From the darkness of the horde, Leta could hear a loud but deep clicking noise that sounded as if someone had super-sized an insect.
From the shadows, a giant mandible arm shot out of the hole and nearly impaled a distracted Loupgaru. The arm had a blackened hard shell encasing it like a crab, but on closer inspection, she saw a sparse layer of thick hairs covering it, and its tip sharpened to an obsidian point.
Like a jackhammer, the spider arm tried to find purchase in the Onikuma carcass, stabbing repeatedly as it chipped away the corpse’s thick stone hide.
The rapid ‘tink-tink-tink’ of its deadly arm was like a piston engine, moving so fast that it was a blur of motion until, with a shriek, it found a footing and tried to pull the corpse back into the shadows.
A sickening, slurping sound like meat being ripped from bone loudly echoed from the shadows as the unseen creature quickly devoured what remained of the Onikuma.
Whatever it was, it was hungry, and it had no issue with destroying the room as it pushed and heaved from the other side of the door to drag the body back into the darkness. A large chunk of concrete as big as a rib cage broke free from the threshold, allowing more of the Onikuma’s corpse to slip back into the shadows as monsters pushed their way over the body and into the room.
Hayato called out over the roar of creatures, “Thirty seconds!”
“Leta!” Atreus’s sword cut through a Loupgaru as he shouted her name. “Bring down the building!”
Spear in hand, Leta channeled the storm outside as the inscriptions on her weapon glowed white-blue. It felt like taking in a deep breath before firing a shot, but this time, her lungs felt like they were the size of a blue whale as she drew in more and more energy.
“Twenty seconds!”
She could feel the weapon vibrating violently in her grip as the spear tip turned blinding white. It was getting uncomfortable even for her to hold it or even look at the spear in her hand.
The Onikuma’s snout disappeared into the darkness as a squelching, nauseating sound of something large being eaten could be heard just above the spear’s hum.
From the shadowed entrance, four more mandible arms shot forward. They connected at a thorax that was too large to be a spider but too round to be a crab. Instead of an animal head, though, the thorax thrust upwards to form a very humanoid-shaped abdomen covered in the same black and gray plating as its legs. Above a thick set of chest armor and balanced on an abnormally long neck was a face with flat slits for a nose that flared as it scented the air. Large, completely black eyes had two additional pairs of smaller eyes framing them at the temples.
It hissed and screeched as two of the smaller mandibles in the front clacking on its joints as its black eyes centered on her.
“Oh, hell no.” Leta cursed as, with a loud crack of thunder, a torrent of electricity as thick as bridge cables shot through the creature where the humanoid part connected to the spider-crab part, ripping it in half.
It shrieked in pain as the two pieces separated, its arms and part of its chest disintegrating as it fell into the beam.
[The Host has learned the skill, Plasma Torrent: Level One.]
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
[Warning. Prolonged use of Plasma Torrent will destroy nanites within the Weapon.]
[Weapon weave sustainability at 95%]
‘Shit!’
She could see another spider crab monster illuminated by the Torrent being blown apart behind the first as the entrance caved in on itself in an explosion of dust and concrete.
[Weapon weave sustainability at 85%]
What remained of the TV screens clattered to the ground in a spray of electrical parts as the Sect covered their heads from chucks of stone that rained down from the spiderweb cracks in the ceiling.
The surrounding lights flickered ominously, and the ground shook and rumbled, and the roof threatened to give way above them.
[Weapon weave sustainability at 70%]
“Ten seconds! Rein it in!”
With a grunt, Leta severed her hold on the energy she’d been channeling, the smell of ozone filling the air as the Torrent faded from existence.
Her spear tip was smoking as the lights above them flickered out, leaving the fiery glow of her spear the only illumination in the dust-filled room.
“3!..2!…”
From the shadowy darkness, the face of a spider crab monster came screeching, its fang-filled mouth opened wide, both of its human arms and front mandibles reaching for them as the Gate bubble snapped shut.
Once again, Leta floated weightlessly in the void, feeling ice particles cover her skin as if the vacuum of space had flung them there.
Just as quickly as it appeared, the bubble popped, and something threw the Sect onto the dirt-covered ground as clumsily as children throwing dice.
“Fuck! Ow!” Leta cursed as she landed on the side of a stone stairway, her hands scrapping as she caught herself from rolling into the night.
Around her, she could hear the groans and grunts of the Chosen as they rolled to their feet and checked themselves for damage.
Other than some scrapped knees and wounded pride, everyone had made it out alive, a feat that surprised even them.
“Blessed gods, we made it out.” De Mar sighed with relief, taking in lungs full of dust-free air.
“Where’d you drop us, lad?” Allister groaned as Bonnie shook her fur out like a wet dog.
Hayato was already on his feet, daggers in hand, his eyes scanning around them as if ready for another attack. “Attican Grove.” He answered. “Good hiding spots in the brush if needed and centralized enough to get a bearing.”
A sudden flash got Leta’s attention as she rose to her feet. She’d landed on stone steps leading down a gravel path to an open gazebo overlooking the city.
On a typical Thursday night, it would have shown a beautiful, unobstructed view of the Athens skyline, the buildings twinkling in the night with the Acropolis lit up like an immortal observer, never changing as the world below its rocky post moved onward.
Instead, she saw a prelude to hell.
“Oh my god…”
Her stunned exhale caught the attention the rest of the Chosen as they stepped forward to join her under the gazebo.
“Gods above.” Allister breathed in shock.
Below their rocky perch, they watched a city under siege.
Fires had broken out across the city, and some buildings were completely engulfed as thick smoke filled the air. Horns were blaring, and people were screaming. Here and there, they could hear the staccato of machine gun fire and ammunition in the streets.
To the left, they could see several helicopters taking off from a tall set of buildings that Atreus pointed out was the Hellenic Ministry of Defense.
Far off in the distance, they could just make out the muzzle flash of gunboats at sea, though it was too far to tell where they were firing at this distance.
From the port, they watched a stream of anti-missile fire light the sky, tiny explosions catching in the air as they found their targets.
Storm clouds had gathered above their heads, threatening to let loose their rain as arches of lightning crackled in the clouds.
Among the columns of smoke and burning buildings, the lights of the Acropolis continued to illuminate the ancient structure, the haze of destruction making it look like a ghost hanging above the city.