Chapter 82: Balrog Evolution
Chen Feng collapsed to the ground, and just as the Thunder Scorpion lunged, its massive pincers ready to crush his skull, something shifted.
Chen Feng's pupils glowed an unnatural green, four swirling dots of color spiraling within them.
For a fleeting moment, time itself seemed to halt.
The Thunder Scorpion froze, a beast locked in its own cruel instincts. But the pause was brief. In its mind, the laws of this land were unshakable—it had grown stronger through death, through blood, through slaughter. It was the ruler of this realm. Anything that dared cross into its territory was prey. Nothing could alter that truth.
The human before it was no different.
Death was inevitable.
As the Thunder Scorpion loomed over Chen Feng, its maw gaped wide. Four hideous fangs gleamed in the darkness, reeking with the stench of decay. Its venomous hunger swelled, and with a vicious roar, it lunged forward, ready to tear him apart in a single bite. At this range, no one could escape.
Squelch
But as its fangs neared, a sudden prickling sensation rippled across its back. A moment later, something small and fleshy fell to the ground.
A larva.
Barely the size of a fist, its grotesque form mirrored that of the Thunder Scorpion, a twisted reflection. These larvae, once brimming with the potential to become deadly predators, had been consumed earlier by the mother.
Food.
There was no recognition, no mercy in the scorpion's eyes. Driven solely by instinct, it saw the larva as nothing more than sustenance for its continued ascent. With a casual snap of its jaws, it crushed the small creature, its blood splattering against its fangs.
Squelch
Another larva tumbled down its back.
Two more.
The Thunder Scorpion hesitated, a flicker of confusion creeping through its predatory mind. It had devoured almost all its offspring. A stray larva was possible—but this?
It lowered its head and devoured the two larvae without thought.
Squelch
Suddenly, a dozen larvae dropped from its back.
Panic seized the Thunder Scorpion.
This was wrong. It had eaten all of them—hadn't it? One or two stragglers made sense, but an entire swarm? Its mind, dulled by the hunger of its earlier feast, faltered.
Then came the pain.
A sharp, searing agony shot through its spine. The Thunder Scorpion's back split open, and from the wound, larvae began to pour out. Ten, twenty, fifty—soon over a hundred larvae spilled forth, clawing at its flesh, their tiny jaws tearing into their mother's body with relentless fury.
Agony.
Hisssssss…
A guttural, panicked roar escaped the Thunder Scorpion. It thrashed violently, arcs of electricity sparking across its body, desperate to shake off the writhing creatures gnawing at its flesh.
But no sooner did it shake free than a fresh wave of numbness crawled across its back. The wound split open again—this time, hundreds of larvae spilled out, crawling, biting, consuming.
These creatures were relentless, unkillable—each time they fell, more emerged to take their place, like a nightmare that could not be escaped.
The Thunder Scorpion went berserk. Its attention on Chen Feng vanished, consumed by its own survival. Again and again, lightning crackled across its exoskeleton, its flesh searing with each jolt, but the larvae refused to die. They clung to its body like maggots to rotting flesh, sinking deeper with each attack.
Minutes blurred into hours. The floor was littered with hundreds, thousands of larval corpses, yet still they came. The Thunder Scorpion's body, once imposing and fearsome, was reduced to a mangled ruin. Its flesh had been torn away, its spine hollowed out, and one of its eyes devoured by the insatiable swarm.
Despair.
The Thunder Scorpion was broken, reduced to a mindless husk. Its thoughts, once filled with bloodlust and power, were now drowned in unrelenting torment. Its strength faded, and its body slumped to the ground—a dying beast awaiting the inevitable end.
With its remaining eye, the Thunder Scorpion watched helplessly as the larvae continued their feast, writhing, squirming, consuming.
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Illusion.
To Chen Feng's eyes, not a single larva crawled on the Thunder Scorpion. The mighty creature was merely spinning in place, thrashing and writhing like a cornered beast, driven to madness. Lightning crackled from its body in frantic arcs, scorching the ground, splintering the floor, and exposing the cracked concrete beneath.
Phantasmal Eye.
By sacrificing the Infernal Butterfly and fusing its flesh into his eye sockets, Chen Feng had gained the ability to manifest illusions so potent, they could completely deceive the senses.
Moments earlier, Chen Feng had ensnared the Thunder Scorpion's mind, trapping it within a world of his own creation—a world where time, space, and suffering bent to his will. In that constructed hell, days could stretch into eternity, while only a breath passed in the real world.
Those trapped in this nightmare would endure unspeakable torment, their minds broken beyond repair. No matter how resilient the body, how quick the reflexes—before the power of the Phantasmal Eye, nothing mattered. The victim's soul would crumble, leaving behind nothing more than a hollow shell.
But…
This dark art came with a cost.
Chen Feng's left eye throbbed with pain, veins of blood creeping across the green pupil. The toll of conjuring an entire world of illusions weighed heavily on his mind, straining his body to its limits.
No time to waste.
This was the moment.
Chen Feng advanced, his grip tightening around his flaming sword. With a burst of searing power, he brought the blade down, the flames hissing as they met the Thunder Scorpion's armored shell.
Psssh!
The blade, impossibly sharp, cut through the creature's thick exoskeleton as if it were paper, burning deep into its flesh. The pain ripped through the Thunder Scorpion, wrenching it from the illusion. Its consciousness snapped back into reality.
But it was too late.
The creature, once a feared predator, was now ravaged, its mind in tatters. It could do nothing to defend itself.
"Die!"
Chen Feng's voice echoed through the room as he leaped forward, delivering three devastating strikes in quick succession. The ground beneath them split apart, deep scars tearing across the earth as if the sky itself had fallen, leaving behind devastation and ruin.
Psssh!
Psssh!
Wounds blossomed across the Thunder Scorpion's body, its once-imposing figure now pitifully weakened. This once-unstoppable monster, the terror of its domain, lay crippled—a mere shadow of its former self, ready for the slaughter.
Chen Feng took another step, his eyes cold and merciless, radiating an aura that could level entire worlds. His gaze burned with a violent, inhuman light, as if his mere presence could extinguish all life around him.
Hisssss…
The Thunder Scorpion let out a final, agonized roar. It felt its life draining away, slipping through its claws like sand. How could it meet death now, after all it had endured, after all the blood it had spilled?
Electricity flared once more across its broken body, flickering desperately in a final attempt to fight back, to survive.
"Futile. Use the last of your strength and become my sacrifice!"
Chen Feng's voice was a roar of command, and the flames on his sword surged higher, casting the room in an infernal glow. With a brutal, explosive swing, he brought the blade down upon the Thunder Scorpion. The force of his strike seemed to rip the very air apart, a wave of pure annihilation descending upon the creature.
Crack!
It happened in an instant. The Thunder Scorpion's roar died in its throat, frozen mid-attack. A fine crack appeared at the top of its head, a thin, jagged line from which a burst of red mist erupted. Its blood vaporized in the air, vanishing into nothingness.
Thud!
The scorpion's body collapsed to the ground, lifeless. At that moment, flames erupted from Chen Feng's body, brighter and fiercer than before. The mark of the Balrog burned on his chest, glowing like molten iron. His eyes reflected the inferno, dancing with the flames of destruction.
Ascension.
The blood of the fallen beast surged through him, and Chen Feng's Flame Balrog Form underwent a profound transformation, feeding off the essence of the slain Thunder Scorpion.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AbyssSummoner
AbyssSummoner Scorpion dead :P
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