If Harden didn't understand the meaning of the idiomatic expression "from the frying pan into the fire," he certainly did now.
Their mission was simple—just retrieve a mineral. How did it escalate so quickly? Harden questioned himself internally.
After finding themselves in an unfavorable environment, they managed to survive. They retrieved the mythril after a life-or-death situation. They were all supposed to go home together, but in the blink of an eye, their leader Kevin had died—just like that. No final words, no goodbye, nothing. Harden wasn't even sure Kevin had time to process the pain his body must have been in before he died. And now, they were all probably going to suffer the same fate.
"Snap out of it," Derek said, putting his hand on Harden's shoulder.
"We're all going to make it out of here somehow. Even if it means putting our lives on the line, that's just what being a Mythical Fighter is about," Derek added.
"I couldn't agree more," Mike said. "I'm certainly not dying here—not when my children are waiting for me at home. So, let's kill this thing and get back to the ones we love."
"The ones we love, huh..." Annie muttered to herself.
The group was forced out of their little discussion when they noticed that the centipede was out of sight. They all readied their weapons in preparation for its attack. Suddenly, the centipede emerged from one of the holes in the cave and went straight for Dylan, Derek's deaf brother. Fortunately, Dylan was of the Assassin class, and his Blink Step came in handy as he barely dodged the attack, causing the centipede to rush farther away.
The centipede was clearly furious and rushed toward the group again. But before it could get closer, Annie shot a barrage of fireballs at its face. The explosions landed, but her attacks proved ineffective—the centipede kept charging forward.
"Give it up," Derek said. "It's immune to flames. I'm sure you're aware of that. Save your Mythical Force and support us however you can."
The centipede continued its rampage, but they all managed to dodge its attacks. This made Harden wonder: If it could kill Kevin in the blink of an eye with its speed, why isn't it showing us that speed? It clearly wants to kill us, so what is it—
"Harden! Above you!" Raizo shouted.
Harden looked up and saw the beast on top of the cave, looking down. In an instant, it was upon him. However, Harden had expected this and dodged the attack.
That's it, Harden thought. I saw it clearly. It's shooting itself like a spring. It's not fast on its legs—it just has powerful thrust.
While Harden was processing this, Mike and Derek went in for the attack. Both slammed their weapons against the legs of the centipede. Of course, they knew this wouldn't deal significant damage—it was just a distraction. The centipede turned toward them with its mouth open and thrust itself in their direction. Derek blocked with his longsword, but he was sent flying. Strangely enough, he had a smile on his face, as in that moment, Dylan and Raizo could be seen on top of the creature. They ran in opposite directions, slashing with all their might.
Raizo used his Six Paths Slash skill nonstop, while Dylan, whose weapons of choice were two short swords, coated them in poison. He used a skill called Whispering Cut, unleashing a barrage of slashes. These attacks clearly affected the centipede—it shrieked and positioned itself like a snake ready to strike.
For some reason, the centipede went straight for Annie—and with immense speed too. Annie fired all sorts of flame spells at it, but to no avail. The beast didn't stop its charge. Just as it was about to reach her, Derek activated his Reinforcement skill, boosting his physical attributes. With his newfound strength, he parried the beast's attack.
The centipede was flung backward—right into a position Raizo and Mike were ready to capitalize on. Using powerful skills such as Turbulent Slash and Bullseye respectively, they struck. A blue aura enveloped not just Raizo's blades but his entire body as he slashed the chest of the centipede in an X-shape. Mike then thrust his spear into the center of the wound created by Raizo. For the first time, blood could be seen gushing from the creature—this clearly enraged the beast.
It used its legs to slam both fighters to the ground. Just as it was about to stomp on them, Harden used his Rupture technique on the beast, further infuriating it. It flung him away like a ragdoll.
Dylan then appeared near its eyes and stabbed one of them. The beast didn't appreciate the gesture. It pulled its segmented body back and thrust itself forward at great speed—while Dylan was still on it—straight into one of the cave walls.
BANG!!
A loud sound erupted.
All the fighters naturally looked in that direction—only to find Dylan smeared on the wall like graffiti.
Noooo!!! Derek shouted