Chapter 150: Hunt All Three

The three World Beasts chose three different directions, which meant Jace had fourteen seconds to build three armies.

The tunnel-eater plunged toward the subway grid with half a train still visible inside its transparent throat. The plague stag bounded toward Midtown, and every hoofprint filled with green fire. Above them, the storm roc spread wings wide enough to cover the Hudson and pulled lightning down from a cloudless sky.

[WORLD EVENT: BEAST HUNT]

[TUNNEL-EATER: LEVEL 640]

[PLAGUE STAG: LEVEL 655]

[STORM ROC: LEVEL 680]

[ESCAPE THRESHOLD: 90 SECONDS]

[FAILURE CONDITION: ONE WORLD BEAST ESTABLISHES TERRITORY]

[HEALTH: 322/520. CHARGE: 136/220]

Jace pushed himself upright on the floating armor plate. His six original combat skills remained sealed. Arena Breaker had ended, the Trial Knuckle was empty again, and the three beasts were already separating.

Penelope landed beside him with her ledger under one arm and her spear in the other. "You have six hundred and fourteen champions waiting for instructions."

"I need two hundred beneath the city," Jace said. "I need two hundred between that stag and Midtown. I need two hundred capable of surviving lightning."

"That leaves fourteen."

"The fourteen are coming with me."

Penelope looked toward the roc, which had just swallowed a lightning bolt and grown another pair of wings.

"You always keep the relaxing assignment."

The Titan wreck opened behind them.

Six hundred and fourteen salvage compartments rose through the water, each carrying one weapon taken from a champion when the ship imprisoned them. Swords, bows, shields, staffs, chains, and weapons Jace could not name floated above the river without recognizing the people below.

[CHAMPION VAULT: SALVAGE READY]

[OWNER RECOGNITION: DISABLED]

Jace raised one hand.

"Everyone already told you who they are."

He released Overwrite Pulse through the wreck.

[OVERWRITE PULSE: ACTIVATED]

[CHARGE: 136 -> 131]

The black and blue ring crossed the Hudson. Every salvaged weapon turned toward its owner.

Six hundred and fourteen hands rose.

Six hundred and fourteen weapons came home.

[CHAMPION LOADOUTS RESTORED: 614]

Penelope pointed her spear toward the sinking serpent. "First company, follow me underground."

The shield bearer raised Ninefold Wall over two hundred champions as they jumped into the tunnel-eater's wake. The girl with the lightning sigil followed, dragging Skybreaker Chain through the river like a blue electric bridge.

Alexander and Scarlett took the second company toward the plague stag. Falling Verdict and Ember Rend crossed above their heads, forming a red beacon the champions could follow through the spreading poison.

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The third company fired grappling weapons into the storm roc's shadow.

Caleb remained beside Jace with thirteen others. His reconstructed marking kit hung from his belt, and red paint dripped from the brush in his hand.

"What are we doing?" Caleb asked.

"We are making all three hunts become one hunt."

"That sounds irresponsible."

"That is why I kept you."

The tunnel-eater reached the subway.

It opened a mouth wide enough to swallow a station and pulled three rail lines out of the earth. Trains, tracks, platforms, and concrete poured into its throat. Penelope ran along the side of an overturned subway car and drove her spear through the beast's jaw.

"Ninefold Wall!"

Nine shields appeared inside its open mouth.

The tunnel-eater bit down.

Its own teeth shattered against the ninth wall.

"Skybreaker Chain!"

Blue lightning entered through the exposed rail in its throat. Every train visible inside the serpent lit at once, and the entire beast erupted from the street in a tower of electrified steel.

[TUNNEL-EATER: STUNNED]

Across Midtown, the plague stag lowered its antlers.

Green fire rolled between the buildings. Cars rusted into powder. Concrete softened. Every tree along the avenue bloomed, died, and bloomed again before the first wave reached Alexander.

He planted Falling Verdict into the street.

Scarlett crossed Ember Rend over it.

The two attacks became a red gate. Two hundred champions stood behind it and poured their powers through the opening. Ice wolves ran beside burning knights. A woman carrying twin hammers struck the street and raised a mountain beneath the stag's feet.

The beast leapt over all of them.

Alexander smiled.

"That was the direction I wanted."

The stag sailed over the red gate and landed on the broken chest of the Titan.

[PLAGUE STAG: DISPLACED]

The storm roc screamed above Jace.

The sound flattened the river.

Fourteen champions locked their weapons into the Titan's armor before the wind could throw them into New Jersey. Caleb drove three painted stakes through the plate beneath their feet.

"Boundary," he said. "This wreck does not move."

The roc folded its six wings and fell like a spear.

Jace threw the Gravity Chain into its storm.

[GRAVITY CHAIN: ACTIVATED]

[CHARGE: 131 -> 126]

The relic caught the gravity hidden behind the roc's heart. The beast tried to climb, but Jace anchored himself to the Titan wreck and hauled it downward.

Lightning traveled through the chain and exploded inside his arm.

[HEALTH: 322 -> 307]

The roc struck the Titan chest hard enough to drive the plague stag through three decks.

The tunnel-eater erupted from beneath them one second later.

All three World Beasts collided inside the same crater.

[WORLD BEASTS CONVERGED: 3]

[ESCAPE THRESHOLD: PAUSED]

[PACK PROTECTION SEAL: ACTIVE]

A shell of black light closed around the beasts. The tunnel-eater coiled around the stag. The roc covered both with its wings. Their three hearts began beating together.

[WORLD BEAST FUSION: BEGINNING]

Jace jumped into the crater.

The shared heartbeat struck him before his feet touched the armor. Three World Beasts forced one pulse through his damaged ribs.

[HEALTH: 307 -> 291]

He landed against the black shell and pressed his burned palm to it.

[ROOK BLADE SEAL: ACTIVATED]

[TARGET: PACK PROTECTION SEAL]

[SEAL POWER: FUSION UNFINISHED. BELOW BLADE SEAL LIMIT]

[COST: REMAINING STAMINA]

The seal resisted him with the combined weight of three worlds.

Jace pushed until the skin split across his palm.

The black shell opened.

"Now!" he shouted.

Six hundred and fourteen champions attacked.

Ninefold Wall became a hammer. Skybreaker Chain became its handle. Falling Verdict and Ember Rend crossed into a red sun while arrows, spears, storms, beasts, blades, and nameless powers filled the crater from every direction.

The Titan disappeared beneath the light.

[RAID COMBINATION: SIX HUNDRED FOURTEENFOLD STRIKE]

The tunnel-eater broke first.

The plague stag shattered second.

The storm roc tried to escape through the explosion, and Caleb painted one red line across the sky.

"Nothing crosses my boundary."

The roc struck the line and stopped.

Scarlett cut through its heart.

The blast opened the Hudson to its floor.

When the water returned, three World Beast cores floated above the wreck.

[WORLD BEASTS DEFEATED: 3 OF 3]

[WORLD EVENT: COMPLETE]

Theodore Voss waded out of the wreck with a medical bag over one shoulder and a case of syringes in the other hand. "Do not move," he said. "Do not argue. Do not die in front of the cores, they are very expensive."

He cracked the first core and drew marrow into three syringes. A recovery lattice of gold thread bloomed across Jace's ribs and pulled the broken pieces back into line.

[THEODORE'S RECOVERY LATTICE: ACTIVE]

[WORLD BEAST MARROW INFUSION]

[HEALTH RESTORED: +156]

[CHARGE RESTORED: +2]

[WORLD BEAST CORE CONSUMED: 1 OF 3]

[WORLD BEAST CORES REMAINING: 2]

[HEALTH: 291 -> 447/520]

[CHARGE: 126 -> 128/220]

[RAID PARTY REGISTERED]

[PARTY MEMBERS: 615]

[STANDARD RAID LIMIT: 12]

Penelope lowered her ledger. "That number appears to be causing a problem."

The red eye in orbit widened.

[EXCESS RAIDERS: 603]

[DIFFICULTY COMPENSATION REQUIRED]

[COMPENSATION BOSS: GENERATING]

Something behind the moon began to move.

Health: 447/520.

Charge: 128/220.