BANG!
Zarek's wild grin reflected beneath the bloody moonlight, his palm striking against the wheel without a care in the world.
There were still two things remaining on its body, but he didn't care about them. What he wanted was something else entirely.
The Hub stopped spinning, almost landing on a spot as black as ink. It could only mean that several people had fallen onto it in recent days, churning out worse and worse targets until they had grown to the point that no one could defeat them at all.
But it didn't.
Zarek didn't hesitate to use up the one Godsfall Crystal he had and felt self-assured when the Hub landed on exactly what he was aiming for.
Before, Zarek had said that one of the two remaining items on the Hub could help him store away the Godsfall Tear hidden underground for another time. But back then, he hadn't ended up choosing it because there were other things on the Gambling Hub that were far more beneficial to his immediate circumstances.
It was the smart choice to make. After all, it had already been over a month since then, and this was the first chance he got to return to this place. If he had chosen one of the others, then he would have only wasted his time for far too long.
And then… he wouldn't be able to make use of it now, now would he?
The moment he slapped down his palm, Zarek was already reeling back. He arched his back so far it looked as though he was going to slam his own head into the ground to knock himself out.
But just when it seemed like he was doing nothing more than harming himself, a swiping claw of black came out from the nothingness.
'You're a strong S.O.B., aren't you?'
Zarek had no idea how many people the Violet Enchantress had led here, but it must have been quite a lot. The wheel had spun far faster than it should, and there were so many inky black spots on its body that it was hard to fathom how Zarek wasn't seeing scattered body parts everywhere… if it wasn't for the fact Zarek knew that the Enchantress would use her minions to clean up the mess.
And those bastards would happily do it too, for a chance to eat flesh.
However, even Zarek was surprised by the actual results.
—
[Lurker of the Night]
Core Stats:
>[Strength: C-]
>[Dexterity: C-]
>[Intelligence: C-]
>[Endurance: D]
>[Charisma: D]
Talents:
>[Lurking Thread: C-]
[Abilities: Deployment]
[Sticky and fast, use it to trap your enemies or increase your agility]
—
'Something happened.'
Zarek's eyes narrowed as he flipped back and out of the way of the swinging claw.
This was an E-Class Gambling Hub. Even if there were countless failures here, it didn't make sense for the dangers to grow to this point.
No, more accurately, it should have run out of energy long before it could produce a creature this powerful.
It had to be remembered that Gambling Hubs would continue spinning until they ran out of energy to produce more threats. Once they did, they would bundle up what little energy they had left and self-implode the next time they were spun.
This was part of the danger of a Gambling Hub.
With his experience, Zarek had been able to tell that, let alone one more spin, the Hub should be able to be spun several more times without issue, which was why he hadn't hesitated to take action.
But now he was in a state of bafflement as he dodged.
SKKKRREEEEEEE!!
The Lurker raised its head to the skies, webs of black connecting its upper and lower maw as its jaw unhinged, streams of sticky ink surging out in all directions.
Zarek's eyes narrowed as he sensed more threats coming from the back. The Enchantress was sending in more powerful Turned all of a sudden. Was this a trap that she was preparing?
'Interesting, interesting.'
It was rare that Zarek was outmaneuvered, but it wasn't impossible. It happened—especially when he was almost always taking some form of reckless action.
In the Anato Codex Godsfall Tear, he hadn't really had much of a choice. He was just reacting to everything happening around him. He had ended up in jail and was then immediately shuttled away from place to place until he had no choice but to fight Crux in that death arena.
But this was different. The Violet Enchantress had clearly put more into this trap than he thought.
This wasn't even necessarily designed for Zarek either.
It was to the Enchantress' benefit that the Gambling Hub continue to work. The longer it did, the longer it could continue to hide the Godsfall Tear from below.
Zarek wouldn't be surprised if the Enchantress purposely lured weaker adventurers here first to make certain that they failed, then started steadily calling in stronger, bolder ones that would still dare to spin the Hub.
By now, many people had been learning about this world. Those that still lived were intelligent, witty, and often quite strong. At the very least, those that were adventuring around instead of being used as cannon fodder by some random organization certainly were.
Getting them to do her handiwork wasn't easy.
The question was… how?
Zarek's eyes twitched. An enormous net of black had appeared around him like some sort of domain.
The good news? It stopped the Enchantress' minions from jumping into the battle too easily.
The bad news? Well, that was twofold.
First, he was trapped in here with this monster, while a single touch to the semi-spherical net around them would probably leave him stuck and unable to move.
And second, it was a net, not a dome. Meaning…
CHI.
A bone arrow shot out from some Turned's body. Like the spikes of a porcupine, they arched through the air akin to shooting stars.
Zarek shook his head. Those arrows were coming for his back, but he couldn't just turn his attention away from this—
The Lurker was already upon him again, swiping down with its menacing claws.
It was fast, reflecting its C-Class Dexterity almost too well. Its change of direction, the speed with which it deployed its Godsfall, and the pressure with which it attacked were all too perfect.
Luckily…
Zarek had C-Class Lurker's Godsfall too.
Bending his knees, Zarek raised his katana above his head, his body sinking down as the blow swung down with strength and menace.
BANG!
In that instant, the porcupine bone arrows were already upon him, but there was a flash in his eyes.
The bend to his legs caused the one aimed for his head to pass over him. The flex of his arms and the angle of his elbows, blocking the blow from above, also gave it a perfect lane to pierce right into the Lurker's chest.
Zarek wasn't foolish enough to believe that this was enough. Summoned creatures from Hubs didn't have Godsfall Droplets or Crystals, meaning there was no easy way to take them down. They felt no pain, experienced no fear, and taking them down was like trying to hack down ancient trees with a blunt butter knife.
As much pain as Zarek could tolerate, many Turned could tolerate just as much, if not far more. And the worst part? Their healing factors tended to be off the charts, while their bodily anatomy—odd and twisted as they were—was hardly ever affected by accumulating wounds.
No, the real reason Zarek did this wasn't to harm the Lurker, but instead purely to dodge and pause it for just the briefest of moments while he focused on something else.
Circulating his Godsfall.
There was a flash of dark gold on Zarek's back and the parrying shield blazed to life.
The timing was perfect and it formed quickly, deflecting the second volley of bone arrows.
Taking advantage of the strike to the Lurker's chest and the bolstered momentum from projectiles slamming into his back like miniature nukes, Zarek pushed forward and up.
The elasticity of the Lurker's Godsfall stored along his skin and pulsed through his tendons, converting the momentum so perfectly that one would have thought it was Zarek's own strength alone that had accomplished this.
The Lurker stumbled back, and the wild grin on Zarek's face had never faded for even a single moment.
This was what he loved about battle most.
Being painted into a corner, suffocated from all sides, and being forced to find a way out against an opponent that was simply countless times more powerful than you were.
He loved it.
He loved it with every fiber of his being.
Lines of black shot out from the web around them to try and capture Zarek, but he had already moved, sending out lines of black himself as he thrust his katana down.
He drove the blade through the stumbling Lurker's foot, pinning it down to the ground.
At the same time, his two strings of Lurker's Godsfall snagged the spiraling bone arrows out of the air before they could deflect away too far.
The Lurker tried to take another step back to stabilize itself, only to find that its foot was completely pinned. This time, it lost its balance entirely, all while Zarek conveniently caught two bone arrows in one palm each.
In the distance, Malik and Qiqi were closing in just in time to witness this scene perfectly. It was as though they were watching a master of his craft chisel away at a wooden statue right before them.
It was the sort of beautiful dance maybe only Zarek could finish.
With a leap, Zarek appeared above the Lurker's head, his arms swinging down with the tips of the bone arrows and impaling the blackened creature through its eyes so deep its head was pinned to the ground as well.
It was a reversal so fast it was hard to even register.