Weapons of Mass Destruction

My mana reserves are much lower now; that is how much it took to survive the island's ‘landing’, along with the explosions, especially the one caused by the black mana destabilizing.

Still, I'm grateful to the monster for showing me what I can survive, and I thank it for reminding me not to underestimate my opponents, no matter how capable I believe myself to be. As the hydra has proven, I should be assuming that everyone has a trick or two up their sleeve.

One of the heads bursts open under strain as the beast overclocks its processing. The earth beneath it bulges and launches a barrage of stone javelins.

I don't even attempt to block it; instead, I teleport, appearing closer. Another head bulges as the hydra attempts to use that skill to disrupt my ability to teleport and hold me in place, but this time, I’ve come prepared.

The attempt washes over me and does succeed in restraining me, but I expand my [Mana Domain] and pull [Eclipse] tight against my skin, breaking through to teleport once again, reappearing right in front of the hydra.

Another head explodes, and it teleports again.

Three heads remain, but another one regenerates in the meantime.

I watch it; I estimate the regeneration speed and observe the order in which it happens. I also note that, for some reason, the Hydra does not want to let me get close. I follow it on foot, using Wraith Dance multiple times as I weave between the trees, attendees, and the attacks raining down on me.

Lightning, stone spears, ice, and flames. All are massively destructive, ripping the forest apart and killing anyone who gets too close, but the hydra keeps moving further away. It sacrifices multiple heads as it reaches the rough sea and begins to slither across the surface. Lightning from the storm cracks through the air nearby, and rain begins to fall, accompanied by hurricane force winds.

As we face each other, the hydra teleports again, deeper into the storm, and I follow. Lightning strikes my armor, the wind tries to hurl me through the air, and water crashes over me.

I can barely see the hydra through the shadow of the dark clouds covering the sky and the torrential downpour of rain that falls in their wake. But finally prepared, I charge using Pulser Stance, advancing in a series of small leaps as I evade the beast’s attacks.

The hydra harnesses the lightning above and directs it at me, then compresses the water around it into laser-like streams to cut me apart.

I move unpredictably, stepping between attacks and extending the reach of [Redistribution] toward the storm. Everything within the spherical area of my influence grows still. The winds cease their rampage, the air growing dead still, while the surface of the sea settles, smooth as glass, serene as a mountain lake on a windless day. It becomes quiet, and the hydra roars.

Two of its heads twist and break apart as it tries to hold me in place again. But this time, I break through immediately, moving closer, taking a series of quick steps that don't so much as stir the water around us.

It tries to teleport, but I release a burst of kinetic energy I had been gathering from the storm's turbulence. This burst strikes the nearest head, which shows signs of being wounded, causing the teleportation to fail. I send two more bursts, detonating the second head with one while the beast fends off the other.

[Redistribution] surrounds the beast, and I amplify it with black mana. This time, I am the one holding it back, nullifying all of its movements.

Three heads remain, and I already know which one to target. Before it can react, [Empyrean Lance] pierces through another head.

My armor expands to match the size of the beast, and I release my grip on the storm. Rain starts falling again, and the wind howls as waves tear through the surface of the sea when I crash into it.

I grab one of the two remaining heads, my heart racing as it converts mana into kinetic energy. I squeeze tightly, crushing the head until it bursts like the other.

Then I grab the last head, but before I can do anything, it explodes on its own. Blood sprays over me, sizzling as it burns through my mana, even as the rain begins washing it away.

It reaches my body, searing my skin and disrupting my mana. My shoulder and back burn as the flesh melts away, exposing bone. It would have spread further, but I disrupt the mana within the blood and break down the structure of the skill. The blood returns to normal, reverting to a simple, if hot, red liquid.

I sense movement behind me and strengthen my armor.

Taking advantage of my distraction, a jet-like stream of water slashes diagonally across my armor, barely stopped by the final layer before it manages to cut me apart.

The regenerated hydra head bites into me, sending constant bursts of lightning through the armor. The storm fuels it, with bolts striking the hydra, surging through its body, and pouring into me.

Locking eyes with that piercing blue gaze, I reinforce my armor. I continue to knit and weave my mana, using Ley Lines to form new layers to redirect the lightning. More kinetic energy builds within me.

At that moment, my mind is clear and calm, leaving no room for anything but single minded focus on continuing the fight and managing my abilities.

As the tail strikes toward my breastplate, in an attempt to skewer my body, another arm grows from my back and catches it, holding it in place. My other two hands reach for the hydra's head, gripping it from both sides as I begin to squeeze.

The lightning intensifies, surging from the hydra's mouth as it blasts against my armor and reaches for my head. Layers crack and shatter one after another until only the final one remains, barely holding against the assault.

I don't even blink.

The beast's red blood continues to spray against my mana, eating into it and sizzling despite the fierce wind and heavy rain. The lightning intensifies, as the hydra strains in desperation, striking me again and again as I rebuild my defenses.

Control slips from the hydra, and lightning tears into its body. Desperate to escape, it tries to pull away, but I hold tight, squeezing even harder.

Its skull cracks, and the feedback of the kinetic vibrations it creates reaches me. One of its eyes bulges out and bursts open.

With one final push, I power up the armor and slam my hands together, the skull bursting open between my palms in an explosion of flesh, brain, and blood.

Even with its heavy demands on my concentration, I slightly lift the seal around the Ignition Heart, letting it beat a few times. Each heartbeat unleashes a surge of thermal energy, golden flames erupting around me. They fuel my healing passive, evaporate the water collecting on my skin, boiling the sea below me before finally crashing against the hydra’s body, scorching the stumps of its seven severed heads, rolling off the creature’s onyx scales time and again before finally breaking through.

The fourth special-grade beast has been defeated. The remaining special-grade beast has sensed the death of the other four. It will know who killed them and their locations at all times.

I teleport away in a short series of leaps, as the storm hits the beach and continues onto the mainland. Even the islands floating in the sky find themselves forced to move under the oppressive winds. I check the time and confirm the state of the countdown.

Then I take a break from hunting the other monsters. Instead, I fly to the top of one of the islands and, repeating my previous strategy, break into the vault containing one of those huge hearts. Once there, I anchor another Ley Line and make my way back outside, then I continue stretching it over to another island, at which point I make my way to a similar room.

The two Ley Lines connect, and I continue to stretch that line. I start teleporting between the two locations, setting up inscriptions made out of Ley Lines or threads of mana that I weave and knit if I need more flexibility. I even break apart parts of the room and melt the mana-conductive materials, using them to add to the web of inscriptions I'm assembling.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Every few minutes, I check the timer until Lissandra releases the last beast, and at the right time, I create two javelins made of black mana, each of which pierces one of the hearts, only to start absorbing the mana once again.

My inscriptions temporarily prevent it from eating into the web I just made, and the black mana instead targets an easier source: the mana generated by the heart.

A bit over one hour remains, and I’m sitting inside one of these rooms, examining the process: taking notes on the way black mana absorbs other mana, the difference in how it affects me with Mana Wavelength Tyrant on vs. how it affects me when it’s off, and the way black mana reacts with the current iteration of [Ley Line].

I examine the inscriptions making up the room as well: the ones around the heart, those around the hand, and the set empowering the hand to heal the heart. The two sorts of liquid pumped into the head, one pale blue and the other as red as blood, capture my attention.

There are plenty of materials I don't really know yet, and pathways carved in ways I never imagined. It's something I'm sure I could spend days, even weeks, examining and experimenting with.

At some point, I sense a familiar presence approaching, so I stay where I am. It doesn't rush, taking its time to reach me.

It enters the tunnels, passes through them, and sometimes stops for a minute or two to curiously examine something new it finds. There is even a point where it gets distracted and follows the beasts that appear, just to observe them.

After a while, it seems to get bored and turns to head right for me. When it gets close, I switch to my normal sight and watch Myrra enter through the hole I’ve made in the metal door.

"Hello, feral one!"

"Hello, Myrra."

"You don't seem to be having a good day."

"It could be worse. Are you here with a message, or are you just here to mess around?"

"Hehe, I would say it’s more of the latter. Is it safe to come closer?" She gestures at the pillar with the heart and my spear piercing through it.

"If you stay close to me."

"Got it," she says, moving quickly in nimble, long steps, and sits on the ground next to me.

For the next five minutes, she stares at the pillar, the black spear, and the huge heart. Her yellow eyes are wide open, as her tail sways from side to side.

"You never asked me for my subclass, feral one."

"I’ve heard from a reliable source that it's super rude to ask that sort of question."

"But you are rude."

"... What is your subclass, Myrra?"

"It's greed. Maybe that's why she “likes” me, if you could call it that. You don't have to tell me yours; I already know." She flashes me a smile, placing her fangs on full display.

"Okay." I nod.

Her hand moves up, and with the tips of her fingers, she carefully touches the scar that runs horizontally across her nose and a small part of her face, something I'm sure she could have removed if she wanted to.

In the light down here, the surface of the scar glistens in stark contrast to the rest of her skin. The light making it appear deeper and redder.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Tess."

"I understand."

To my surprise, the response only seems to annoy her, the motions of her tail betraying her emotions.

"I hate it when you use that concentration skill." She stands up swiftly. "I will see you after the event, and, feral one... good luck."

After that, she forfeits the event and disappears to watch from the outside, possibly under Lissandra's instructions.

Her words feel off... as if I missed something important.

Three.

Two.

One.

One hour remains, and for the first time since the start of the event, I receive a notification from the system.

Congratulations! You have survived until the final hour of the event. One hour remains.

The following beasts have been defeated:

Onyxscale Hydra

Stormscale Basilisk

Emberhorn Behemoth

Nightshade Stalker

The special-grade beast Witherclaw has managed to survive and will now rapidly grow in strength in step with the event’s settings!

Thirty minutes before the end of the event, its strength will grow rapidly. Ten minutes before the end of the event, it will attain the rank of Champion and beyond!

Current points awarded for defeating the Witherclaw: 15,000.

Points will increase by 500 per minute until the 30-minute mark, then by 1,000 per minute.

At the 10-minute mark, they will increase by 5,000 per minute.

At the 1-minute mark, they will increase by 10,000 per second.

At the 30-second mark, the point value of Witherclaw will increase by 100,000 per second.

I reread it a few times before I look at the other notification.

It is now possible to see the rankings of the second event!

Then the current rankings start to appear in the holographic window before me, listing placement after placement.

10th - 5,401 points - Brainiac

9th - 6,120 points - Grumpy

8th - 6,580 points - Tacita

7th - 6,751 points - Renji Hayakawa

Five more placements appear, including a few names I don't recognize. I know not all of the "Kings" are suited for hunting groups of opponents, but it's good to see a Beyonder in the rankings. It clearly means that the top dog of the round isn't fixed, after all, every round should have at least a few people competing for the top spot.

6th - 6,940 points - Maxim Sarov

That Russian boy with shadow creatures and void energy is interesting. I hadn’t expected his abilities to be quite so effective against large numbers of opponents.

As more names appear, I find myself thinking of trivial things to distract myself.

5th - 7,050 points - Agni

Another new face.

4th - 7,888 points - CarrotCake

I expected him to be at least that high.

3rd - 16,300 points - Victoria

So it was probably 10,000 points for the special-grade beast, but then that would mean Victoria earned the rest from the normal beasts?

When the second place appears, I feel myself calm down.

2nd - 19,700 points - Yama

Good.

The last name spot appears. And next to it is a single-word name.

But it's not mine.

1st - 37,600 points - Hadwin

And one more. My placement

26,576th - 0 points - Noname