Inertia: Beneath the starlit veil [Progression Fantasy]

Nerena Corvantis

My body froze as I laid eyes on the rift guardian. The massive creature barreled toward us, its two-hundred-foot-long body uprooting trees and destroying everything in its path.

We had just survived an unimaginable horde. Now, we were facing something even worse, a foe I wasn’t sure any of us would survive.

If I were alone, I was confident that I could escape into the swamp and find some way to flee. It would be difficult, but I could manage.

But I wasn’t alone; I had my cluster and two other groups fighting alongside me to make sure we all could escape the rift.

“Nerena, finish the bubble!” Sora yelled at me, sending a shock into my body.

I snapped out of my daze, hurried, and finished making the last bubble big enough to fit a cluster.

Right when I finished, a shockwave blew across the swamp, nearly knocking me over.

When I looked up to see where it came from, I saw Stravos and his Titan take on the gigantic behemoth, trying their hardest to hold it back while the rest of the group ran towards the bubbles I created.

Sora and Voen covered for the group, launching waves of sound and lightning at the rift guardian.

Their attacks did nothing to the centipede's chitinous armor.

Even if we escape, how would we break through that armor?

“I know how,” the voice inside my head said.

I ignored the comment and closed the seal on one of the bubbles.

Sora and Voen dashed over, jumped into the other bubble I'd created, and now we just waited for Stravos.

“Stravos, stop trying to be a hero, and get in here so we can leave!” Sora said through the tether link.

Stravos disengaged and jumped in the air, while his titan took hold of the large mandibles.

I thought Stravos was coming towards us, but he suddenly flipped through the air and slammed his sword down onto the massive centipede’s head. The impact sent another shockwave ripping through the swamp.

And it barely did anything.

The creature’s chitin looked nearly impregnable, while the force of the strike chipped Stravos’s blade.

The centipede continued to push against the Titan, causing it to lose its footing and push it closer towards us.

Stravos and his titan were at the same stage as the rift guardian, but it clearly didn’t mean much. He must have only recently reached the second stage and probably hadn’t mastered his nodes yet. And we didn’t even have the proper equipment to take on a behemoth like this.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from NovelPhoenix. Please report it.

Stravos quickly got to the ground and sprinted towards us.

“Go ahead and start taking off; I'm gonna jump for it,” Stravos said to me through our tether link.

I jumped in the swamp, attached a tentacle to the two bubbles, and used the other two to propel me from the shoreline.

Stravos leaped into the air and recalled his titan that was losing the battle of strength against the rift guardian.

The centipede picked up speed and went after Stravos.

He’s not gonna make it.

I used one of my free tentacles and plucked him out of the air, dropped him in the open bubble, closed it, and submerged us into the swamp, just missing the chomp of the rift guardian.

I dove as deep into the swamp as I could, hoping the murky depths would hide us from the rift guardian.

A powerful undercurrent suddenly formed, nearly tearing my tentacles free from their suction points.

I knew exactly what it meant.

The massive creature was amphibious, just like its smaller kin- and it was coming after me.

Fast.

My pulse roared as the rift guardian's muffled screeches echoed through the water.

I made the poor decision to see how close the beast was, and it was about ten feet away, about to bite down and pop the bubbles I created.

In desperation, I poured every last bit of cosmic energy I had into my tentacles. I shot forward faster, but my steering suffered. I nearly crashed into the massive roots stretching through the swamp.

This isn’t working; the bubbles are slowing me down.

I scanned the murky waters, trying to figure out a way to put more distance between us and our deaths.

I zipped around an underwater rock formation. The guardian simply tore through it, shattering the structure and sending rocks hurtling through the water like torpedoes.

One of them barely missed the bubble but clipped my shoulder, making me wince in pain.

“Shouldn’t it have gone up for air by now?” Stravos asked through our tether link.

“As you can see, normal standards don’t apply to something like this. At this point we just have to pray and hope we survive.” I shot back, looking for another structure to slow the guardian down.

“No, I won't accept that. Concordants, do your jobs; she is trying to conserve her cosmic energy. Transfer her all the cosmic energy she needs; you can even use mine. She can’t afford to be conservative with her cosmic energy distribution.” Stravos continued.

The order surprised me, but I guess the menacing prince of war will do anything if it means to survive for another battle.

The next moment, I felt a surge of cosmic energy enter my core, supercharging me and letting me be reckless with my usage.

With the extra cosmic energy, I dove us deeper into the swamp, so deep that my feet were scraping the ground.

I wanted to see if the behemoth would take the gamble and risk suffocating, failing to give itself enough time to go back up for air.

The behemoth took the gamble, but to my surprise, something interesting happened.

The chitin armor began to crack the deeper it went.

Wait, is the pressure too much for the armor?

Then the large centipede began to slow down, allowing me to put more distance between us.

“Did everyone see that?” I asked, as I continued to rocket us through the swamp waters.

“Yes, it's a weakness. The shell cracks under immense pressure,” Sora said.

“How are we gonna generate that kind of pressure on the surface?” Simon asked.

“We know a guy. We just have to find him,” Voen responded.