[Chapter 83. Pure Firepower]
Searanox ate alone, the Atrium's heavy silence broken only by the wet tearing of flesh. He held a chunk of raw venison in one hand, its crimson juices trailing down his fingers and staining the pale skin of his knuckles. Each bite sent a warm, tabolic rush spreading through his veins—a satisfaction that transcended re hunger. It was the deep, primal requirent of his Dhampir physiology to consu life force, and with each mouthful, he felt the faint, rhythmic thrum of power stabilizing in his core. He finished the last bite, his tongue lapping at the blood on his thumb with clinical detachnt, then leaned back against the stone counter. A long sigh escaped his lips, the sound echoing hollowly in the vast, darkened space. He still had hours before the next dungeon portal stabilized.
There was little else to do besides clearing local nodes and poking at the System's obscure mysteries. The forr yielded tangible, nurical results; the latter was a labyrinth of hidden functions and cryptic conditions. He’d already milked his known abilities for every scrap of utility they were worth, and finding new ones felt like searching for a needle in a haystack.
His gaze drifted toward the panoramic window, where the dark forest was a sprawling tapestry of shadows under the moon's pale, indifferent light. `The Land Node,` the thought surfaced, sharp and clear. `I'm stronger now. Significantly stronger than I was two days ago.`
His head gave a slight, involuntary shake. He rembered the last attempt with vivid clarity—the brutal, instantaneous loss of six drones. "Running in blind would be suicide. I won't make the sa mistake twice," he muttered. The mory of twisted tal and evaporating drones was a cold knot in his gut. Those had been unacceptable losses.
"Heavily armored," he recalled, picturing the Golems shell deflecting even his most concentrated shots. "I need raw, focused firepower. Offensive drones, certainly, but I also need layered protection. For , and for the drones."
Searanox's hand went to his chin, his thumb stroking the stubble as the brief, violent encounter replayed in his mind's eye like a corrupted video file. "Two defensive drones for every offensive one. That's six drones just to establish a basic shield wall." His hands moved through the air in a silent, intricate dance, mapping out proposed drone formations against an invisible foe.
"Two more offensive drones, then. High-impact rounds. No need for a high rate of fire if there is only one target. I need penetration, not volu."
His thoughts flowed with a newfound clarity and speed, his elevated Intelligence stats sharpening his cognitive processes to a razor's edge. A re week ago, this level of tactical simulation would have taken him hours of ntal strain. Now, it was a matter of minutes.
Decision made. He pushed off the counter, the motion fluid and certain. A flicker of blue light, and he was gone from the tower, materializing in the cool, damp night air. The travel drone descended swiftly until his boots sank into the soft earth beside the familiar creek.
He checked his Magitech Rifle, its familiar weight a cold, heavy comfort in his hands. Taking a final, steadying breath, he reached out and pressed his palm flat against the pulsating core of the Land Node.
The world warped. Vision distorted, twisting like a reflection in shattered glass. A nauseating sensation of being pulled in a dozen directions at once gripped him, his very essence threatening to unravel as the spatial coordinates shifted. Then, as abruptly as it began, it stopped. The forest was gone. A cavern stretched before him, vast and empty, carved from polished black stone that looked like obsidian. Gold veins pulsed deep within the walls, their rhythmic glow casting long, dancing shadows across the mirrored floor. Searanox stood at the threshold, his rifle at the ready, the chamber's oppressive silence broken only by the low, electrical hum of the Node's core at its center
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[System Announcent]
─ Intruder detected: Summoning Node Guardian
He didn't waste a second. Six defensive drones materialized first, their silver hulls catching the golden light of the chamber. Four offensive drones followed, their weapon ports glowing with dormant, violet energy. They split into three distinct formations. Two defensive drones moved directly in front of Searanox, their shields overlapping to create a reinforced, double-layered barrier. The remaining drones flanked him—two defensive drones with two offensive drones positioned behind them on each side.
"Overcharge," Searanox commanded, his voice flat as he poured TP into his rifle and the four offensive drones.
Violet energy coalesced at the weapon ports, the light intensifying and growing violent as the Magitech Golem lumbered toward him from the shadows. Each step cracked the polished black stone floor. Its arm cannons pulsed with a sickening, crimson light, gathering energy for a discharge.
The golem didn't bother to dodge. It absorbed the first volley, the beams slamming into its armored chest with a deafening roar that vibrated through Searanox’s very bones. The air crackled as the beams buckled the golem's plating, the heavy tal groaning under the thermal strain.
"Overcharge again," Searanox ordered, another hundred TP vanishing from his reserves.
Before his drones could fully recycle, the golem fired. A massive crimson beam struck the barrier directly ahead. The shield flickered and groaned, but held. The drone behind imdiately slid into the primary position as the first drone retreated, circling back to recharge its barrier. `Rotate them,` Searanox thought. `Keep them in the cycle, maintain 100% coverage.`
Another crimson beam lanced out, striking the formation on his right. The first barrier shattered instantly into glowing shards. The second held, but cracks spiderwebbed across its surface.
His overcharged drones fired seconds later, their beams punching into the golem's chest again. The armor cracked wider, revealing a core of brilliant golden light beneath the tal. He dismissed the damaged defensive drone, summoning a fresh one to fill the gap. He overcharged the three defensive drones in front of him, cursing the ability's cooldown. `Thirty seconds… an eternity in a firefight.`
Regular beams sputtered from his rifle while he waited for the big hits to reset. The golem advanced relentlessly, beam after beam striking his rotating shields with force his own regular shots couldn't match. Barriers broke and reford in a frantic dance of light, the sound of tal stress echoing through the chamber like screams. The golem closed the distance, its massive form looming as it trampled the fractured ground.
Another overcharged volley struck the golem's chest. The core now shone through the widening cracks like a trapped star. The golem's movents grew erratic, its heavy steps becoming unsteady. Searanox overcharged the three defensive drones again.
The last barrier broke just as his final overcharged volley hit the golem's exposed core. At that exact mont, the golem fired a desperate, final beam. It struck Searanox squarely in the chest, lifting him from his feet and throwing him backward across the polished floor.
The world went black, replaced by a high-pitched, agonizing ringing. Vision returned slowly, blurry and tinted red. The golem lay motionless on the ground, a heap of smoking, dead tal. A system window flickered in his view, the text too indistinct to read through the haze. Dull sounds reached his ears, muffled as if he were underwater. After several seconds, his vision cleared enough to read the notification.
[System Announcent]
─ Congratulations! Node Guardian has been defeated.
─ Approve use of Lodestone to claim the Node.
─ [ 800 Exp]
Searanox pushed himself up from the polished floor, his arms trembling violently. White-hot pain seared through his arms and ribs, and he collapsed back down with a choked gasp of agony. "Broken. Definitely broken," he wheezed.
He dismissed his remaining combat drones with a thought, then summoned four healing drones. Their soft, erald-green light bathed him, the warmth spreading through his body as the jagged pain began to fade into a manageable throb. His eyes flickered to his Tech-point counter—it was in the low double digits.
"Almost nine hundred TP in under five minutes..." he whispered to the empty room. "How would that normally be possible? You'd need a dozen Awakened working together for an hour to pull that off."
He rolled onto his back, the cool, obsidian stone pressing against his healing wounds as the golden veins in the walls pulsed in a slow, victorious rhythm.
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