Chương 75: Chapter Seventy Four

The world shuddered. Plumes of silt beginning to rise up from behind buildings and surge down empty streets; the once-dead city coming to life as its sole resident was roused from their formerly subdued state. Not that Bob was in any condition to notice; his wooden body currently twitching from where it had fallen moments earlier. The combination of the massively increased aura and the thundering voice ripping through his consciousness leaving him near-comatose.

The only possible 'up-side' to his situation being that the sudden mental assault – as well as the feeling of mortal terror that accompanied it – had managed to clear out the remaining cotton-fluff that had been filling his mind. Though, considering the likelihood he'd soon be in great need of anesthesia, perhaps even that should be counted as a loss. He struggled to get up, to move at all, but every attempt ended in failure.

Bob unable to even open his lid wide enough to try and drag himself to safety with his tongue. It feeling almost as though he was suffering some waking version of sleep paralysis; only the shadowy figure standing in the corner was very real, and very much about to end his life. Eventually, as the ground continued to shake from slow, ponderous impacts in the near distance, he focused his attention on the only thing that seemed to be fighting against the crushing pressure.

Attempting to pull his consciousness away from his brutalized body and directly insert it into the functioning of his 'Aura Path' Trait/Skill. Unlike a 'pure' Trait, there seemed to be far more working parts to the 'melded' abilities permanently taking up his Skill slots; the fact that they could be leveled up more-or-less assuring that. Most of the time he didn't bother 'peeking in' however; each Trait/Skill still being largely passive and their uses subconscious.

Now though, he didn't really have much of a choice; Bob focusing on the way the energy was flowing through him and doing his best to 'boost' it. Attempting to force the creation of an additional 'shield' around his mind and body. He tried to ignore the shaking sands beneath him as he traced through hundreds of weaving bands of mana. Forced himself to push away the burning, biting pain crushing him from all sides as he focused on doing the only thing he could think of that might alleviate his dire situation.

Seconds felt like hours as he fought against the horrifying energies that seemed to be literally trying to unmake him. Portions of his anatomy slowly going numb as the corrosive aura seeped into every surface; burning out the mana that kept his artificial form alive. He kept pushing however. Even when he stopped being able to feel his physical body at all. Even when the pressure began to increase; Bob able to hear the wooden boards he was constructed of starting to splinter and crack.

Multiple health alerts passing unnoticed in front of the dead jewel which had once been his eye. Finally though, just as it felt like he was about to lose consciousness, something 'clicked'. Ding! Resistance Path Skill Acquired: Aura Resistance (C) The effects were instant. The crushing force being immediately thrown off as Bob was able to feel himself again; his boxy body a mass of pins-and-needles as life reentered it. The vision slowly coming back to his jeweled eye as a blurred world cleared itself.

Only for the first thing he saw to be a massive form wedged between two buildings. Bob almost didn't want to believe it was real until legs the size of lampposts moved. The massive, bloated crustacean delicately traversing the narrow four lane street as it fully entered the area holding the Node. Its large black eyes slowly swiveling on their sapling-sized stalks as it searched for the presence that had sparked its ire.

As one of its long legs fully entered his area of detection, Bob almost unconsciously sent a probe towards the creature. Some part of him filled with a horrifying curiosity; wanting to know exactly how screwed he was. Ding! Colossal Tide-Breaker Mad-Crab Node Lord (B) Level 21 Dominate Trait Paths: Natural Weapons, Aquatic, Aura, Mind Control Threat Ranking: Catastrophic'Huh. Honestly, less horrible than I expected.'

As if the creature could sense the slight dig at its power-level, the enormous pitch-black eyes chose that moment to land on him. Bob, in his less-than-fantastic state, having completely forgotten to activate 'Lifeless Disguise' Though, moments later, a system alert informed him that it might not have made much of a difference anyway. Ding! Your challenge for control over the (Drowned City of Azcoran) Golden Node has been accepted! You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

You will be (Marked) by the Current Node Lord until the challenge has been resolved. Good Luck!

'…What?'

'ENEMY!' The monstrous crab's scream ripped through his mind, the effects nearly as debilitating as the previously pulverizing aura. Luckily, it didn't come with the same existentially-corrosive effects, his still functioning eye able to see as the creature began moving towards him at unnatural speed; its form cutting through the water like it wasn't even there. Something which allowed him the briefest moment to react as a claw the size of a Buick Enclave crashed towards him at speeds the car itself couldn't reach.

As 'Sudden Step' teleported him twenty feet away from the zone of impact, Bob found himself almost as grateful for how easy-to-use Trait abilities were as he was for deciding to leave his last Skill Slot empty. Mind quickly waving away the multiple Level-up alerts his first 'Resistance' ability was receiving for its continued blocking of the beast's aura. Him feeling desperately relieved to see the Skill didn't seem to cost him any mana.

Because he was likely to need every last point he had if he wanted to survive the next five or so seconds; him immediately being forced to teleport again simply to avoid the shockwave the monster's claw-strike had sent racing through the water.

'KILL!' Bob winced as he spammed another five 'Sudden Steps' to try and make some distance; heading towards the closest building opposite the crab in hopes of utilizing its indestructible walls. Unfortunately, whatever 'Mark' had been put on him seemed to be doing its job, the crab's soulless eyes staying locked to his body throughout the entire process; its massive form getting ever-closer after each of his 'jumps'.

With it being at least another hundred feet to the building, a 'Battlefield Meditation' affected Bob quickly realized that he wouldn't make it. Managing to make an emergency decision between his fifth and his sixth 'jump'. That being to suddenly teleport backwards.

'DESTROY!' Instantly, he was in the middle of eight massive legs; all of them attempting to screech to a halt at once. He quickly waved away another mass of 'level-up' notifications as he tried to come up with some sort of plan for escape; the monster's attributes obviously being greater than his own by several orders of magnitude. As the massive body finally managed to arrest its forward momentum however, Bob realized his options were rather limited.

He obviously couldn't go forward, given that's where the crab's pointy bits were. Going to the sides might end up just as bad for him, what with your standard crab movement dynamics. And heading backwards left him half again as much space to clear before he made it to possible safety, something he felt fairly certain he wouldn't be able to cover before the crab corrected course and caught up. Not being a fan of any of these options, Bob finally decided to go with a surprise fourth choice.

That being to teleport directly upwards. The decision ended up being a wise one, with the colossal crustacean – in a feat of surprising flexibility – managing to stab the longer of its two claws down in his previous location only moments later. Something which, oddly enough, actually ended up being to his benefit. The shockwave of its impact managing to tumble his form through the water, Bob quickly activating 'Sudden Step' the moment he found himself completely upside down.

An action which allowed him to land, feet first, on the crab's chitinous underside. At which point, he did his best to adhere himself to the armored shell just as thoroughly as the mussels had to his lowest levels. Something his most impressive opponent to date obviously wasn't a fan of.

'DESTROY!'

'CRUSH!'

'REND!' The 'Tide-Breaker' Crab spun in place, its every motion full to bursting with rage and implied violence. The only reason he wasn't torn from its undercarriage in an instant was due to its many flashing legs somehow creating an 'eye of the storm' situation directly beneath it. Bob watching the world blur outside even as the waters surrounding him remained relatively still. Allowed a stolen moment to act while not under attack. One which he was determined not to waste.

It must be said that, by all metrics, Bob had lucked out immensely with his second Class pick; 'Dimensional Mage' having access to potent and seemingly nigh-unblockable Skills. Skills which had multiple times allowed him to make short work of creatures two tiers, and many levels, higher than him. It was true that his abilities had seemed to dwindle-out when used on the few higher leveled C-ranks he'd encountered, but Bob still had hope.

Hope that his evolution, his vastly higher intelligence score, and a Title he hadn't yet really put to the test would make up the difference. Hope that weak points still existed even on massively overpowered goliaths like this. And, as he molded the energy necessary for the most powerful 'Shattered Space' he'd ever cast, that hope seemed valid. He could feel the difference immediately; which wasn't really a surprise given his intelligence had nearly doubled since the last time he'd used the Skill.

It wasn't that alone, however. His understanding of Sub-Dimensional magics had also increased, something he tried to put into play as he ever-so-delicately modified how the system thought he should construct the spell. The effects being immediately noticeable upon its release. Ding! Shattered Space (D) has leveled up! 8 – 16 Bob felt the tips of his 'lid' curl into a grin as the system appeared to co-sign onto his improvements of the Skill.

A grin which morphed into an almost-mad smile as what could only be his 'Rank Defier' Title appeared to kick in; the already boosted dimensional spell suddenly being amplified just as the Mana left his body. He held his nonexistent breath as an unstable pocket dimension unfolded itself near the upper joint of one of the monster's legs; the amount of compressed mass being at least five times larger than any he'd previously managed.

In the nano-seconds before it ruptured, Bob belatedly wondering if perhaps he should have tried to cast the engorged spell slightly farther away. The implosion hit first, with Bob desperately clinging to the jagged shell as he was pulled at by a massive force; one caused by a suddenly empty space appearing unknown fathoms beneath the surface of the water. The power of it making the Byford dolphin incident look like accidently leaning against the pools suction pump. Luckily, the crab's leg was closer than he was.

The monster actually stumbling as it was pulled off-balance by the power of the dimensional void; a piercing screech beginning to echo through the waters as soon as its shell made contact. Before, moments later, the sub-dimension reached max capacity. Alert! - 27 Health! Bob didn't see the explosion. Only felt it.

A rush of water ripping him off the underside of the crab's shell and throwing him over eighty feet in the opposite direction; the whole area filling with a blast of white bubbles as an unknown amount of oxygen began screaming its way towards the surface. He didn't even right himself before he began teleporting. Stuck on his side and facing backwards as he started to 'jump' towards the safety of a building behind him; realizing full-well that even an explosion that size had no chance of killing the creature.

This tempering of expectations did little to quell his dismay however, when the bubbles cleared to reveal the massive crab to be completely unharmed. His Perception score of over two hundred not being able to spot even a single scratch or nick marring the surface of its shell, much less the missing leg or two he was hoping for.

'Well, fuck.'

'DESTROY!'