The Last Incubus with The Vice and Valor System

The centipede spewed more poison, but Leon accelerated, dodging the toxic liquid as if it were nothing. With insane speed and momentum, he slashed at the centipede's beady eyes, blinding it completely.

Shhshshshshshshsh-!

The centipede let out a weird shriek, rubbing its two frontal legs together in a painful reaction. The sound was grating, like nails on a chalkboard, echoing through the forest.

Leon didn't let up. He took advantage of the creature's disorientation, striking at its joints with precise, calculated slashes. The centipede's exoskeleton was tough, and with its vibration as it made that weird sound of pain, Leon found it hard to strike the tiny weaknesses in its defense.

Blinded and enraged, the centipede thrashed its body around wildly, trying to keep its enemy at bay. Leon sighed; he had the chance to leave, but at this point, it didn't feel right to leave things as they were.

Taking a deep breath, his heart calm, Leon quietly stood out of the centipede's reach, letting it thrash around in vain. Within a minute, the centipede, no longer sensing Leon's movement, slowly decreased the vigor of its thrashing. Its movements became less and less wild.

Leon bided his time. While this method seemed to take longer, per Leon's calculations, it was actually the fastest way to kill the centipede.

The centipede remained still for a few seconds, waiting and testing whether Leon was still in the area. But how could the intelligence of an evolving wild beast compare to that of a human? Leon simply smiled and stood still. While the centipede appeared relaxed, its muscles were all tensed.

At the sound of the slightest movement, it would immediately start thrashing around again, and the power it carried was not to be underestimated.

Leon knew this well, and that's why he was careful. The centipede had poison, and the slightest mistake could get him poisoned. Without an antidote, he would die. Taking all this into consideration, Leon silently waited and bided his time.

His assassin mind had already formulated a clear plan. Once the time was right, he would kick his plan into action.

The ray of the moon glowing brightly in the sky shone on the centipede, making its extraordinarily hard, dark brown chitin exoskeleton gleam beautifully under the light. The centipede, still and slowly getting into position, had its tail still buried in the ground. Its previous thrashing had been like that of a large string tied to a nail, alive and thrashing in a disorderly manner.

Blinded, it had deemed this night's hunt a failure. It needed to heal its eyes before it could think of hunting again. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, it concluded that the threat was gone. Slowly, with great difficulty, it got back to its many feet.

Tail first, it began to burrow itself backward into the hole. Leon, who had been still this entire time, smirked but remained unmoving. His chance was close.

The centipede continued moving backward, making weird noises as it burrowed deeper. Soon, only its last five segments remained visible.

Leon smirked. "It's time."

He moved, employing the assassin techniques of Earth to reduce the sound and pressure of his footsteps, making them as light as possible. He moved quickly and silently, but the centipede, being a magic beast that specialized in burrowing and lived underground for most of its life, detected his approach.

Sensing the movement from the minuscule tremor sent through the ground, it immediately detected Leon's presence. It let out a loud noise of surprise with its two frontal legs, spatting poison mucus in front of it, unable to see or directly pinpoint Leon's location but still alarmed.

Making that weird sound, it hurried deeper into the ground, aiming to get inside the hole as soon as possible. Leon, with a smirk plastered on his face, casually dodged the incoming acid mucus.

The centipede reacted quickly, but Leon was faster. He had anticipated this reaction and didn't hesitate. Plunging his katana directly through the small gap between its segments, he drove the blade deep into the centipede's brain.

Using the katana as an anchor, Leon drew himself to the back of the centipede, quickly raising the katana and plunging it deeper, causing more damage to the creature's brain.

The centipede let out a shrill noise with its frontal legs, spurting poison mucus wildly and without aim as it began thrashing around once again. Blood seeped out of the severe wound, and it could feel its life force slowly draining from its body.

Leon maintained his grip, avoiding the wild spurts of poison.

"You're done," he muttered, pushing the blade deeper.

With one final, violent convulsion, the centipede's thrashing ceased. Its body went limp, and the forest fell silent once more. Leon withdrew his katana, wiping the blade clean on the grass. He took a deep breath, feeling a mix of exhaustion and satisfaction.

The creature was dead.

[Valor points +7]

Leon sighed as he received the message. Glancing at the dead corpse of the beast, he reflected, 'This is what I should have done right from the start: piercing through its defense to attack its brain directly instead of attacking randomly in the middle of its thorax, wasting so much time.'

He sheathed the katana and stored it back in its scabbard, his eyes landing on the dead beast's corpse once again.

[Don't gloat over killing a mere fry, you brat!] A cold, manly voice, filled with irritation, resounded in his mind.

Leon instantly recognized the voice. It was the same voice that had told him, [You're weak!] back inside the dungeon. It was the split form of his system.

'So, he has finally decided to speak,' Leon thought.

With a face filled with disgruntlement, he replied to the voice,  'But I was not gloating.'

Indeed, he wasn't. After witnessing true strength mere minutes ago, he would be sick in the head if he had a sense of pride and gloated over his victory in a small battle like this.