Chương 568: The Submerged Siege

Luke sprinted through the forest as the entire world shook beneath him. A massive earthquake tore across the island. The barrier marking the island's limit had collapsed, revealing the next zone, and behind him the land was being swallowed whole, sinking into the sea. A geyser burst from a cracked patch of ground, erupting right in front of him.

"Damn island!" He hit the ground hard, rolled, and scrambled back to his feet without stopping. He'd been running for ten straight hours. Third Bracelet: Purple Bracelet This Zone of the island has entered irreversible collapse. Earthquakes spread through the region as the ground cracks and gives way beneath your feet. Soon, the entire area will be swallowed by the sea, pulled into an oceanic vortex and dragged to the bottom of the abyss. Nothing that remains in this Zone will survive.

You have until the time limit ends to reach the Second Zone. Every second matters, and stopping is not an option. But running won't be enough. Humanoid creatures that once lived beneath the island have emerged, driven by vengeance, and they will attack anyone they find. Some of them carry Purple Bracelets, which may be your chance to obtain one. The island is collapsing, enemies are hunting, and what you need is in their hands. Run. Take it. Survive. Or vanish along with the island.

[Time Remaining: 1 Hour: 46 Minutes: 38 Seconds] He reached a cliff wall.

"Damn place, damn place…" Using his knives, he began climbing. Behind him, screams echoed through the forest, other participants. Something else was moving with them in the chaos. Near the top, he glanced back and watched the ground where he'd stood moments ago shatter like thin ice, revealing the ocean beneath as it was sucked downward. Only sea remained except it wasn't a normal sea. A vortex swirled like a liquid hurricane, devouring everything.

The moment he pulled himself onto the ledge, a creature waited for him with a spear. He dodged the thrust, spun, and severed its head in a single motion. [You have slain an Island Selmarine – Lvl 57] 37, 582 IP earned They had risen all over the island, crawling out of ruptured tunnels. Amphibious things. Skin like shark hide mixed with lizard scales, long tails, humanoid bodies, and faces that looked disturbingly like a human fused with a fish.

As he ran through the forest, more of them shadowed him, scattered along the trees. They communicated with sharp screams and whistles vibrating through their gills. Spears shot toward him. He fired an arrow into one that leapt across his path, then switched weapons and sliced through the creature's leg before finishing it off with the machete driven into its face. [You have slain an Island Selmarine – Lvl 54] 35, 121 IP earned"Come on then! All of you!" he shouted at the group closing in.

Luke charged with a machete and dagger, parrying spears and striking them down one after another. [You have slain an Island Selmarine – Lvl 51] 30, 087 IP earned [You have slain an Island Selmarine – Lvl 53] 33, 247 IP earned [You have slain an Island Selmarine – Lvl 51] 29, 994 IP earned Not one of these bastards has a purple bracelet. The cliff behind him began to collapse. Luke pushed forward, sprinting deeper into the forest. A chest fell from the sky and crashed ahead of him.

"Now? Seriously?" He ran toward it. Inside were two healing potions. Before he could grab them, an arrow hissed through the air. Luke ducked and rolled behind cover.

"I deserve the potion! After everything in this place, I deserve it!" someone shouted from atop a tree.

"Screw you," Luke snapped as he sprinted forward, dodging arrows. He closed the distance, drove the machete into the man's abdomen, and twisted hard.

"Now stay in this hell and die," he shouted while the man collapsed. The next stretch was flooded, a wide river cutting through the collapsing terrain. The end of the Green Bracelet challenge had restored the water flow, which might have been an advantage earlier, but for Luke it only made things harder now. He dove in and began swimming as the tremors intensified. The sound of destruction rolled behind him like thunder. Then something yanked him under. A Selmarine dragged him down, another coiling around his neck.

Luke bit down on the creature's arm until it recoiled, then struck with his knife. He fought blindly beneath the surface until both attackers went still. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. [You have slain an Island Selmarine – Lvl 51] 30, 145 IP earned [You have slain an Island Selmarine – Lvl 53] 33, 745 IP earned He broke the surface, gasping, and crawled onto the muddy shore. A scream echoed ahead.

Another Selmarine was pulling a man toward the water.

"Help me! Please!" the man cried. Luke ran straight past him.

"Please!" the man begged again. Luke slipped into the forest. A moment later he heard movement.

"Thank you, thank you," the man said, breathless. Luke glanced back. Zoe had taken down the Selmarine.

"We have to move, this whole place is collapsing," she said.

"A purple bracelet… you have a bracelet," the rescued man muttered. He suddenly lunged at her, grabbing her throat.

"I can't die here. I want that bracelet!"

"What?"

"I won't die! I want it!" he shouted, squeezing harder. Zoe's sword clattered out of reach.

"Not my problem. She's an idiot," Luke muttered, turning away. Then he clicked his tongue, drew an arrow, and fired. [You have slain a Human…] 211, 745 IP earned Zoe pushed the body aside and scrambled for her sword, still shaken. Luke stepped out from the trees with his bow raised.

"T-thank you," she managed, then froze when she noticed he was still aiming.

"Take my bracelet. It's yours. You saved me." She dropped the purple bracelet onto the ground.

"I just want to know how you got it," Luke said.

"None of the creatures I found had one."

"I was a biologist. I could tell their threat levels by the way the Selmarines vocalized."

"And?"

"Go toward the ones with the deepest, loudest calls. Those are the pack leaders." He lowered the bow.

"Thank you." Then he bolted into the brush.

"Wait, please!" she called, catching up as he ran.

"Have you seen any of my friends?"

"No. And I wouldn't recognize them anymore. If they acted like you just did, they're probably dead," he answered flatly. Luke climbed onto a rock and jumped to a thick-branching tree, taking off along the canopy. Behind him, jets of water burst from the cracked ground with enough force to fling debris into the air.

"Stop following me, or I'll take your bracelet," he warned.

"But this is the safe direction!" As they ran, Luke checked the timer. [Time Remaining: 1 Hour: 13 Minutes: 17 Seconds] The earth split open ahead of them, the ground tearing apart as the collapse accelerated.

"Damn it." He leapt forward as the ground behind him flooded. Water poured through the broken earth in rising sheets. Screams echoed across the forest, human voices and something else.

"A low pitch," Luke muttered, stopping for a moment. He turned toward the opposite direction from where he was supposed to go, listening carefully. There's a damn Selmarine with a bracelet over there. A geyser erupted beside him, showering steam and debris. There was a good chance he wouldn't be able to make it back. Steal a bracelet from someone later? It was the safer bet. Plenty of participants were doing exactly that, ignoring the challenges entirely. He'd considered that strategy himself.

If he focused only on surviving the full three months, he could always rob someone when the time came.

"Screw it. I'll get mine myself." He sprinted toward the source of the monstrous calls. The water level was rising fast now. Cutting through the trees, he spotted Selmarines rushing through the shallows. Luke fired arrows as he ran, dropping several. The rest scattered, then turned toward him as one. Spears lifted. Guttural growls rose from their throats.

"Where's your leader, huh? Bring him out!" Luke shouted, drawing his machete and dagger. Something dropped from the branches above and landed hard in front of him. A larger Selmarine, skin a dull gray, face shaped like a shark's. And on its wrist, a purple bracelet. [Island Alpha Selmarine – Lvl 72]"Found you, bastard." A geyser exploded beside them. The creature spread its hands, revealing long hooked claws and a whipping tail, then lunged. Luke rushed to meet it. They collided, steel against claws.

The Alpha's strikes were fast, feral. Other Selmarines threw spears at him, but he slipped between them, countering when he could. The Alpha spun, tail sweeping out in a wide arc. It smashed into Luke and hurled him straight through a geyser blast. He shot upward, and the creature jumped after him, slamming him down into the water before flinging him across the clearing. He crashed into a tree and staggered up, coughing blood.

"Smart one, aren't you," he muttered. Instinctively he raised a hand, expecting his kukris to return. Wrong blades. These didn't have magnetism. The monster roared and charged.

"Stupid island," Luke growled, diving aside. He spotted his machete in the water, snatched it up, and drove an arrow into a Selmarine that tried to crawl toward it. Then he re-engaged the Alpha. The ground split beneath them, drifting apart. The creature lashed its tail, firing pressurized bursts of water toward him. Luke pushed forward, dodging the blasts. With a spinning strike, he severed the Alpha's arm. The bracelet hit the flooded earth with a splash. The monster lunged again.

Luke threw both knives, grabbed his bow, and unleashed a rapid volley. Arrow after arrow sank into the Alpha's torso, staggering it. He charged, reclaimed his machete, and cut the creature down. The Alpha collapsed. [You have slain an Island Alpha Selmarine – Lvl 72] 88, 445 IP earned The others roared around him. Luke grabbed the bracelet and strapped it on. [Bracelets Found: 3/6]"Who's next?" he shouted at the surrounding Selmarines, who answered with a chorus of eerie tones.

The earthquake surged again, harder than before. Luke ran. But more shapes emerged from the brush, four of them. [Island Alpha Selmarine – Lvl 72] [Island Alpha Selmarine – Lvl 72] [Island Alpha Selmarine – Lvl 72] [Island Alpha Selmarine – Lvl 72] The island was splitting apart.