As soon as the fourth orb shattered, Chiara noticed the shift. The remaining three orbs began to glow, and a third tentacle rose, bringing the total to three evenly spaced tendrils dedicated purely to defense.

But something else caught her eye. A new tentacle began moving. It was different—thinner along the edges, sharp. It didn't carry the blunt force of the others; if that thing hit at those speeds, it would easily cleave a body in half.

She saw Alonso and Ayu retreating, pulling back just beyond the attack range, exploiting the brief delay that followed the destruction of an orb.

Three defensive tentacles, seven for offense, and now that thin one. Eleven out of the thirteen tentacles were active.

A wave interrupted her focus.

"The Lurkers at the edges— they're ignoring us and moving toward your position. We can't contain them anymore."

The message snapped her back to the present.

"Alright. Push forward with the ballistas and take advantage of the space created."

She sent another wave to the squad commanders.

"Rakesh, Ishaam, Ling—it's time. Move in with your squads. Keep the waves from converging within a 300-meter radius of the boss. And… bring all the javelins and ammunition you can. We're going to need them."

"Roger."

Things were starting to get serious.

Chiara's gaze swept over the battlefield. The waves on the outskirts were advancing toward them, but the jellyfish nearest to her still seemed drawn to her presence. Odd.

Were they avoiding getting too close to the boss itself? Or… was this an intentional maneuver to herd them towards it?

It didn't matter. As long as Alonso and Ayu had room to work, it was manageable.

She quickly sent out a wave to Imani, Arjun, Wang, and Lukas.

"Several incoming waves are closing in on our position. They're circling intentionally, trying to draw us in. Follow their movement, but don't engage unless necessary—there are too many to take down. Focus on creating gaps and keep moving in circles. We'll begin the offensive when the others arrive."

Confirmations came back immediately.

Chiara kept running, her EM waves disrupting the formations of the creatures, throwing their movements off rhythm. Even if their numbers tripled, she could keep them at bay. The real problem… was the boss itself.

She noticed Ayu and Alonso running away from it, taking them closer to Imani's position. At the same time, the Lurkers in that zone shifted away, confirming her hypothesis—they wouldn't come within a certain distance of the boss.

"Imani, avoid falling behind. Don't get too close to the boss."

"Yes," he replied firmly.

Chiara turned her focus back to the giant creature. The orbs were still glowing. If her timing was correct, they should deactivate in two more seconds.

And sure enough, it happened. At that exact moment, she noticed Alonso and Ayu reenter the strike range.

So they're waiting for the glow to stop? Invulnerability?

It made sense.

This time, they adjusted their strategy. Both carried two javelins.

Ayu moved first, stepping forward, her movements strange and seemingly aimless. But as Chiara watched, it became clear—Ayu was moving ahead of the tendrils, predicting them before they fully committed to their strikes.

The tentacles lashed out with terrifying speed, yet they missed her, again and again. While fast, they couldn't easily change direction mid-attack. For Ayu, it looked almost effortless.

Ayu closed the distance and hurled her first javelin. A defensive tentacle deflected it instantly, but she didn't stop. She followed with her second throw immediately after—right as Alonso launched his first javelin from the opposite side.

BOOM!

Chiara's eyes widened as the sound ripped through the air. The thin whip-like tentacle had broken the sound barrier, missing Alonso by mere inches.

What the—

A cold sweat prickled her skin. If that had hit…

But Alonso didn't flinch. He hurled his second javelin right on the heels of the first. With the three defensive tentacles still recovering from his earlier strike and Ayu's attacks, none were free to intercept it.

The javelin struck home.

Crack!

The fifth orb shattered, seconds after the fourth.

Only two left.

And then it all repeated once again—the glow, the brief delay—but this time, no new defensive tentacle rose. Instead, one of the thinner ones emerged, making it 12 out of the 13 tentacles now active.

Wait… something else was off.

The orbs.

They were moving faster. She had missed it before, the difference seemed minor initially, but now it was glaringly obvious. The orbs followed erratic, seemingly random orbits at a significant speed. Chiara narrowed her eyes, trying to estimate the change.

Six-point-nine… no. Seven times faster than before.

This would be a problem. Hitting the cores now would require predicting their movement—split-second timing and near-perfect precision.

She honed her focus, watching intently, trying to detect any patterns in their shifting trajectories.

Meanwhile, Alonso and Ayu pulled back again, disengaging just beyond the striking range. But something else caught her attention. The boss itself was moving faster too, its immense bulk surging forward with a speed that belied its size.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Her gaze sharpened on Ayu. She was barely faster than the current boss. If its speed increased again after the next orb shattered, she'd be in real trouble.

But they'd probably figured that out already.

Chiara's chest tightened. For all their preparation, for all their effort, the truth gnawed at her: they had been useless this entire fight.

The waves of jellyfish hadn't converged near the boss. Instead, they lingered on the outskirts, avoiding the central fight entirely. Did killing some of the Lurkers even matter now? Had any of their plans been necessary?

Her knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists, dodging a stray tendril swiping at her flank.

And the reinforcements? At this pace, the fight would be over before they even arrived.

Another pathetic performance?

Chiara gritted her teeth, frustration boiling beneath her calm exterior. They had come prepared to fight, to matter… and yet here they were. Watching.

And so, the seven seconds passed, and the two remaining orbs stopped glowing. But this time, Ayu and Alonso did not engage. They kept running, drawing the boss into wide circles.

Chiara frowned as she noticed this.

Were they afraid of the two supersonic tentacles, or…

No. For Ayu, it was just one more, and it still had a significant delay before reaching that speed. Alonso looked comfortable too. No… they're taking the time to study the orbits.

Indeed, they had to analyze the orbs' trajectory, or they wouldn't be able to hit them now.

Chiara focused on it herself, and after several more seconds, she got the first one, then the second shortly after. A random loop—but seven key points in each trajectory remained fixed for every iteration, while the curves connecting them varied without apparent order.

She hesitated for a moment, about to send them this information, but just then, she noticed Ayu and Alonso reengaging. They figured it out too?

For some reason, she doubted Ayu would pick it up that fast, but Alonso… perhaps. If so, he could have shared the key points with her via mental images.

And sure enough, both proceeded exactly like last time.

BOOM! BOOM!

This time, a supersonic tendril shot at Ayu too, but it struck a full couple of meters away from her. She seemed undeterred by the sound.

The same went for Alonso. After their four shots, another orb shattered.

They'd done it!

Only one mo—

But then her mouth fell agape.

Her eyes widened, and she nearly got hit by a tentacle in her distraction. She still couldn't come to terms with what was happening.

The boss…

The boss disappeared.

She tried sending her EM waves, but there was absolutely nothing. Had it been defeated? But there was still an orb remaining.

She noticed Alonso and Ayu rushing away quickly. Was it invisible? What… what happ—

BOOM!

An explosion erupted just feet away from Ayu.

BOOM!

Another one.

BOOM! BOOM!

The hits missed her, but she was being bombarded all around.

It's faster than before. It became faster—faster than Ayu.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

And all thirteen tentacles were obviously active, with three thin ones joining the attack.

What the hell was this!?

The explosions continued, and she noticed Alonso slowing his pace to take some pressure off Ayu. But it was clearly taxing him—his dodges were tight, far tighter than Ayu's.

Chiara's heart tensed watching this.

Not because they were in obvious danger, but because… they had no way to attack the boss now. With the last remaining orb undetectable—and the three defensive tentacles just as elusive—the boss… it was untargetable.

And its offense was insane. Alonso was barely holding on, and that was with his reflexes being off the charts.

What… what now?

"They are making a formation! They're sealing us off!"

The signal hit her hard—it was from Lukas. Formation?

But then her waves picked it up. The Lurkers were no longer targeting her. They… they were forming a barrier.

Her heart skipped a beat.

They were never sent to protect the boss… they were sent to trap them with it. She… she had guessed this… but…

They were forming a massive circular wall, dozens of meters tall, with no gaps between the motionless Lurkers.

She gritted her teeth.

She had to decide, and quickly. Break through now with the rest or stay inside and risk it?

Her mind raced. None of them could take a hit from the boss or react in time. But leaving meant Alonso and Ayu would be left alone…

She stared at the two of them. They were madly avoiding strike after strike, with nothing else they could do.

Should she stay and risk it—throw javelins randomly, all seven of them, hoping one would land by sheer luck? But the odds were too small. None of them could enter striking range with any certainty of making it out alive. With the boss undetectable, it could focus on any of them, and one thin tentacle was all it needed to finish them.

Even if, by some miracle, a shot was on target, the creature probably had its three defensive tentacles guarding it.

This… this was impossible. What kind of insane trial was this?

"You've been observing for a while. I need a detailed 3D image of all its dimensions, tentacle length, body size, predicted speed increase, remaining orb iteration frequency, and origin of every tendril. Send it to me—all of it. Now!"

The signal jolted her. Alonso?

He hadn't even looked at her position, but the tone and style—it was definitely him.

"Chiara, what are we doing?" Arjun sent.

Dammit.

All the data… but… she… the loop period was 1.53 seconds. The tentacles, they were… and if the orbit speed increased sevenfold, that would be…

"Chiara! We don't have time! What do we do?" Wang sent, his tone urgent.

Fuck!!! Stay quiet, dammit!

"Don't disturb me! Lukas, you're in charge!" she snapped back, gritting her teeth, fists clenching as she forced herself to focus.

Movement speed—increments were at 70%, so for it now… As for each tentacle… she remembered most of the positions… but not the thin ones.

Her teeth ground together.

She sent what she had to Alonso—a full 3D model with all the coordinates, attack delays, seven orbit markers, and iteration period. But the margin of error for the thin tentacles was 0.8%. Too much…

She hadn't been able to pinpoint them before. Her EM waves never worked on it, so all her estimations were extrapolated from visual references using elements from the landscape as reference.

Shortly after, Alonso sent another signal.

"That's not enough. All normal tentacles are distributed in radial symmetry, so I can't determine its current orientation from them. I need the precise positions of its thin appendices. They're unevenly spaced, and I can use them, along with the rest, to extrapolate its full body and orientation. I'm sending you some visuals from the fight. You have five seconds. In that time, I need the coordinates with a margin of error below 0.03%."

And then, a sudden flood of images hit her—one after another, each showing Alonso's perspective of the creature from a different angle.

She closed her eyes, shutting out all distractions.

Five seconds… She'd do it in three.

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