Chapter 82: Random Timer
The beast resembled a cross between a snake and a rhino— it’s scales running from its back to its tail as it coiled unnaturally preparing to fire its tail at them.
Mark gritted his teeth as the beast’s eyes narrowed, seemingly assessing its prey.
"Why the hell does it have armor? I thought only Boras looked like that..."
It opened its mouth exposing jagged rows of teeth that were sharp enough to bite through rocks as it took one giant huff...
"ROOOAARRR!!!"
The beast roared, a sound so loud and with so much force that it actually sent them back a few steps. The trees shook and a violent wave spread across the river as the beast prepared to lunge.
It swung its tail, sending a whip of water towards Mark and he rolled out of the way as he watch the attack tea into the trees behind him.
He rolled to his feet and took off running, his gauntlets flaring bright around both fists.
His eyes darted around, looking for a possible angle to strike, and when it landed on Sera, he realised that he hadn’t known her ability yet.
"Sera," Mark called, already circling wide to keep the Makara Golem’s attention split. "How many abilities did you awaken and what are they? I think now’s the time to share."
She drew her blade fully, stance settling low and ready. "I awakened one ability," she said, "[]Weapon’s Edge]. It amplifies whatever I’m holding making it either sharper, hit harder and buff it considerably above what the weapon should be capable of on its own."
Mark’s eyes widened. "That’s great, actually. We can use it to—"
"It’s not that simple." Sera cut him off, hee jaw tightening as her eyes tracked the Golem as it reared back for its next strike. "It activates on its own timing. I don’t control when. Could be any moment from now, could be an hour from now. And once it kicks in, I only get a few minutes before it shuts off again."
Mark slid backwards, swatting another attack.. "Oh okay. How many minutes?"
"It’s random. Sometimes five minutes, sometimes ten. I had it last almost fifteen minutes once, and another time it barely gave me thirty seconds."
She exhaled sharply, frustration bleeding into her voice and anyone watching could clearly see it in face. "I only get a notification before it starts and I don’t get warning before it ends. Just a timer counting down from whatever time it gives me."
Mark tumbled forward and looked at her, outrage etched in his face. "The fuck? Well how have you survived all this time?"
She deflected another attack from the golem’s tail. "i just fight hoping it kicks in when I actually need it."
"Plus," she added, "I had a faction. Meaning I had people buying me time..."
The beast struck again with it’s tail, and Mark absorbed that fast, mind already working through the problem despite the Golem pp preparing to strike again. "Okay... okay I got that. So we can’t build a plan around when it activates. But if it does kick in mid-fight...."
"I’ll know instantly. The difference is obvious." Sera’s grip on her blade tightened. "When it happens, tell me and I’ll make it count."
"Can work with that." Mark planted his feet as the Golem lunged, gauntlets raised. "Bertram, Kai, keep it distracted and moving as much as possible. Keep it away from Sera at all costs."
He turned to Sera. "Sera, stay ready. The second that ability kicks in, you go all in."
Hearing that, she only nodded and watched the rest of the group fight off the beast, hoping the ability would activate as soon as possible.
The Makara Golem crashed forward, jaws snapping wide, and Mark met the strike head on, [Bastion’s Oath] humming as he absorbed the impact and shoved back with everything his body could offer. Bertram darted in from the side, machete carving a shallow line along the creature’s flank, and Kai with hisa spear gripped tight in both hands — jabbed at its exposed underside with something closer to determination than finesse.
"Its scales are harder than I thought," Bertram called, wincing at the resistance his blade met. "Barely scratched it."
"Noted!" Mark ducked under a sweeping tail strike, gauntlets catching the follow up attack. "Sera, anything?"
"Nothing yet!"
He gritted his teeth and charged back forward.
They fought on, the Golem proving stubborn and heavily armored, every strike landing with only shallowly, With little to know effect against its reinforced hide. Mark took the brunt of its attacks, drawing its focus while the others darted in and out, trying as hard as they could to ensure that the beast doesn’t turn to Sera, chipping away at what little damage they could manage, minutes stretching on with no sign of any decisive turn.
[Ding!]
[Skill: Weapon’s Edge has been activated.]
[Your weapon has been enhanced.]
[Time remaining: 2:58]
Then Sera gasped.
"Now!" Her voice cracked with sudden urgency, blade suddenly humming with visible, crackling energy along its edge. "It’s active! Two minutes!"
"GO!" Mark bellowed, throwing himself into the Golem’s path to draw its full attention.
Sera moved fast, blade gleaming as she closed the distance and drove it deep into the same shallow wound Bertram’s machete had already opened.
The strike sank far deeper than it should have, the amplified edge slicing clean through armor that had shrugged off everything else, and the Golem shrieked, staggering backwards into the river.
"That’s it! Keeping hitting the same spot!" Mark shouted, and the rest of the fight became a race against Sera’s unpredictable clock, every one of them funneling their attacks toward the widening wound while her ability still hummed active.
***
Miles away, on a path that passed through jagged, stone covered terrain, Lucas walked at the front of his own group, watching the terrain with a focus that suggested he was expecting something bad to happen.
"If anything comes at us," he said, "I want everyone’s abilities accounted for before it happens. Iris, you’re ranged support. Call your shots, don’t waste arrows on anything that isn’t a confirmed threat. Lora, you’re close quarters, same as always. Pyra, I need you to—"
"Jump in, hit hard, get out," Pyra said, grinning. "I’ve got it memorized by now."
"Good." Lucas allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. "This terrain’s rough. Lots of blind spots between the rock formations too. Stay close enough that—"
**WHAM**
Something struck Lora from above.
The impact sent her flying sideways into a boulder, hard enough that the crack of impact echoed across the stony path, and Lucas barely registered the blur of motion before something struck him too, a brutal impact across his shoulder that spun him off his feet and sent him crashing into the hard ground.
"Argh!"
"Lucas!" Iris’s voice came, sharp with alarm as her head spun scanning the sky.
"I didn’t even see it!" Pyra spun in a slow circle, claws extended and eyes darting across every visible angle. "Where did it come from!"
Lucas forced himself upright, pain flaring across his shoulder as he searched the sky himself, finding nothing — no silhouette, no shadow, nothing to explain the speed of whatever had just hit both him and Lora just now...
"It’s fast," he mumbled, gritting his teeth and watching Lora stir weakly against the boulder, alive but clearly dazed. "Faster than I’d like to give it credit for."
’If I can’t see it coming, maybe I can make it come to me.’
[Ding!]
[Skill: Ignition has been activated]
He activated [Ignition] around both fists, the flame roaring bright against the grey sky over head, deliberately visible and as bright as he could manage.
"Come on then!" he shouted, planting his feet and bracing for the impact he expected to draw toward himself instead of the others.
It worked exactly as well and exactly as poorly as he’d feared.
The creature struck him again, faster than his eyes could track even as he was watching for it directly, a brutal blow across his ribs that drove the air from his lungs entirely and sent him skidding hard across the stone path.
Then it was gone again, back into the sky before he’d even finished falling, no trace of it visible anywhere above.
"It’s not coming to us! it’s just hitting and running!" Iris shouted, arrows already firing even though she had nothing visible to aim at.
[Ding!]
[Warning: Avalion Class entity detected.]
[You have encountered an Avalion Golem.]
[Objective: Slay the beast.]
[Survival probability: 29%]
Lucas stared at the number through the haze of pain, chest heaving against ribs that made breathing feel wrong.
He blinked. ’Twenty-nine percent? And against one creature we haven’t even properly seen yet too.’
The thought settled cold in his stomach, as dread started clawing at him.
He looked at the survival probability again and clenched his jaw. Either his system was glitching out again or they were in deep trouble...