Time Remaining: 00 h 57 min
From the moment the alliance reached the ruins, a bestial roar echoed across the forest.
The ground quaked. The trees trembled.
"Hundreds of monsters incoming!" Xiao Mei shouted.
"Allan... shield, now!"
Mira lifted her long musket and shook her head. "Not yet."
The creatures surged from the treeline, a living tide of claws and teeth.
Allan swore under his breath. "Mira, hurry...!"
"Just a few more seconds…" she murmured, focusing her mana.
Blue-white light gathered at the tip of her musket. The air itself began to vibrate.
Skill Activated [Judgment Cannon]
She fired.
A beam of divine light tore through the ruins, vaporizing everything in its path.
The monsters that tried to block it exploded on contact, turned to dust by the sheer force of the shot.
The blast raced straight for the crystal...
...but a roar split the sky.
A massive creature leapt down from the shadows, a lion-headed humanoid beast, and swatted the beam aside with a claw wreathed in black fire.
The explosion flattened half the clearing.
"Allan!" Xiao Mei screamed.
Allan slammed his hands together.
Skill [Bastion]!
A golden dome flared up, enclosing the entire alliance as the horde crashed against it.
Waves of monsters clawed and beat against the barrier, their shrieks echoing through the ruins.
Mira struck the ground with her fist, teeth clenched. "Damn it!"
"Leave them to me," Xiao Mei said sharply, closing her eyes. "Activating strategy skill."
Skill [Labyrinth]
Effect: Induces sensory illusion, forcing lesser creatures to perceive an endless maze.
Purpose: Separate. Isolate. Delay.
The mana surge spread like ripples in water.
Half the monsters suddenly veered off in every direction, howling in confusion, striking invisible walls or chasing phantoms into the mist.
"Allan, drop the barrier for a second!"
He nodded. The golden dome faded, long enough for the guild members to rush out and cut down the scattered enemies and then rose again, sealing Xiao Mei and Allan inside.
Meanwhile, Mira and Xang Hu used the chaos to charge toward the crystal.
They sprinted through the shattered ruins broken pillars, twisted roots, and the echoes of distant explosions. The forest had become a battlefield.
A pack of scaled beasts lunged from the fog, claws glinting.
Xang Hu didn't slow down.
He ducked beneath the first strike, drove his knee into the creature's chest, and followed with a spinning kick that crushed its skull.
The second beast leapt but Mira was already moving.
Her short muskets snapped up in both hands.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three perfect shots. Each bullet burst with pale-blue mana, carving through bone and scale alike. The monsters dropped mid-leap, dissolving into motes of light before they hit the ground.
Xang Hu noded toward Mira, slamming his elbow into another attacker's jaw.
"Focus," she said, reloading as she ran. "We're not there yet."
From the sides, more shapes emerged, feral goblins, twisted and half-mad from the rift energy. They shrieked and rushed in a wave.
Mira slid under a claw, fired point-blank, then pivoted and used her boot to kick the corpse off her gun.
Xang Hu tore through the mob with pure force, his fists and feet moving in blurs, every impact a shockwave.
He caught one creature by the throat, crushed it, then hurled the body into another group.
"Go!" he shouted.
Mira vaulted over the debris, landing beside him.
A massive ogre blocked their way, twice Xang Hu's size, its hide blackened by corruption. It raised a stone club.
Mira dropped to one knee, both muskets aimed up.
"Cover me."
Xang Hu's aura flared red.
He met the ogre's swing with his bare hands, stopping it midair. The ground cracked beneath his feet. He roared and drove his fist into the monster's gut, folding it in half.
"Now!"
Mira fired both barrels at once.
Twin Shot Scatter Mode.
The impact tore through the ogre's chest, leaving a hole where its heart used to be. The creature toppled backward in a spray of black blood.
They pressed on, breath ragged, weapons smoking.
The crystal's glow was visible now, pulsing, unstable, its surface crawling with dark energy.
"Almost there," Mira said, snapping a new round into her short musket.
Xang Hu cracked his knuckles, blood dripping from his forearms.
"Then let's finish this."
They exchanged a brief nod and then charged straight into the light.
Time Remaining: 00 h 17 min
The Guardian emerged fully from the shadows... towering, lion-faced, its mane burning like molten gold, its eyes twin furnaces of hate.
Xang Hu stepped in front of Mira.
"Stay behind me."
His aura flared crimson.
Skill [Rage]
He met the Guardian head-on, every strike shaking the ground.
Stone shattered, the shockwaves tearing through the ruins. Mira moved behind him, reloading her musket, gathering energy again.
But the Guardian was fast. Too fast.
Before Xang Hu could intercept, it blurred a dark flash straight at Mira.
She saw it coming.
She couldn't cancel the charge now, aborting Judgment Cannon mid-cast meant certain death.
So she turned, aimed, and fired early.
The incomplete beam grazed the Guardian's chest, searing flesh but not stopping it.
The beast roared and struck her with a swipe that sent her crashing through the trees.
Blood splattered the ground.
Dazed, half-conscious, Mira crawled through the dirt toward her fallen weapon.
Across the ruins, Xang Hu fought alone, his body broken but unyielding.
Time Remaining: 00 h 02 min
Her fingers closed around the musket.
"One last shot…" she whispered.
She began charging again.
Energy gathered... brighter, louder, a rising hum of raw power.
The Guardian sensed her.
It turned but Xang Hu's hand grabbed its leg, holding it in place.
"Go…!" he rasped, blood spilling from his mouth.
95%
96%
97%
The beast raised its claw and crushed Xang Hu beneath it, breaking free.
98%
99%...
Something crashed through the air... a tree trunk, hurled like a spear.
It slammed into the Guardian, staggering it back.
Mira turned her head.
In the ruins stood Dimitriev, the Russian guildmaster... he was still alive, barely, one arm missing, blood pouring from countless wounds.
"End it…" he croaked.
100%.
Skill [Cannon Judgment]!
The world turned white.
The beam struck the black crystal dead center.
It shattered like glass, exploding into shards of dark light.
Silence.
Then the timer reached 00 h 00 min.
A soft ding.
[Crystal Destroyed]
Condition: Time Limit Exceeded
Hunters froze, breath held.
Then...
[Merging Cancelled]
Relief swept the group like a wave... until the next message appeared.
[Penalty Applied: Time Exceeded]
Global Breakout of All Persistent Rifts Initiated.
The Guardian lifted its head and roared, laughter and fury merging into one sound that shook the heavens.