KamiKowa: That Time I Got Transmigrated With A Broken Goddess-Chapter 200: [] I’ve Seen Their Kind Before

Margaret pulled her worn cloak tighter as their group entered the narrowing mountain pass. The terrain had grown progressively treacherous since dawn, with snow-covered paths giving way to exposed rock and jagged crystal formations that jutted from the earth like the teeth of some ancient, forgotten beast.

She guided her horse carefully, eyeing the towering cliffs that hemmed them in on both sides. The mountains of Frostfall had their own presence—not merely physical obstacles, but sentient guardians suspicious of trespassers. Margaret felt their judgment pressing down on her shoulders, weighing her worth with every step.

"I don’t like this," she said, voice soft enough that only Xavier, riding beside her, could hear. "The crystal formations are growing denser. Something isn’t right."

Xavier nodded, his dark hair dusted with snowflakes. "The compass is pulling us this way. Nolan’s somewhere beyond this pass."

"If he’s still alive," Naomi added from behind them, ever the pragmatist.

Margaret studied the translucent growths sprouting from the mountain walls. Pale blue and lavender hues spiraled through their structures, pulsing with faint, hypnotic rhythm. During her two years as Margot, she’d heard stories of crystal corruption in the mountains—minerals that consumed flesh and bone, transforming living things into brittle, shimmering statues.

"Something moved," Ashley said suddenly. She rode at the rear, her golden fractures glowing against her skin. "Beneath the snow, twelve o’clock."

Everyone halted. The silence of the pass pressed against Margaret’s ears, broken only by the soft crunch of snow beneath their horses’ hooves and the whisper of wind between crystal spires.

"I don’t see—" Margaret began.

The ground erupted.

Massive crystalline pincers burst through the snow directly in front of Margaret’s horse. The animal reared, nearly throwing her, as a creature the size of a wagon emerged from beneath the earth. Its body gleamed with faceted planes of blue-white crystal, articulated segments clicking as it rose to its full height. A stinger curved above its back, dripping luminescent venom that sizzled where it struck snow.

Crystal Scorpion.

More eruptions followed—three, five, seven of the creatures tearing free from their subterranean lairs, surrounding the group in a precise ambush formation.

"Trap," Xavier said, drawing his twin daggers as he dismounted with practiced swiftness. "Everyone down and together."

Margaret slid from her saddle as her horse bolted, along with the others. Their mounts fled back the way they’d come, disappearing around a bend in the pass.

The scorpions advanced, their crystalline bodies refracting the morning light into prismatic rainbows across the snow. The largest—easily twice the size of the others—reared back, its stinger pulsing with accumulated energy.

"Energy blast incoming!" Calypso shouted, her silver hair whipping in the sudden wind.

The scorpion’s stinger released a concentrated beam of raw Essentia—blue-white energy that seared the air as it lanced toward them.

Ashley stepped forward, her palm extended. The energy beam struck an invisible wall and vanished. The scorpions hesitated. "It won’t work," Ashley said, her voice unnervingly calm as golden light pulsed beneath her skin. "Their energy attacks can’t touch us. But their claws will."

Naomi drew her daggers, crouching low. "Physical fight it is."

Xavier’s pink meter materialized beside him, glowing softly in the snow-reflected light. "Seven targets. Three minutes of daylight per segment. Let’s make it count."

Margaret grabbed her staff from her pack, extending it to full length with a snap. She wasn’t a fighter like the others, but she’d spent two years learning herbal medicine in this world. Knowledge could be a weapon too.

The scorpions skittered forward, no longer hesitant after their failed energy attack. Their crystal carapaces scraped against stone as they closed in, pincers extended and stingers poised.

Naomi lunged at the nearest monstrosity, daggers gleaming in the dim light. They struck the beast’s carapace with a jarring clang that reverberated up her arms—and glanced off without leaving so much as a scratch on the crystalline surface.

"These fucking shells might as well be diamond!" she spat, twisting her body to avoid a pincer that whistled past her face. "Nothing’s getting through!"

Xavier attacked from the opposite flank, his own blades pulsing with stored pink energy as he struck. The weapons barely left whisper-thin lines across the scorpion’s glittering hide before sliding uselessly away.

"Everyone back!" he shouted, throwing himself into a desperate roll as a stinger punched into the earth where he’d been standing, sending fragments of frozen ground spraying into the air.

The group fell back into a tight defensive formation, their backs nearly touching as the crystal monstrosities closed in around them, clicking and scraping. Margaret’s eyes darted frantically between the creatures, her mind racing as she searched for any vulnerability in their armor or any pattern to their movements. Each scorpion shifted with an unsettling synchronization, as though guided by a single controlling intelligence rather than individual minds.

"We need a plan," she said, "or we’re going to die here."

Calypso stepped forward, her eyes narrowing as she studied the approaching scorpions. Her gaze sharpened, taking on a pink glow that seemed to peel away the crystal exteriors layer by layer.

"Xavier," she said, voice commanding, "their joints are weakest at the third segment. That’s where the crystal growth is thinnest."

Xavier glanced at her, surprise flickering across his features.

"Margaret," Calypso continued, "the venom is neurotoxic but slow-acting. If anyone’s stung, we have about four minutes before paralysis sets in."

Margaret blinked. "How do you—"

"Naomi," Calypso interrupted, "their undersides are soft. The crystal hasn’t fully formed there. If you can flip one, your daggers will penetrate."

Naomi’s eyebrows rose, but she nodded sharply. "Got it."

Calypso wasn’t finished. "Ashley, maintain your dead zone, but focus it behind us. They’re trying to circle around while we’re distracted."

Ashley nodded, golden fractures pulsing as she adjusted her stance.

"And most importantly," Calypso added, her divine presence filling the space between them, "they’re connected. Hurt one severely, and the others will feel it. Kill the largest, and the rest will scatter."

Xavier stared at her. "How can you possibly know all this?"

A ghost of a smile touched Calypso’s lips. "I’m a goddess, remember? These creatures existed long before humans came to Frostfall. I’ve seen their kind before."