Chapter 289: Onto The Next

The air in the subterranean grotto smelled of sulphur, pulverized granite, and raw ozone.

Down on the hexagonal island, the ground shook with every movement of the emerald behemoth. The monster was like a walking mountain, eighty feet of petrified stone and dense crystal, its four massive forearms churning the black lake into a boiling mess.

Nicholas kept moving across the slick shale.

Plague Touch.

The black executioner’s broadsword dissolved from his grip, the dark energy reshaping itself into two reverse-grip daggers made of pitch-black Void matter. He ducked beneath an emerald-tipped talon the size of a telephone pole, the force of its swing sending a powerful gust past his ears.

Spatial Fold.

Nicholas suddenly shifted several yards forward, slipping beneath the monster’s armored chest. He drove both daggers upward into the soft, glowing gap between its granite plates.

CRUNCH.

The Void daggers pierced deep, tearing through the creature’s flesh and the thick nerves beneath its armor. Boiling green fluid spilled from the wound, hissing as it struck Nicholas’s dark aura.

The behemoth roared in fury. Its crystalline horns flashed with emerald light as a powerful shock ran through the island, cracking the ground beneath them.

"Zero! Low flank!" Nicholas shouted, jumping backward from the creature’s chest.

"Understood!" Zero’s voice came through the noise.

Zero raced across the boiling lake, his boots barely touching the water. With a powerful jump, he launched himself fifty feet into the air. His longsword lit up with silver-white energy as the purple gemstone in the guard responded to his Qi.

SHIIIING!

Zero released a massive crescent of silver light. It struck the behemoth’s rear right leg, cutting through the hardened tendon.

The colossal beast shrieked as its leg gave out. Forty tons of stone crashed onto the cracked ground.

"Vixen, take the horns!" Zero shouted, landing on a jutting rock.

"Already on it!"

Vixen appeared above the behemoth’s triangular head in a shimmer of warped air. She snapped her fingers, opening four spatial rifts around the monster’s head. When the beast swung its upper claws at her, they plunged into the portals and came back from different directions, smashing into its own horn clusters and breaking them apart.

Up on the high balcony, Julie had her camera pressed against the stone railing, desperately trying to follow the chaos below.

"Look at that spatial parry!" Julie screamed into her microphone, her pink hair whipping in the wind rising from the boiling lake. "Chat, Zero just took off the monster’s back leg! Phantom is carving up its ribcage! We are witnessing absolute top-tier teamwork! Hit the subscribe button right now or I am throwing myself into the glowing moss!"

"Julie, stay down!" Selena shouted, ducking as a piece of broken crystal flew over their heads and smashed against the cavern wall.

Selena kept her eyes on the center of the island. The empty containment case sat open beside her, its suppression seals ready to secure the master power stone the moment the beast was defeated.

Down on the altar, the giant emerald crystal pulsed faster and faster, filling the cavern with a blinding green light.

High in the shadows near the ceiling vents, Hexi held his breath.

"The beast is down on one knee," Hexi whispered, his voice trembling with greed as black miasma spilled from his sleeves. "They’re completely focused on killing it. Shadow, drop us on the altar right now!"

"Hexi, wait," Shadow whispered from the darkness, her small face tense. "The spatial woman... she’s watching the area around the platform."

"She’s watching the monster, you fool!" Hexi hissed, shoving her shoulder. "Drop the shadows! Move!"

Sniper sighed, lying flat with his rifle resting against his shoulder.

"If we die here, I am not signing the after-action report."

Shadow closed her eyes.

The darkness beneath their feet spread outward like black water.

A moment later, it swallowed all three of them.

Down on the hexagonal island, beside the ancient stone altar, a patch of darkness spread across the rock.

Hexi stepped out of it, his bandaged chest still aching, but his bloodshot eyes were fixed on the emerald power stone only a few feet away. The stone was enormous, radiating heat and powerful energy that made the hair on his arms stand up.

"It’s mine..." Hexi sneered, reaching toward it as black miasma curled around his fingers. "All this power... Master’s cure... it’s all—"

"Did you really think nobody would hear you breathing?"

A cold, mocking voice echoed through the cavern.

Hexi’s eyes widened.

Standing on the opposite side of the altar, completely relaxed with her arms crossed, was Vixen.

Her emerald eyes were cold, and there wasn’t a trace of surprise on her face.

"Spatial folding creates tiny changes in the air," Vixen said smoothly, a sharp smile appearing on her lips. "You might be able to hide yourselves in the dark, but you can’t hide the air you’re moving. You’re out of your league, little rat."

"Die!" Hexi screamed.

He thrust both hands forward, sending a torrent of oily black miasma toward Vixen’s face.

Vixen didn’t even blink.

Spatial Warp.

A vertical rift opened in front of her. The thick black miasma poured straight into it and disappeared.

A moment later, another portal opened behind Hexi.

His own black fog came rushing out and covered his back and shoulders.

Hexi choked and stumbled forward, coughing violently as he breathed in his own fog.

"Gah! S-Sniper! Shoot her!"

CRACK!

A deafening gunshot rang through the cavern.

From the shadows above, the bullet streaked toward Vixen, glowing with a strange yellow Qi. It curved around the stone pillars in an unnatural path, heading straight for the side of her neck.

Vixen sensed it and twisted, preparing to open a portal.

CLANG!

A streak of black matter suddenly appeared between them.

Nicholas materialized beside the altar, holding a dense black shield formed from Plague Touch. The bullet struck the shield, flattened against it, and dropped harmlessly to the ground.

High above, Sniper groaned as he watched through his scope.

"Yup. Knew it. Bending bullets doesn’t work on the scary guy. I am officially going on strike."

On the island below, the wounded behemoth released one final, deafening roar.

Sensing the intruders around its altar, the dying creature raised its remaining two forearms and gathered the last of its strength. It was preparing to smash the ground and bring the entire grotto down with it.

"Everyone off the dais!" Selena shouted through the comms from the balcony.

"End it," Nicholas said.

He stepped past the coughing Hexi, ignoring him completely.

Nicholas focused his energy into his boots and looked up at the behemoth’s descending arms.

Gravity Distortion.

He raised both palms toward the falling monster.

A powerful force erupted from the island floor, pushing upward against the behemoth.

The creature’s massive body stopped in midair.

For a moment, the eighty-foot monster hung above the boiling lake, unable to move.

"Zero!" Nicholas shouted.

Zero needed no further instruction.

He leapt from the altar, his blade gathering the refined Qi flowing through his body.

The purple gemstone on his hilt flared with brilliant light, illuminating the cavern. Zero spun through the air and brought his longsword down in a clean vertical slash.

SHIIIING-CRACK!

A huge wave of silver-white Qi tore through the cavern and struck the suspended behemoth.

The energy split through its granite armor and severed its core, cutting the eighty-foot monster from head to tail.

The two halves crashed into the black lake with an enormous splash. Waves rolled across the island before the remains slowly disappeared beneath the dark water.

The cavern fell silent.

On the altar, Hexi remained on his hands and knees, trembling as the shadow of the falling beast disappeared.

He looked up.

Nicholas stood directly in front of him, staring down with cold, emotionless eyes. The black shield dissolved from his hand.

"P-Phantom..." Hexi stammered, scrambling backward. His bruised ribs burned as he moved. "Wait... we can make a deal! The stone... Master needs it! We can share—"

"You talk too much," Nicholas said flatly.

Nicholas casually kicked him in the chest.

The blow sent Hexi flying twenty feet backward off the altar. He crashed into a pile of sharp gravel, crying out as he landed.

Before Nicholas could move toward him, a pool of darkness opened beneath Hexi.

Shadow emerged from the floor, her exhausted face filled with fear as she grabbed Hexi by the collar.

"We’re leaving! We’re leaving!" Shadow cried.

She pulled Hexi into the darkness just as a spatial blade from Vixen sliced through the spot where they had been.

High above, Sniper was already backing into the darkness of the upper shafts, disappearing from sight.

"Pests," Vixen muttered, shaking her head as she approached the altar. "Always scuttling away through the floor."

"Let them go," Nicholas said, turning away from the retreating shadows. "They came with nothing, and they left with nothing."

Across the lake, Selena lowered herself onto the island using a rope, carrying the vacuum-sealed containment case. Julie scrambled down behind her, somehow keeping her camera steady the entire time.

"Look at this!" Julie gasped, pointing the camera at the massive emerald crystal on the altar. "Chat, look at the facets on this thing! We just beat a fifty-foot stone god, kicked out the weird trench-coat bandits, and secured the first cosmic battery! Drop the gift subs! Drop them all!"

Selena approached the altar carefully. Using insulated handling tongs, she lifted the heavy, vibrating emerald power stone from its ancient stone cradle and placed it inside the reinforced containment case.

The mechanical latches snapped shut with a sharp hiss.

The violent green light disappeared, safely sealed inside the case. The hum filling the cavern faded almost immediately, and the shaking ground finally became still.

"First master stone secured," Selena said, letting out a long breath of relief as she fastened the case to her harness. "One down. Six to go."

Nicholas looked around the ruined, silent grotto, his dark blue eyes calm.

"Let’s get out of this hole," Nicholas said. "We have six more continents to clear."