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[Skill-Eater] Chapter 149: Engagement
🕑 Added 2024-11-19 18:01:01 +0000 UTCMana went streaming out of Trapper’s core, flowing through the ground until it reached the kill zone in the center of the farmyard.
Although Edge couldn’t see anything move, he knew that the pit traps and bolt throwers had armed themselves and were ready to trigger when the colossal lizard stepped on top of them. At the same time, she primed the deadfall and manually activated her oil slick, causing the devices scattered throughout the area to burst—the same rock-colored sacks she had used to distribute the acid glue.
It didn’t make much noise, and the slippery substance began spreading across the dirt. It took the padamas a few seconds to realize that something was wrong, at which point it whipped its head up and started looking around. He could tell that the beast wasn’t sure what was happening. It didn’t see anyone around, but it had sensed the pulse of mana and knew something strange was going on.
When the spreading tide of oil touched its front feet, it reflexively backed up. A move that caused its rear legs to step into the grease behind it, leaving three of its feet coated in the slick sludge.
“Now!” Trapper roared and the crew sprang into motion. The hunters began rushing out doorways and leaping through windows, ready to hit the big bastard hard before it figured out that it had been lured into an ambush. Even though the other traps were active, they wouldn’t trigger from the team running over them, although they still had to be careful not to get caught in the crossfire.
That just left the silo. Trapper must have modified her original plan based on what she’d observed. She was waiting to trip the deadfall until the padamas was facing the other way and would be less likely to see it coming. The melee team circled around the barn to hit the beast from behind, while the rest of the crew spread out in a line along the other side of the pits.
Thankfully, the team had coated the bottom of their boots with a substance that would repel the greasy oil. Unless they fell into it, they would be far less affected by the altered ground than their prey, adding another small advantage to their side of the scales.
Edge rounded the corner of the barn with his heart hammering in his chest. Now there was no going back. All he could do was believe in his team, follow the plan, and hope for the best. In that moment, time seemed to slow, letting little details jump out at him. He could hear the twang of the hunters’ ranged weapons, and the padamas screaming in outrage.
He could smell the blood from the bait and the earthy scent of the harvest. Feel the late summer sunlight warming his skin. The texture of the leather grip under his fingertips as he raised his polearm and sprinted toward the fearsome predator, which had begun scrambling for purchase on ground that offered far less traction than it was expecting.
The immense predator roared out a challenge that wound up somewhat less intimidating than it intended, due to it sliding across the dirt instead of stopping in front of the ranged team. He looked over at the crew’s leader, who communicated her orders via hand signals.
She wants us to unleash some consumables to keep it disoriented. We can’t enter the kill zone until the silo falls. Edge came to a skidding stop, reaching toward his belt to pull out a stink bomb. He removed the silver sphere and twisted off the top, then hurled the device at the bewildered beast. It shattered against the ground beneath its head, releasing a dense spray of stinking yellow droplets.
The lizard hissed and began to gag, although it didn’t seem nearly as affected as before, when some of the liquid had flown inside its mouth. Even still, it was an effective distraction—granting the ranged team more time to unleash their skills and attacks. By this point, Edge had already thrown a second stink bomb that caught the padamas broadside, then he reached into his belt pouch and withdrew a flashbang.
He pressed the ignition, chucked the device, and then threw a second of the same make. They detonated back-to-back, unleashing a pair of tremendous bangs and a bright flash of light. As he’d been hoping, the intense assault to three senses spooked the unstable beast.
The lizard slid back as it scrambled away from the flashbangs… then it kept right on sliding. It was still figuring out what was going on with the ground below its feet—unable to understand why the rocky soil had become as slick as ice. It let out an exasperated hiss as all four feet scabbled for purchase, along with its agile tail.
The added momentum only made things worse. The beast went gliding off in a different direction, heading away from the crew. Before it could recover, its hindlegs hit one of Trapper’s pitfalls. The lattice of soil and wood fell away, letting two big feet fall into the spike-lined hole below. The colossal beast’s weight drove the crystal spars deep into its flesh, which broke off as its momentum shoved it deeper into the pit.
The padamas let out a shrill scream of pain, but it wasn’t all good news. Now that its rear feet were on stable ground, it had finally regained control over its momentum. It was injured and the spikes would slow it down, but it wasn’t seriously wounded. It was, however, extremely fucking distracted.
Trapper gave the signal to back up. It was time to use their last and biggest trap, which would hopefully take the beast down without having to engage in a weapon-to-claw brawl that would be incredibly dangerous for the hunting party.
She sent out a pulse of mana, but to everyone’s dismay, nothing happened. Trapper flashed another signal, indicating that the device wasn’t working the way it was supposed to. “Shit,” Jumo said. “I might have fucked up and left too many plates in place. But if we had undermined the structure further, we would have risked the silo collapsing early.”
Fortunately, Jumo had been worried that might happen, and had added a second means of triggering the mechanism. Responding to Violet’s command, Blue grabbed the ropes he had attached to the altered beams and then pulled as hard as she could. For a second, the silo held firm despite Blue’s tugging and straining.
But then the azure dino let loose a war cry and charged. The force of the skill ripped the weakened beams in half as Blue raced to get out of the trap’s kill zone before the building came down on top of her head.
