Chapter 23: Chapter 23 - Untouchable
[The Fourth Wave has begun.]
I lunged first, dashing straight towards the beast and leaping for its skittering body as I brought my axe above my head, and then cleaved it downward in a sharp arc, strength and precision behind the strike.
Steel met carapace.
CLANG.
Sparks, nothing more. The blade skipped uselessly off its frozen armor. No dent. No chip. Not even a mark. The vibration shuddered up my arms, the kind that reminded me of when I’d swung my axe at the same white tiles I stood on.
And to add to the wound, the damn beast was acting like it had felt nothing. My grip tightened around the axe as I squared up and swung again, a clean, downward chop, this time with all my weight behind it.
CLANG.
Again. Nothing.
The beast’s mandibles clacked, as if amused, and then it moved, snapping its long body like a whip barbed with its own razor-sharp legs. A deafening KRAK thundered through the air as its own frost plates collided against each other from the whipping motion, creating a force that took my mind straight back to that first fight in the core against the Gorge Wolves.
The points of three of its massive legs raked into my chest, and then the force launched me, sending me hurtling across the 100 meter wide chamber, to slam straight into the wall about 15 meters above the ground.
There had been trees to slow me down in the Core, but here, in open air, there was nothing to stop my violent displacement.
My body slid off the unharmed wall, vision flickering as I fell straight back down to the ground with a wet THUD.
[Your Torso has been shredded by a Frost-Rot Centipede.]
[All ribs have been broken by a Frost-Rot Centipede.]
[Your Lungs have collapsed.]
[23 of 26 vertebrae have been shattered by a wall.]
...
Tens upon tens of damage report prompts rained down on me, with even a few new damage types.
[The flesh, organs and blood in your chest have been frozen.]
[You have been inflicted with severe frostbite : x10]
[The flesh, organs and blood in your chest are decaying rapidly.]
[You have been inflicted with severe rot: x10]
And while the new damage types were welcome, the sheer number of prompts was so large that it actually confused me for a moment.
I should be far, far tougher now with [Impact Resistance IX] and [Slash Resistance VIII]. So why does the damage feel as serious, perhaps even worse than the time I faced the Gorge-Wolves?
But then I recalled how the resistance skill descriptions were worded.
’...Damage Negation against all {dmg type} classified within the Bronze Rank.’
Or in other words, there would be zero damage negation for anything classified as beyond the bronze rank.
I almost swore in frustration as my body finally started regenerating, but when I saw the System Prompts that followed, I realized that perhaps this fact would actually be beneficial rather than detrimental.
[Host’s [Impact Resistance] has increased greatly: x6]
[Host’s [Pierce Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[Host’s [Slash Resistance] has increased greatly: x7]
[The Skill [Slash Resistance VIII] has been upgraded to [Slash Resistance IX].]
[Host’s [Decay Resistance] has increased greatly: x10]
[The Skill [Decay Resistance I] has been acquired.]
[The Skill [Decay Resistance I] has been upgraded to [Decay Resistance II].]
[The Skill [Decay Resistance II] has been upgraded to [Decay Resistance III].]
[Host’s [Ice Resistance] has increased greatly: x10]
[The Skill [Ice Resistance I] has been acquired.]
[The Skill [Ice Resistance I] has been upgraded to [Ice Resistance II].]
[The Skill [Ice Resistance II] has been upgraded to [Ice Resistance III].]
Usually, upgrading resistance skills got harder the higher level they were, because it was harder to take damage. But that wasn’t the case at all here, and I could reap the benefits.
I stood slowly, still a little unstable from the injuries, but when I finally looked up, the beast was already upon me.
And this time, its mandibles went straight for my head. I ducked and rolled aside best I could. The beast rammed straight into the tiled wall, but the blade-like appendages still managed to sever my entire left arm.
[Your left arm has been severed by a Frost-Rot Centipede.]
[Host’s [Slash Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
I planted my palm into the tile and kicked off the roll, sprinting before I’d even fully found my feet. My boots hammered the floor as I darted behind the beast, and vaulted onto its back.
Segment after segment rattled under me as I sprinted along its length, that deadly white-purple vapor hissing up from all around me. Frost stung my skin raw, rot burned in my nose and in my lungs, but I kept moving until the jagged ridges of its head loomed ahead.
The centipede’s skull was still tilted against the wall, lightly concussed from its failed charge. I raised the greataxe one-handed and brought it straight down into the crown of its head.
CLANG.
The steel rebounded.
My jaw clenched. Not even a scratch.
The greataxe lowered.
Unless I figure out how to Channel mana at will...this thing is untouchable.
I caught sight of my severed arm right below the beast’s swaying head. It was always better to have both arms.
I leapt forward and over its head without hesitation, and dashed out again the same way I had last time, snatching my severed arm as I passed. Blood dripped in my wake as I bolted across the chamber, but pressing the two stumps against each other, my arm was re-attached in seconds.
Then... silence. Too much silence.
I risked a glance back. The centipede was gone.
I skidded to a halt, eyes sweeping the chamber.
Nothing.
Where---
CLACK. CLACK.
Above.
My head snapped up just in time to see the pale blue bulk uncoiling from the ceiling. It dropped like a train falling off a cliff, sparks flying as its mandibles snapped repeatedly.
Frost plates slammed into me, mandibles tore, dozens of hooked legs raked. My body came apart in ribbons.
The world was agony.