This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

The battle raged on, the desert air filled with the sounds of clashing steel, the screeches of scorpions, and the occasional cry of pain from the team. Kain fought with everything he had, his muscles burned as his spear cut down scorpion after scorpion for what was likely hours by now. His arms felt like lead, and his vision blurred with exhaustion, but he couldn't afford to stop.

But the scorpions were relentless. For every one they killed, especially the seemingly endless low-level ones, two more seemed to take its place. The larger scorpions, were particularly dangerous. Their pincers snapped with enough force to crush a fully grown man in half instantly, and their venomous tails struck with deadly precision.

The team did their best to avoid engaging them while focusing on the smaller threats, but it was only a matter of time before one of the larger scorpions caused serious damage to their ranks.

"Behind you!" Serena's voice cut through the chaos and Kain's increasingly morbid thoughts.

Kain twisted just in time, using the shaft of his spear to block the incoming tail strike. The impact rattled his arms, but before the creature could strike again, a streak of silver light flashed through the air. Serena's Starweaver having launched an arrow of starlight that exploded after being lodged in its body , destroying half of its body instantly.

"Thanks." Kain exhaled, already shifting to the next threat.

"We're getting overwhelmed," Serena said, eyes sharp as she parried another attack. "If we don't end this soon, we're going to collapse before they do."

Almost as if in response to her words, one of the few 7-star Starchasers, a tall man with bird-type contracts only, was caught off guard by a massive scorpion that burst from the sand. Before he could react, the creature's tail lashed out, striking him in the side. He cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground as the venom coursed through his veins. Read exclusive chapters at My Virtual Library Empire

"Medic!" Idrias shouted, his voice urgent. "We need a healer over here!"

Several members of the team, including Kain's Queen at his direction, rushed to the injured Starchaser's side, naturally as a carefully selected squad there were several healers within the team. Kain watched as glowing tendrils of energy wrapped around the man's body, the healers working tirelessly to counteract the venom. But even as the flesh knitted back together, Zareth's condition didn't improve. The poison lingered, its effects spreading despite their efforts.

"It's no use," one of the healers said, her voice strained. "The venom is too potent. We can heal the physical damage, but the poison is beyond our abilities."

However, the battle situation was still ongoing and they had not much time nor energy to preoccupy with their injured comrade.

The battle continued, the team fighting with renewed desperation, this time abandoning any thoughts of running away and putting their all into confronting the strongest scorpions. Either they would die or the scorpion leaders would.

Slowly, the tide began to turn. The scorpions' relentless assault began to falter, their numbers dwindling as the team fought with everything they had. After a few of the largest scorpions were defeated, likely sensing the shift in the battle, they began to retreat, their massive forms disappearing beneath the sand.

The remaining scorpions hesitated, their formations faltering. Without their strongest, they wavered. And then, as if some unseen signal had been given, they retreated—scuttling back into the sand, vanishing as quickly as they had appeared.

Silence fell over the battlefield.

The only sounds were the ragged breaths of the survivors and the distant screeches of the Bonewing Stalkers above. Sensing the battle was no longer occurring, they began to disperse, their dark forms disappearing into the horizon.

Kain pulled his spear free, barely suppressing a groan. His muscles burned, his energy nearly depleted. But they had won.

Or so he thought.

A sharp cry of pain shattered the moment of victory and reminded everyone that they were at risk of losing nearly a third of their cohort not long into the journey if they couldn't deal with this poison.

Idrias knelt beside the injured 7-star Starchaser, his expression unreadable. "There has to be something we can do."

Another healer shook their head. "We need an antidote—something specifically designed for this scorpion's venom, the generic anti-venoms we tried didn't work. But we don't have anything like that here."

Kain's mind raced. He had some rare elixirs, but none of them were meant for this. If they didn't act fast, much of their team would...

Idrias turned to another high-level Starchaser, Zareth, who was watching in grim silence. "What are our options?"

Zareth exhaled sharply. "There are remedies in the southern territories—certain tribes specialize in dealing with venom like this. The Obari Tribe, for instance is one of the closest tribes to here and is said to have mastered the art of crafting antidotes for even the deadliest desert creatures. But reaching them in time and then managing to successfully obtain the antidote…it's a difficult task." He trailed off, and the meaning was clear.

Many of these people will likely die on the trip to the nearest tribe.

Idrias stepped forward, his voice steady despite the evident exhaustion on his face. "If the Obari Tribe is our only hope, then we have to try. We can't afford to lose anyone, not this early in the mission. If we move quickly, we might be able to reach them before the poison takes hold."

Zareth nodded, "Agreed. When injured in the wild, we've found that no moving the wounded too much can prolong their chances of survival. I suggest that we split into two groups. After we move everyone to a more secure location, one group will stay with the wounded to tend to them and set up a temporary camp. The other will head out immediately to find the Obari Tribe. Time is against us."

Seeing Idrias nod in agreement, Zareth continued, "I'll lead the group to the tribe. I've studied their movements before, and I know the general direction they might be in even if they have moved since we were shown the map back at headquarters. As for the members I plan to take along...."