[Chapter 96. Close Call]
The Depths Devourer abandoned all other targets, forcing its massive, multi-segnted bulk toward the narrow chamber entrance where Searanox stood alongside the Golden Order. Its half-burned, shattered head dragged heavily across its own coiling body, crushing chitinous segnts beneath its own imnse weight as it crawled forward with a predatory, singular focus. The creature was a mountain of dying, vengeful at, and its only remaining goal was to take its slayer with it into the void.
Blinding golden light suddenly flooded Searanox's vision as Astera's barrier materialized directly before him. A thunderous crash echoed through the cavern—a sound like two tectonic plates grinding together—as the centipede slamd its armored cranium into the shimring, hexagonal mbrane. The barrier held, vibrating violently under the imnse kinetic force, but it refused to crack. The acrid, suffocating stench of scorched chitin and burnt flesh filled Searanox's nostrils as the Depths Devourer pressed its full mass against the shield of pure, radiant light.
Its hate-filled, multi-faceted eyes locked onto Searanox through the translucent film. Its serrated mandibles scraped against the only thing separating it from the one who had twice delivered devastating wounds in quick succession.
Searanox counted the seconds in his head, tactical scenarios playing out in rapid-fire succession. He checked his Tech Point reserves; they were bottod out. Ti was running out. A third shot was physically impossible, and he knew that this specific barrier wouldn't hold for more than another thirty seconds. The golden mbrane was already beginning to fracture, spiderwebs of light splintering under the relentless assault of the centipede’s thrashing. It threw its entire gargantuan weight against the shield, each impact sending bone-jarring vibrations through the stone floor beneath Searanox's feet. Under the constant, rhythmic battering, the structure of the magic finally reached its limit.
Instead of simply splintering or vanishing into mist, the barrier burst outward in a controlled detonation of holy energy. The force of the expulsion repelled the Depths Devourer for a split second, its massive head thrown backward by the concentrated shockwave of golden light. The creature was visibly dazed, its antennae twitching sporadically, but the reprieve was only montary. Searanox glanced to his side; Astera was now kneeling heavily on the ground, her pearlescent skin unnaturally pale and luminous sweat beading on her forehead. She was visibly exhausted, her mana reserves clearly taxed after holding that high-tier barrier active against such a colossal physical force.
The centipede shook its massive head, its primal anger quickly overriding the daze. Its mandibles spread wide in a silent shriek before it gathered its strength to charge again. At that exact mont, a deep, guttural roar echoed from behind the beast. Garu was airborne, leaping over the creature's coiled midsection and landing with a sound of cracking stone as the ground beneath his massive weight gave way. His four towering shields—now heavily pitted, scarred, and coated with a thick layer of green corrosion—dug into the stone floor just as the Depths Devourer crashed into him.
Stone shattered and sprayed like shrapnel beneath Garu's heavy boots. His four shields held for a heartbeat against the creature's relentless advance, the tal groaning under the strain. Then, inch by painful, agonizing inch, the Grak'thul began to lose ground. He was being pushed back toward the tunnel mouth. In Searanox's mind, the cooldown tirs for his drones continued to tick down, followed by the precious seconds needed for his internal systems to charge them again. Garu's roar echoed through the cavern—a sound of pure, unadulterated physical strain as his leg and arm muscles swelled to nearly double their size, their fibers threatening to tear apart under the impossible pressure.
From behind the Depths Devourer, a dark, fluid shape launched itself over the creature's massive head. Aruru, with his massive nodachi extended, spun through the air with unnatural grace, seemingly pushing off the very air itself to gain height. He thrust his blade downward with a silent snarl, the long, enchanted steel vanishing into a pre-existing crack in the centipede's damaged armored plate. The blade sank to the hilt with sickening precision, burying itself deep in the creature’s central nervous system.
The Depths Devourer let out a final, ear-piercing shriek. Its sudden, frantic convulsion sent Garu flying across the chamber like a discarded toy. The Grak'thul crashed into the stone wall with a force that made the entire cavern tremble, leaving a massive crater in the rock. Aruru landed heavily beside him, his foot skidding on one of Garu's discarded, corroded shields as he fought to maintain his combat balance.
While Aruru's blade remained embedded in the creature's pulsing flesh, a blinding, white-hot flash erupted from Valdor's staff. High-voltage lightning arced through the ionized air, striking Aruru's nodachi and turning the weapon into a perfect lightning rod. The sound of sizzling, electrified flesh filled the cavern, followed by the wet, rhythmic popping sounds of internal organs being cooked from within. Plus of thick grey smoke and acrid vapor rose from the gaps in its chitin. The massive centipede collapsed into the glowing pools, its hundred-ter body finally falling still.
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Searanox let out a slow, shuddering breath, his grip finally relaxing on his rifle. That had been too close—far closer than he liked to admit. Astera's barrier had held just long enough to prevent a total wipe; another few seconds and he would have been crushed into the tunnel walls. With the battle officially concluded, he dismissed his remaining, battered drones as the familiar blue System window materialized in the air before him.
[System Notification]
─ Congratulations! You are the first to clear a Corrupted Dungeon on this World.
─ You have cleared Dungeon: Burrowing Depths.
─ [ 1,268,340 Exp]
─ Bing. Level Up.
─ You are now Level 25.
─ New Spells/Schematics are Available.
The massive numbers flashed before Searanox's eyes. It was a staggering, almost incomprehensible amount of experience. His analytical mind imdiately began to calculate the alternative—the possibility of solo-clearing this dungeon. He imagined the hours of thodical, hit-and-run drone strikes, the thousands of rounds of ammo, and the eventual, grueling victory. He quickly buried the thought. Without the Golden Order acting as the anvil to his hamr, he'd be dragging himself out of this cavern with one leg missing, if he managed to escape at all. It would have been another deep scar on his psyche to match the physical ones he already carried.
His gaze swept across the Golden Order team. Their expressions, for the first ti since they had t, mirrored his own—a mixture of genuine shock and disbelief at the sheer magnitude of the experience reward. He said nothing, turning his attention back to the colossal, steaming corpse stretched across the floor. The thought persisted, nagging at his ego: `I could have beaten it alone. Safe distance, endless drones. Ti-consuming, but possible.`
A sudden movent drew his attention. The Golden Order was already advancing, their practiced, rcenary eyes fixed on the shimring form of a high-tier chest that had materialized out of thin air near the fallen beast.
Searanox trailed behind them, his steps asured and wary as he watched them approach the reward. As he drew closer, Astera turned her head. Her pearlescent face was unreadable in the dim, light of the cavern, though her eyes still held a faint, residual glow from her magic.
"Victor," she said, her voice regaining its calm, authoritative steadiness. "We will be taking your share of the imdiate dungeon reward. Consider it compensation for saving your life back there, and as a formal fee for restoring your missing limb earlier."
Searanox's expression remained perfectly neutral, his voice even as he replied. "It's nothing I hadn't already expected."
Internally, however, his blood ran hot. He wasn't surprised by the move, but the blatant dismissal of his contribution stung. His gaze fixed on the chest, his anger sharpening as he took in the aesthetic details of the reward.
The chest was fashioned from the sa ornate, polished dark wood he'd seen in previous dungeon clears, but this one was significantly larger. Unlike the standard loot boxes, this one was covered in intricate, embossed golden inlays that caught and reflected the faint, bioluminous light of the chamber.
"A leg—and more importantly, my life—is certainly worth more than whatever my asly share would have been," he added, his tone clipped and professional.
For a fleeting mont, he caught a subtle shift in their collective posture—the tension finally draining from Garu’s shoulders, a collective, silent release of breath. They had expected him to put up a fight for the loot.
Garu's massive, four-fingered hands made the ornate chest appear delicate, like a child's trinket box. The lid creaked open with a heavy, tallic sound, revealing the contents within: a small silken pouch that clinked faintly with the sound of high-value tal, two deep orange stones identical in appearance to the Skillstones Searanox already possessed, and a slender ring that glimred with intricate, moving golden patterns.
Astera's expression faltered for a micro-second as her eyes fixed on the ring. Valdor's ancient gaze glead with an inscrutable, hungry light, while Narina's avian features remained impassive, her alien face impossible for a human to read. Aruru and the others paid the contents of the chest no mind, their attention already shifting back to inspecting their corroded armor and weapons.
With a sharp, fluid gesture from Astera, the items vanished into her storage ring. A mont later, Garu's deep, booming voice echoed through the cavern. "Ten coins!?"
Searanox couldn't quite tell whether surprise or excitent colored the Grak'thul's exclamation. He assud they were talking about the coins in the pouch. `Ten silver coins? Not bad but I have seen more before.` He pushed the thought aside and turned his back on the group, approaching the colossal, cooling corpse of the Depths Devourer.
Aruru's horned head tilted as he watched the Dhampir walk away, one clawed finger gesturing toward a shimring, blue-tinged portal tucked behind a small rocky outcrop near the far wall. "Victor, the exit is this way. The dungeon will begin to collapse and reset soon."
Searanox turned his head slightly, a short nod acknowledging the direction. "Yes, I'm aware of how the exit works." His gaze shifted back to the centipede's colossal carcass. "I'm checking the remains for anything useful before we leave. I don't intend to leave empty-handed."
The deep, resonant rumble of Garu's voice cut through the stillness. "Forge armor? Weapons?" The Grak'thul's small eyes narrowed as he studied Searanox's movents. The question wasn't one of confusion; it was a blatant attempt at information-gathering.
Searanox filed the confirmation away: in their world, beast parts could indeed be harvested and crafted into high-tier gear.
"A creature of this power level… do you actually know a crafter who has the skill to work with void-corrupted chitin?" Garu pressed, his towering form casting long, jagged shadows across the cavern floor as he stepped toward Searanox.
"Not yet," Searanox answered, his tone dismissive as he ran a gloved hand along the creature's jagged armored plating, feeling the residual heat still humming within the shell. "But I’ve found it’s always better to have sothing and not need it, than to need it and find yourself without it."
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