Chapter 61: Chapter 11.4: Hero Part 2 [-15 HP from claw impact before armor absorbed the rest]
[HP: 435/450]
The pain was a hot flash. He ignored it, channeling the sting into focus. ’Sera needs time.’
He burst through a door into a large, multi-level maintenance bay. The space opened up into a cavernous room, a cathedral of forgotten industry filled with dormant machinery and a network of grated walkways. And it was another trap.
They didn’t pour out in a chaotic mob. They emerged with purpose. From every dark tunnel mouth, from the grated walkways above, from the shadows beneath the floor, they came. Dozens. A hundred, maybe more. Their pale, multifaceted eyes fixed on him, and a collective, hungry growl rumbled through the chamber, a sound that vibrated up through the soles of his boots. The beta pack had been the appetizer. This was the main course.
On a grated walkway above, observing the carnage with an unnerving stillness, stood the Alpha. It was larger than the others, its posture more controlled, its skin a less mottled gray. Its eyes burned with a malevolent, calculating intelligence. This monster is commanding its army.
Jin’s grip on the Kageyoshi tightened, his knuckles white. He was bleeding from a dozen shallow cuts he hadn’t even noticed, his stamina already flagging. His HP, once a solid 450, was now hovering around 420. But his mind was clear. The fear was gone, replaced by a cold, calm focus.
The Alpha attack and commanding it’s pack. With a series of sharp, guttural clicks, it directed its pack. Two Crawlers, sleeker than the others, scrambled up the walls like spiders, their claws finding purchase in the metal seams, trying to flank him from above. Three others burrowed under the grated floor, their claws scrabbling beneath his feet, a terrifying, unseen threat. The rest formed a semi-circle, slowly advancing, forcing him back towards a rusted, industrial press in the center of the room. It was a tactical masterpiece of predation, a slowly closing fist.
Jin met the first wave, his sword a blur of silver. The ’Asahi no Kata’ flowed from him, a rising sun of steel that met the first Crawler’s lunge. The blade sheared through its neck, and he was already moving, spinning into a low sweep that took the legs out from under a second. He dispatched the two flankers on the walls with a leaping spin, the Kageyoshi finding their necks in mid-air, their bodies falling to the floor with wet thuds.
But as he landed, a clawed hand burst through the grate below, raking his ankle.
[-25 HP]
[HP: 395/450]
He stumbled, a cry of pain escaping his lips, and the pack pressed the advantage. He was forced back, step by step, his boots scraping against the floor as he was herded towards the hulking machine. The Alpha watched from above, its head tilted, analyzing his every move, adapting its strategy in real-time. It was learning. It saw how he favored his right side, how he used the ’Kawa no Kata’ to redirect force. It changed its attack pattern, sending three Crawlers at once in a staggered assault, preventing him from redirecting all their momentum.
Jin knew he couldn’t win a war of attrition. He had to change. His eyes darted around the room, taking in the environment. Exposed pipes ran along the ceiling, marked with flaking yellow warning labels. His lips curled into a grim smile.
’"Asha, that pipe... what’s in it?"’
’"Pressurized nitrogen coolant. Extremely cold. Jin, do not—"’
He was already moving. He feinted left, a burst of speed that surprised the pack, then broke right, making a desperate run for a support column. The pack swarmed him, but he used the ’Kawa no Kata’ to deflect and redirect, their own momentum carrying them past him. He leaped, his feet finding purchase on the column, and launched himself towards the pipe.
The Alpha saw his move. It was too smart to fall for the same trick twice. It didn’t retreat. Instead, it barked a sharp, commanding order, and two smaller Crawlers threw themselves into the path of Jin’s attack, acting as living shields.
Jin’s sword cut through them, but the impact slowed his momentum. He slammed into the pipe, but not with the force he needed. The Kageyoshi scraped across the metal, leaving a deep gouge but failing to rupture it.
He landed hard, the air driven from his lungs. Before he could recover, the Alpha was on him. It moved with a speed that defied its size, a gray blur of lethal intent. It didn’t use its claws first. It used its body, slamming into him and pinning him against the column with bone-jarring force.
Jin grunted, his ribs creaking under the pressure. The Alpha’s face was inches from his, its intelligent eyes filled with a cold, ancient malice. It raised a claw, not to kill him, but to disarm him. It knocked the Kageyoshi from his grasp, the sword skittering across the floor, out of reach.
But as the Alpha’s claw descended for his throat, Jin did the only thing he could. He activated ’Instinct Surge’.
Power flooded his veins. The world slowed to a crawl. The Alpha’s descending claw became a slow-motion arc. He saw the individual droplets of sweat on its skin, the minute twitch of its muscles. He saw the Kageyoshi, six meters away. He saw the exposed wiring on the industrial press next to him. He saw a path.
Instead of dodging, he pushed forward. He took the glancing blow from the claw on his shoulder—a searing line of pain—and grabbed the Alpha’s arm. He used its own leverage against it, swinging himself up and over its head, landing behind it. In the same motion, he tore the exposed wiring from the press with a desperate yank.
Live electrical cables whipped through the air, crackling with untamed energy. The Alpha, surprised by his sudden reversal, turned just in time for Jin to jam the cables directly into its chest.
The effect was instantaneous and horrific. The Alpha’s body convulsed, a violent puppet dancing on strings of lightning. A scream, unlike anything Jin had ever heard, tore from its throat—a sound of pure agony and rage. The electrical current arced from the Alpha to the nearby Crawlers, creating a chain reaction that fried a dozen of them where they stood, their bodies smoking and twitching.
Jin was thrown back by the explosion, his body slamming into the far wall. He slid to the ground, his ears ringing, his vision swimming. He was alive, but barely.
[-250 HP from electrical feedback and impact]
[HP: 145/450]
[Status Effect: Electrocution (Severe), Concussion (Moderate)]
The Alpha, though horribly burned and electrocuted, was not dead. It lay twitching on the ground, its body smoking, but its eyes were still open, still burning with that malevolent intelligence. It had learned, adapted. And it had one last move left.
With its dying breath, it let out a final, resonant shriek. A silent cry, a final command.
From the shadows of the ceiling, from the dark corners of the room, a new wave of Crawlers emerged. But these were different. They were faster, leaner, their chitinous plates a darker, glossier black, their eyes burning with a fierce, red light. They were the Alpha’s personal guard. The elite.
Jin tried to push himself up, but his body wouldn’t respond. The electrocution had fried his nervous system. He was paralyzed. He could only watch as the elite pack closed in, their claws clicking, their hungry eyes fixed on him.
This was the end. He had failed.
But then, a sound. A high-pitched whine, followed by a series of deafening explosions from the ventilation shafts above. Rosa. She had made it. Her diversions were working.
The elite pack hesitated, their attention drawn to the chaos erupting in the tunnels above. It was the only opening Jin was going to get.
With a final, desperate surge of will, he forced his trembling fingers to close around the hilt of the Kageyoshi. He activated the last skill he had left. ’Desperate Strike’.
The world seemed to narrow to a single point. The elite pack, ten feet away. The Kageyoshi, humming in his hands. The last ounce of his will, his life, his very soul, poured into the blade.
He didn’t charge. He couldn’t. He lay on the ground, a broken, bleeding mess, and swung the sword in a wide, sweeping arc. A wave of pure, golden energy erupted from the blade, a shockwave of force that tore through the room. It was a wave of pure force, a visible distortion in the air that sent the elite Crawlers flying, smashing them into the walls with bone-shattering force. It cleared a path.
As the energy faded, Jin’s vision went black. His HP plummeted, the last of his life force expended in that final, desperate attack. He felt the life drain out of him, a cold, creeping emptiness. He had done it. He had saved them.
[HP: 5/450]
[Status: Dying]