Chapter 173: Trapped

Words : 1082 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

Chapter 173: Trapped Fear had been an underlying emotion for everyone alive in this day and age, and the father-son duo thought they knew fear. But then, apparently, there was still dread. And then terror. The creature’s eyes glowed with an unnatural light, its gaze locking onto Talen and Kael as if sensing their intrusion. The beast was stalking them—an odd sensation considering that the beast was one giant tortoise. It moved sluggishly but with an ominous inevitability, each step causing the lake to bubble and hiss as it exuded pools of acidic corruption. If anything, it should be what used to be a lake. Because frankly, no one would classify that as one, considering the current conditions. For had they touched that still body of liquid, their mechas would’ve started corroding. "Kael, run!" Talen shouted, drawing his blade—a relic from his younger days as a mecha pilot. But even as he spoke, he knew escape was futile. The Sludgeborn Tortoise was slow, but its territory was its prison—and no one who entered ever left. Kael hesitated, his eyes wide with fear but also defiance. "We can’t leave without the Jade Vine!" Talen cursed under his breath but nodded. "Stay close to me." The beast let out a guttural roar that echoed against the jagged peaks, the tentacles on its back lashing out with terrifying speed. "Goddammit!" One wrapped around the arm of Talen’s mecha, its slimy grip threatening to burn through the metal frame like acid. Talen slashed at it with his blade, severing the appendage, but another quickly replaced it. Kael darted to the side, narrowly avoiding a tentacle that smashed into the ground where he originally stood. "!!!" The eldest son felt like he had used all his luck just for that one moment and hoped he wouldn’t need to pull another one. As the creature’s acidic wallow expanded, the air grew thick with the stench of decay, turning the lake’s remnants into a bubbling swamp that threatened to trap their feet if they landed. Talen fought valiantly—or as valiantly as an insect could fight off a stone golem. His blade flashed as he hacked at the tentacles and dodged the snapping maws that emerged from the creature’s shell. Meanwhile, Kael scrambled toward the Jade Vine, the mecha’s hands reaching for the glowing tendrils even as the ground threatened to pull him under or corrode him off. But then it happened. A tentacle coiled around Kael’s leg, dragging him toward one of the gaping maws on the tortoise’s shell. "Father!" he cried out, panic in his voice. Talen roared in fury, lunging toward his caught son, driving the blade into the tentacle to free the tangled mecha. But it was a sacrifice that left him vulnerable. Another tentacle lashed out, wrapping around his torso and pulling him toward the monstrous shell. "Kael! Take the Vine and run!" Talen shouted through their comms, his voice strained as his mecha struggled against the creature’s grip. "I’m not leaving you!" Kael yelled back as his long-held-back tears began to stream down his face. The beast let out another roar as it dragged Talen closer to its shell. The gaping maws opened wide, revealing rows of jagged teeth that looked ready to digest anything they could touch. Kael’s mind raced. He grabbed his dagger and hurled it at the beast’s eye. The creature flinched, momentarily loosening its grip on his Father. Seizing the opportunity, Talen slashed at the tentacle holding him and managed to break free. But their reprieve was short-lived. The ground beneath what they thought was safe gave way entirely, sinking into a bubbling mire created by the beast’s acidic wallow. They had to flee. But the tortoise was relentless, and it was then they realized that what they saw wasn’t its full size. Their escape forced the corrupted tortoise to pull out its limbs to move, causing a sudden shift in the ground. Large trees and parts of the peaks fell on their escaping mechas. They were trapped. Their only consolation was how it buried them away from the beast’s clutches. The Sludgeborn Tortoise circled the area slowly, its glowing eyes watching out for traces. But they were using mechanical mechas, which could hide their presence amidst the aggressive corruption. Their hearts thundered as they prayed not to be spotted. Everything but life support functions were turned off, and all they could console themselves with was the Jade Vine that Kael managed to grab. Talen sank into the cockpit of his mecha, his heart breaking at the thought of the worst-case scenarios. "We’ll find a way out," The father promised, though he wasn’t sure he believed it himself. Kael nodded weakly but refused to let go of the bundle of Jade Vine he had managed to grab during the chaos. It was then that they lost contact with their family back in Planet Nova, which marked the start of Theo’s search for a way to help his likely troubled family. But all that Theo could tell the DG members was that his brother was still alive as his sister-in-law’s contract was still enforced. It was a contract that felt reassuring but threatening, like a stark reminder of what they could lose. *DING!* The anxious student who even asked for a leave of absence suddenly got a ping asking for confirmation. It was his father’s sword, which he used even before being forced to switch to a manually operated mecha. And fighters should never let go of their weapons. Theo’s knees went weak as his entire body turned limp. The poor boy would’ve likely fainted had he not scrolled past the photo sent over by Kyle. [We’ve found traces of fighting but no mecha wreckage. And as for the Jade Vine? I think we’ve found some.] Because they really did. When Luca finished his massive cleaning operations, they were surprised to find strands of stray Jade Vines beneath the land that caved in with this enormous crater. And for that alone, Luca was glad that they decided to check out the area that stood out when they flew over. It was just that, inside Luca’s sea of consciousness, one little system had been so bothered by a giant indicator. Was this a bug? Wasn’t this one single indicator of corruption? Then how come it looked bigger than that mountain? D-29 was confused and couldn’t report because it wasn’t sure about this finding. But this confusion wouldn’t be for much longer. Sadly.

Chapter 173: Trapped

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