Chapter 121: Bug Hunt

I ran on auto-pilot, my propulsion pushing me from corridor to corridor, only just managing to avoid slamming into walls as I went. 

At first, I had no idea where I was going. The arena building was deadly quiet, I could only assume that everyone in the crowd had already been slaughtered by the Null Space Invaders or they had managed to get out with the help of Akash. But that silence didn't last for long. Before I knew it, I could hear the sound of screaming. 

I burst out of a final corridor, the doors blown off their hinges by my sheer speed, and skidded to a stop in the middle of the plaza. The first thing that struck me was the smell. Copper. The scent of blood. Acrid burning. The scent of smoke. 

The plaza, which had been a thriving hotspot for the aliens of the Guard every time I had walked through it since being brought to Prespian City had been reduced to a crater marked area of death and destruction, swarming with Null Space invaders. 

From what I could tell, other than the beetle-like manna eating creatures, no one else in the plaza was alive. I had to work hard to keep the bile from rising up out of my throat as I saw the creatures picking up discarded limbs before sinking their mandibles into them. 

[Side-Quest Gained!

It's A Bug Hunt I

Clear the plaza of Null Space Invaders and get revenge for the fallen of Prespian City. 

Rewards: 5000XP, 500CRED, 'Ally of The Guard' Reputation gained. 

Failure: - Reputation with The Guard]

Frankly, I didn't care about my reputation with the Guard. I thought they were a bloated organization that did very little to actually help the situation of the Null Space invaders and the Human Race of this universe laying waste to wherever they went. The situation here and now spoke to that. But revenge for the fallen of Prespian City? I liked the idea of that. 

[Enhance]

[Item Enhance]

[Propulsion]

[New Skill Discovered!]

[Brutal Dash - Lvl 1- Let your anger cleanse the world!

Channelling your rage through your attack, instantly move to any location in your line of sight, anything caught in-between your starting point and ending point will be attacked as if attacked by your equipped weapon, including any potential status effects, with an additional 10% attack damage stacked on top.

Cost: 2% Available HP + 25 Manna]

My rage at the destruction before me had crystallized my attempted move into a brand new skill, and in an instant, I had teleported from one side of the battlefield to another with my Null-Space sword in my hand. It took a moment for the creatures I had passed through to register what had happened, and after that moment had passed they fell apart into chunks. 

[+545 XP]

[Brutal Dash level up! Lvl 1 - Lvl 2: additional damage increased to 12%]

I'd wanted a teleportation ability. I hadn't expected to come across one that was so… well... Brutal, for lack of a better word. I'd have to be careful about how I used it in the future, with enemies that I didn't want to die by the blade of my sword. But for now, it was perfect. 

[Brutal Dash]

I blinked across the battlefield once again, the other half of the Null Space Invaders falling apart much in the same way as the first had. It was a shame we couldn't find some way to make the Null Space sword I had safe for anyone to use, it was such an effective weapon against the creatures that I couldn't help thinking if everyone had one the war against the creatures would have been over in an instant. 

[+435 XP]

[Side-Quest Success!

It's A Bug Hunt I

Rewards:

+5000XP

+500CRED

'Ally of The Guard' Reputation Gained!]

[Level Up! You are now Level 23!

You gained 2 Stat Points!]

A massive explosion sounded off behind me. 

I spun on my heel, just in time to see the roof of the arena spin-off into the air. Lara floated up from within the arena, her hair splayed around her like a halo. If I hadn't known how evil she in fact was, I might have called her an angel. Instead, she was more like a demon, her green eyes glowing coldly through the dust and debris as it began to fall down from the sky. 

"Did you really think it was going to be that easy to escape from me?" She crowed, charging up some kind of energy attack in her hands. 

Before she could get the attack off, however, some kind of defence platform from the three megabuildings opened fire. Huge lasers burned through the sky, blasting straight into the girl. They weren't enough to destroy her outright, but she couldn't ignore them either. With her attention off of me, I started running once again, the autopilot taking over once more. 

Prespian City was doomed, that much was now apparent. The hordes of the Null Space Invaders had broken through to the planet, and they were probably savaging everyone in the three megabuildings. 

There would be some that survived, no doubt, but for the most part, it was clear that the Guard's supposedly safest worlds were now nothing more than a mass buffet for the manna eaters, and it was all Lara's fault. 

We wouldn't be able to save this world. All I had to focus on was the quest at hand, getting off-world and saving as many people as I could. 

[Int +1]

Clearly, the rebooted system agreed with me, if the increase to my intelligence stat was anything to go by. 

I'd link up with my friends, we'd get off-world, and we'd get as many people to safety as we could. After that, we'd rally together and take the fight back to the Null Space invaders. 

It wouldn't be today, but one day, Lara would pay for the destruction and death she had brought on Prespian City. I'd make sure of it.