Nexus Games [Chapter 37]

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Working hard... Also, I need to come up with artwork for the Frith Guild. HMMM.

—Chapter 37—

—The Second Key—

The massive centipede had yet to spot them. Kellan hesitated, the lower half of his body still in the sewer, his elbows on the street as he stared, breath held.

Name: Quixtitan

Race: Greater Yami

Magics: Magma, Body

Rank:Impossible

Armor Rating: 10

Health: 60

Stats:

Strength—14 [Strong-Jaw]

Dexterity—10

Fortitude—3 [Slender]

Intelligence—1

Perception—8

Willpower—1 [Animal]

Abilities:

Death Grip—The yami will not release its pincers until it dies.

The bunny in the creature’s grip…

It wasn’t real. It was a stuffed animal. The centipede carried the bunny across the street, the wave-like movement of the centipede’s legs both disgusting and hypnotizing. Although Kellan didn’t know for sure, he was confident the stuffed animal had a Nexus Game key.

That has to be it. It’s a seek and destroy game… The Arbiter wants us to destroy the yami.

The beast was at least 400 feet away, and it was large enough that it could easily fit across a four-lane road. How fast was it?

Sen grabbed Kellan’s shoulder and tugged him toward the surface. “Quickly!”

The harsh shrill of his youthful voice attracted the yami. And then Kellan got to see the monster’s speed. The centipede whipped its head around to face them, its legs picking up pace, and its tail lifting, similar to a scorpion. A string shone in the scarlet lighting.

“Goddammit,” Kellan breathed.

He hefted himself out of the sewer, but by the time his feet were on the street, the yami was already 100 feet closer.

Too fast. Kellan couldn’t carry Sen, and protect Hank, while outrunning the monster. It was an impossibility.

“Run!” Sen commanded. “There! Take me into that dwelling.” He pointed to a two-story house across the road, the kind of thing found in cookie-cutter American suburbs.

The Tyranny Worms didn’t care that this was a terrible idea. They clawed at Kellan’s insides, compelling him to grab Sen. The centipede monster rushed closer, and Kellan gritted his teeth, knowing this would result in disaster.

“No,” he growled.

But the pain of the Tyranny Worms…

They fought against him, trying to fulfill Sen’s demands. Kellan didn’t care.

He spent a point of his mana—bringing him down to eight—and activated his Ignore Pain ability. The clawing of the worms didn’t irritate him anymore. Even though it felt like he was slogging through mud, he could move himself without listening to Sen.

The yami was within 50 feet.

Instead of running across the street, Kellan leapt back down into the sewer. He missed the ladder, fell past Hank, and then hit the ground rolling. He probably hurt himself—some sort of damage notification flashed across his vision—but he felt great. No agony. No impairment to his vision.

Kellan got to his feet, his movements sluggish from the worms, or broken bones, he wasn’t sure.

Sen flailed around in his arms.

“What’re you doing, you cretin! How dare you disobey me!”

Hank quickly climbed down the ladder, his eyes wide and his hands sweaty.

The centipede slammed at the manhole, but it was too wide to fit through, just as Kellan had expected. But that didn’t deter the beast. It screeched as it slammed his head and pincers against the hole, cracking the cement and widening the hole.

The stuffed animal remained in its grip, even as the monster rearranged the street.

Kellan dropped Sen and brought up his rifle. He fired at the beast, his bullets impacting on the centipede’s armor. He dealt some damage—breaking into the soft center of the monster—but it wasn’t nearly enough. The centipede cracked the manhole open and fit half its body into the underground before Kellan could even manage to deal ten damage.

“We’re going to die,” Hank shouted as he backed away from the ladder, trembling the entire way. “We’re going to die.”

“You should’ve listened to me!” Sen yelled, adding his voice to the chorus of panic.

The yami broke the manhole open enough that the beast fell into the sewer, a rain of debris and dust coming with it. Kellan shoved Sen out of the way and then leapt back himself, putting a small amount of distance between him and the beast.

But the centipede lashed with its tail. A curved stinger cut Kellan along his side.

Four damage.

Kellan felt none of it. He felt his own hot blood, however. It soaked into his shirt and pants, causing him to shiver.

Without any other words, Sen ran over and touched the back of his leg. A flood of warmth filled Kellan’s entire being. The damage disappeared—his skin stitched itself together long before the Tyranny Worms could do anything.

“Keep fighting!” Sen barked.

Kellan was beyond tired of the obvious commands.

The centipede coiled the front half of its body while its tail thrashed around the cramped space. The stinger caught Kellan a second time—three damage—cutting up Kellan’s gut and slicing part of his ribs. Again, Sen healed him before his insides were on the floor, but Kellan knew Sen’s mana had a limit.

They were losing too fast.

“We’re going to die,” Hank said, clearly so mired in dread he couldn’t come up with any other words to express himself.

“No one is going to die,” Kellan stated.

Defiant and determined, he unslung his backpack and rummaged through the insides.

The centipede swung its tail, slashing some of the wall, busting half the ladder, and carving a furrow in the floor. Its bullet holes wept blood, and that was all Kellan cared about.

The monster had low fortitude.

The hydra venom said it was lethal if the target failed its fortitude check—but Kellan’s blitzkrieg analysis hadn’t told him the exact number for the check. He had intended to research it later, but he wasn’t going to have a later if he didn’t get out of the current situation.

Unencumbered by Sen’s presence, Kellan stepped into the darkness, slipped across the floor with the ease of a shadow. He exited the void next to the yami’s head. After removing the stopper, Kellan tossed the tiny vial of hydra venom. The dark liquid splashed across the beast’s injuries—a tiny trickle, barely anything.

The gargantuan centipede shuddered.

Its tail thrashed once more.

And then it collapsed to the floor of the sewer. Dead.

Ten red arcana sprouted from the small puddle of blood around the beast’s head. They glittered with inner power, even in the dark.

Kellan let out a long breath. Then he ran both his hands through his hair, more adrenaline in his veins than blood. He rubbed his eyes and smiled to himself. At least it was over. He had done it.

No casualties.

Hank laughed. It was nervous and awkward, but genuine. “No one died?” He laughed again, did a twirl, and then pumped a hand in the air. “Hot damn! You did it! That’s how you make spaghetti and meatballs, right there!”

What a bizarre saying. Kellan refused to comment, but he was glad Hank was happy. “You’re welcome.”

“Thank you, man. Thank you. Seriously, thank you.”

“Wait, was that hydra venom?” Sen hurried over to the corpse of the centipede. He placed his small hands on the carapace of the monster. “You used hydra venom? Where did you get that? When did you get it?”

“In Pan Town,” Kellan said.

“Why?”

“I purchased it just in case I would need it.”

Sen held his breath for a long moment. Then he finally whispered, “You were going to kill me, weren’t you? That’s why you got this.” He stepped away from the centipede. “That’s why you didn’t tell me about it!” His volume had increased with each accusing word.

After a sigh, Kellan shook his head. “I wasn’t planning to murder you. I was planning to murder the Tyranny Worms.” He ripped the stuffed bunny out of the centipede’s pincers, delighted to finally have some of his goals in his hands.

“You pathetic liar. The hydra venom would’ve killed you if you injected it.” Sen threw his long hair over his shoulder. “Joke’s on you. My body magic makes me immune to poison and venom. Your plan never would’ve worked.”

“I wasn’t going to kill you,” Kellan said. He shot Sen a glare, but something drew his attention.

A spindly arm had reached through the narrow pathway in the far tunnel. The fish-hook claws and disgusting human hand belong to none other than the Kuji. Before Kellan could call out, the long arm reached all the way over to Hank. The Kuji dug its claws deep into Hank’s shoulder.

The man screamed as the Kuji jerked him backward. He fell to the sewer floor, and the spider dragged him toward the narrow passageway.

The Kuji was clearly too long to get into their side of the sewer, but if it pulled Hank through the narrow walkway, it would have no trouble decapitating him just like the Kuji had done with Fern.

Kellan shoved the stuffed animal into the waistband of his pants and then dove into the darkness, fueled by desperation. He leapt out next to Hank, his heart pounding. He grabbed Hank’s arm with one hand and hefted his rifle with the other. Although his aim was off, Kellan didn’t care. He fired at the Kuji’s arm.

The bullets…

They didn’t seem to harm the beast. The spray of fire lit up the sewer, and the echo of the shots would’ve hurt Kellan’s ears, but he still couldn’t feel pain.

Nothing happened to the Kuji. Was it just too strong? Did magic protect it? Kellan didn’t understand.

The Kuji continued to drag Hank toward the pathway, its hook-claws deep in Hank’s flesh. Hank continued to scream. He kicked, and flailed, and grabbed at the ground, trying to free himself, but it wasn’t working.

Kellan pulled on his arm.

The Kuji’s claws ripped deep furrows in Hank’s body. Then they hooked into Hank’s collarbone, which made everything difficult.

“Help!” Hank screamed. “Help! Don’t let it take me!”

Kellan pulled harder, but the Kuji wasn’t being deterred.

“Leave him!” Sen called out from down the sewer. “He’s not worth it!”

Again, defiant and determined, Kellan refused to give up. He had told Hank he would’ve let him die. He had told him.

Just like…

Just like he had with his fellow Delta Force teammates, Greer and Jones. But in that case, Kellan hadn’t been able to save them. He had failed. It haunted him. It did. He hated to admit it—because nothing was supposed to haunt him—but he just couldn’t let it go.

Kellan pulled the stuffed animal from his waistband and shoved it into Hank’s hand. “Reach inside! Do it!”

The command had been so loud and thorough, Hank seemingly managed to wrangle the last of his courage. Hank ripped open the bunny just as the Kuji pulled him to the narrow opening. Then, with a look of confusion, Hank withdrew a small USB drive from the guts of the stuffed animal.

The second key.

Right before he was crunched by the needle fangs of the Kuji, Hank was teleported away. A pop of displaced air echoed in the sewer. The Kuji’s hand was empty. The clawed hand gripped at the air before withdrawing into the other side of the narrow pathway.

Kellan’s heart continued to pound against his chest.

Again, he had done it.

No casualties…

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” a voice whispered in the depth of the sewer. “I remember…. everyone who takes away my prey…”

The Kuji?

Kellan smiled to himself. Somehow, even he was making his team enemies. The voice didn’t add anything else. The monster spider disappeared into the stench of the sewer, leaving Kellan alone with a centipede corpse and a man-child.

Light from the broken manhole shone down around them.

Sen stared at the location where Hank used to be. He held up a hand. “Did you just give him the key? The second key? Seriously?” He shook his head in obvious disbelief. “You somehow found twokeys and you lost them both? I’m just… I’m at a loss for words.”

Kellan walked back over to Sen’s side, his mind dwelling on the reality of the situation. There were only five keys in this game, and almost half of them were gone. What would they do if they couldn’t find any more? What if they ran out of time?

What if their Kuji started killing them all?

Kellan cursed himself under his breath. He hadn’t thought about that while Hank had been screaming. All Kellan had thought of was saving the man.

“Let’s head to the street,” Kellan muttered.

The ground rumbled.

It was happening again. The Net was moving, and the yami in the game area were being disturbed. Now that two keys were gone, everything was going to get harder. On shaky feet, Kellan headed over to the half-ruined ladder. Sen hurried after.

The rumbling waned.

“You disobeyed my worms,” Sen said, anger in his voice. “What’s wrong with you? If you had listened—”

Kellan whipped around, tense. “Listen—running from the monster would’ve lost us the key, too, all right? And we probably would’ve been ripped to shreds in the meantime.” He motioned to their surroundings. “At least my plan got us a dead yami. Maybe, before you go ordering me to do stupid shit, you should remember I’m the team’s warrior—” he used air quotes, “—and I know a thing about fighting. Trust my judgment.”

“I don’t trust you at all.”

Kellan placed his hands on his knees and bent over to get down to Sen’s height. “That’s the probably, tiny.”

“How dare you.” Sen scoffed as he grabbed the ladder. “You don’t even know what’s going on here. I know this competition, and I know you. My judgment is sound.”

Kellan grabbed him and yanked him back. Sen stared with wide eyes. “Did you think I would give Hank that key to save him?”

Sen opened his mouth, but for a long minute, he said nothing. Then he pursed his lips, his brow furrowed. “No. I didn’t think you would do that.”

Kellan stood up straight, his point made. “I’m. Not. The other Alex Kellan. I don’t know what that delta-bravo did to you, but I’m not him. Stop this. Stop hindering your own team. Stop fighting me. If I don’t know something, teach me. If we’re in the middle of combat, trust me.”

There was a moment of silence between them. Sen took several shallow breaths, his gaze drifting down to the ground. He seemingly mulled over the conversation, unwilling to comment.

But the rumbling started again.

After a short exhale, Kellan motioned Sen to the ladder. “Let’s go.”

Sen grabbed the lowest rung. “You… weren’t going to kill me with the hydra venom?”

“If I was, I would’ve done it the moment we were alone in the sewer,” Kellan stated, no hesitation. “I could’ve said some yami got you and been done with it. But I didn’t. Because that’s not why I got it.”

As the ground quaked, Sen nodded once. “Fine. Maybe I was wrong about you. But that’s all I’m admitting.” He lifted himself up to the ladder. “And we don’t have time for this. We need to reunite with my sister and fix this mess you’ve made.”