The stalker’s eyes were trained on Lukey as he ran towards the missing leg. No matter where Lukey moved, the red light was constantly pinned on his position. It looked like it would be impossible to go back into hiding, so instead Lukey opted to do more damage.

  One of the stalker’s claws was already too damaged to continue moving, and Lukey was already beyond the reach of the other claw. The stalkers' arms were flexible, but they were incapable of reaching directly behind themselves.

  Lukey was currently headed towards the rope that was almost pulled from the stalker's leg earlier. It was located on the right side of the stalker, behind its remaining claw. Because of this, he was able to climb up almost unimpeded as he made his way towards another leg joint.

  The stalker didn’t make it easy, however. As its red glowing gaze tracked Lukey’s ascension, the stalker started throwing its leg up and down to buck him off. He had to cling to the rope to prevent himself from sliding down as the rope swung violently back and forth.

  Lukey was confident at first, but now he was starting to fear for himself. The stalker's gaze alone was terrifying as it focused on him with a hateful intensity. Combined with the calm way the stalker bobbed its leg up and down, it seemed that the titan thought Lukey was nothing more than an annoying bug.

  Still, the fisherman was determined to slaughter the stalker, if not for himself, then for the sake of the island's safety.

  Lukey inched his way up the rope as he practically crawled his way toward the joint, hugging the rope in a tight embrace. Progress was slow, but he eventually reached the joint and began carving it up. The stalker's movements were only a minor inconvenience as Lukey steadily carved his way through the soft, muscular flesh.

  Once the knife went through the last of the leg, Lukey dropped to the ground along with the limb. This infuriated the stalker, who started pounding its collective legs in rage. Lukey decided to get out of the way and fell back behind the stalker once more to watch its movements.

  The stalker was done playing around; it started lifting each of its legs and propping them along the walls of the cave, all while keeping its gaze locked on Lukey. One by one, each leg was lifted off the ground and shoved into an indent in the wall. Only the four front legs of the stalker were propped against the wall when it decided to make its move.

  In one swift push, the stalker lifted its body even higher up the cave. Four front legs kept it in the air, while the stalker kept the two back legs poised in front of Lukey. Meanwhile, the stalker's body was still tilted forward, using its eyestalks to peer below and behind its massive body.

  As its red gaze glared at him, the stalker began its attack. Lukey had been watching the back legs for a while now, and he quickly dodged out of the way as the right leg tried to impale him where he stood. The right leg pierced the ground with a resounding boom, making the sand below spray in all directions.

  Lukey stared at the onyx pillar that just obliterated the area he was in a moment before. It looked like the stalker had many more tricks up its proverbial sleeve besides its lightning-fast claws. It was flexible, large, and intelligent—leagues above anything he had faced up to this point. He didn’t have time to continue thinking about that though, as the next attack was coming up.

  The left-back leg followed the assault, piercing the ground a second after Lukey dodged for the second time. The stalker had created a perfect attack; if Lukey stayed behind it, the stalker would use its back legs, and if Lukey moved forward, the stalker could use its remaining claw to catch him.

  Stay and get impaled, or move up and get caught. What to do…

  The rope and his stone tie landed to his right in a large bundle. Lukey doubted he would be able to get it together before he was impaled by the back legs, so he had to think of something different. To his left, the entrance of the room was there along with his spear. His spear wasn’t very good at hacking away at muscle fibers, so he abandoned it in favor of mobility.

  Maybe the spear can be used, but where? The stalker keeps its body raised to keep itself out of danger. I can’t reach anything from where I am without a rope, and I doubt the stalker would let me put something together fast enough.

  The stalker pointed the bottom of its body toward Lukey, but it was raised so far up that he had no chance of reaching it. Lukey could think only one way, but it wouldn’t be pleasant. It would involve equal parts trickery, agility, and luck, but it would get him out of this situation.

  With a plan in mind, Lukey ran to the left to grab his spear. One leg plowed into the sand before him, and Lukey quickly veered left. However, he had to stop himself after only a few steps, just short of another leg attempting to impale him.

  The stalker’s legs followed him as they aimed for him with frightening accuracy. The stalker tracked his movements with its gaze, anticipating where he would go next and sending its legs down in his path. Eventually, Lukey was forced to adopt a zigzag maneuver to dodge the legs, shifting left and right in rapid movements to wind himself around the onslaught.

  As he closed in on his spear, Lukey quickly adopted his stance and leapt for it, snatching it off the ground and entering a roll. Whether it was because of agility or luck, he made it, and now it was time to put his plan into motion.

  Lukey began a mad dash as he ran towards the stalker’s front side. The stalker seemed to recognize something as he approached it; it stopped using the back legs and started reeling back its remaining arm. Lukey watched as the claw opened slightly and prepared himself for the incoming attack.

  Lukey reached his empty arm forwards, with his claw gauntlet stretched out in front of him. He held his spear in his other hand, stretched out behind him. If this worked, he was a genius; if not, at least he would die a legendary death.

  The stalker launched its claw directly at Lukey. He didn’t bother dodging, since this was exactly what he wanted. He felt a pang of fear go through him, but it was too late for regrets as the claw slammed into him while grabbing his armored arm.

  All at once the claw slammed into Lukey, the height of it alone being the size of his entire body. His face, his chest, and even his left leg got hurt from the impact, but not crippled. This was because of the crab shell armor he was wearing that cushioned the impact. The only part that didn’t get hurt was the arm he held in front of him, because it slid in the gap between the stalker’s claws.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Lukey didn’t even get a chance to recover from the impact before the claw clamped down on his arm. It squeezed his gauntlet to painful levels, firmly securing him before dragging him towards the stalker’s face.

  I’ll have to just bear with it. Once it has me in front of its body, I’ll make my move…

  Lukey could only patiently tolerate the pain as he was dragged by one arm towards the stalker's maw. After a few excruciating seconds, he finally finished moving horizontally and now was being lifted to face the stalker directly. Not once did the stalker take its eyes off him, either out of fear that the fisherman would escape or enjoyment in watching its prey struggle.

  At long last, Lukey was face-to-face with the stalker. He got a good look at the stalker’s body, but its face was always obscured by the red glare. Now he could finally get a good look at it, despite the red lights shining to the sides of his face. He took in the stalker's features as he dangled by one arm from its claws.

  To Lukey’s left and right, the stalkers’ eyes scanned his body as they bent sideways to get a good look at him. Just in front of Lukey was a slit maw with jagged mandibles that worked to crush its prey. Around the mouth were jet-black plates that moved with the opening and closing of the maw and protected the sides of its face. Overall, it wasn’t much different than the other aquaclaws, save for being a hundred times larger and ready to devour him.

  Just a little closer…

  Lukey was still too far from it; he had to get a little closer if he wanted to do anything. He kept his spear behind his back as the stalker drew him closer to its maw. With its other claw limping, the stalker was unable to rip Lukey apart, which he counted on. The creature was forced to use its maw to crush Lukey, so it started pulling him closer to its mandibles as Lukey waited for his chance.

  Slowly but surely, Lukey was pulled towards the crushing jaws. He could see saliva begin to drip down as the maw opened and closed in reflex. Lukey was so close, in fact, he could make out the insides of the stalker's mouth, which was something he hoped would happen.

  “HIT THE MACK!”

  Lukey was only one foot away from the maw when he pulled out his spear from behind his back and used [Fisherman’s Stance]. He quickly pulled his arm back with the spear in hand and thrust it into the stalker’s maw. He did this while aiming the spear upwards, towards the roof of the stalker’s mouth. Lukey’s aim was true as the spear went between the mandibles, through the mouth, and finally pierced flesh.

  Direct hit!

  The stalker's reaction was immediate as it jerked its head back in excruciating pain. It let out a horrified screech while pulling away its maw along with Lukey’s spear. Meanwhile, the stalker’s claw moved in the opposite direction, yanking Lukey away as all its limbs began flailing about. On top of it all, the stalker’s eyes started spinning in every direction, finally losing track of Lukey.

  That stab must’ve done some damage to its brain, which means it won’t be able to control its body so well anymore.

  Lukey was pleasantly surprised with the results of his plan. The only way to get to the maw was to lift himself up, and what better way to do that than with the stalker's only remaining claw? It was a gamble whether the claw would crush Lukey, but he managed to move in just the right way to only get his gauntlet caught.

  This all led to his golden opportunity, and now was the time to act.

  The stalker’s claw still held a vise on his arm, but that wasn’t much of an issue. Lukey reached up with his empty hand and started loosening the gauntlet from his arm. The claw gauntlet was padded with crab meat, which fortunately was still moist, as it allowed Lukey to slide his arm free from the makeshift equipment.

  Lukey’s arm slid free, allowing him to drop to the ground and start attacking the stalker in earnest. He quickly made his way to his rope and trap while the stalker was writhing in pain, grabbing it off the ground and coiling it together to prepare for another attack. He knew exactly where he was going to aim as well, twirling the stone-tie and launching it towards the joint of the stalker’s still mobile claw.

  The claw was still outstretched from the stalker’s panic, so it was an easy throw. The stone-tie hit its mark and circled the joint, creating a tight wrapping with the rope dangling down to the ground. The second the rope hit the ground, Lukey started scrambling up; he didn’t know when the stalker would regain its senses, so he climbed as fast as he could.

  Once Lukey reached the joint, he once again began the process of carving through muscle. He was so used to it at this point that he could tell when the muscles would tear and the limb was about to fall off. He used this to his advantage; instead of dropping back down to the ground, Lukey climbed on top of the stalker’s body just as gravity severed the remainder of the joint muscles.

  The stalker's legs began twitching again; Lukey had to move fast. He ran across the stalker's body until he reached another one of the left legs that held the body off the ground. He jumped down and straddled the limb with both legs, then began cutting away at the muscle again. The leg bobbed up and down, but the stalker still wasn’t completely in control as Lukey finished carving through the third leg.

  Lukey jumped up on the stalker’s back again but quickly noticed that the entire thing seemed unstable. If he got rid of one more leg, it looked like the stalker would drop to the ground. The stalker was also slowly regaining control over its body, and Lukey could easily be crushed if he stayed up here. Taking all this into account, he quickly changed his strategy.

  Instead of going to sever another leg, Lukey ran straight to the stalker’s head. He leaped down from the front of the shell, grabbing his spear from the stalker’s maw on the way down. He would need it to deliver the finishing blow, and it was best to grab it now while it was still within reach. As he yanked the spear out, the stalker let out another wail of pain and spasmed.

  First, I need to drop the stalker. It needs at least three legs to keep itself stable, and two of its legs are still dangling behind it, poised to attack. Wait a second… maybe I don’t need to cut the legs; maybe I just need to damage them!

  The stalker was left barely being able to stand, and now was the time to bring it to the ground.

  Lukey ran over to the rope that fell to the ground near the stalker's claw. He grabbed it and then ran away from the dangling stalker leg. It was already twitching, and Lukey needed to concentrate on what he was about to do.

  The fisherman focused as he untied the rope from the stone tie, then retied the rope to his spear, near the base of the metal extension. He needed a way to retrieve the spear after it was launched, and this was the best way he could think of. With that done, he made his way out from underneath the stalker’s body.

  Lukey took aim at one of the right legs that propped up the stalker. He reeled his arm back with [Fisherman’s Stance] and sent the spear flying forward with all the strength he could muster. The spear found its mark in the joint of the leg, sinking up to where the rope was tied. Once Lukey was sure the spear was inside, he pulled the rope hard!

  Muscle and flesh were torn out as the spear was ripped from the soft tissue. Lukey watched the leg spasm for a bit before the entirety of the stalker’s body came crashing down. He was forced to hug the walls as he watched the massive body crash into the sand. The remaining two front legs were still lodged in the walls but were completely unable to hold up the body's weight. The stalker’s body was flat on the ground with its legs raised against the cavern walls, unable to pull them back.

  Let’s end this!

  Lukey made his way around the stalker’s body, stabbing each of the remaining limb joints and damaging them so the stalker could no longer prop itself up. At each limb joint, he thrust his spear into the muscle and ripped it out; some he even did multiple times. After that was done, Lukey went through each segment again and started severing the limbs with his knife. By the time he was done, the stalker was limbless.

  The stalker had no method of attack and no way to defend itself from Lukey’s assault.

  Lukey almost felt bad for it… almost…

  Let the stabbing begin.