I barely had enough time to register that I was hit before the vine tether tensed up, ripping me off my feet and pulling me towards the massive fern hiding in the corner of the room. I’d seen what the Thirty-Four-C had done to a fucking armored vehicle, and I wasn’t exactly eager to experience that for myself.

  “Nyx, Axe!” I screamed, twisting my body as hard as I could. I just barely managed to grab the thick tether with my left hand, wrenching myself around just as the weapon materialized. I snatched the weapon out of the air, switching it on and smashing it down on the thick vine with all my strength.

  My shoulder screamed at the effort, but I still managed to complete the swing. The vine sizzled and smoked as the red-hot axe sunk deep but failed to completely sever the tight tether. Clenching my teeth and doing my best to ignore the pain and weakness quickly spreading down my arm, I managed to bring the axe up and down again.

  This time the vine snapped, causing all the tension to release, but I was far from safe. Although I’d managed to sever the harpoon, the Thirty-Four had already managed to drag me most of the way across the room, and I still had a lot of momentum from being jerked off my feet.

  I scrambled desperately, trying my best to find any sort of handhold as I quickly slid closer to the massive antithesis. I don’t know if it was due to my flailing or just dumb luck, but I skidded to a stop just a foot short of the monstrosities churning, tree trunk-sized limbs.

  As I desperately crawled away, trying to make any sort of distance, the creature fired off another volley of harpoons, the closest of which just barely missed my head.

  “Nyx, I need cover, walls! Something to block these fucking ferns so they don’t impale anyone else!” I shouted, diving to the ground and covering my head.

  Mobile barriers won’t be able to block them for long. They’ll just push their way through any obstruction.

  “I don’t care! We just need to buy time!” I yelled.

  Your wish is my command!

  A dozen bearicade walls instantly appeared between the nearby Thirty-Four and myself. I could hear their automated anchors start drilling into the ground, but before they could complete the process, there was a series of loud metallic bangs, and they were yanked back towards the monster.

  I watched in horror as the thick metallic walls slowly bent and buckled under the Antithesis’ unrelenting churning limbs.

  “Another layer, no two!” I groaned.

  That won’t hold them for long.

  “I don’t care. I’ve been impaled upon a fucking spear, and my teammates are fighting for their lives. I need to buy all the time I can!” I growled.

  A second later, a second and third set of walls slammed down, anchoring themselves between me and the Thirty-Four.

  I leaned back against the wall, hand on the bone harpoon, as I watched my friends hammer the Thirty-Seven with everything they had. The thing was definitely on another level, defense-wise, because even Charlotte’s rifle had difficulty penetrating the creature’s shell.

  Everything we threw at the thing bounced off, and even Nora was having trouble cracking the shell with her kicks. I needed to get over there.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Reaching up, I prodded the bone spike experimentally. Pain shot through my arm as soon as I touched it, and after a couple quick experimental pulls, I realized it was lodged deep.

  “Nyx, I need…” I started, but before I could say anymore, a wave of pain and pressure smashed into me. This wave was way worse than any of the previous ones. I could feel my brain vibrating in my head, and like my organs were melting. Even though it only lasted a moment, I could already feel blood starting to pour out of my ears and nose.

  “Fuck… that can’t be healthy,” I coughed. “I need so much right now. Nyx! I need a ultrasonic muffler, a healing booster, and something to dislodge this fucking harpoon.”

  You don’t have the catalog for the mufflers, and the one that Stalking Shadow is carrying is Class II.

  “Do I have enough tokens to buy the catalog?” I asked.

  You do, but there are a lot of catalogs that give you access to that tech.

  “I don’t give a shit which one right now, I’m just trying to survive long enough to finish this fight right now. Pick one! And get me those medical supplies!” I hissed.

  Fine, don’t complain to me later. My AI huffed.

  Three boxes appeared in front of me, which I immediately tore open. The largest one contained a familiar, tall metal cylinder, which I immediately pulled forward and flipped on, like I’d seen Charlotte do before, leaning it against me.

  The other two, much smaller boxes, contained a pair of nearly identical syringes.

  The one on the right, with the silver tinge, is a modified version of the flesh melter that should dissolve the bone that’s embedded in your shoulder. Even though the residue will be inert, your body will still have to expel it during healing, which’ll be extremely painful.

  Once the harpoon is melted, stab yourself with the green-tinted one as close to the wound as you can. The concoction will jumpstart your natural healing factor.

  Oh, and I would recommend NOT mixing them up. Even though the flesh melters won’t affect you, the serum is not exactly meant to be injected in a living subject. It won’t be pleasant.

  “Thanks for the warning,” I muttered, taking the first injector and jamming it into the massive bone harpoon. The massive spur immediately started bubbling, breaking down into a thick viscous liquid. I could even feel this happening inside my shoulder, which wasn’t exactly the most pleasant feeling.

  When a significant amount of the bone had sloughed off I reached up and grabbed the harpoon with my hands. Bracing the back of the thing against the wall, I wrenched it as hard as I could. It took a second, but I finally heard a snap and finally managed to pull the remains out of my wound.

  Not only was that unnecessary, but it probably caused extra damage to your shoulder, and it may have left splinters in the wound.

  “Would the remainder of the harpoon have dissolved in the next three seconds? Or is the healing booster unable to deal with the extra damage?” I grumbled.

  No…

  “Then it was worth it,” I growled, slamming the remaining syringe into my wound. “Seconds matter!”

  As I used the ultrasonic muffler to help push myself to my feet, my left arm went completely limp. Reaching over with my right, I raised the limp limb up in front of me and dropped it again. I couldn’t feel nor control it.

  It will, however, make the healing interval longer. That spar tore up your nerves and muscles, you didn’t think it’d be an easy fix, did you?

  “I actually did. When’s the last time I received a wound that couldn’t be fixed with just an injection?”

  The last time you were harpooned, actually.

  “That’s probably just a coincidence,” I muttered. After shouldering the muffler, I reached around to grab my weapon, only to find it wasn’t there. “Where’s my rifle?”

  Two walls back, under several tons of thrashing alien flesh.

  “Shit! I liked that rifle,” I mumbled as I stared across the room. My friends were still pounding the Thirty-Seven with everything they had, but the alien didn’t really seem all that concerned. “Then again, based upon how things are going over there, I doubt it would have been that useful anyways. Maybe I’d be better off with a Devastator.”

  Do you remember what happened the last time you tried that?

  “Do you have a better suggestion?” I growled.

  Actually, I do. You have an entire catalog full of options. I could give you something with slightly less penetration and less kickback but a significantly higher rate of fire. The ‘Steel Hail’ repeating rail rifle.

  “What’s the downside?” I asked.

  You actually have to aim it yourself.

  “I’m not that bad of a shot anymore,” I grumbled. “Give it to me!”

  I awkwardly scooped the massive rifle up as soon as it landed at my feet. Much larger than the LCARs, the new rifle was a bullpup-form weapon that appeared to be made of ceramic and carbon fiber. The barrel appeared to have a series of thin enamel-coated wires wrapped around it. It was bulky and heavy to carry in one hand, but… I kind of liked it.

  As soon as the feeling returned to my left arm, I awkwardly lifted the new gun, cradling it in my arms.

  “Alright, let’s give this a try,” I muttered. As I took my first step away, a series of heavy bangs echoed out from behind me. Bone spears penetrated the barrier, and almost immediately the anchors groaned, straining against the immense pull from the Thirty-Four.

  My eyes narrowed as I stared at the nearest harpoon. “You really don’t know when to give up, do you?” I muttered.

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