Chương 161: Chapter 157

The creature dragged itself out of the alcove on four arms, each one ending in long fingers wrapped around rusted chains. Its back was bent beneath a stone basin fused into its spine, and dark blood sloshed over the rim with every step. A cracked ceremonial mask covered its face, although there was nothing visible behind the narrow eyeholes. Hollowed Channel Warden Level 29 Elite"That's an unfortunate-looking creature," Talion said.

The Warden planted one hand beside the nearest groove and lifted the basin on its back. The blood inside rose without spilling now, gathering into a sphere above its shoulders before flowing into the right-hand channel in a narrow stream. Deep Wound Saturation: 3 All Hollowed enemies in the Channelworks gain 15% increased damage. The stack we had just removed returned immediately.

"It can feed the channels directly!" Cyrus shouted. The Warden lowered the basin and charged. Denxy met it first. Grand Bulwark expanded in front of him, the massive projection covering most of the central walkway, but the Warden did not strike the shield. Two chains shot from its lower hands, curved around the barrier, and wrapped around Denxy's legs. It pulled.

Denxy remained upright, although he slid several meters before Rafael caught one chain on his tower shield and Corral drove his own weapon through the other.

"Get it away from the channels!" Alice called.

"Center platform!" The tanks started forcing it toward the largest section of dry stone. The Warden resisted, digging its fingers between the floor blocks, but it could not hold against three frontliners working together. Denxy kept its attention while Rafael and Corral attacked from the sides, breaking fingers and severing chains whenever they found an opening. The rest of the chamber had not stopped moving. More Carriers emerged from the right-side alcoves, joined by another line of Attendants.

Scale still held the left switch down, which meant Mano Roja, Adaptive, and Verdugo had to protect him while the rest of us dealt with the new wave.

"Right switch," Alice said.

"Same setup. Scale, Mano Roja, Adaptive, go."

"Uh," Scale said.

"Prompt's telling me not to let go."

"Okay then," Alice nodded.

"Verdugo, protect Scale. Mano, Adaptive, right switch!"

"I dislike this button," Scale said through gritted teeth.

"At least you have something in common," Mano Roja answered as he sprinted away.

"Neither of you is going anywhere." Scale said something after him that was lost beneath the Warden's roar. I moved along the upper walkway with Alysanna, shooting Carriers before they reached the right-side channels. The increased damage from Saturation did not matter much for them, but the Attendants had become a real problem. Their ritual needles hit hard, and every successful strike applied a bleeding effect. Carmen, Desirae, and Talion were constantly trying to keep everyone steady.

A pair of Attendants climbed toward us from opposite sides. Alysanna took the left one. I fired at the other, but it twisted aside and caught the arrow against the curve of its knife. Quick Step carried me backward before it reached the top of the walkway. I dropped a Web Trap in its path, and the Attendant stepped directly into it. The threads wrapped around its legs.

"Piercing Shot!" The arrow passed through its chest and carried it backward, away from the nearest channel. It hit the wall; I followed up with three quick shots, and it broke apart into black ash. Alysanna finished hers about ten seconds later.

"Right mechanism clear!" Adaptive called. He stood between the switch platform and three Carriers. One tried to rush past him, but he struck it, turned with the impact, and drove it into Mano Roja's waiting dagger. Adaptive was more durable than his class suggested. He didn't absorb attacks like Denxy, but he could hold a narrow space without giving ground, switching between defense and precise counterattacks with barely any delay. Mano Roja reached the switch.

"There are two controls," he reported.

"A button and a wheel."

"Different from the first," Cyrus said.

"Button won't move." Adaptive inspected the mechanism while blocking another Attendant.

"The wheel is locked."

"Probably need both," I said.

"Try turning the wheel while pressing the button," Alice ordered. Mano Roja put one hand on the switch and the other on the wheel. Neither moved. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Needs two people!" Adaptive glanced at the incoming enemies.

"I can hold one."

"I'll cover you," Leona said. She sent a Fireball into a cluster of mobs coming for the platform. Adaptive leaned into the button. The stone control sank slowly under the pressure, while Mano Roja grabbed the wheel with both hands. Every enemy turned toward them.

"Again?" Mano Roja said.

"Why are they so attached to these things?" A dozen Carriers abandoned their channels, rushing the platform, and the Attendants behind them quickened as well. The right sluice tightened slightly, reducing the blood flow, but the system did not recognize it as sealed.

"More!" Cyrus shouted. A Carrier threw its jar toward the sluice. I shot the container out of the air. It shattered above the walkway, the blood not reaching the channels. Mano Roja turned the wheel another mark, then another. Each movement made the mechanism grind louder. The sluice was almost closed when the Channel Warden turned its attention from the tanks toward the Rogue. Its basin opened along the sides, revealing jagged cracks in the stone.

Blood rose above it, forming another sphere, and a Limit Break mechanic started.

"Interrupt it!" Alice called. Denxy drove his shield into the Warden's chest. Nothing happened. Rafael used Smite, holy light crashing through the cracked mask, but the casting bar continued filling. Corral activated Hundred-ton Shield, but even the hard CC couldn't make the monster budge. Mano Roja put everything into the wheel. Adaptive kept the switch pressed as Attendants struck him from behind before Redcap got rid of them. Still, more came.

Alysanna and I cleared the nearest ones, but there were too many bodies packed around the platform.

"Somnus!" I called. He cast Shadow Armor, buffing the Swordsman's defense, and Talion switched from the frontliners to keep Adaptive alive. Adaptive turned and struck one in the throat without releasing the button. Mano Roja forced the wheel over the final mark. The right sluice snapped shut. Right Sluice sealed. Deep Wound Saturation reduced by 1. Current Saturation: 2 The sphere above the Channel Warden collapsed — it seemed to have been connected to the right channel.

The creature staggered, and a vulnerability icon appeared beneath its health bar.

"Ten seconds!" Cyrus said. Alice pointed toward the Warden.

"Damage!" We unleashed everything that would not endanger the channels. Flames, frost, wind, lightning, shadows, and various melee weapons turned into a tornado of attacks. I buffed myself with Nature's Howl and Mark of the Eagle, sending volley after volley into the abomination. The Channel Warden's health fell below forty percent by the time the vulnerability ended. The creature dragged itself upright and swung all four chains at once. Denxy blocked two.

Rafael caught the third, but the fourth slipped past them and wrapped around Desirae's waist. The Warden pulled her off her feet.

"Desirae!" Denxy shouted. She slid across the stone toward the nearest active channel, staff scraping beside her. Carmen tried to catch her, but the chain pulled too quickly. Alice moved first. Lightning Steps carried her across the platform. She planted one foot on the chain, drove her sword into a link, and activated Burning Blade. The metal glowed orange, then snapped. Denxy caught Desirae before she reached the groove.

"Thanks," the Cleric said, already healing herself.

"Stay farther back," Alice replied.

"I was farther back."

"Then stay even farther."

"Yes, Commander." The Warden slammed its basin against the floor, and a wave passed through the remaining channel as the sluice opened wider. Blood surged into the central trench, and Carriers started crawling from hidden spaces around it. Some dragged themselves directly out of the liquid, already half-dissolved into ash. Cyrus looked toward the remaining mechanism.

"That's the last one."

"It's also on the other side of the Warden," Denxy said.

"Kill it, then!" Verdugo shouted, trying to keep Attendants off Scale. The central mechanism stood on a raised island beyond the trench, connected to the rest of the room by two narrow bridges. Blood flowed on either side. The switch itself was larger than the others, with two buttons set into opposite faces of a stone column.

"Two controls again," Cyrus said.

"And probably something else once we press them," Scale called from the left platform. The first sluice remained sealed, but the switch had not released him. His hand was still pressed against the stone, and every time he shifted his weight, a warning icon flashed beside the mechanism. Mano Roja and Adaptive were in the same position on the right.

Adaptive held the button down with his shoulder while blocking Attendants with his sword arm, and Mano Roja kept both hands on the wheel, which had locked after the sluice closed. Three people were already occupied. The central mechanism looked like it would demand at least two more.

"We'll have to work with who we have," Alice said.

"Cyrus, take the left button. I'll take the right. Everyone else, clear a route."

"What about the Warden?" Rafael asked.

"It's immune to damage now," Cyrus said, reading the same prompt that had appeared to everyone.

"Until we close the final sluice, all we can do is control it."

"Keep it busy." The tanks pushed forward again, but the creature had no intention of letting us reach the island. It dragged itself sideways, placing its body between us and the two bridges, while the basin on its back filled with blood from the last active channel. Denxy struck it with his shield, forcing it back half a step. IMMUNE The attack did nothing to its health, but the impact still moved it. Apparently, damage immunity did not protect it from crowd control.

The Warden tore both lower chains from the stone and swung them across the bridges. One struck the railing and shattered it, sending chunks of rock into the trench. The second caught Corral's shield and nearly pulled it from his hands. Rafael stepped in and struck the chain with his sword.

"Lightblaze Sword!" The flash of holy light severed two links, but the Warden immediately replaced them. More chains crawled from the basin on its back, wet with blood.

"That thing has infinite chains?" Talion asked.

"Probably," Cyrus answered. The central island was filling with Carriers. Some emerged from channels in the floor, while others climbed from beneath the bridges and dragged jars behind them. They did not head toward the active trench this time. They clustered around the mechanism, protecting it.

"Burning Arrow!" Alysanna shouted. Her shot landed among the Carriers. Fire spread across the floor, forcing the creatures to scatter away from the controls. Leona followed with Incinerate, burning the loose blood that had spilled across the island. Thankfully, the Warden was slow, and our group had movement skills for hours on end. I fired into the nearest Attendant, then used Silk Shot on the broken railing.

The pull lifted me over the trench, and I landed on the island beside the mechanism, avoiding the chains of the Warden mid-air as it tried to stop me. The Carriers turned toward me, but my allies covered me with heavy fire. My attacks turned into a blur as I used skill after skill in almost close-range, clearing the island as fast as I could. Fan of Arrows ripped through a cluster, and Verdant Arrow cleared an entire path for me.

I used Arrowstorm instinctively to cover even more ground, while Alysanna, Leona and Somnus covered me from the distance. The next minutes molded together, the grind balancing the mental acrobatics of the previous couple of hours. It honestly felt relieving.

"Island's clear!" I called after a while. Alice crossed the right bridge behind Rafael's shield. Cyrus came from the left with Denxy protecting him. They reached the two buttons at almost the same time.

"Ready?" Cyrus asked.

"Press." Both controls sank into the stone. The entire mechanism shifted. A third section rose from the center of the island, revealing a long black lever set horizontally into the column. It was larger than the controls we had seen before, thick enough that a single person would struggle to move it. A system notification appeared. Primary Drain Control unlocked. Keep both seals engaged while lowering the control lever.