Chapter 179: Collateral Damage [@Thomasinho and @Alexis_Tegip Golden Ticket Bonus - ]

Chapter 179: Chapter 179: Collateral Damage [@Thomasinho and @Alexis_Tegip Golden Ticket Bonus Chapter]

A goblin monster had cornered a small rabbit and its family.

The goblin held a sharp knife in its hand and looked at the prey that had finally been caught after such a long chase.

"KeKhek! Now you have no hole or no escape route."

"You made me run a lot, now it’s time to feast! KEKEKEKKKHEk!"

The small goblin monster laughed menacingly.

The rabbit and its family shuddered with dread.

Their small bodies pressed together against a root as the knife rose.

The goblin raised its knife to harvest today’s meal.

Then, suddenly, a figure with blinding speed crashed onto the goblin.

The speed was so extreme that the goblin’s upper half was literally vaporized.

BURST!!!!

The figure continued to crash through multiple trees without slowing, leaving a trail of shattered wood and black ichor.

BANG! BANG! CRASH!!

[ You have killed a goblin. lvl 1 ]

[ You have gained 0.1 XP ]

The rabbits slowly looked at the half-dead body of the goblin.

They could not believe their own eyes.

They were alive?

They were alive!

All of them jumped in joy.

They had finally been saved by the rabbit god’s merc—

BAAAAAAMMMMMM!

SQUELCHHHHHHHH! 🫟 SQUELCHHHHHHHH! 🫟 SQUELCHHHHHHHH! 🫟 SQUELCHHHHHHHH! 🫟

All of them became meat paste as the humongous spider landed on that exact area and then immediately shot toward the place where Alex had been hurled in their last exchange.

Poor rabbit family... rest in paste. 🪦🕊️

The spider’s severed leg was coated with a white web.

At some point it had coated the wound to stop its blood loss.

The creature was adapting in its own brutal way, using its natural tools to keep fighting at near full capacity.

Alex felt his bones rattle from the residual force of the previous exchange.

The spider had still gotten a lucky strike on him due to the terrain seeming to change suddenly.

Now they were entering an area of sky-high wall structures, and it was starting to look like a totally new environment.

The trees thinned.

Stone rose in vertical sheets that blocked most of the light from above.

Alex immediately rolled to his feet and then used Amethyst Paradox’s long-range chain exactly as he had intended.

As the spider shot toward him, it was suddenly face to face with a blade at its head even though it was still far from the boy.

WOOSSSH!

The chain extended with a sharp metallic sound and the blade arrived with enough force to threaten a killing blow.

CLANG!

The spider barely deflected it.

Alex poured a large amount of mana into his hands and the weapon.

But he did not stop just there.

He spun the chain along with his body continuously.

The attacks that followed were so fast and came from so many different angles that the spider was not able to block all of them completely.

Sparks and chips of chitin flew with every partial success.

CLANG! CLANG!

SLASH! SLASH!

SWOOSH! WHOOSH!

CLANG! SLASH!

SLASH! SLASH!

"SKREEEEEEEEEECH!"

The spider suddenly released an unnatural amount of psychic force.

The attack slammed onto Alex’s mind with greater intensity than the previous pulses.

Even though he had his own Psychic Element ready, the sheer volume was still enough to break the rhythm he had built.

His vision flickered.

Adaptation flared hard to keep him from losing focus completely.

The spider was now bleeding from many parts of its body.

Dark red fluid dripped steadily from the web-coated stump and from several fresh cuts across its carapace.

Its eyes glowed with a dangerous glint that promised retaliation.

It immediately rushed toward Alex.

They were now inside a new maze-like territory with high walls and many monsters in every path.

The air grew heavier.

The scent of blood and crushed vegetation mixed with the older smell of stone and dust.

"Hey! The surroundings are changing!" The crowd immediately noticed the shift.

"Yes! It looks like some kind of maze!"

"You see that pack of monsters right there! It looks like a trap maze!" Voices rose across every public square and tavern that carried the feed.

But while it would have been a nightmare for a normal person, for Alexander Abyss and this monstrous spider it was just a change of scenery.

Neither of them slowed.

And neither of them looked for an exit.

They simply continued the exchange inside the new environment.

They continued their dance.

As they passed different sections of the maze, every monster that was too weak, because this was only the outer part, all of them simply became numbers and experience for Alex.

His blade moved on refined instinct.

The kills were automatic and his real attention never left the spider.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOM!

[ You have killed a Goblin. lvl 1 ]

[ You have gained 0.1 XP ]

[ You have killed a Kobold. lvl 2 ]

[ You have gained 0.12 XP ]

[ You have killed a Gremlin. lvl 2 ]

[ You have gained 0.12 XP ]

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!

[ You have killed a Goblin. lvl 3 ]

[ You have gained 0.14 XP ]

[ You have killed a Kobold. lvl 1 ]

[ You have gained 0.1 XP ]

[ You have killed a Gremlin. lvl 1 ]

[ You have gained 0.1 XP ]

[ You have killed a—

[ You have gained—

"They are just sweeping past them like they don’t even exist!" someone from the crowd shouted.

Alex’s expression stayed cold and focused.

Every kill was automatic.

His body moved on refined instinct while his mind stayed locked on the real threat.

The spider was still pressing him, still trying to force another psychic lock, still bleeding but far from finished.

The walls rose higher with every section they entered.

The light from above grew thinner.

The air grew heavier with the scent of blood and crushed vegetation.

Alex adjusted his grip on Amethyst Paradox and met the next series of attacks without slowing.

The maze was only beginning to show its true nature.

He could feel the spider preparing something larger.

The pattern of its movements had shifted.

The final phase of the fight was coming soon, and he intended to be ready for it.

🌿 ─ ❦ ─ 🌿

End of Chapter 179: Collateral Damage

🌿 ── ❦ ── 🌿