Skill-Eater: Prison World Saga-Chapter 41: Sand Shrews

A runner came to a skidding stop beside the wagon, raising her voice over the clamor as the members of the expedition readied themselves for combat.

She paused long enough to share what she knew before darting off again. The scouts had sensed a large pack of late stage-two predators stalking the caravan, and everyone needed to be ready to defend themselves at a moment’s notice. Edge grimaced when he heard the news. He had no desire whatsoever to fight on uneven ground with such poor visibility.

On the bright side, the lead wagon had almost arrived at a spacious clearing bordering the perimeter of the dungeon. Gram was hoping that everyone would reach open terrain before the creatures attacked. But even with the scouts running interference, there was no guarantee that the end of the line would make it in time.

Trapper’s crew brandished their weapons and got ready to activate their skills the instant that the predators appeared. Riller climbed onto the driver’s seat beside Violet. He summoned his Scout Drone to watch their position from the air, while she convinced Blue to keep pulling the wagon deeper into the jungle. The azure dino grumbled while sniffing at the air. She was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, but she trusted her team and continued trudging along.

Edge heard shouting in the distance, and the tension kept ratcheting up with every step that he took. But then a mile rolled past, followed by another. Thanks to Riller’s drone and the lookouts ringing periphery of the wagon train, no one was ambushed by the creatures that were stalking them, and half an hour later, the crew entered a broad clearing carpeted with low groundcover.

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The living wall of the dungeon spread out before him, but he didn’t have time to take a closer look. While Violet unhitched Blue, Gram sent word that the beasts were making their move and would attack sometime within the next few minutes. They still hadn’t identified the aggressive critters, but they were big and displayed no fear of the cored warriors waiting for them to appear.

The teams didn’t waste a second. They began establishing a perimeter and erecting various defenses. But before they could progress beyond the preliminary stages, the creatures that were hunting them launched their assault.

“They’re coming!” One of the guardswomen, who had the same Sense Life skill that Trapper used, cried out a warning.

“Get your wards and auras up,” Gram ordered, using a magitech device to amplify his voice.

“We’re working against some manner of jamming skill, so we don’t have any details other than their stage and size. We’ve detected seventeen hostiles headed our way, but there might be more of them out there. Since they’re bold enough to attack an armed group of this size, assume that they are elite enemies. If one comes for you, try to separate it from the pack, then focus on defense until we know what we’re dealing with. Everyone should assist their nearest neighbor unless I give another order. Stick with your original teams for now, and I’ll send reinforcements to your position as needed.”

Trapper’s crew came together with the dungeon guarding their backs and the wagon shielding one flank. Since they had been traveling at the end of the line, they only had another group on one side—the contingent of deputies led by Able. Edge had just enough time to offer Mel a nervous grin before something big burst free from the tree line. The ground rumbled beneath his boots as a contingent of massive shapes came charging across the clearing to hit the expedition as one.

He sensed an incredible surge of mana as hundreds of cores ignited and began activating skills. Magitech weapons sprang to life in every color of the rainbow as lightning, fire, ice, and dozens more types began to shine.

Auras and magical defenses wavered into existence, filling the air with shimmers and glows. Some of the beneficial skills were close enough to reach Trapper’s crew. He felt energy entering his body as his performance was enhanced, sharpening his Perception to a razor’s edge and filling his muscles with Power. Edge thought about downing a potion but decided to save the short-lived concoctions until he was sure that they were needed.

Two of the creatures were headed his way. By now, they were close enough for him to make out additional details. The beasts looked like badgers made of living sand, only ten feet tall and twenty feet long. Each broad paw ended in swordlike claws, and their jaws looked strong enough to bite him in half, armor or no. Halfway through their approach, the badgers turned away from Trapper’s crew charged the peacekeepers’ line.

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Edge had never seen anything like it. He wasn’t sure if the creatures’ unusual forms were their natural state or the result of some skill he wasn’t familiar with. Either way, since the bulky beasts were covered in animate stone, they were going to be hard to hurt and their attacks would pack a real punch. He didn’t know which of his powers would be most effective, but he was sure in that moment that the expedition was in for one hell of a fight.

“Oh shit,” someone yelled. “They’re sand shrews. Several are peak stage two, judging from their size.”

Edge had never heard of sand shrews and didn’t know what to expect. Before he could learn anything else, the creatures went barreling into the deputies’ defensive line, colliding with shields and spells with enough force to knock him to his knees. As he rolled back onto his feet, Trapper gave the order to attack.

“Back up Able’s team but don’t fully engage until we know what we’re dealing with. Whatever you do, don’t trade blows against opponents of that size. If one comes for you, pull back and lead it along the side of our formation while we whittle the big bastard down.” By this point, everyone had grabbed a ranged weapon and begun to fire.

Edge raised his chakram and took aim. He threw the bladed ring as hard as he could, while a collection of bolts and arrows flew forth from the rest of the team. Unfortunately, their barrage had no effect whatsoever. The missiles bounced off the shrew’s sandy exterior—like they had fired at a boulder instead of a living creature.

He frowned while deciding what to do. Their defense is off the charts. I can’t do anything unless I close to melee. Edge used his glove to retrieve his chakram, then secured the weapon to its strap and unlimbered his naginata.

Another runner approaches the crew, stopping long enough to deliver a message before darting off to update the next team. “The beasts are small creatures located somewhere within those artificial bodies. The shrews are like pilots and the big badgers are expendable golems. You won’t do any damage unless you can reach the shrew inside, although you might be able to disrupt their control over the sand with the right skill.”

“Damn,” Trapper reached for her brace of magitech crossbow bolts. “Regular attacks aren’t going to cut it, and fire and ice won’t reach deep enough given all that sand. I’ll try stone bolts and see if they can punch through. Jumo, this is a perfect chance for you to use your new skill, Piercing Javelin.”

Edge listened with one ear as he advanced. He was ready to run in and serve as a distraction if the peacekeepers needed it, but he was still in position to guard his team if a sand shrew headed their way. Since her bow and consumables were useless, Violet switched to a purely supportive role. She cast Enhance Beast on Blue and activated Travelers’ Boon to boost the stamina regeneration of everyone in range.

He kept one eye on the frantic melee, and one on the teams fighting in the distance. But unless Gram called for reinforcements, his job was to deal with the enemy in front of him and trust the other crews to do their part. It left him in a perfect position to watch the carnage unfold as the deputies and sand shrews battled one another.

Several of them had pulled back behind the defensive line, sporting minor injuries from absorbing the golems’ charge. He wanted to rush right in, but the peacekeepers were used to fighting as a team and if Edge wasn’t careful, he would only make things worse by getting in their way.

Not long after, Trapper and Jumo were ready to make their move. They had repositioned to shoot at the closest creature’s flank instead of its back, so they wouldn’t have to worry about friendly fire if their shots missed the mark.

As she had been hoping, Trapper’s earth bolts penetrated the golem’s densely packed grains. However, due to some manner of obscurement skill, she couldn’t detect the location of the beast inside, which made the odds of striking it exceedingly low. It did pull back after one shot pieced the golem’s chest, which must have come close to hitting the shrew through sheer luck.

After watching her struggle, Jumo went with a different tactic. “Piercing Javelin incoming!” Edge glanced over his shoulder in time to watch an obsidian spear waver into existence above Jumo’s head. Its surface shimmered with a layer of mana, and the blade was as sharp as a breath of winter air.

A bare heartbeat later, the magical weapon went streaking from his position. It crossed the intervening distance in the blink of an eye, burying itself into the spot where the golem’s rear leg attached to its torso. The intense impact disrupted the limb, causing everything below that point to crumble into sand—no longer controlled by the beast inside.

It only took a few seconds for the golem to recover, regrowing its leg and becoming smaller in the process. But the distraction gave the deputies a chance to assume the offensive and they surged forth in a flurry of motion.

This marked the beginning of a fierce exchange of blows. In that moment, it seemed that the warriors would overwhelm the shrews before anyone else got hurt. They had the advantage of numbers and were no strangers to life and death melee against savage predators.

But then matters took a turn for the worse. A woman who was holding a massive tower shield failed to get out of the way when the golem reared up and brought its heavy body crashing down.

She positioned her shield to absorb the blow. But instead of attacking with its claws, the golem changed form mid-descent. Its sandy torso split down the middle, hit the ground, then flowed back together behind her back, trapping the woman inside a ring of living sand. The instant she was bound tight, the creature spun and ran for the tree line, carrying the shrieking deputy toward the jungle to devour at its leisure.

In another few seconds, she would be beneath the trees and out of sight, beyond any hope of rescue. But Edge wasn’t about to let that happen.