NOVGO.NET Chapter 14: The Bitter Crown
Chapter 14: The Bitter Crown
The rail depot gate was an industrial maze of overturned freight cars, rusted rail lines, and frozen cranes.
Fin carried a seventy-kilogram ammunition crate on his shoulder, walking twenty paces behind the Pyre Syndicate frontline brigade squad.
The corporate squad consisted of six sponsored E-rank hunters, wearing red composite armor with gold flame crests.
Their squad leader was a muscular warrior named Kroll, wielding a broadsword crackling with low magical heat.
"Keep up with the formation, pack mules," Kroll barked over his shoulder, checking his tactical wrist display. "The boss chamber sits past the central switching yard... we clear this gate in forty minutes."
"Yes, sir," the four corporate porters answered in unison, struggling to keep their footing on the icy tracks.
He adjusted the crate on his shoulder, keeping his eyes on the rusted rail switches.
They entered the locomotive roundhouse, where thirty steam engines sat decaying on turntable tracks.
In the center of the turntable, a giant Frost Orc knelt over the carcass of a mutated boar.
As the corporate frontline brigade stepped into the arena, a pulse of crimson light erupted from the beast’s chest.
The air pressure plummeted, and a crimson title banner unfurled across his vision.
[ Warning: boss mutation detected ]
[ Named monster: frost-tusk warlord Gorgath (rank E+) ]
[ Warning: threat level exceeds sector forecast ]
Gorgath stood three and a half meters tall, its skin hardened into layers of jagged blue ice.
The monster roared, swinging a four-meter girder like a club through the nearest locomotive.
The train car crumpled, hurling forty tons of scrap straight into the corporate frontline brigade.
"Shields up!" Kroll screamed in panic, throwing his broadsword up to block the flying debris.
The train car crushed three frontline brigade warriors instantly, snapping their enchanted shields into splinters.
"Fall back to the blast doors!" Kroll yelled, abandoning his fallen comrades as he sprinted for the exit.
The remaining corporate hunters scrambled through the containment hatchway at the edge of the roundhouse.
Kroll reached the manual override lever, pulling the switch down to seal the pneumatic blast doors.
"Wait, open the door!" An unarmed corporate porter screamed, pounding his bloody fists against the reinforced viewport. "We’re still inside!"
"Containment protocol authorized," Kroll’s muffled voice sounded through the intercom. "Sacrifice the support crew to buy evacuation time."
The pneumatic seals locked into place with a mechanical hiss, trapping five porters inside the arena.
Gorgath turned its crimson eyes toward the trapped porters, dragging its girder across the rail lines with sparks flying.
"We’re going to die," a young porter sobbed, collapsing onto his knees against the sealed door.
He dropped his ammunition crate silently, feeling the air bite against his bare forearms.
He walked over to the perimeter fence, wrapping both hands around a two-meter boundary stake.
With a sharp grunt, he tore the rod from the stone foundation, testing the balance in his grip.
"Get behind the freight car and stay down," he told the trembling porters in a calm, steady tone.
"Are you insane?" The porter cried out. "That thing is a Named monster!"
He didn’t answer, his sneakers kicking off the ground as he accelerated into a dead sprint.
Gorgath swung the girder in a horizontal sweep that tore through three locomotive engines.
He leaped four meters into the air, planting his foot on the side of a falling boiler before backflipping over the girder.
He landed on Gorgath’s right shoulder, driving the sharp tip of the boundary stake into the monster’s collarbone.
"Graaaar!" Gorgath bellowed in fury, swatting its left hand to crush the human on its neck.
He kicked off the beast’s jaw, spinning through the air to land on the overhead crane catwalk.
The monster smashed the catwalk supports, bringing twenty tons of scaffolding crashing down upon them both.
He used the falling debris as stepping stones, leaping between the girders with precise parkour movements.
He dropped from the highest crane beam, using his full body weight and gravity to drive the stake down.
The point struck Gorgath directly through its left eye socket, punching clean through the skull into its brain.
The giant monster froze mid-stride, its yellow eye rolling white as black blood erupted from its head.
Gorgath collapsed forward onto the turntable track, shaking the entire roundhouse with a thunderous crash.
[ Named monster slain: frost-tusk warlord Gorgath (rank E+) ]
[ EXP reward: +4,500 EXP ]
[ EXP: 5,700 / 50,500 ]
He landed cleanly on the frozen ground, breathing hard while his knuckles ached from the impact.
He stepped over to the fallen behemoth, pressing his right palm flat against its frozen chest.
[ Absorb? ]
[ Target: frost-tusk warlord Gorgath (rank E+) - deceased ]
[ Available: ]
[ > strength ]
[ > speed ]
[ > endurance ]
[ > skills / abilities ]
’Skills,’ he selected firmly, claiming his first true ability from a Named beast.
[ Skill absorbed: passive - Frost Skin (level 1) ]
[ Effect: physical damage reduced by 15%. low-temperature resistance +30%. ]
The monster’s corpse withered into gray ash, leaving behind only the rusted girder and broken scaffolding.
A cool, crystalline sensation washed through his skin, making his body feel remarkably resilient.
The gate collapse countdown began chiming overhead: [ Gate cleared in 18 minutes - new sector record ].
He walked over to the emergency blast door, using the boundary stake to pry the manual override open.
The door slid open with a hiss, revealing Kroll and his two surviving hunters standing in the outer staging tunnel.
Kroll stared at him, his eyes wide in disbelief as he looked past the porter at the ash surrounding the fallen girder.
"How... how are you still breathing?" Kroll stammered, his hand trembling on his sword hilt. "Who killed the boss?"
"The scaffolding collapsed on its head," he answered with a blank, deadpan expression, tossing the bent stake into his pack. "You left your four porters behind, Captain... make sure their hazard pay is in their accounts by tonight."
The four saved porters rushed past the corporate hunters, bowing repeatedly to him with tears of gratitude in their eyes.
"We saw nothing, brother," the lead porter whispered solemnly, clutching his hand. "We swear on our lives... it was the scaffolding."
He nodded quietly, walking out through the shimmering portal into the staging plaza.
Outside the gate, the automated Association siren announced the record-shattering clear time across the entire district.
Technicians crowded around the main digital scoreboard, shouting in confusion as the timer locked at eighteen minutes flat.
Guild scouts downloaded the sensor logs, searching for the specialist responsible for dismantling a Named boss in under twenty minutes.
The finance clerk added three thousand hazard credits to his four-thousand base fee.
He pocketed the seven thousand credits, keeping the stamped receipt for any later dispute.
He unfolded the receipt once more, finding the hazard payment beneath the base rate.
’Three thousand extra because the safe route was a lie. That is their price for calling it an accident.’
He kept the document separate from the cash inside his pocket.
’Money spends once. A signed admission might be useful twice.’
He bought tea from the canteen, sipping it on the walk toward the tram stop.
He checked his pocket notebook, crossing off another week of household expenses with a satisfied grin. Next week’s rent was paid in full, and Jolly’s new study laptop was practically guaranteed.
The crisp evening air felt sharp against his skin, carrying the distant chime of bells from the upper sector.
He boarded the evening tram, feeling Frost Skin settle beneath his pulse as the carriage rattled into twilight.