Chapter 299 299: Category 5!!

Words : 2152 Updated : Oct 3rd, 2025

Noah tightened his grip on the Eclipse blade as Nyx accelerated toward the swarm. The void-edged weapon hummed with power, eager for the coming battle. Storm flanked them, ice crystals trailing in his wake like diamonds scattered across the alien sky. 'Initial strike needs to thin their numbers,' Noah thought, analyzing the swarm's formation. 'Break their cohesion, force them to scatter.' "Nyx, Inferno Storm!" he commanded. "Storm, Winter Vortex! Target the center mass!" The two beasts responded immediately. Nyx released a torrent of red flames that cut through the leading edge of the swarm, while Storm's freezing winds created a deadly crosscurrent. Dozens of hornets caught in the convergence of fire and ice shattered or burned in mid-air. [Exp Gained: +1000 x27] The system notifications began flooding Noah's vision, but he had no time to register them. The moment had come. "Keep them busy!" he shouted to his companion. Then he launched himself from Nyx's back, blade extended, directly into the thickest part of the swarm. Void Blink activated mid-fall, teleporting him onto the back of the nearest hornet. The creature's exoskeleton was hot and slick beneath his feet. It bucked wildly, sensing the intruder, but Noah had already plunged his blade into the junction between its head and thorax. The void edge cut through the armored carapace like it was mist. Dark blood sprayed as the creature's head separated from its body. Noah kicked off the falling corpse, using Void Blink again to teleport to his next target. [Experience Gained: +1000] A hornet lunged at him from below, mandibles snapping. Noah twisted in mid-air, bringing his palm down on the creature's head. "Null Strike." The void energy discharged in a concentrated burst. The hornet's head simply... ceased to exist, the energy erasing matter itself. The headless body plummeted toward the red sands below. [Experience Gained: +1000] [Void Energy: 880/1450] 'Conserve energy,' Noah reminded himself. 'Choose targets efficiently.' Three hornets converged on him from different angles. He Blinked to the closest one, landing on its thorax. Before it could react, he drove his blade into its glowing red chest cavity, then used it as a pivot point to swing underneath the creature as one of its companions attacked. The attacking hornet impaled its ally with its stinger, then screeched in confusion as Noah appeared above it, dropping onto its back. His fingers traced along its wing joint, activating Entropy Touch. The effect was immediate—the chitin degraded rapidly, the wing crumbling to dust. The creature spiraled downward, unable to maintain flight. Noah jumped clear, Blinking to the third hornet. This one was ready for him, its massive mandibles snapping at the space where he appeared. Noah barely twisted away in time, the razor-sharp edge grazing his shoulder. [Health Points: 970/1000] 'Too close,' he thought, driving his blade into the creature's compound eye. It shrieked, a sound like metal tearing, then fell. Above him, Nyx and Storm carved paths of destruction through the swarm. Nyx moved like a red comet, his Molten Core ability superheating his scales until hornets that merely brushed against him burst into flame. Storm was equally lethal, his Arctic Shroud freezing the air around him solid, encasing hornets in blocks of ice that shattered when they hit the ground. 'They're magnificent,' Noah thought with a surge of pride as he watched his companions work in tandem. Storm herded groups of hornets toward Nyx, who incinerated them with targeted bursts of flame. 'And to think, this is the first time they've fought together since Storm's evolution.' Noah Blinked again, this time to a hornet that was attempting to attack Storm from behind. He landed on its back, plunging the Eclipse blade into its thorax. As it fell, he leapt toward another, maintaining his momentum through the air. But this time, his timing was off. The hornet swerved unexpectedly, and Noah missed his landing. He found himself in free fall, the ground dizzingly far below. "Void Blink!" Nothing happened. [Error: Cooldown Active (3.2 seconds remaining)] 'Shit,' Noah thought, the wind rushing past him. The ground approached with terrifying speed. A shadow passed overhead. Then something slammed into him from the side, knocking the breath from his lungs. Noah found himself clutched in Nyx's massive claws, the dragon's wings beating powerfully as they rose back into the fray. "Thanks for the save," Noah gasped, regaining his composure. Nyx rumbled in acknowledgment, releasing Noah onto a relatively clear patch of air before diving back into the swarm, teeth and claws tearing through exoskeletons with brutal efficiency. Noah took the moment to assess the battlefield. Though they'd made significant progress, hundreds of hornets still remained. And his energy reserves were depleting faster than he'd anticipated. [Void Energy: 730/1450] 'We need to end this quickly,' he calculated. 'At current energy consumption rates, I have maybe fifteen minutes before I'm running on empty.' He knew what it meant to run on no fuel. He spotted a dense cluster of hornets pursuing Storm, attempting to overwhelm the wyvern through sheer numbers. Noah Blinked to the highest point he could see—the back of a particularly large hornet hovering above the fray. "Void Bullet!" Noah extended both hands, channeling void energy into concentrated projectiles. The bullets shot outward in rapid succession, each one finding its target with unerring accuracy. Hornet after hornet fell from the sky, their bodies riddled with void-created holes. [Void Energy: 580/1450] [Experience Gained: +1000 x17] The system notifications were coming so quickly now that they blurred together, creating a constant stream of updates in his peripheral vision. Noah ignored them, focusing entirely on the battle. He Blinked again, this time landing on Storm's back. The wyvern acknowledged him with a flash of its blue eyes. "Storm, take us up!" Noah commanded. "We need altitude!" Storm complied, powerful wings driving them upward until they hovered above the swarm. From this vantage point, Noah could see that they'd eliminated perhaps half of the horde. Still too many to fight conventionally. 'Time for something more dramatic,' he decided. "Nyx!" Noah called out. The Red Death Dragon disengaged from his current targets, rising to join them. "I need you both to create a convergence point. Storm, Winter Vortex at full power. Nyx, Inferno Storm concentrated on the same spot," It wasn't that they understood what he said word for word but their connection made sure his will was done. Storm began circling above the swarm, generating a massive cyclone of freezing air that pulled the hornets inward. Nyx positioned himself directly above the center of the vortex, his scales glowing white-hot as he gathered energy. "Now!" Storm's Winter Vortex reached maximum intensity, trapping hundreds of hornets in its swirling currents. At the same moment, Nyx released a concentrated beam of superheated energy directly into the center of the vortex. The result was catastrophic. The sudden temperature differential created an explosive reaction, the shockwave rippling outward in all directions. Hornets caught in the blast were simultaneously frozen and incinerated, their bodies shattering into countless fragments. [Experience Gained: +1000 x203] The system began to glitch, unable to process the flood of experience notifications. The messages flickered and overlapped, some disappearing before Noah could read them. [Level Up!] [Level Up!] [Level Up!] [You have reached Level 32!] [Attribute Points Available: 9] [New Skill Slot Available] [Warning: System Processing Overload] [Compiling Experience Rewards...] As the dust settled, Noah surveyed their handiwork. Only scattered pockets of hornets remained, disorganized and fleeing in multiple directions. Nyx and Storm pursued them methodically, eliminating the stragglers with practiced efficiency. 'Time to collect,' Noah thought, opening his void storage. As he Blinked from one fallen hornet to another, he extracted their cores—glowing red crystals embedded in what had been their chest cavities. Each core disappeared into his void storage with a flash of darkness. [Void Storage: Category 4 Beast Cores x127] [Void Storage: Category 4 Beast Cores x249] [Void Storage: Category 4 Beast Cores x376] The counter kept rising as Noah moved efficiently across the battlefield, extracting cores from the fallen beasts. By the time he'd covered half the area, the counter had reached nearly a thousand. [Void Storage: Category 4 Beast Cores x982] This much was enough to keep the boys fed for so long. And not to mention, he could trade some and help Mrs Harper out with some of her needs. He has no idea what Gigarose play was but it sure did back fire. A tremor shook the ground, causing Noah to pause. At first, he thought it might be the impact of particularly large hornet carcasses hitting the ground. But then it came again, stronger. And again. Rhythmic. Deliberate. "Nyx! Storm!" Noah called out. "Regroup!" His companions sensed the danger too, abandoning their pursuit of the remaining hornets to return to Noah's side. The three of them hovered above the red desert, watching as the sand began to shift and bulge in multiple locations. The first eruption came without warning. The red sand exploded upward as something massive broke through the surface. A gaping maw lined with row upon row of circular teeth emerged, followed by a segmented body that rose higher and higher into the air. 'What the hell?' Noah thought, stunned by the sheer size of the creature. It dwarfed even Nyx, its body stretching at least fifty feet above the sand—and Noah suspected that was only the portion visible above ground. [System Alert: Category 5 Beasts Detected] [Warning: Extreme Threat Level] [Recommendation: Immediate Retreat] At this point, it was either the system wasn't paying attention or just didn't want to learn. The tactical recommendation it offered Noah in cases like this were never taken by him. But for this particular case, Noah was considering it. Two more eruptions followed, equally massive creatures breaking through the surface on either side of the first. Sand Tapeworms, their pale bodies contrasting starkly with the red desert. Their circular mouths opened and closed rhythmically, each lined with thousands of hooked teeth designed to pull prey into grinding gullets. [System Alert: Energy Reserves Critical] [Void Energy: 320/1450] 'Three Category 5 beasts. These things are supposed to be rare and Gigarose somehow took me to a place where there's three at once?!!' Noah assessed grimly. 'Each one alone is a match for a military division, and my energy's running low.' Nyx growled, flames licking around his jaws as he prepared to attack. Storm's temperature dropped sharply, ice forming along his wings as he positioned himself defensively. The nearest tapeworm lunged with surprising speed for its size, its mouth expanding to engulf Storm. The wyvern barely evaded, leaving a trail of ice crystals that shattered against the creature's hide without effect. Nyx responded with a blast of flame directed at another tapeworm, but the fire washed over its pale skin without leaving a mark. The creature seemed impervious to heat. 'Conventional attacks aren't working,' Noah realized. 'We need a different approach.' He Blinked to Nyx's back, placing a hand on the dragon's scales to get his attention. "Fall back!" Nyx reluctantly complied, retreating to join Storm at a safer distance. The tapeworms began moving toward them, their massive bodies sliding through the sand with disturbing ease. "Listen carefully," Noah said to his companion. "These things are too big and too tough for direct attacks. We need to be smart." Storm's blue eyes fixed on him, awaiting instruction. Nyx rumbled impatiently, clearly preferring action to strategy. Noah analyzed the tapeworms' movement patterns. Despite their size, they moved with coordination that suggested intelligence. They were attempting to surround and isolate the three of them. 'Their mouths are the vulnerable point,' Noah decided, watching how they protected their head sections. 'But getting close enough to attack is suicide.' The nearest tapeworm suddenly accelerated, its massive body shooting toward them with unexpected speed. Nyx and Storm scattered, narrowly avoiding its gaping maw. 'They're faster than they should be,' Noah noted. 'And tougher than they have any right to be.' As the tapeworms regrouped for another attack, Noah's mind raced through potential strategies. His void energy was too depleted for sustained combat. Nyx and Storm, while powerful, couldn't penetrate the creatures' natural armor. Then it hit him—a plan so risky it might just work. "I know how to take them down," Noah said, his voice grim. "But neither of you is going to like it." Nyx growled, clearly skeptical. Storm tilted his head, awaiting explanation. Before Noah could elaborate, all three tapeworms surged forward in unison, their massive bodies rising like pillars against the alien sky, mouths gaping wide to reveal the endless rows of teeth within. Round two was about to begin. [Quest Status: Survive (38:42 remaining)]

Chapter 299 299: Category 5!!

Comments (0)