"Fall back," I shouted. "Centipede's are Class 'A'!"
I was already running, interposing myself between the younger adventurers and the giant insect. We had some scant moments to get some distance - the centipede had been twined through the ants' tunnels and had tangled itself around. It was too busy getting itself unstuck from the ground to bother with us, but once it did it would be able to catch us easily.
I really hoped today wouldn't be the day we died.
"Lukas! Use 'Flame Burst' to send up a distress signal!" We were close enough to the town that a bright flash in the sky would be visible to the guards manning the gates. With luck they would bring a squad as backup.
"Right!" Lukas was pale with fright, stumbling over the uneven ground of the mangled hay-field, but managed to send up a large dark red burst of fire, high into the sky with it exploded with a loud crack.
"██▄▄▄█▄!!!"
The centipede's roar as it broke loose was an awful screeching sound, the long segments of its body tearing free of the ground with a densely packed rumble as the ants' tunnel system collapsed beneath our feet. The more nibble of our number - Jane, Petros, and Braun - were able to keep ahead of the falling ground, while Morden, Lukas, and myself were pulled down into a collapsing cavern. Luckily, we weren't buried, just stunned in a trench-like crater where part of the farmer's field used to be.
"We're okay!" Lukas yelled up. "Keep running!"
"Good thinking." I agreed with his decision. Even if the shout brought the centipede over to us, it was better than the others turning back and getting dragged down with us
The rhythmic thudding of the centipede's many legs sounded behind us.
"Come on," Morden gasped, pulling me, and then Lukas back to our feet. His strength and resilience as a Defender, even a D-ranked one, was admirable.
Carefully, we started to climb out of the pit - it wasn't as deep as I thought, a loosely packed slope steeply inclined back up towards more solid ground a little over half again my height. It was steep enough that we couldn't simply walk out, needing to crawl up on all fours; and loose enough from the collapse that too much speed would send us sliding back down. Morden had managed to scramble up the side first, then started helping to pull us out - Lukas first, and then both of them reached in to grab me next.
Reaching the surface I could see that Jane, Petros and Braun had kept running and had managed a decent distance. Hopefully they could make it quick enough to get in reinforcements. Mana monsters like the ants and centipede usually stayed within a certain radius of where they spawned in, but there was no telling how wide that radius went. If the centipede could reach the town, it was be a disaster.
"██▄▄▄██▄▄▄█▄!!!"
It had spotted us. "Run!"
We ran.
It didn't matter.
Giant Centipedes were dangerous. They didn't have a breath weapon or magic resistance the way most A-rank monsters did. Instead, in spite of their large size, they were insanely fast. I knew that as soon as the monster had spotted us and pegged us for the ones to have sent the scorching smoke down into the tunnels and interrupt its meal, that it would be able to catch us. With each of its multitude of legs ending in a razor sharp point and as long as a spear, all it would have to do to kill us was trample us and that would be it.
But it couldn't trample all of us at once.
"Scatter!"
We took off in different directions, even the three up ahead.
There was a moment when the centipede pause, as if unsure which one to follow. I took that as my cue to do something stupid.
"Over here!"
I ran like a madman, zig-zagging around the remains of fences and hay bales, weaving through small as many obstacles as I could manage in order to slow the monster down behind me.
I couldn't hear the others - I hoped they were making good on the opportunity to escape.
I chanced a glance over my shoulder as I rounded the corner of a barn on the side of the field.
Fast-!!
It was only a few seconds behind me!
I dove into the barn, slamming the heavy wooden door shut behind me as hard as I could to buy a few precious seconds as I raced towards the opening at the other end. My legs and lungs were burning with how I was pushing myself, by breaths coming in harsh pants and sweat streaming across my face.
The entire barn shook with the impact of the centipede against the closed door.
"██▄▄▄█▄!!!"
I could hear it roaring in frustration and confusion as its way was blocked, but the sounds of splintering wood and crumbling stone accompanied it. The barn would not last long as an obstacle.
The forest loomed out behind it - densely packed maples and ash trees.
Only a few more seconds, I pleaded with my burning muscles to keep going as I tumbled out the back door. If I could make it into the trees, it would be easier to escape with the centipede's movement restricted.
The barn collapsed behind me with a loud crash as the centipede's feet trampled and shredded the wooden parts of the structure.
"█████▄▄▄█▄!!!"
With a last push of speed I made it to the treeline-
"Agh!"
-And tripped over a root!