novelraw Chapter 72: System Defense Grid!
Chapter 72: System Defense Grid!
The silence of the Keep began to weigh on him. It was too quiet. After the chaos of the lower levels, the silence felt unnatural.
Daniel didn’t relax. He knew that in a place like this, silence was usually a weapon. It meant that something was watching.
He reached a landing. The ramp leveled out for a moment before continuing upward. Daniel stopped to catch his breath.
He looked at his gear. His Twin Fang daggers were strapped to his thighs, ready to be drawn in a heartbeat. His Skyreaver Bow was secure on his back. His C-Grade Deflector Vest was patched and holding strong. He was in peak condition. He was fully healed. His mana was full. His stamina was topped off.
He looked up at the spiraling path ahead and for a split second, he thought he felt a presence.
It wasn’t a solid shape. It was a blur of motion high above him, near the ceiling. Daniel froze. He pressed himself against the black wall, blending into the shadows.
He focused his senses on that spot. He waited. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. There was nothing there. No heat signature. No life force. Nothing.
"Am I hallucinating? " he asked himself. "Maybe I’m just scared." But deep down, he knew better. His instincts were sharp. He had survived this long by trusting his gut. Something was up there.
He gripped the handle of his dagger. The cold metal felt reassuring in his hand. "If you are waiting for me," Daniel whispered, "then you better be ready."
He pushed off the wall and started walking again. He moved faster now, eager to face whatever was waiting for him at the top.
The ramp curved sharply to the left. Daniel followed it, his eyes fixed on the path ahead.
Suddenly, his [Omnivision] screamed a warning. Daniel skidded to a halt, his boots screeching against the floor as he stopped just inches away from a red line on the ground.
He looked up. The ramp had leveled out into a long, straight corridor. It was about one hundred meters long, but it was not empty.
The air in front of him was filled with red light. Lasers crisscrossed the hallway in a complex, deadly web.
The floor was covered in pressure plates that glowed with a faint, menacing rhythm. On the walls, pulsing energy nodes hummed with power, ready to discharge at the slightest movement.
Daniel scanned the area with his Databand.
[System Defense Grid - Sector Beta]
[Threat Assessment: High. Automated Laser Grid. Kinetic Trap Plates. Do not touch the red lines.]
"Great," Daniel muttered. "A death trap." He looked at the lasers. They were moving. Some swept up and down, while others moved side to side.
It was a puzzle made of light and death.
If he touched one, he would be sliced into pieces. If he stepped on the wrong plate, he would be blown up.
He activated [Shadowsteps].
ZHOOM!
His body blurred. He charged into the grid. The first set of lasers swept toward him at knee height. Daniel didn’t stop. He slid forward, his back scraping the floor as the red beams passed over his face.
He could feel the heat radiating from them, but they didn’t touch him. He sprang back to his feet in one fluid motion, not losing any momentum.
Ahead, the floor tiles were shifting. Pressure plates were rising and falling in a random pattern.
Daniel’s [Omnivision] tracked them all.
He saw the safe spots. He saw the danger zones. He hopped from one safe tile to another, moving with the grace of a dancer.
Left foot. Right foot. Jump.
He landed on a small square of safe ground, but a wall of green laser beams was sweeping toward him from the front.
It covered the entire width of the hallway. There was no way to go under it, and no way to go around it.
"Up," Daniel decided. He didn’t hesitate. He ran at the wall to his right. He planted his foot on the vertical surface, using his [Wall Adhesion] skill fragment.
His boot gripped the metal for a split second, giving him the traction he needed. He ran three steps up the wall, defying gravity.
The green lasers swept past beneath him, missing his feet by inches. As gravity tried to pull him down, Daniel pushed off the wall. He performed a twisting aerial flip, soaring over a cluster of pressure plates in the center of the floor.
He landed in a crouch, absorbing the impact silently. He was halfway through the gauntlet.
"Not bad," he thought. But the System Defense Grid wasn’t done with him yet.
CLICK! WHIRRR!
The sound of mechanical gears shifting resonated through the corridor. Daniel looked up. The walls were opening. Six metal panels slid back, revealing dark spaces.
From inside the walls, spherical turrets emerged. They were sleek, silver machines with a single red eye glowing at the center.
They turned instantly, locking onto Daniel’s position.
"Active hostiles," Daniel muttered.
PEW! PEW! PEW!
The corridor turned hostile.The turrets opened fire. Red energy bolts tore through the air from both sides.
Daniel couldn’t stay still. He was pinned down. He rolled forward, dodging a volley of fire that scorched the floor where he had just been crouching.
He zig-zagged across the hallway, moving faster than the turrets could track. Lasers burned the air around him, leaving black scorch marks on the walls and floor.
One bolt grazed his shoulder, stinging like a hornet, but his C-Grade Deflector Vest absorbed the worst of it.
"I can’t fight them one by one," Daniel realized. "There are too many, and their armor looks thick."
He threw a dagger at the nearest turret while dodging.
CLANG!
The dagger bounced off the spherical casing. It didn’t even leave a scratch. These things were built to last.
He needed a bigger hit. Most importantly, he needed to be smart.
Daniel looked around while he moved. He scanned the walls with his [Omnivision]. He wasn’t looking for the turrets, he was looking for what powered them.
He saw it. High up on the left wall, near the ceiling, there was a thick bundle of cables pulsing with blue light. It was the main energy conduit for this section of the grid.
"Jackpot," Daniel grinned. He couldn’t reach it with his hands, and he couldn’t stop moving to take a steady shot. He had to do this on the run.
He unslung his Skyreaver Bow in a blur of motion. He grabbed an arrow from his quiver. He sprinted toward the right wall, drawing the turrets’ fire.
As they turned to track him, he jumped. He ran up the wall again, gaining height. At the peak of his jump, he pushed off, flipping backward into the center of the hallway.
Time seemed to slow down.
He was upside down in the air. The lasers were streaking past him. He drew the bowstring back to his ear. He didn’t use mana this time. He used kinetic force.
He channeled his skill [Forceburst] into the arrow. "Lights out!" Daniel shouted.
He released the string.
TWANG!
The arrow flew straight and true. It was as if a missile was fired. The air distorted around it as the kinetic energy built up.
BOOOOOM!
The arrow slammed into the main energy conduit. The impact was devastating. The kinetic overload caused a massive feedback surge.
Blue electricity exploded from the cables, spreading across the ceiling. The surge traveled down the wires, slamming into the turrets connected to the grid.
ZZZT! POP! CRACK!
Four of the six turrets sparked violently and shut down instantly. Their red eyes went dark as smoke poured from their casings.
Daniel landed on his feet. He looked up. Two turrets remained. They were on a backup circuit, and they were still active.
"Two left," Daniel said. "I can handle two." He didn’t use his bow. He wanted to save his arrows.
He charged straight at them. The turrets fired. Two red beams shot toward his chest.
"Shield!" Daniel commanded. He raised his left hand. A hexagonal blue barrier materialized in front of him, shimmering with power.
HISSS!
The lasers slammed into the [Energy Shield]. The barrier flared, crackling under the heat, but it held. Daniel didn’t stop. He pushed forward, running behind his shield like a battering ram.
He closed the distance to the fifth turret. He dropped the shield and leaped. He grabbed the turret with his left hand, his fingers digging into the metal.
With his right hand, he drove his dagger straight into the glowing red sensor eye.
SHINK!
The blade pierced the lens and sank deep into the circuitry. The turret spasmed and died. One left.
The final turret turned, trying to get a lock on him at close range. Daniel didn’t give it a chance.
He spun around, planting his feet on the wall next to the turret. He pulled his right fist back. He didn’t skill or anything, instead he used his raw strength. He punched the turret.
CRUNCH!
His fist slammed into the metal sphere. The impact dented the armor deep inward, crushing the delicate machinery inside.
The turret was ripped from its mounting on the wall. It fell to the floor and rolled away.
Silence returned to the corridor. The lasers were gone. The pressure plates were deactivated. The only sound was the hissing of the broken conduit and Daniel’s steady breathing.