Chapter 51: That was an Easy Rift

Chapter 51: That was an Easy RiftThe cavern still echoed faintly with the aftermath of battle—smoke coiling through the air, scorched stone glowing with residual heat, and the scent of gunpowder mixing with burnt flesh. For a long moment, no one moved. Then Kael sheathed his blade with a metallic snap and turned toward the party. "We need to keep moving. The rift will start closing in under two hours. If we’re not out by then..." "We get folded into the void," Reina muttered grimly, her earlier cheer fading. Marianne helped Shade to his feet, his movements stiff but conscious now. "I’ll patch him as we go," she said. Kael gave a short nod, then turned to the center of the chamber where the warlord’s body lay broken. "Scavenge what you can. Rift materials fetch ten times the usual market value. Let’s not waste this kill." Everyone moved. The team fanned out, weapons still drawn as they approached the battlefield’s remains. The larger Draconute elites lay scattered—smoking, bleeding, their armor still faintly glowing with cursed energy. Even in death, their forms were intimidating. Kael began carefully removing armor plating from one, storing fragments in a rune-marked bag. Each piece shimmered faintly, runes etched deep into the material. Darius cracked open a claw with a hammer, whistling low. "These things are built like siege weapons." Reina moved to one of the elite guards she’d helped pin down. Her fingers sparked with arcane light as she traced the creature’s blood, drawing a circle before carefully lifting a scale the size of a dinner plate. "Rift-forged scale. Alchemists would kill for this." Meanwhile, Inigo was crouched beside the warlord’s body, WLSN-7 at his side like a silent sentry. He pried loose the shattered remnants of the molten staff, storing it into his inventory. The core crystal was still faintly glowing—a volatile, pulsating mass of condensed rift magic. [+1 Warlord Core Shard – Item Stored] "That’ll sell for a fortune," Inigo muttered to himself. "Or make something insane if we find the right crafter." Just as he stood up, he heard a soft voice behind him. "Aww..." Reina. She had crept over to WLSN-7, her eyes wide with unrestrained wonder. The drone’s targeting optics blinked in a steady pattern—non-hostile—but its miniguns were retracted, giving it a slightly less terrifying silhouette. Reina bent down just a little, keeping her voice high and gentle. "Who’s a little creature, huh?" The drone chirped. "Are you talking to it like it’s a pet?" Inigo asked with a raised brow, amusement creeping into his voice. "He’s adorable," Marianne added, now standing beside Reina. "Look at how he blinked when she said that!" Lyra, arms crossed, stepped up as well and smirked. "Wheeler, huh? Figures you’d give it a nickname like that." "I didn’t," Inigo said. "That’s its designation. WLSN stands for Wheeled Light Support Node." Lyra crouched beside the drone and gave the treads a once-over. "Feels warm. And those pods, where that exploding arrow thingy coming out, are cute too. I like him." The drone gave a low mechanical whirr—its version of a purr, perhaps. Sёarch* The NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Inigo chuckled at the sight of all three women fawning over the combat drone like it was a puppy that hadn’t just leveled a battlefield. "You three do realize this thing’s built for war, right?" "I bet it also likes belly rubs," Reina whispered. WLSN-7’s optics rotated curiously. Inigo just shook his head and smiled. "Alright, alright, enough bonding time. Let’s move out." The team packed quickly after that. Every useful piece of monster hide, claw, bone, armor, or magical core was secured. Kael gave the all-clear, and with a quick formation, they exited the chamber the way they came. They retraced their steps in silence. No new threats emerged. No reinforcements crawled from the depths. Whatever the warlord was protecting, it had already been destroyed—or consumed in the collapse of the temple ruins. Reina muttered, "That was... weirdly short for a rift." Marianne agreed. "Rift instability usually lasts longer. And we’ve seen waves before. This one had just the opening swarm and the boss." "Could be a minor breach," Darius said. "Still, weird." Kael remained silent. His eyes never stopped scanning the shadows. Eventually, the party reached the rift’s mouth. The tunnel they entered from now crackled faintly with magical residue. The air shimmered like heat waves, and the moss along the walls had gone dim—drained of energy. The rift itself, a swirling tear of blue and red energy hanging in the air like a bleeding wound, had begun to contract. They were just in time. Inigo turned back, taking one last look at the cavern. Nothing stirred. Nothing followed. The warlord was dead. The mission, for once, had gone smoother than expected. The team stepped through. And in the next breath, they were standing back on solid ground—outside the rift gate, within the reinforced stone courtyard behind the Adventurer’s Guild in Elandra. A dozen guards jumped as they emerged, startled by the sudden return. One of them scrambled to the interior of the guild, shouting something about an emergency signal. Moments later, the massive guild doors opened. And out walked Guildmaster Thorne. "What in the name of the First Flame...?" he murmured. Kael stepped forward and saluted. "Target neutralized. Rift has collapsed. Estimated close time: one hour, fifty-seven minutes. All party members accounted for." Thorne’s brows lifted. "Already?" "Yes, Guildmaster." His gaze moved slowly across the group—Darius bruised but standing, Reina still glowing faintly with magic, Marianne dusty but intact, Shade leaning against a post, Lyra calm, and Inigo casually leaning against the wall with a turret dematerializing behind him. Thorne stared hard at WLSN-7. "And that?" "My familiar," Inigo said without skipping a beat. "Uh huh." Reina waved enthusiastically. "His name’s Wheeler!" Thorne pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right. Familiar. It doesn’t feel alive but whatever." Marianne whispered, "He also has a weapon that shoots so many fast projectiles that pierced the monster’s armor." "Stop helping," Inigo whispered back. The Guildmaster exhaled. "Well, I’ll be damned. You brought back full packs. Rift-grade spoils. And you did it fast." He straightened. "Get yourselves cleaned up. Report to dispatch. You’ve earned a bonus this time." Kael saluted again. "Understood." As they turned to head inside the guild, Reina gave Wheeler one last pat on its tread. Lyra nodded once to Inigo. Even Shade gave him a crooked smirk. And as they walked through the archway toward the mess hall—bags heavy with loot, hearts still high from victory. "Ten thousand gold coins—This is going to be exhilarating. I might really buy a house this time."