The explosion hit the shields.

The outer layers cracked immediately under the force, the cursed energy fracturing in a spiderweb pattern across every panel.

Lukas was already pushing mana into the replenishment when the second wave of the blast finished the job, the remaining layers shattering entirely.

In the half second before he could rebuild them, an Automaton dashed through the gap.

It hit him full in the chest.

The force picked him up and drove him backwards into Akira, both of them going down together in a tangle of limbs and weapons on the stone street.

The impact jarred through his back and shoulders and he heard Akira’s involuntary drawn breath at hitting the ground beneath him.

But before the Automaton could attack, an arrow swished through the air above them. It hit the beast in the chest, the force staggering it back two steps.

A second arrow followed before the first had stopped vibrating, this sinking deep through the gap the first one had opened, and piercing the heart.

The beast dropped dead immediately.

"Get up," Karrakas said, already notching a third. If not for how close the Automaton was and the force of his draw, he wouldn’t have been able to finish it off in two arrows.

The smoke from the explosion still hung in the street, and through it two shapes were moving fast.

The surviving Automatons had used the cover of the blast and were closing the distance at a speed the D-ranks had never managed.

Lukas activated [Hex Shield] from the floor.

The barriers snapped into existence around the group just as both Automatons hit them.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. The shields cracked, buckled, and gave way, but the resistance slowed down the beasts just enough. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Lukas surged upwards, with Akira already rising beside him. With a snarl, they both swung their swords with their strength.

Their swords slammed into the beasts with pure aggression, both hitting their targets. While Lukas had used the flat of his blade, Akira had used the edge.

Lukas’ target was sent flying backwards through the air, the force of the blow sending it crashing through the ground, where it bounced for a few more meters.

But Akira’s sword sank a few inches into her target’s chest, almost piercing all the way through. The force sent the beast staggering back a few feet, almost falling to the floor.

"Formation!" Lukas yelled.

They snapped back into position. Melody was already at the front, sword up, and with Lukas, she rebuilt the [Hex Shields] around the group.

The smoke from [Corpse Explosion] was thinning, the street becoming visible in patches. There was now a large crater on the street, and several dead Automatons.

If the beasts had been flesh and blood, Akira wouldn’t have been able to do this much damage. But being made of metal, the explosion had turned them into fragments that pierced and killed other Automatons.

Now, there were only two beasts left.

Lukas could see both Automatons pulling themselves to their feet, intent on attacking again, but he didn’t give them the chance.

He activated [Smite].

The golden pillars came down through the clearing smoke, the light cutting through the haze.

The first pillar drove directly into the Automaton Lukas had sent flying, slamming it flat against the ground, the impact leaving a small crater around its body.

More pillars followed, hammering into the same target until the ticking stopped.

[You have killed a C-rank Clockwork Automaton]

However, the other Automaton was different. It dashed to the side with the same speed he’d come to expect from them, dodging the descending pillar of golden energy just before it could make contact.

More pillars descended, but the beast moved fluidly, jumping from wall to ground, evading the barrage.

Lukas simply watched for three more seconds before smirking.

As the next pillar came down, he called another one to the left.

The beast dodged the current attack, moving to the left, and walked straight under the pillar Lukas had prepared for it.

The golden energy slammed it into the ground, the impact cracking the stone beneath it.

The Automaton tried to rise, but three more pillars descended in rapid succession, each one slamming on the same spot in its back.

On the final descent, the pillar shattered the Automaton into scrap metal.

[You have killed a C-rank Clockwork Automaton]

The street went quiet.

Smoke drifted along the stone in thin, lazy trails, while scattered clockwork and broken metal covered the ground all around the street.

Akira looked at the debris, then at Lukas. "Next time I get knocked to the floor," she said, "I would appreciate not having someone land on top of me."

"I’ll try to fall more considerately," Lukas said with a grin, then he turned to the rest of them. "Let’s move on."

And so they broke into a run, holding the formation as they went.

They soon reached the junction at the end of the block and pulled up.

Four streets branched from the intersection, each one disappearing into the lamplight in a different direction.

Karrakas scanned them quickly, his eyes moving from one to the next, then he stopped.

On the wall at the corner of the junction, mounted at eye height, was a street sign.

Unity Avenue.

"I know this sign," Karrakas said in excitement, with genuine relief shining on his face.

He pointed down the street the sign indicated, a long straight road that ran deeper into the Undercity. "That’s the direction we need to go. Unity Avenue leads towards the main clock, so if we follow it, we’ll be getting closer."

And so they ran.

Unity Avenue was a bit wider than the streets they’d been following before, with the buildings on either side taller, and similarly, the gears built into them larger and more numerous.

The ticking here was louder, with multiple rhythms overlapping into a sound that was hard to ignore.

Then the D-rank Automatons came.

They skittered along the walls like insects, starting with eight, then twelve.

"What the hell..." Lukas muttered under his breath. Was the dungeon really trying to kill them? ’Of course, it is. It’s a fucking dungeon.’

But then, another sound reached their ears. It was a deep rumbling that came from beneath the street itself, vibrating up through the soles of their boots and into their legs.

Karrakas’s head snapped up, eyes widening in panic.

"The streets are about to move!" He shouted.