Chapter 184: A Few Steps Ahead [900GT Bonus Chapter]

A/N: You’ve already hit the goal before my announcement, so you deserve it. Thanks once again for your support.

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The four of them scattered in different directions, the beam passing harmlessly through the middle of the group.

Lukas hit the ground rolling, came up on his feet, and activated the [Kairos Fillet].

The world shattered like glass, and through the fracture lines he saw what was coming.

Six beams tore out of the sand ahead of them, each one aimed at a different member of the group.

He watched Melody throw up a [Hex Shield] in time, the barrier stopping two beams without as much as a crack. Akira had taken cover behind the shield, standing beside Melody.

He watched himself twist at the waist, two beams passing close enough for him to feel their heat. One passed in front of him, and the other behind him.

And he watched one beam slam into Karrakas’ chest as the man came up out of a roll. He had no time to react.

The moment it hit, Karrakas’s chest began to rot. The skin darkened and pulled back from the wound, the decay spreading out in a fast ring.

The man skidded down into the sand, his legs giving out beneath him, kicking up a spray of red as he went down.

The world sealed, and time resumed back.

"Down!" Lukas shouted urgently. "Everyone down now!"

No one questioned it. All four of them threw themselves flat against the sand in the same instant.

Six beams tore through the air directly above their heads, passing through the exact space they’d been occupying a half second before.

Karrakas pushed himself up onto one elbow, breathing hard. "Those are Deathstalker Scorpions," he said through his teeth. "Everyone on your feet. Now."

The sand ahead of them split open in six places.

The beasts that came out were nothing like the Awakener ranked Deathstalker Scorpions Lukas had faced on the First Floor.

These were three times the size, their bodies wide and armored, their claws large enough to close around a person completely.

Their shells were a vivid red that sat brightly against the duller red of the desert around them, almost luminous under the light of the sun.

Their stingers rose above their bodies, the tips already glowing as another charge built inside them.

"The beams don’t just burn," Karrakas said, eyes narrowing. "They contain necrotic energy that rots whatever living tissue they touch. If they manage a direct hit on a limb, you’ll definitely lose that limb unless one of you can heal it."

"If they manage a direct hit on the torso..." He didn’t finish the sentence.

The stingers reached full charge.

All six scorpions fired.

Lukas was already moving, throwing himself to the side as the beam aimed at him tore through the air where his body had been.

He hit the sand, rolled, and came up, activating his headband again.

The world cracked like glass and Lukas watched himself as he dashed forward, dropping under the first beam as it tore through the air at chest height.

Then he leapt above the second as it swept low across the sand, hoping to catch him at the legs. His boots hit the ground and he kept moving, dashing towards the two scorpions at the right hand side of the group.

To the side of the battlefield, Melody and Akira held their ground.

Melody had her [Hex Shield] raised, the barrier of cursed energy expanding in front of both of them, catching the beams shot by the scorpions.

The shield shattered from the assault, but Melody already had another one raised, keeping them safe.

Akira stood behind it, calmly firing [Death Bolts] in sequence.

One bolt caught a scorpion across the joint between its head and body.

The beast staggered, and then the rot began, spreading out from the impact point in a dark ring, eating through the shell and into the tissue beneath.

The scorpion dropped, dead.

[You have killed an E-rank Deathstalker Scorpion>]

Akira stared at the corpse for half a second as the notification appeared before her, then she activated [Corpse Explosion].

The dead scorpion detonated. Shell fragments and burning matter sprayed in every direction, and the scorpion directly beside it was caught in the blast, its own shell cracking apart under the impact.

It went down alongside its companion.

[You have killed an E-rank Deathstalker Scorpion.]

To the side, one of Karrakas’s arrows punched through a third scorpion’s eye, killing it. Lukas saw it in his peripheral vision but didn’t stop moving.

Two beams tore towards him from different angles. He dodged it, and didn’t see the third beam until it hit him in the arm.

He screamed through gritted teeth as the rot started immediately, pain exploding through his arm.

The energy felt cold at first, then hot, the rot climbing from his wrist to his elbow.

Another beam tore towards him, but he wasn’t in a state to dodge, so he simply threw up a [Hex Shield].

The beam hit the barrier, splashing harmlessly against him.

Through eyes squinted shut against the pain, he saw the notification as it appeared.

[Condolences, you have failed the quest.]

Then the world sealed as [Kairos’ Fillet] shut down the vision and time resumed.

He dashed forward, the next few seconds proceeding exactly as he’d seen.

He dropped under the first beam, felt the heat of it across the back of his neck, and came up running.

The second beam swept in from the left, but this time, he’d already dashed past it, the beam flying harmlessly behind him.

And exactly as he’d seen, Melody blocked with her [Hex Shield] and Akira fired her [Death Bolt].

She killed one scorpion, detonated it, and took out the other one beside it.

Karrakas killed the third scorpion, and as he’d seen, the two beams came for Lukas.

He casually twisted his body, letting both beams pass within inches of his body, one above his shoulder and one below his arm.

The third beam followed a half second behind, but this time he was ready.

He ducked under it, the beam tearing through the air above his head, and he blurred forward, closing the remaining distance.

He kept himself low, almost parallel to the sand, closing the gap to the scorpion on the right before its stinger could finish recharging.

With a vindictive grin on his face, he pulled his arm back and punched.