novelraw Chapter 205: The Cost Of Legend
Chapter 205: The Cost Of Legend
[In One Of The Tunnels.]
The absolute stillness of the subterranean cavern was heavy with the suffocating presence of the Blood Angel’s seal. The ten Legendary swords pulsed with an intoxicating light, their sheer value whispering promises of unrivaled power to anyone brave—or foolish—enough to take them.
Mirabella looked at him over her shoulder: "If you help, and we succeed, you will get a sword for free... But Remember, you must contribute." She said seriously, her tone stripping away any illusion of academy camaraderie. This wasn’t a school exam; this was a high-stakes raid contract.
Austin clenched his fist, he was a warrior, although he could unleash his strength with his fist, it wasn’t enough. But having a Legendary class weapon, that will simply triple his strength. In the brutal, stat-driven reality of Galaxy Fall, a weapon of that tier didn’t just add numbers to a character sheet; it fundamentally altered a player’s combat multiplier. It was a shortcut to the apex.
"Alright."
"I will come along!" Precious yelled, stepping forward, drawing both her daggers. Her eyes gleamed with the characteristic risk-addiction that defined the Assassin class.
"Well, naturally, with my brother in, I am also in." Aurelia said, also drawing her dagger, the dark metal absorbing the ambient light.
David stared at them, then at the swords, he was a rune master, using swords is technically useless to him, but a legendary weapon. Even as a non-combat caster, the sheer energy conductivity of a Legendary item could act as an unparalleled runic focus, or fetch an astronomical price on the auction house.
"I will join." He said, his scholarly caution overridden by the raw potential of the loot.
"Well, I can’t let you guys get into trouble, so I will join." Kent said, stepping forward. His heavy armor clanked, grounding the group with his presence. As a knight, his protective instincts demanded he place his shield between his squishy teammates and whatever nightmare guarded those blades.
Mirabella stared at the group, who stepped forward: Austin, Carl, Aurelia, Precious, David and Kent. She analyzed their party composition, calculating their combined damage output and survivability against the mechanics of a Level 500 zone.
Rose, Hitachi and Casey simply stepped back, watching the seven who were ready to unseal something far above their levels. Hitachi’s celestial eyes remained narrowed, tracking the microscopic, lethal flows of energy across the cavern floor.
"Ok, why don’t you guys go first." Mirabella said, gesturing her hand forward. It was a cold, calculated command. To test the waters of a mythical trap, one needed vanguards.
".....?!"
The six looked at one another, suddenly realizing the sheer lunacy of the situation. Just moments ago, Mirabella stopped Aurelia from crossing the line, even saying if she did, she will die.
And now, she was asking them to cross.
"I will go first!"
Carl yelled, and without hesitation, he crossed the line. His impulsive nature kicked in before his common sense could process the danger.
WHOOSH!!!
Carl froze, as his mind screamed at him to move, and without even knowing, his body moved on its own. It was an unnatural, jerky contortion that completely defied his usual combat posture.
WHOOSH!!
A tiny needle flew past him, missing his ear by an inch, striking the wall at the other end with the concussive force of a cannonball.
".....?!"
Everyone stared at the spot the needle struck, watching as cracks spread all over the surface, spiderwebbing through solid, demonic-infused stone.
"That has the strength of a Lv300 Knight’s attack." David exclaimed in disbelief, his runic sight calculating the kinetic energy of the impact. A single graze from that trap would vaporize a student’s health bar.
"Come on, Lord Hayatobi won’t pick you guys if you’re so scared of every single thing! Show me what you’re capable of!!" Mirabella yelled at them, but her harsh words were a smokescreen. Her intense, calculating gaze was fixed entirely on Carl.
’Something isn’t right here... Carl is clearly terrified, but he could still perfectly dodged all the traps... It’s like someone is controlling his body.’ She thought, staring at Carl, who finally reached the center of the cave, stopping right in front of the angel. His evasive maneuvers hadn’t possessed the fluid grace of an assassin; they had possessed the mechanical, preemptive perfection of a puppet being pulled by invisible strings.
"It’s ok, Carl!! Wait for us!!" She ordered, and Carl nodded his head, his face still pale with adrenaline and confusion.
’I will have to keep an eye on him in the future.’ she thought, logging the anomaly into her memory, and turned to the group.
"Ok then! It’s my turn."
Aurelia stepped forward, standing at the edge of the line. Precious followed, and stood beside her. The air around them grew tense, heavy with tightly coiled energy.
Both were Assassins, one from Galaxy Fall and the other from Earth. Despite their vastly different origins, they represented the two fastest in the Academy, excluding Mirabella, and Hitachi.
"I think we can do better than Carl."
Precious said, and without another word, they both shot forward. They didn’t rely on blind luck or mysterious autonomous reflexes; they relied on raw speed.
WHOOSH!!
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!!
To their shock, the trap array instantly adapted to their velocity. More than twenty needles shot out from thin air, materializing from hidden spatial rifts, and flew towards them with deadly speed. The tracking algorithms of the ancient Sun family formation were flawless.
"Assassin’s step!!" Aurelia screamed, as green light appeared under her feet, and the next moment her speed increased, dodging the needles with incredible perfection. The skill pushed her agility stat to its absolute maximum, turning her into a blur of dark leather and steel.
"You aren’t the only one!! Wind Movement!!" Precious yelled, and shot forward, leaving afterimages behind, as the needles flew past her, striking the wall with a deafening barrage of impacts.
"Phew."
The two sighed in relief, sitting on the ground: the rapid depletion of their stamina bars leaving them momentarily winded on the safe side of the trap line.
"That was close." Precious said in horror, her heart hammering against her ribs, and turned his head to Carl, who was staring at them in confusion.
"How did you even reach here without using a single skill?" Aurelia asked in disbelief, her professional pride as an assassin genuinely shaken.
"Yes, It looked easy when he did it..." Precious added, getting to her feet, eyeing Carl with a newfound, wary respect.
"Good." Mirabella nodded her head, satisfied that the high-speed evasion route was viable but costly, and turned to David:
"Go and meet them."
"Huh?" David was stunned, pointing a trembling finger at the cracked cavern walls. With what the two girls were saying, it showed the traps before them weren’t simple. He was a caster; he had the base agility of a tortoise.
"Do you want the sword?" Mirabella asked, looking at him with a slight frown, offering zero sympathy.
David sighed helplessly, accepting the brutal economics of the cave. He raised one hand before him, tapping the air with practiced, fluid precision, and a gold runic circle appeared before everyone. The intricate geometric patterns flared with holy energy, a stark contrast to the corrupted air.
The rune expanded, and formed into a huge ball, which David stepped into, entirely sealing himself within a barrier of hard-light.
Mirabella and the group watched as the ball floated into the zone. The array instantly recognized the intrusion. The needles shot forward, smashing heavily on the runic shield, shattering into light particles upon impact, emitting loud, echoing CRACKS that illuminated the tunnel.
’Impressive defense, this shield must be 1,000,000 defense stat, it’s indeed higher than the needles which only deal 300,000 physical attack damage.’ Mirabella thought, staring at the runic shield: her mind instantly breaking the magical spectacle down into cold, mathematical data.
’But if the needles continue their assault, the shield will get destroyed, and he will be in danger... Anyway, David is smart, he should already know this flaw.’ Mirabella thought, as David increased his speed, rushing towards the end. He wasn’t relying on the shield to last forever; he was using its massive health pool to simply face-tank the damage while he sprinted.
"Yep, he’s smart."