The System

CH- 89: Chaos (III).

    In his haste, Tetsu downed an entire stamina bottle, and now he wandered around like a lost ghost pumped with vigor, transitioning from one battlefield to another. He needed such an environment to explore the intricacies of the potion, yet he also required some breathing room to better grasp the insights.

Tetsu halted, recoiling in fear, and the next moment, a claw emerged from the path he was digging, causing him to shoot up as two [Mole] creatures clashed with their claws.

"No more groundwork for me," Tetsu blinked, sidestepping and redirecting an ape's punch into the ground.

The mole creatures exploded into bits upon impact, while the fist continued to dig deeper, creating a crater in its wake.

Tetsu maneuvered around, rolling over the ape's back before several spikes shot up from the ground, transforming the once plain landscape into a spiky terrain.

With a powerful vertical jump, Tetsu ascended higher, leaving everyone in the area skewered and unable to adapt to the sudden shift in landscape, whether above or below ground.

Two moles emerged from the gap between the spikes, targeting Tetsu. "Neither for you?" Tetsu grabbed one with a rune, altering its trajectory mid-air, then stepped on it to pin it down. He dispatched the other [Mole] with a well-timed kick while using [Info] to assess the situation better.

{Quaketail. Lvl3. Earth, Flash. Weakness: Above-ground battles.}

Just one level higher, and Tetsu would have found himself among those who had dug their own graves.

"Where did you guys come from?"

The elite Quaketails extended their claws, forming four long blades. While none of them aimed for Tetsu, they moved closer, marking him as their next target. They drilled through the spikes and saved their comrades, with lightning-fast movements, the stronger ones diving deeper to confront the greater threat lurking below.

Tetsu counts the different groups encircling him. 'Two below, three above, four in the middle,' he blinks to note.

*!BIZ!*

A thunderous onslaught of the Quillspire horde reverberates through the air, a relentless tide of spikes and mass creating a deafening crescendo of screeching and rumbling that echoes with an overwhelming, almost primal intensity.

"Why the hell not!" Tetsu exclaims as the hoard spins straight for him. "Is it just me, or is everyone moving toward me?"

Tetsu moves toward the [Alloyhide Horrors], who are the best match for these monsters.

He had been employing the same tactic since the peaceful scavenge mission had turned into chaos: pulling one group into another so that he could use their defenses for offensive skills he couldn't handle and vice versa. One misstep was enough to trap himself between two groups, yet only this technique could keep him alive.

*!BOOM!*

The Leaders of the groups aimed for the approaching horde of Quillspire as explosions rocked the terrain, buying Tetsu more time to escape.

The Quills bounced off each other before the spell reached, sacrificing a few of their own to reduce the blast for the rest.

Tetsu deflected a barrage of flying quills, his brow furrowing at the sight of the unfamiliar Quaketail species. "Insufficient data," he murmured.

Before he could divert the quill, the huge Quaketail zapped into him, and Tetsu found himself caught in the midst of the leaders' scuffle.

In a fleeting moment, Tetsu yearned for the convenience of teleportation, but the troublesome Electric Snowman entered the fray causing chaos. For every strike it endured, creatures were scattered across the battlefield.