Chapter 251: Through the Mountain’s Spine (3)
"Now, it’s your turn, Golden Goose!"
Arlok suddenly dug his heels into the ground, then spun around to face the three charging golems. He gripped his poleaxe with both hands as mana surged through the weapon, while a faint brown glow spread across its blade.
Then, he brought the poleaxe crashing into the earth.
[Groundbreaker]
BOOOOM!!
The ground exploded beneath the three Gravelclad Golems.
A wide crater collapsed under their massive weight, causing all three of them to lose their footing before crashing into the pit one after another.
The giant stone bodies struggled to climb back out, but every movement only made more loose earth collapse beneath them.
"Good work, Arlok!" Ruvian shouted.
Without wasting another second, he flicked his wrist.
A small glass bottle flew through the air before dropping straight into the middle of the crater.
Clink!
The bottle shattered.
The next instant, a blinding flash swallowed the pit.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
A deafening explosion erupted from inside the crater, sending a towering pillar of fire and shattered stone high into the sky. The shockwave swept across the valley, while countless chunks of rock rained in every direction.
The bodies of the three Gravelclad Golems were blown apart; arms, legs, shoulders, and broken slabs of stone scattered across the battlefield.
Before the shattered pieces could even begin pulling themselves back together, Ruvian’s voice rang out.
"Now!"
"Don’t let those cores regenerate!"
Shima cast [Lightning Step].
Purple lightning burst around Shima’s feet.
Crackle!
In the next second, she disappeared from where she stood, then flashed across the battlefield like a streak of light. Her falchion crackled with lightning as she reached the first shattered golem before anyone else.
Shing!
Her blade sliced straight through the exposed stone chest.
Crack!
A crimson crystal hidden inside split cleanly into two.
At the same moment, Horren had already drawn his bow. The arrow shot forward with a sharp whistle, carried by a powerful stream of wind.
Whoosh!
Then, it pierced through the scattered rocks before striking the last exposed core dead center.
Crack!
Fine cracks spread across the crystal. Then it exploded into countless fragments.
A second later, flames swept across the battlefield as Yerin arrived just a step behind the other two. Her flaming sword traced a bright arc through the air as she cut the last core.
With that, the broken stone scattered across the crater stopped moving. None of the shattered pieces floated back together.
The Gravelclad Golems had finally stopped regenerating.
Then, a familiar voice echoed inside their minds.
[You have slain 3 Gravelclad Golems!]
[You have earned +9 Mana Resonance!]
*****
[You have received +3,000 Plot Points!]
’Huh? That’s more than I expected. I guess taking down three Wretched-Rank Voidspawns in just a few minutes counts as a pretty good feat by the system.’ Ruvian thought.
Yerin wiped the dust from her face with the back of her hand, then looked at the three lifeless piles of stone inside the crater.
"We... we actually did it," she said, her eyes widening. "We actually killed three Wretched-Rank Voidspawns!"
Horren slowly raised both hands onto his head.
"Holy... what kind of potion was that?" he blurted out. "That thing blew three Wretched-Rank Voidspawns into pieces!"
Ruvian rubbed the back of his hand at his clothes with a proud smile.
"My friend made those," he said. "He’s really good at making all kinds of strange potions, and before I left for the island, I took some from him."
He shrugged.
"Though I wasn’t expecting to use one this early."
The next second, a thick arm suddenly wrapped around Ruvian’s shoulders.
"HAHAHAHA!" Arlok laughed loudly.
The giant man’s arm squeezed tighter around his neck, making Ruvian’s face twitch as he struggled to breathe.
"You! What is wrong with you?" Arlok said between laughs.
"Every time I think I’ve already seen your best trick, you pull out another crazy artifact or some insane item from nowhere. Tell me the truth, are you really not some noble brat pretending to be a commoner?"
Ruvian’s lips twitched.
’Is he serious? What kind of noble would willingly disguise himself as a commoner?’
Shima quietly looked toward the shattered remains scattered across the crater. "...We really defeated three Wretched-Rank Voidspawns in just a few minutes," she murmured.
Even now, it still didn’t feel real for her.
"Ah, right, the Voidshards!" Horren suddenly exclaimed.
He quickly climbed down into the crater and carefully searched through the broken rocks. After a few moments, he found three white crystals buried beneath the rubble, then stored all of them inside his bracelet.
A familiar notification appeared before his eyes.
[+280 Points have been added to your bracelet!]
[Horren’s Points: 460 Pts]
[Squad Points: 740 Pts]
Arlok reached down and grabbed Horren’s wrist, then pulled him up from the crater with a single strong tug.
"So, we’re already at 740 points for today," Arlok said while dusting off his hands. "But I bet the other squads have gained way more than us by now."
Horren landed on solid ground and stretched his arms above his head. "Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if some squads already passed a thousand."
Shima crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly. "Well, that’s to be expected," she said in a calm tone.
"We spent half of the second day resting, after all. Most squads probably hunted through the entire day without stopping."
Yerin let out a small sigh. "It can’t be helped," she muttered. "We needed that rest after everything that happened."
The group fell silent for a moment, their gazes drifting toward the distant mountain range ahead.
Ruvian glanced at the sky, noticing how the light had already started to shift toward a deeper orange. He turned back toward the others with a steady expression.
"Don’t worry, we’ll catch up soon enough."
He raised one hand and pointed toward the silver crystal.
"We still have those dungeon prototypes to wrap up our today’s points," he continued. "If we move now, and clear it before nightfall, we might close the gap, at least."
Arlok’s eyes lit up at those words.
"Now that’s what I like to hear!"
Ruvian turned and started walking toward the silver crystal. "Let’s go. We only have a few hours left before the sun sets."
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[Chapter 251: Through the Mountain’s Spine (3)]
Plot Points= 15,100