Chương 39: Boulder Troubles and Deadly Pitfalls

"On a side note," Donatella's voice rang clear across the cavern walls. "That boulder is immune to any form of spiritual spell… Oh, Ath3na almost got squashed right there…"

"Nice last minute barrel roll there," Maestro added.

Ath3na just dodged the giant stone boulder that had fallen down on her from the hole in the cavern's ceiling. It was a rushed decision she'd made only after she'd heard Donatella's comments.

The audience let out a collective sigh. It seemed no one wanted to see Ath3na get turned into roadkill.

She quickly got herself up, and that's when she noticed that the boulder which had already rolled away just made a sharp turn and was on its way back to her.

"Holy sh*t," she hissed.

"Yes, those boulders have indeed been bewitched to home in on whoever steps on the trap," Donatella explained. "And look, another one's about to drop!"

The screams of delight coming from the stands echoed across the cavern walls.

While Ath3na was readying herself to run for her life, the next challenger to come into the cavern had also set the same trap. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like the Draconic Magician with the green-tinged skin shared Ath3na's quick reflexes.

There was a collective "Oo~~oh," from the audience as the second boulder dropped right on the Draconic Magician's head.

Ath3na heard the bone-crunching death rattle behind her and decided she didn't want to experience the same thing. She sprinted across the cavern floor — and her boulder chased after her.

Ath3na just managed to reach up and grab herself one gold coin right before she plunged into one of the dozen or so openings at the far end of the cavern.

She hoped the corridor she'd jumped into was small enough to keep the boulder away, but the sound of stone scraping on stone told she wasn't that lucky. Even worse, she'd picked a passage that was already occupied.

"Don't follow me!" Enka snapped as she glanced over her shoulder at Ath3na. "Shoo, shoo! And take that thing along with you!"

Ath3na's brow furrowed as the arrogant songstress continued to berate her from seven feet ahead of her. She picked up the pace while wondering if anyone would object to her gutting the floating little windbag.

"It looks like Lyghtning and Narukami have slowed down at the next trial of the dungeon run," Donatella commented. "Luckily for them, they still command a wide lead over the other challengers…"

"I believe this is what's known as the platform challenge," Maestro added.

"Narukami just leaped into the air," Donatella commented. "He might make it… oh, no…"

"Yow, that's got to hurt," Maestro agreed.

The sound of her heart beating was beginning to drown out the heavy scraping behind her, and Ath3na didn't think this was a good thing. And this unease was almost enough for her to miss the crackle of spiritual energy that was just launched from ahead of her.

Ath3na ducked to avoid the basketball-sized ball of blue fire that had been sent her way, and when her head came up again, she saw Enka glancing over her shoulder with a face that dripped disappointment.

"Oops," the Beguiling Songstress said. "My bad…"

"That's it!" Ath3na yelled.

She took one, two, and then three long strides right before he leaped into the air with her right hand outstretched.

Life-draining touch!" Ath3na hissed as her hand grasped onto Enka's ankle.

"Wh-what are you—"

But the Songstress had lost her voice as the effects of Ath3na's ability kicked in. Her wings slowed their flapping. Her body turned sluggish. All while her life force was being drained out of her.

Ath3na hadn't yet used it on another player before, but she'd heard from other Wraith Warriors how the [Life-Draining Touch] had a secondary paralytic effect that disabled opponents while the ability drained them.

By the time, Ath3na let her hand go, Enka was already falling to the floor. Then Ath3na sprinted past her and she didn't look back when she heard Enka scream, but she did shut her eyes when she heard that bone-crunching sound once again.

"Oh, wow, that was brutal!" Donatella yelled. "I didn't think Ath3na had it in her."

"Enka is definitely down now," Maestro agreed.

Along with their comments came the delighted roar of the crowd.

"Hey, weren't these boulders immune to spiritual abilities?" Maestro asked.

"Yes," Donatella answered. "And I see what you mean… It doesn't seem possible that he could stop a giant boulder with just his shield, but, impressive…"

"Argonaut impressed the crowd once more!" Maestro commented.

The crowd yelled excitedly yet again, and Ath3na wondered why she could even hear something that wasn't at all related to her desperate sprint along this bleak corridor.

She spared a glance over her shoulder and discovered the boulder was still chasing after her. This only caused her to force her to run faster, forcing her legs past their limits in her desperate attempt to flee from sudden death.

Ath3na saw the light a few yards away and she realized the path was opening up yet again.

"Lyghtning's in the lead!" Donatella reported.

"But Narukami's right at her heels!" Maestro added.

Ath3na just cleared the passage and found herself in an even larger cavern than the one before. This new one had a ceiling so high that it was covered in darkness. And the end of it was so far away that she could barely see the wall on the other side. Even worse, a wide chasm separated the entrance from the exit.

She realized quickly that she was running straight toward a cliff, but that didn't make her slow down one bit for the boulder behind her had also cleared the previous passage. It continued to barrel its way to the target on her back.

"Platform," Ath3na repeated. "He said platform…"

Her eyes searched the air, and a grin formed on her face once she'd zoned in on a familiar sight.

Several slabs of rock just wide enough for a person to jump on floated above the pit in a number of broken lines that stretched to the other end of the cavern. Floating above each platform was a line of golden coins that reminded Ath3na of retro games like Super Mario Brothers.

"It really is a platform game," Ath3na laughed out loud.

"It's possible that Ath3na's lost her mind at this stage of the dungeon run," Donatella commented.

"I think she's just excited," Maestro countered. "I understand this type of game can be nostalgic to some…"

There was a pause before Donatella replied with, "No, I still think she might have gone crazy."

It was at this moment while Ath3na ran headlong into the cliff's edge that she activated [Spectral Cloak]. And as her body went ethereal, she took one, two, and then a third long stride just before she reached the edge. Then she leaped into the air.

Her actions elicited a collective gasp from the audience.

"Ath3na's one smart cookie," Maestro said in an impressed tone.

"How so?" Donatella asked.

"In her incorporeal form, Ath3na has less mass," Maestro explained. "And with just the right momentum, it's not impossible for her to clear this first jump to the platform which is floating quite a distance away from the cliff's edge."

"Something Narukami nearly failed at even with his body supercharged with arcs of spiritual energy," Donatella reminded the audience.

Many in the crowd began a chant of "Timber! Timber!" alluding to a tree that was about to fall.

And it was just like Ath3na to prove her skeptics wrong as her feet landed gingerly at the edge of the first platform.

Behind her, the boulder that continued to chase after Ath3na finally met its end as it raced headlong to the edge of the cliff and plummeted down into the pit beyond.

But she hadn't even noticed that she was safe now. No, she was too focused on continuing onward. And while her hand came up to grab at a handful of golden coins, she took another three long strides and jumped up to the next platform.

She made it to the second platform, but as it was much smaller than the first, Ath3na barely managed a single step forward before she had to jump onto the third platform.

On the third platform, she quickly noticed that there were two paths she could take, but as the coins on the platform above her seemed to already have been looted, Ath3na opted instead to drop down to the platform below. At the same time, she stretched her arms wide and grabbed a handful of the coins floating underneath.

Ath3na jumped up another platform and then dropped down another only to veer right when the path split again, all while she took stock of the path ahead in an effort not to lose her way or find herself stuck.

While she did this, the commentators continued to share what was happening in other parts of the dungeon run. Some of which — like the part about Thorminator narrowly avoiding death from the swinging ax that suddenly swung down on him as he stepped on a trap in the corridor he was running in — made her cringe along with the audience.

"Narukami and Lyghtning are neck and neck… they've just reached the final hurdle," Donatella reported. "But what's this? Who is that?"

"I believe that's Don Coyote!" Maestro said in a shocked tone. "I thought he'd already died against the cave golems at the entrance?"

"It not only looks like he survived, but he somehow found a secret route through the maze that brought him right to the final obstacle without our knowing…" Donatella commented. "And, by gosh, he just overtook Narukami and Lyghtning, securing the lead for himself!"

Hearing her most bitter rival take the lead had inadvertently caused Ath3na to miss a step, and she was forced to jump off the platform without the right momentum to increase her lift.

Her hands reached out to the last platform that would have dropped her off neatly on the other side of the long cavern with the exit finally within her grasp — and her fingers missed its edge by an inch.

That half-second it took for Ath3na to realize that she was about to fall down a very deep pit and into a very gruesome death afterward, she thought about how annoying it was that Don Coyote had somehow cheated his way to within reach of the finish line. This thought vexed her even more than the idea of dying.

A hand appeared out of the shadows above and reached out to hers.

Ath3na looked up in surprise.

On that final platform above her, Cyborg Ninja was there, his hand clasping onto hers.

"Give me your other hand," he said. "I'll pull you up!"

Ath3na didn't even hesitate. She reached up and clung to life once again.

SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
GD_Cruz

Greetings, fellow reapers!

That was such a thrilling chapter, wasn't it? I wasn't even sure Ath3na would survive as I wrote it, but then I thought... Cyborg Ninja, he's cool. He should get to save the day. ;P

The end of the dungeon run is in sight, and Ath3na is currently in fifth place. Here's a breakdown of the top ten spots so far.

1. Don Coyote - the cheater!

2. Narukami - This dude is totes strong

3. Lyghtning - go, go, go!

4. Cyborg Ninja - Ninjas are awesome!

5. Ath3na - she's still in it to win it!

6. Bulldog Alfie - the Radiant Battlemage named after my frenchie who recently passed away... :(

7. Wunderkid - a blood bard who plays the lute

8. Oh!siris - He's a death cleric, and they're awesome!

9. Bully the Kid - A bowlsinger considered to be the top marksman in the Abyss so far.

10. Tie between Argonaut, the would-be hero, and Wundergurl, a Beguiling Songstress and musical partner of Wunderkid. :D They're called the Initial F! Bwahahaha

Last day of the week, guys! Send us more stones please. :D

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