The ground trembled beneath them, the vibrations growing stronger with each passing second. It wasn't a subtle quake but an ominous thrum, rhythmic and alive, sending shivers up Luke's spine. A low chittering sound joined the tremors, like the clattering of thousands of tiny bones rattling in unison.
The trio instinctively moved together, their backs pressed against one another. Their eyes darted around the decayed room, scanning every shadow, every crevice, ensuring they wouldn't be blindsided.
The first attack came without warning.
A sharp spike shot out of the ground between them, a jagged brown appendage that glinted faintly in the dim light of the advent surge. Luke barely had time to leap back, narrowly avoiding the jagged limb. His boot skidded against the loose stones, his heart hammering in his chest.
What was that?! A weapon? A trap? No, it came too fast…
The spike retracted just as quickly, vanishing back into the earth. Luke glanced at Kuro, whose body was already shifting, fur bristling as his form contorted into his sensory build.
"That wasn't a spike," Kuro growled, his voice low and urgent. "That was its leg. We're dealing with a fluxipede—a giant adventivore."
"Adventivore?" Luke repeated, his voice rising slightly as the word stuck in his throat. What the hell is an adventivore?
Eleanor's blades were already in her hands, her expression sharp and focused. "It's an animal that feeds on advent. Think of it as a predator of energy itself."
Luke swallowed hard, his gaze flicking between the two of them. Energy? It eats energy? Does that mean it can feed on me? My advent?
The room began to shake more violently as the sound of chittering grew louder. Hundreds—no, thousands—of legs scraped and scuttled against unseen surfaces beneath them. Spikes of brown chitin pierced through the rotting floorboards in a dozen places, some larger and more menacing than the first. Each impact sent splinters flying, and Luke could feel the sheer force of the creature's movements rattling his bones.
"Stay out of the surge's path!" Kuro barked. "Getting hit by the creature is bad enough, but stepping into that stream will age you to dust in seconds!"
Luke shifted his stance, his eyes darting toward the glowing geyser of advent energy behind them. The crackling, surging stream radiated a heatless intensity, its chaotic presence filling the room with a strange, almost suffocating energy.
The floor buckled and broke apart near the surge, and a massive shape began to emerge. The creature's mandibles were the first to appear, long and curved like scythes, clicking together as if in anticipation. Its head followed, a grotesque amalgamation of chitinous plates, twitching antennae, and eyes that seemed to absorb the faint light around them. It was a fluxipede, an adventivore centipede.
How big is this thing? Luke thought, his breath catching.
The fluxipede reared up, its segmented body still hidden beneath the floor. The parts of it that were visible seemed to shimmer with an unnatural glow, veins of advent energy pulsating along its armored exoskeleton.
"I'm guessing talking to it isn't an option?" Luke muttered, trying to keep his voice steady.
Eleanor smirked despite the tension. "Only if you want to end up as its dinner."
The fluxipede struck again, another leg bursting through the floor, this time aiming directly for Eleanor. She spun out of the way with practiced ease, her arrow flashing as she shot into his limb. The attack slowed, but the creature barely seemed to register the wound.
"Kuro!" Eleanor shouted. "Can you sense its movements?"
"Barely!" Kuro replied, his voice strained. "It's fast, and its legs are everywhere. It's hard to pinpoint where it will strike next."
Luke clenched his fists, his mind racing. I don't have a weapon. I only have my essence. How am I supposed to fight this thing?
The fluxipede's head lunged forward, mandibles snapping dangerously close to Luke. He stumbled back, barely avoiding the attack. He slammed his hands against the wall for balance, his fingers brushing against the strange, decayed wood.
Think, Luke, think! You can reshape objects. That's your ability. Use it!
"Code," he whispered, letting his essence flow into the wall. The binary-green glow of his advent rippled through the wood, warping its texture. The wall shifted, twisting into jagged spikes aimed toward the fluxipede's head.
The creature slammed into the spikes with a sickening crunch, rearing back in apparent pain. Luke felt a brief surge of relief, but it was short-lived.
The fluxipede retaliated, slamming its body against the ground, sending shockwaves rippling through the room. The force knocked Luke off his feet, and he landed hard, the breath forced from his lungs.
"Luke, stay on your feet!" Eleanor called, slashing at another limb that pierced the floor near her.
"Easier said than done!" he gasped, struggling to push himself up.
Kuro charged forward, his sensory form adapting once more. His muscles expanded further and the cracks on his chest radiated with glowing heat. With a guttural snarl, he slammed into the creature's side, forcing it back.
"We need a plan," Eleanor said, her voice tight. "We can't keep dodging and hoping it wears itself out. Not only is it feeding off the advent in the air, the concentration of advent from the surge is enhancing its power—it's not going to stop."
Luke's mind raced. A plan… What can we do? I can't fight it head-on. I need to outthink it. But how?
The fluxipede's mandibles snapped again, narrowly missing Kuro as he darted away in his speed form. Eleanor shot one of her arrows, aiming for the creature's antennae, but it shifted at the last moment, the bolt bouncing harmlessly off its armor.
"Eleanor, aim for its eyes!" Kuro called.
"I'm trying!" she shot back, nocking an arrow in a fluid motion.
Luke's gaze flicked to the advent surge. The crackling energy was chaotic, dangerous—but it was the only thing in the room that seemed to possibly affect the fluxipede.
"What if we force it into the surge?" he asked, his voice rising over the noise.
Eleanor glanced at him, her brow furrowed. "I can't imagine it working, we barely aged in the surge and how do we push something this big into it?"
"I can reshape the floor and send it to the origin room," Luke said, his hands trembling while he pointed at the bedroom, the room from which the surge originated from. "Make it collapse underneath it, send it straight into the stream."
Kuro growled, deflecting another attack. "Then do it! We'll keep it distracted!"
Luke nodded, his palms glowing brighter as he focused on the ground beneath the fluxipede. The binary-green light spread outward, the floor creaking and groaning as it began to shift.
The fluxipede sensed the change, its movements growing more erratic. It lunged toward Luke, its mandibles poised to strike.
Eleanor intercepted it, her arrow hitting the beast in one of its eyes. "Hurry up, Luke!"
"I'm trying!" he shouted, sweat dripping down his face.
The floor cracked and splintered beneath the fluxipede, the warped stone crumbling away. But the creature wasn't going down without a fight. It reared back, its body coiling like a spring, and slammed itself against the ground, sending another shockwave through the room.
Luke was thrown off balance, his concentration breaking. The glowing cracks in the floor began to fade.
"No!" he gasped, scrambling to regain control.
Kuro roared, leaping onto the creature's back and driving his claws into its segmented body. The fluxipede screeched, thrashing violently as it tried to shake him off.
"Luke, finish it!" Kuro bellowed, his voice strained.
Luke gritted his teeth, his hands trembling as he forced his advent back into the ground. The cracks widened, the floor buckling beneath the fluxipede's weight.
The creature let out one final, deafening screech as the floor gave way. But instead of falling into the advent surge, it caught itself with its remaining legs, clinging to the edges of the broken stone.
"We didn't push it far enough!" Eleanor shouted, her voice filled with frustration.
The fluxipede roared, pulling itself back up with terrifying strength.