His buckler was gone. The partner he had carried since his earliest days in the Pavilion, reforged and renewed by Draven, was now nothing more than a melted mess lying beneath the scorpion. Within the remains of what it was, Oscar saw his younger self happily purchasing it from the Foundry and the fierce battles fought against the Rainbow Didus and the Thousand Serpent, Nicholas' death, and Celestina's last stand.

"I'm sorry," Oscar murmured as though the buckler could hear him, offering only an apology for its sorrowful end after the long time it had fought alongside him. His hands balled into fists. There was no chance to remake the buckler because it was slowly eroding into nothing; soon, there would be no remains, no fragments to remake it from.

Oscar's feet exploded with Adamasreis, carrying him away from another incoming stinger. This time, the red ground bubbled into a black pool like a tar pit around the stinger. Oscar glanced all over the scorpion, which was coated in black goo. "What's the way to crack through its poison?"

The poison was an emergency defense mechanism of the Petra Scorpion when it was in dire straits. The thick black goo would spread over its body like grease to defend it by corroding any incoming attacks. The red ground continued to bubble and hiss as droplets of the black goo dripped down the scorpion.

"Maybe a ranged spell would have been better." Oscar's eyes perked up as a glint shone from the scorpion's pincer. His body reacted and rolled over to the side as fast as possible before a stone dart breezed past him, stabbing deep into the ground. The stone dart was also coated in black goo and melted the ground below.

Oscar clicked his tongue and glanced around. "I'm losing ground."

The ground over him was becoming a purplish, black swamp of melted earth and poison. If this continued, his footing would be lost, and he'll continue to be forced back.

Suddenly, a small creature tried to make its way past but slipped into the melted ground. It thrashed its body as though a snake had coiled around it and tried to escape, but the melted ground was like quicksand, refusing to let the creature go. Its skin tore off at several places as the blood and flesh underneath bubbled into foams and melted like cheese.

Oscar gulped at the scene. The small creature could not cry as its throat was melting. The sequence only occurred for a second, but the creature was now almost mixed in with the black goo.

How dangerous! Goosebumps ran down his skin. Oscar knew his Ein could help deter the corrosion, but he felt it would be impossible to save him fast enough.

The Petra Scorpion's poison-coated pincers and stingers slashed and stabbed toward Oscar. Black goo spilled out as they came forth.

Oscar dodged an incoming pincer, keeping in mind that he had to avoid any droplets of the black goo. Thus, his movements were exaggerated and forceful, unlike his usual graceful and minimal movements.

The pincer grabbed onto nothing.

Oscar closed in as the second pincer tried to grab him. This pincer was the one with its shell destroyed but now substituted with the black goo.

"If I jump, I'll be exposed to the stinger's counter. The black goo might spill on me if I try to go under it." Oscar thought of his options and clenched his teeth. He took off his jacket and slid on the ground, using the jacket as cover. The black goo dripped from the pincer onto Oscar.

Oscar saw a deep black color swelling on his jacket, and he tossed it aside before the corrosion could seep through to him. With the two pincers behind him, Oscar was now face-to-face with the Petra Scorpion; his two obsidian eyes gazed into the twelve blinking beady eyes of the scorpion.

It won. The Petra Scorpion was sure of its victory. It brought its stinger down from above, swung its pincers back as though it was going to clinch Oscar, and opened its mouth, comprising four short mandible claws and rows of black teeth, ready to tear Oscar apart.

'Stone Gaze'

Oscar halted the Petra Scorpion for a split second, but his grade-one spell was very limited against an Elite Exalt. Unless he was far stronger, the spell had minimal effect. However, this split second was enough.

'Adamasreis Full Output'

With a final step, Oscar gathered all the Reis to form the Adamasreis on his arms and legs fully. Earlier, he had only been using a lesser version to boost his speed enough to dodge and lengthen its duration. This moment, now, was the time to go all out.

Before the scorpion's eyes, Oscar vanished as he jumped over its head. From the start, he knew his target, the weak point that he exposed from his previous attack, the cracked back. He was completely vertical in a freefall toward it.

'Steel Drill'

The drill formed around Oscar's arm and stabbed toward the scorpion's back, but the black goo was too much and began to corrode the drill at an astonishing pace. If he stayed too long, the poison would spread to him, but his eyes flashed with determination as there was no room for retreat. The drill's tip melted completely, but the damaged drill reached the shell beneath the black goo.

"Now." Oscar released his spell, allowing it to break apart. In the slightest moment, before the black goo would fill in the gap left behind by the drill, Oscar's bare fist fell toward the shell.

'Ripple Shroud'

Oscar released a burst of Reis concentrated on his fist in a shockwave that blew back the black goo. His fist continued its undisturbed path until his knuckles finally made contact with the hard rocky shell.

This was it. Everything Oscar had done was for the sake of making it this far. Veins popped out on his fist as Oscar's eyes glinted dangerously.

'Shattering Wave'

The full force of his devastating move, elevated by his Adamasreis incorporated into his legs and arms, flooded into the cracked shell. Its craggily back exploded. The shell shattered into pieces.

The black goo flew around but did not touch Oscar, who was at the center of the shockwave, like ripples receding from its source. Oscar summoned his deer anima, and it brought down its mighty metal antlers, stabbing into the scorpion's exposed back before the black goo could cover it up.

"SCRYYYYYYYYY!"

The scorpion tried to roll over to squash Oscar, but it was too late. The deer anima brought up its antlers, holding a beast's core, the scorpion's core, in its branches.

A few of the scorpion's teeth clattered as it drew its final breath. The Petra Scorpion fell lifelessly to the floor; its twelve beady eyes limped down like wilting flowers under a hot summer drought. Oscar remained on the broken flesh of the scorpion, his legs drenched in its red blood.

He wanted to move, but the black goo surrounded him, and his arms and legs could barely move.

"How troublesome," Oscar sighed as he fiddled with the core in his hand. He was powerful in the Greater Apprentice Exalt realm because his progression had peaked and was supplemented by his Prinstyct and Reis. But as an Elite Exalt, his Ein was too immature, and Prinstyct needed to adjust against eidolons.

But the main factor was that his spells were too weak now. Despite having the Ein of an Elite Exalt, his spells could only go so far, as their inherent quality was unchanged.

"If not for Reis, I would have been stuck with nothing. Though, I guess she dragged me out here because I had Reis. Though, what a difference from the ape. The Redback Ape must have also been a recently advanced beast." Oscar slowed his heart's beating and calmed down. His eyes opened, looking straight ahead, having determined his next course of action. "I need a ranged spell and upgrade my other spells."

"I also need to evolve my Adamasreis to my entire body. Why do I have an endless list of things to do?" Oscar lamented his busy life. There was so much to do with little time as Ashen Grove was fast approaching.

Although the exact timing was unknown, the time was ticking down like a sword hovering over everyone's heads, pressuring them to become stronger. Oscar, too, felt the pressure mounting as being a Lower Elite Exalt meant he would be at the bottom of the barrel if he went to Ashen Grove.

Oscar rubbed his eyes to release his stress and glanced in Celestina's direction. She had dragged the Scarlet Brachyura away from his battle, and the shockwaves and tremors from their battle reached him.

"She looks fine." Oscar spotted the silver-haired warrioress with her shining dragon.

Celestina glanced back in Oscar's direction, seeing him resting atop the dead Petra Scorpion. Her lips curled into a smile as she stabbed her rapier multiple times, scattering a blast of small rocks.

"Oscar did well. There's no need to keep watch over him." Celestina burst her Ein like a raging fire, becoming like one of the radiant suns. "It's time to finish this."