiritual imprint. On top of that, even if the Scorpion Man’s Morning Star strength faded, his body retained its vitality. The drop of such an ancient bloodline could obtain a new life here after separating from the main body.
Yet, it was incomparably difficult to be reborn from a single drop of blood. Hence, it acted like a virus, seeking life to live off of, attempting to infect another party and transform it as required.
And in Twilight Zone, was there any creature more suitable for this than the Scorpion Man? Without considering other factors, the mere problem of distance was enough to make a decision!
Thus, the giant’s bloodline began living off the Scorpion Man’s corpse, even transforming it. This led to the emergence of female characteristics in his appearance.
Such transformations not only required a large amount of time, but also a terrifying amount of life energy.
Hence, the imprint of the giant formed a miniature Icy World through icy radiation, even producing life in this world of ice!
Soon after, she used a portion of the Scorpion Man’s flesh to create a guardian for herself, Arwen. A guardian at the Morning Star realm was enough to suppress anything else in Twilight Zone.
Hence, the giant hid behind the scenes while Arwen took charge of all the matters on the surface, regularly gathering icy creatures as blood sacrifices. This was to strengthen the Scorpion Man’s life energy, so as to nourish the giant’s blood.
Initially, all of this was close to success. Once the transformation was successful, the giant would be reborn from the Scorpion Man’s body and become a new life. That is, it would have if Leylin hadn’t appeared.
However, there are no ifs in life. Leylin’s appearance, and especially Arwen’s death, left the giant with no choice but to come forth personally and hasten the collection of flesh and life energy until this point.
The Scorpion Man stared at Leylin and a calm soul force was transmitted from his body. “No! I am only a part of the giant. The current me is a combination of a synthesised memory imprint and this Scorpion Man’s body! Thus, I am indeed the Arctic Queen!”
Upon hearing that, Leylin heaved a deep sigh of relief. Even if the opponent had the blood of a creature that controlled laws, its body was still not done with the transformation. It could not be considered a full resurrection yet, only a bloodline imprint struggling at death’s door.
Hence, the current Scorpion Man could not move at all. Even speaking needed to be accomplished through soul force, never mind anything else.
“If it’s like that, I still have a chance!” A brilliant glow burst forth from Leylin’s eyes.
Even if the Scorpion Man was done with its body’s transformation, it would only be a peak rank 4 at most, and by relying on the bloodline’s strength be comparable to a rank 5 Radiant Moon Magus. However, Leylin had many cards in his hands and could still put up a fight. The opponent’s inability to move even gave him an advantage.
“Scorpion Man? This is the creature’s name?” Leylin asked.
“Yes! But I don't like this appearance and need to modify him to draw him closer towards a Scorpion Woman. After all, the Scorpion Woman’s illusory ability is well known in the entire Icy World. Coincidentally, this innate skill matches with my bloodline as well. It’s just that this process and the reincarnation both require a lot of time…”
The Arctic Queen began answering Leylin like she was obliged to, as if she had suddenly become a different person.
“No wonder…” Leylin nodded but his pupils reflected a mocking look.
With a bang, the ground shook and something that seemed like a blue root emerged. Branches and leaves merged with the blue antennae on the Scorpion Man’s body, forming a cage which sealed Leylin in it.
Snow white fog emerged from the Scorpion Man’s pores continuously, merging with the blue antennae and even forming a natural frosty rune on the surface.
“But luckily you're here! With a human Morning Star’s flesh, by using Wor’s Sacrificial Rites to offer your point mass to the Ice Sovereign, I believe I can speed up the transformation process, even take it till completion!”
The Arctic Queen’s voice was cold, “Since you've killed Arwen, use your flesh to pay back your debt!”
A blood-red light blade emerged on Leylin’s palms, slashing the cage suddenly and causing a piercing boom.
Many snow white runes flickered, even forming a layer of hard blue ice. It froze the blade on the cage, and many more blue arms stretched towards Leylin.
“A 700 degree attack is also ineffective?”
Leylin dodged and retreated, analysing the runes on the cage, “Mere energy loops cannot have such an effect, could it be these runes?”
“Frost confinement runes from the ancient Icy World, with a record of imprisoning even Radiant Moon Magi! If you won’t believe that, you can try it for yourself!” The Arctic Queen began laughing hysterically, “Did you think that I won’t have the strength to strike back because I cannot move? I’ve said this before, you’ll definitely regret coming in!”
Leylin was not bothered by her piercing laughter, instead minding his own business as he came to the edge of the cage. “A.I. Chip, conduct a scan.”
[Beep! Ancient frost confinement runes discovered. Effect: Enhances the firmness of the attached item by 5 levels, and frost resistance by 7. Provides reflective abilities to ice. Estimated strength: 890-1120] the A.I. Chip quickly responded.
“I’m afraid, with such a level, I could only escape from this place by attacking a few times with full strength, using Kemoyin Serpent Transformation,” Leylin sighed, “Only, is there a need to?”
He stretched out both his hands, revealing a purple radiance. The moment this purple radiance came into contact with the cage, something bizarre happened. Black spots began spreading across the cage, unstoppable even by the ancient confinement runes.
The entire cage was like an old wooden frame. It began to corrode rapidly, and thousands of holes appeared on it.
Leylin only exerted a slight force with his hands, and a huge hole opened up in the cage. He then walked out.
“Impossible!” The Arctic Queen’s piercing laughter immediately stopped.
“Nothing’s impossible! You ‘analysed’ my potion in detail, even removing the poison, but how can a potion I created be so easy to defeat?” Leylin laughed as a purple rune on his fingertip flickered irregularly.
As if this rune triggered some sort of chain reaction, large amounts of purple dots appeared on the Scorpion Man’s body, even sealing off the blood on his back.
Through his previous setup at the castle of ice and the trick he’d played on the icy creatures, Leylin had turned the tables in an instant, gaining the power to take the initiative.
“Hmph! Mere poison!” The Arctic Queen hummed coldly.
“I know. A bit of poison won’t affect an ancient Morning Star creature, unable to even last a few minutes. However, I only need a few minutes anyway…” Leylin averted his gaze from the Scorpion Man, watching the green blood on his back.
“You still don’t know right? I’m actually a Warlock, even a bloodline descendant of the Snake Dowager that caused your death! And for us Warlocks, separating blood and purifying genes are the simplest things ever…”