Divination and the Stitched Creature

Chapter 47: Divination and the Stitched Creature

"Mmmph!"

Her Achilles tendon had been severed by a sharp object.

An ordinary person would have screamed in agony.

But Pasha Buhat, having experienced a Destiny event before, knew that screaming was pointless. It might even attract other ferocious insects or beasts within the Dark Moon Forest.

So, the moment her body began to fall, she quickly tore off a piece of cloth from her clothes and bit down on it to stifle her cry.

It was all she could do.

Healing the wound was impossible. Pasha had only just begun her studies in Occultism and was helpless against such an injury.

With her mobility completely gone, she was just a liability in the current test.

In life-or-death situations, many people would abandon their teammates.

However, Han Dong did not.

It wasn't out of great compassion or saintly kindness.

Han Dong simply had a special reason for needing Pasha Buhat to complete this test with him.

Han Dong's backpack was filled with various supplies.

Among them was linen cloth he had bought from the general store, perfect for bandaging Pasha's ankle injury.

"Thank you..."

Pasha Buhat's eyes were filled with gratitude.

But she knew that without the ability to move, she was simply waiting to die... there was no way she could leave this open area of the Dark Moon Forest.

"Why don't you... just go? There's no way I can get out of this forest in my condition."

Han Dong squatted patiently in front of Pasha and explained his plan:

"No need! I might not be able to get out by myself either.

What just happened is enough to confirm the correctness of your statement!

Because of the directional divination, the Scissor Monster targeted you... It's currently hiding somewhere underground, recuperating.

Perform another targeted divination, keep the Scissor Monster locked onto you.

With its location pinpointed, I'll force it out of the ground next time... Let's see what kind of monster it is."

"Okay..."

This was actually very dangerous. If Han Dong couldn't intervene in time, Pasha could be "shredded" by the scissors.

But.

She had already lost her mobility, and Han Dong had chosen to stay behind and propose this plan.

She was grateful, so she wouldn't refuse.

As long as they could kill the monster, she could slowly leave the Dark Moon Forest even with her injured ankle.

The plan was set.

Han Dong found a relatively low, dead tree nearby and, using the strength of his Ghoul Arm, dragged himself up to the treetop... quietly waiting for their target to appear.

Pasha sat leaning against the dead tree, the torch stuck in the ground beside her, continuing the directional divination for the monster's location.

Crank, crank!

Before long, the sound of scissors echoed through the forest again, making Pasha shiver.

Concealing himself in the darkness, Han Dong focused intently, watching the situation below... Green liquid flowed clearly through the veins of his right arm.

While waiting, the tick, tick, tick! of the clockwork device's pointer was exceptionally clear.

In the upcoming action, even a one-second delay or a misjudgment of direction would lead to the plan's failure and Pasha's death.

Three long minutes passed.

The divination pointer in Pasha's hand stopped pointing in a certain direction and began to spin rapidly with small movements... indicating that the Scissor Monster had completely closed in.

"Nicholas, it's here!"

Crank, crank!

The scissors broke through the soil, aiming for Pasha's waist.

At the same moment, Han Dong, from above, leaped down fiercely.

Even though it was the lowest dead tree nearby, it was still about four meters high.

With Han Dong's previous physical condition, jumping from such a height would have inevitably resulted in a broken leg.

But now it was different.

A part of Han Dong's body (his right arm) could withstand the impact of descending from this height... and could even convert the potential energy generated by the fall into an attack.

"Camouflage Disengaged"

Han Dong's seemingly thin and withered right arm.

As he descended, it rapidly transformed into a Ghoul Arm, disproportionately large for his body.

Thick, green, elastic skin, and five sharp, curved talons imbued with the Plague attribute.

The scissors had already sliced through Pasha's waist and were about to pierce her internal organs.

Han Dong used the force of his fall, his talons tearing at the loose soil.

He made contact with the Scissor Monster hidden underground.

Shing! A sensation of cutting into soft flesh was clearly transmitted from his fingertips.

The Ghoul Arm absorbed most of the impact from his descent, allowing Han Dong to land steadily.

"Come out for me..."

Because his claws were fully embedded in the target's body.

Han Dong unleashed the full power of his Ghoul Arm, heaving upwards with all his might!

The soil broke apart.

A monster was impaled and flung out of the ground...

However.

Mid-air, this monster pulled out the claws embedded in its body and retreated, putting some distance between itself and Han Dong... landing three meters away.

It was different from Han Dong's expectation of a humanoid creature wielding scissors.

Its body was rotten and shriveled, its eye sockets empty, with clear stitching marks at the joints, like a corpse that had been dead for a long time and resurrected through some evil sorcery.

It also possessed eight 'devolved' arms, each less than thirty centimeters long, similar to a gnome's arms... However, these seemingly short arms had hardened shells covering their fingers and backs of their hands, allowing it to quickly dig and crawl underground.

As for the scissors.

They weren't held in any of its hands.

Instead, they were coiled around its tongue.

A tongue half a meter long dangled outside its mouth, and the forked tip of the tongue gripped the handles of the scissors, enabling it to perform precise cuts on its target.

"What the hell is that!?"

Honestly.

This Scissor Monster was more horrifying than the Evil Spirits in Destiny Space.

Especially that half-meter tongue extending outside its mouth, coiling around the scissors and swaying in the air... It felt like one would be pierced by the scissors if they got too close.

Another point.

Han Dong's attack did not achieve the expected effect.

Although the Scissor Monster's abdomen was pierced by his claws, the fungal infection did not spread.

It seemed that because it was composed of a corpse itself, the corrosive fungus had little effect.

"A product of Stitching... Teachers in the Occultism department who are proficient in Stitching can create these kinds of manipulated creatures," Pasha suddenly revealed the origin of the Scissor Monster.

"How do I deal with it?"

"The core. These stitched products are powered by a core, which sustains all their activities. As long as the core can be destroyed, it can be killed."

"Core... similar to a cell nucleus?"

Han Dong had initially thought that once his massive Ghoul Arm pierced the creature's body, the effects of the Graveyard Fungus would end everything.

"It seems I was too optimistic... Is it a head-on battle then?"

Han Dong struck a semblance of a fighting stance as best he could.

It was a simple form of combat he had learned in the gym during his life... He didn't know if it would be effective against such a stitched creature.