Chapter 250: Chapter 250: DO NOT FIRE. GUNFIRE OR PROJECTILE IMPACT MAY DIVERT THE SWARM BACK TOWARD HOST
Swanly stared.
"What?"
THE SCAVENGERS FOLLOW THE STRONGEST AVAILABLE SIGNAL. IF A SIGNAL STRONGER THAN THE HEART’S LOCAL PULSE IS PRODUCED, THE HOLLOWMAWS MAY DIVERT.
Swanly’s eyes widened.
"A lure."
YES.
"Make one."
REQUIRES SPECIALIZED PULSE ATTRACTOR.
"Buy it."
COST: 180 POINTS.
Swanly grimaced.
"More points? Seriously?"
YOU HAVE ENOUGH, HOST.
"I know. But I still have more things to buy, don’t I?"
VERY LIKELY.
Swanly looked at the approaching Hollowmaws.
Then smiled.
"Guess I should earn a few more points first."
The fairy stared.
HOST, YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO ENJOY THIS.
"Oh, I stopped enjoying it a long time ago."
She drew her bow.
Four arrows formed.
"But if these bastards are going to keep coming..."
She released.
Four screams tore through the chamber.
"...they can at least pay rent."
Swanly fought.
Not wildly.
Not beautifully.
Efficiently.
The first Hollowmaw crawled down a pillar.
She shot through the open mouth.
The second rushed over its body.
Another arrow.
A third came from the water.
She jumped onto a broken stone ledge.
Two arrows struck its lower jaw.
It sank.
The System confirmed the death only after its signal went out.
+12 POINTS.
Swanly moved.
A creature dropped from above.
She heard it.
Her ears turned before her head did.
She spun.
Fired.
The arrow punched through the mouth and pinned the creature against the pillar.
Dead.
Another approached from behind.
Swanly dropped.
It sailed over her.
She rolled onto her back.
Draw.
Release.
Arrow straight into the exposed underside.
Dead.
+12 POINTS.
She did not stop to count.
Blood coated her hands.
Her thighs shook.
Her restored shoulder worked, but the rest of her body was beginning to protest violently.
The serum could repair damaged tissue.
It could not give her endless strength.
Every jump was slower.
Every landing heavier.
Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.
The System spoke.
TIME REMAINING: 12 MINUTES, 46 SECONDS.
Swanly’s head snapped up.
"Already?!"
YES.
She looked toward the lower passage.
The Hollowmaws were getting closer.
To the Heart.
To whatever slept beneath Ironwood.
She had to hurry.
A group of six emerged from the black lake.
Swanly stared.
Then smiled without humor.
"Perfect."
She grabbed a piece of torn hide from storage.
Smeared it with blood from a dead Hollowmaw.
Threw it toward a narrow stone channel.
Splash!
The six turned.
Rushed after it.
Swanly climbed onto the ledge above them.
Four arrows.
Release.
Two dropped.
Second draw.
Four more.
Three dropped.
The sixth turned toward her.
Swanly jumped down behind it.
Knife.
Into the lower neck joint.
The creature thrashed.
She yanked the blade free.
It fell.
SIX VERIFIED ELIMINATIONS. +72 POINTS.
Swanly checked the balance.
It looked good to see.
She quickly decided.
"System."
YES?
"Buy the lure."
PURCHASE CONFIRMED.
180 POINTS DEDUCTED.
A black sphere appeared in her palm.
No larger than a fruit.
Its surface pulsed faintly.
Thoom.
Thoom.
Thoom.
Swanly stared.
The sound was disturbingly familiar.
"The Heart."
A SYNTHETIC IMITATION OF ITS LOCAL PULSE, WITH ADDED CHEMICAL ATTRACTANTS.
"Will it work?"
ESTIMATED DIVERSION SUCCESS: 83 PERCENT.
Swanly swallowed.
"What about the other seventeen?"
THEY MAY CONTINUE TOWARD THE HEART.
"Great."
Another panel appeared.
DETONATION REQUIRED AFTER CONCENTRATION.
Swanly frowned.
"With what?"
The fairy looked at her.
She looked back.
"No."
SPECIAL EXPLOSIVE ARROW AVAILABLE.
"Of course it is."
COST: 90 POINTS.
Swanly nearly threw the sphere at the fairy.
"You are robbing me during the end of the world!"
YOU HAVE BEEN REIMBURSED THROUGH COMBAT REWARDS.
"THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT BETTER!"
PURCHASE?
Swanly gritted her teeth.
"Purchase."
CONFIRMED.
A single red-gold arrow appeared in her storage.
Different from her unlimited ordinary arrows.
Its shaft was heavier.
The arrowhead contained a concentrated explosive charge.
Only one.
And it had cost her dearly.
Swanly looked toward the side chamber.
"Will the blast hurt the Heart?"
THE BASALT CHAMBER IS SEPARATED FROM THE LIVING ROOTS BY AN ANCIENT STONE FAULT. BLAST CONTAINMENT PROBABILITY: 91 PERCENT.
"Ninety-one."
YES.
"Wonderful odds."
The System gave her a flat look.
Swanly began running.
She planted the Root-Seal device in the circular hollow as she passed the pillar.
Click.
Golden lines spread through the stone.
ROOT-SEAL INSTALLED. AWAITING ACTIVATION.
Then she ran toward the basalt chamber.
The floor sloped upward.
The air grew drier.
Good.
Less water to carry the vibration.
She entered the chamber.
It was wide, with a natural stone ceiling and only one large entrance.
An old, abandoned pit.
Perfect.
Swanly climbed onto a broken shelf of rock.
Placed the black sphere in the center.
Then jumped down.
"System."
ATTRACTOR READY.
"Maximum strength."
WARNING: HOST WILL ALSO BE WITHIN INITIAL ATTRACTION RANGE.
Swanly smiled grimly.
"Then I’d better move."
ACTIVATING.
THOOM.
The sound struck the chamber.
Swanly felt it through her teeth.
THOOM.
The entire tunnel network answered.
Every Hollowmaw stopped.
Across the feeding junction, the creatures turned.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
Dozens of pale mouths opened.
THOOM.
Swanly pressed herself behind a stone column.
The creatures began running.
Not walking.
Not crawling.
Running.
Their hooked limbs hammered the ancient floor.
Hundreds of claws scraped stone.
The sound grew louder.
Louder.
LO UDER.
Swanly looked toward the lower passage.
The Hollowmaws closest to the Heart had turned too.
Thank God.
They were coming back.
Following the stronger pulse.
The System flashed:
TIME REMAINING: 5 MINUTES, 17 SECONDS.
Swanly crouched.
Her body was trembling from exhaustion.
She rested one hand against the stone.
Breathed.
Then checked her bow.
Unlimited arrows.
One explosive arrow waiting in storage.
One chance.
The first Hollowmaw entered the chamber.
Then three more.
Then ten.
They gathered around the sphere.
Their sideways mouths opened.
One tried biting it.
The object pulsed harder.
THOOM.
More entered.
The chamber filled with scraping claws.
Stone-colored armor rubbed against stone-colored armor.
Some began fighting.
One bit another’s leg off.
The wounded creature screamed.
Black fluid splashed the floor.
That only attracted more.
Swanly watched from behind her pillar.
"Come on."
More entered.
"Come on..."
The System counted.
TWENTY-SIX SIGNALS.
Another group rushed inside.
THIRTY-ONE.
Swanly’s heartbeat accelerated.
The lower passage still showed movement.
Five signals.
Then three.
Then one.
"System."
WAIT.
The last Hollowmaw hesitated at the junction.
Its head turned toward the Heart.
Swanly stopped breathing.
"No."
The creature crawled two steps downward.
Toward the Heart.
Swanly’s eyes widened.
"No, no, no..."
She raised the bow.
The System flashed:
DO NOT FIRE. GUNFIRE OR PROJECTILE IMPACT MAY DIVERT THE SWARM BACK TOWARD HOST.
Swanly gritted her teeth.
"Then do something!"
The fairy increased the attractor’s pulse.
THOOOOOM.
The sound rolled through the tunnel like an enormous heartbeat.
The last Hollowmaw froze.
Turned.
Then ran.
Straight toward the chamber.
Swanly nearly collapsed in relief.
FIFTY-NINE SIGNALS CONCENTRATED.
"All of them?"
ALL CONFIRMED ORGANISMS BETWEEN THIS JUNCTION AND THE HEART.
Swanly looked at the chamber.
A nightmare of bodies.
Overlapping stone armor.
Too many legs.
Too many mouths.
Wet chewing.
Scratching.
Fighting.
Hungry.
She had survived zombies.
She had survived hordes.
She had survived watching entire neighborhoods disappear beneath screaming infected.
But these things?
These were something else.