Nova Terra: Guardian - A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure (The Titan Series Book 4)

by Seth Ring

  As more and more of the bugs rushed toward them, Thorn left the group, rushing into a space between two piles of rock. Both his tetsubo and the greatblade were flashing around him, turning anything that got close into minced piles of goo. Spike bugs began to roll toward him while the nearby spitters shuffled around to aim at him.

  Their movements did not escape Hollowgen’s eyes and arrow after arrow shot out causing the spitters to erupt in showers of acid. The chain of explosions caught the giant bug’s attention, and it turned toward the group, its shuffling legs sending clouds of dust into the air. With earthshaking steps it began to stride toward them, the other bugs scattering out of its way.

  “Oh man.” BrokenBlade gulped as she watched the massive monster coming toward them. Glancing at Heidi, she asked, “any chance you have a way to block that?”

  Mute, Heidi shook her head.

  “Well, let's hope that Thorn can distract it while we clean up the rest of the bugs. If he can survive then we’ll all be able to team up and wear it down. At least it’s slower than these spike bugs,” Bluefire said, sidestepping a charging spike bug and bisecting it with her magical blade.

  As if it had heard Bluefire’s words, the giant bug began to speed up, its six legs pounding into the dirt. Completely ignoring one of the piles of stones that was in its way, it blasted through them, sending shards of stone flying. As it charged forward, the end of the creature’s body split open in three sections, revealing a massive mouth filled to the brim with razor sharp teeth.

  The creature thundered towards the group, shaking the cavern. A weird, warbling sound echoed from its mouth, sending the bugs that had been assaulting the team into a complete frenzy. Spike bugs threw themselves forward with increased vigor and new waves of acid shot through the air.

  Bluefire gave quick commands, handling the renewed attacks with the calm skill of a veteran commander, assigning each member of the team to the place where their skills would have the most impact. Still, none of them could do anything about the giant bug that was stomping toward them.

  *BOOOOM*

  The juggernaut’s warble cut off abruptly as the creature was slammed sideways, crushing through rock piles as it staggered to keep its feet. Bouncing off of the thick leather armor that covered the juggernaut’s side, Thorn landed on the ground and dashed through the dust kicked up by its thick legs. His attack had stopped the creature’s charge, but the fight was just getting started. Silver-tipped claws left trails in the air and the eyes of his helmet glowed red as a bloodthirsty howl resounded in everyone’s ears.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  “Did he?”

  “Yes! Now focus on your job! We’re all dead if we don’t get these bugs cleared!” Shutting Priss up with a glare, Bluefire blocked a glob of acid that was flying toward Heidi. “Mina, can you assist Hollowgen with the spitters? Alph, take over crowd control.”

  “You got it!”

  “Sure.”

  As the team continued to battle against the swarms of bugs, Thorn rushed forward, ducking under the side of the juggernaut. His tetsubo was next to useless against the heavily armored monster, so he put it back in his inventory and focused on using his [Quicksilver Claws]. Thrusting out his hand, he ripped at the side of the juggernaut, his silver-tipped claws cutting into thick leathery armor.

  Despite the force of the strike, his claws barely made a scratch on the armor, sliding off after leaving small furrows across the juggernaut's skin. Thorn’s heart sank at the sight of the shallow cuts. This was not the first time that his brute strength had failed him in the game, but this time Thorn knew, without a doubt, that if he did not find a solution quickly, they were all dead.

  Hearing a furious hiss above him, Thorn dodged to the other side of the juggernaut as the giant creature tried to twist its three-pronged maw toward him. Sticking close to one of the back legs, he waited for it to lift and then grabbed it with both hands. With a heave, he threw the juggernaut off balance, causing it to stagger again.

  “Velin! I need some fire power!”

  Despite the clamor of the bug’s assault, Thorn’s voice carried easily through the cavern. Velin took a deep breath and began to utter arcane words as energy gathered in the gem on the end of her staff. White light began to compress, quickly becoming blinding.

  Getting its feet back under it, the juggernaut turned, throwing Thorn off with a swing of its leg. Flying through the air, Thorn crashed into a pile of stones, sending them flying. Coughing, he rose to his feet and dashed back toward the creature before it could turn its attention away. Roaring a challenge, he dodged past its open mouth and spun, landing a jump kick on its neck that nearly lifted it up in the air.

  Landing under the monster’s head, Thorn jumped to the side to avoid its snapping mouth, his claws leaving another mark on its hide. Dashing underneath its belly, he caught sight of marks that he had made with his first attack, only to realize that they were slowly vanishing as the juggernaut’s leathery armor repaired itself.

  “You have got to be kidding,” Thorn muttered under his breath.

  Watching the scratches closing, Thorn wracked his brain for a solution. The armor of the creature was nearly impervious to his attacks and from the looks of it, any damage that he caused would simply be healed up by the monster’s regeneration. As he was thinking about it, a searing beam of white light shot past him and cut into the juggernaut’s side.

  The beam of light burned into the beast’s armor as it shifted uncomfortably. Seeing a chance for victory, Thorn reached out and grabbed two of the thick legs near him. With a titanic effort, he pulled them toward him, trying to lock the juggernaut in place.

  “Target the legs!”

  Immediately understanding what Thorn was trying to do, Velin shifted her beam, focusing it on one of the legs that Thorn was holding. As the burning light cut into its back leg, the juggernaut began to thrash wildly, trying to break free from Thorn’s grip.

  “Keep holding it!”

  Velin’s normally calm face was tightened in concentration as she poured all of her focus into cutting through the juggernaut’s legs. Clenching his jaw, Thorn dug in as best he could, pulling with all his might. A massive force slammed into his back as the juggernaut twisted its front leg at an impossible angle, but Thorn refused to let go. Again the creature’s tree sized front leg slammed into him, the jarring blow causing one of his hands to slip slightly.

  [Master!]

  The warm sensation of Akira’s healing spell fell on his body, restoring his strength and allowing him to hang on. Ignoring the leg smashing into him, Thorn gripped the two legs all the tighter as Velin’s spell burned its way through the joints above his head. After a few more moments the juggernaut’s legs broke off from its body, causing it to stagger sideways, screeching in pain.

  “Yes!”

  Cheers broke out from the team fighting against the smaller bugs. The relentless assault of the spike bugs and the spitters was beginning to taper off, and Bluefire was confident that they would be able to assist Thorn soon.

  “Keep it up, we’re almost there!”

  Hardly had the words left her lips when a low hum echoed through the cavern, causing Alph to tense up. Noticing his reaction, Bluefire glanced at him.

  “Watch out!” Pushing her to the side, Alph did his best to dodge as a barrage of small droplets showered down around them.

  “What…?”

  “It’s an elemental bug! The liquid is a petrification curse. Ugh.”

  Gritting his teeth, Alph pulled a potion from his belt, pulling the top off and pouring it over his arm which had gotten hit with a drop of the elemental bug’s liquid. The petrifying skin began to recede slowly.

  “You can fight the curse by focusing your willpower on it, but we need to kill it quickly, otherwise it’ll turn us all to stone.”

  The low hum grew louder until it sounded like a cloud of flies. Looking up, they saw a large bug with buzzing wings drifting above their heads. Mina flicked her wand
, sending her three ice orbs up into the air where they began to shoot at the buzzing monster. The [Ice Spikes] shot through the air, cutting through the bug as if they had hit nothing but air.

  “Watch out, air elemental bugs are lightning fast.” Alph was doing his best to distribute his anti-petrification potions, but the fine rain of cursed drops was still splattering around them.

  The figure of the elemental bug faded in the air as it appeared elsewhere. The creature’s horizontal movement was so quick that Mina could not follow it with her eyes. At the same time, as it dodged out of the way of the [Ice Spikes] it released a spurt of greyish liquid at Mina, forcing her to blink away.

  Rising up into the air, its beating wings sped up, causing the air around it to swirl, dispersing the petrification liquid it was dripping in a fine mist. Cursing, the party below did their best to scatter, but the bug followed after them.

  As the rest of the team was rushing to get away from the elemental bug, Thorn was sticking tightly to the juggernaut. Now missing two of its legs, the monster was in pain and off balance and Thorn was determined to keep it that way. Again and again he smashed into its remaining front leg, trying to completely hamper its mobility.

  Furious, the bug twisted around, doing its best to get rid of him. Both Thorn and the monster were so focused on their fight that they paid no attention to their surroundings, smashing through the piles of rocks and trampling over the few remaining smaller bugs that still skittered around.

  [Master, watch out!]

  Jerking his head up, Thorn turned just in time to see that the elemental bug had flashed above him, emptying a salvo of petrifying liquid at his chest before flashing back to deal with the others. Still tied up with the juggernaut, Thorn had no way to dodge the attack. Before he could activate any of his armor’s abilities, a small red streak blurred through the air, intercepting the liquid.

  [Akira!]

  Reaching out to catch Akira’s stiffened body, Thorn saw that her fur was quickly turning to stone. Quickly getting out the vial of sap from the World Tree from his inventory, he uncorked it and poured it into his battle pet’s mouth, praying it would work. Behind him, the juggernaut realized that the pest who had been bothering it was focused on something else. Hissing triumphantly, it opened its mouth to swallow Thorn whole.

  Just before it snapped its mouth shut an intense sense of danger poured through its body, causing it to freeze for a moment. Beyond Thorn and Akira, Velin stood, her staff raised. The gem on the end glowed brighter than ever, waves of destructive energy radiating from its tip. With an arcane command, Velin released the spell, sending a thick bolt of bright white light shooting toward the juggernaut’s open mouth.

  Throwing itself to the side as its survival instincts kicked in, the juggernaut abandoned its attack on Thorn as it tried to get its thick back armor in between itself and the incoming attack. The arcane energy landed on the juggernaut’s back, burning through its armor and leaving a gaping wound. Shuddering, the monster let out a screech and began to scramble back to its feet.

  Seeing his chance, Thorn launched himself at the giant bug, climbing up its back until he reached the still burning wound.

  “Velin! Go help the others!”

  Roaring, Thorn’s claws sank into the juggernaut’s wounded back. His arms bulged with muscle as he strained to widen the wound. After all the fighting that they had done, this was the only spot they had managed to get through the juggernaut’s armor, and he was not about to let it go. Gritting his teeth, he pulled like his life depended on it as the juggernaut thrashed around.

  Little by little, he pulled at the hole in the juggernaut’s armor, doing his best to widen it. Under his feet the giant bug trembled violently, trying its best to throw him off. Missing two legs and scarred all over, the juggernaut was wounded worse than it had ever been before. Furious at the situation, it staggered around the cavern, ramming itself into the rock piles as it tried to shake Thorn off.

  Giving the rampaging monster one last look, Velin closed her eyes and refocused her exhausted mind on the glowing gem on her staff. The bright light had dimmed significantly, but there was still enough energy for a couple last blasts. Swinging it up, she aimed at the flying bug that was harassing the other team and spoke an arcane word, sending a searing beam of white at its wings.

  A horrific screech echoed throughout the cavern as the wind elemental bug’s wings were punctured by the beam. It had been so focused on covering its prey with petrifying liquid that it had not noticed Velin’s attack until too late. Struggling to fly away, it had barely made it a few feet before a glowing arrow lanced through its abdomen.

  [Power Shot]

  Gasping for air, Hollowgen lowered her bow, her exhausted fingers trembling. Falling to the ground, she stared at her partially petrified feet, too tired to continue fighting the spread of the curse. Still, the deadly arrow delayed the elemental bug long enough for Velin’s second beam to land on its wing, cutting through its exoskeleton and the muscle underneath.

  Another screech rang out as the monster bug plunged to the ground, unable to keep itself airborne. Struggling up onto its short, stubby legs, it raised its head, only to be met with a shining axe and two flashing blue blades. Its mastery over the air that made it so nimble while flying proved useless in the face of Priss and Bluefire’s raw fury, and within a few minutes it was dead, spread in pieces on the ground.

  Across the room, Thorn was still struggling with the juggernaut who had finally had enough. Tucking its legs under its body the monster rolled over, intending to crush Thorn under its weight. The ground approached rapidly, but Thorn stubbornly held on, bracing himself for the impact.

  *BOOOM*

  With an earth shaking sound, the juggernaut’s back hit the ground, crushing stones into powder and digging a massive pit in the cavern floor. After rocking back and forth, the behemoth righted itself, staggering slightly as it balanced on its four remaining legs. Despair settled on the few remaining members of the party as they saw the juggernaut’s empty back, Thorn nowhere to be seen.

  [Master!]

  What started as a high-pitched squeal suddenly grew in volume as fury overtook Thorn’s pet. Ever since she had swallowed the sap of the World Tree, it had coursed through her veins, fighting off the petrification and cleansing her inside and out. New knowledge sparkled to life in her head, and now, as rage took hold of her, she moved instinctively.

  The red fur of three waving tails began to flicker and her body burst into raging flame, growing in size as she rushed toward the wounded juggernaut. With each leaping bound she grew, getting bigger and hotter by the moment. As she grew the flames that covered her body burned all the hotter and she sped up drastically, until she was a flaming fireball the size of a small bus.

  *BOOOOOOOM*

  Slamming into the dazed juggernaut, Akira sent it flying into the cavern’s wall, burying it into the stone. Before it could register what was going on, she dashed forward again, flaming claws ripping through its leather armor, leaving long smoking gashes. With a desperate lurch, the juggernaut wrenched itself free from the cavern wall and opened its mouth wide, trying to engulf Akira.

  [Akira, target the wound on its back.]

  Hearing Thorn’s voice in her head made the flames covering her body burn all the brighter, giving Akira a burst of speed. Dodging past the juggernaut’s gaping maw, she slipped to its side and sank her claws into the wound that Thorn and Velin had opened on its back. Razor sharp claws sank into the soft flesh inside the bug’s carapace, causing it to roar in pain.

  [Deal as much damage as you can, I’m coming.]

  Erupting into a storm of swinging claws, Akira ripped into the juggernaut, drastically widening the creature’s wound. Using her superior speed to stay outside of the range of its mouth, she slashed at it over and over again. Through her connection, she could feel Thorn rising from the pit the juggernaut had dug in the cavern floor where a timely [Moon’s Reflection] had saved him from being completel
y crushed.

  Sprinting toward the two raging creatures, Thorn activated [Predator’s Leap], flying through the air and landing with bone crunching impact on the juggernaut’s back, his weight knocking it back down to the ground. Together, Thorn and Akira ripped the juggernaut to shreds until, with one final shudder, it collapsed to the ground and lay still.

  As Thorn dropped to the ground, exhausted, he found himself lifted up by three flaming tails. The fire that covered her body gave off heat, but as it wrapped around him he found it to be warm rather than hot. The flames licked at his body and Thorn could feel them burning up his fatigue as Akira rubbed her massive cheek against his head.

  [See, master? I told you I was the best Ailuridae!]

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  “Wow, Akira, I love the new look.” Mina stared at the giant Ailuridae in awe.

  The whole team was sitting near the exit to the third cavern, recovering from the fight. Alph’s potions were taking effect, cleansing the petrification caused by the elemental bug. Akira was sitting next to Thorn, shoving pastries into her mouth. When standing on all fours she was nearly as tall as Thorn’s 8’ 9”, and sitting back on her hind legs she towered above everyone.