Chapter 29 — Depthfall Clash
The hive was no longer a tunnel network—
it was a breathing battlefield.
Red veins brightened as the trio pushed deeper, light pulsing like a warning signal through the floors and walls. Heat rolled through the chamber ahead in sharp, rhythmic waves.
Then Suddenly… the walls split open.
Twenty-two Transcendent-class beasts poured from branching tunnels—fire-coated bodies, serrated claws, molten light burning through their chest seams. They didn't wait; they launched straight into the kill-zone.
The trio moved at once.
Vaibhav stepped forward and summoned his Transcendent Sword-Type Beast Spirit, a broad-edged weapon forming along his right arm, metal glowing orange where fire veins pulsed under the chitin.
The first beast lunged.
Vaibhav's blade swept across its torso—
a clean, force-packed slash.
The beast split and collapsed.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[+6 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
The second came immediately behind it. Vaibhav pivoted and let momentum carry his sword into a rising arc that tore through its lower ribs.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[+2 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
The third slammed down from above. Vaibhav planted his foot, forced energy up his arm, and used a downward cleave:
Mountain-Cleave Greatsword.
The shock cracked the floor and smashed through the beast's spine.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[+3 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
Roars rose from both sides.
Shin blurred forward, Sword-Type Transcendent Spirit in hand. His movement threaded the air itself—sharp, weaving steps carrying him between three oncoming beasts.
Gale-Threaded Blade Dance.
Thin slicing lines crisscrossed the beasts' bodies as Shin slipped past them.
A heartbeat later, all three collapsed simultaneously.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
[+4 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
[+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
Another two charged Shin, jaws wide.
He vanished into a short-distance displacement, then reappeared at their flanks.
Two swift horizontal lines carved their bodies open.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
[+3 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
Alicia intercepted a trio rushing Vaibhav's back. Her mutated armor spirit flared, glowing molten-red around her hands. She dropped into a defensive stance as two beasts leapt together.
Packbreaker Shell.
A dome of spiked force erupted outward.
Both beasts impaled themselves instantly.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[+4 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
[+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
The third circled her flank. Alicia spun and carved directly through its neck with a compressed blade of spiritual force.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[+7 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
Two more attacked her together. She dropped low, letting her armor absorb one blow, then brought her fist upward—crystal plating sharpening on impact. Both beasts fell within seconds.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[+4 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
[+6 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
The chamber vibrated again.
Five more beasts pushed in at once—a cluster, enraged by the carnage.
Vaibhav lifted his greatsword spirit overhead and drove it into the ground.
Mountain-Cleave Greatsword again—
the shockwave flung two beasts back, cracking their cores.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
[+7 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
Shin reached the third in a blink.
His blade flashed through the air in rapid crossing arcs as he weaved past its claws.
Gale-Threaded Blade Dance tore the beast apart.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[+4 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
Alicia caught the fourth—
a frontal tackle at full speed.
Her barrier spiked outward the moment of impact.
The beast's chest caved in from its own force.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: None]
[+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
The last one tried to retreat, but Vaibhav was faster.
A single downward strike from his sword spirit split its back.
> [Beast Spirit Acquired: Blazebrand Gargantua] — Vaibhav
[+3 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — Vaibhav
Silence.
Heat steamed from the scattered bodies, turning the chamber into a fogged furnace.
All twenty-two beasts were dead.
Alicia sheathed her blade. "Shard time."
The trio moved quickly—
opening chests, breaking crystal plates, tearing free glowing blue shards from every corpse.
Alicia and Shin divided what they needed, then settled into the hollowed alcove carved into the hive wall.
Alicia inhaled once and began.
> [+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 1st Shard
> [+7 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 2nd Shard
> [+3 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 3rd Shard
> [+4 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 4th Shard
> [+2 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 5th Shard
> [+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 6th Shard
> [+7 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 7th Shard
> [+4 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 8th Shard
> [+6 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 9th Shard
> [+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 10th Shard
> [+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 11th Shard
> [+4 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 12th Shard
> [+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 13th Shard
> [+4 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 14th Shard
Shin absorbed his eight quickly.
> [+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 1st Shard
[+7 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 2nd Shard
[+4 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 3rd Shard
[+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 4th Shard
[+3 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 5th Shard
[+4 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 6th Shard
[+5 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 7th Shard
[+6 Transcendent Power Points Gained] — 9th Shard
The trio's Transcendent bars filled silently.
The air cooled for a moment as the hive settled.
Alicia leaned back against the wall. "This place… it feels like it's moving."
Shin didn't look surprised. "It is moving."
Vaibhav rested his forearm over his knee, watching the floor pulse faintly.
"…And something inside is calling."
They stayed in the alcove for two quiet hours—
healing bruises, steadying breath, checking their beast spirits.
Then they stood again.
The hive waited.
The tunnel sloped sharply downward, heat rolling out in steady waves.
Red veins pulsed brighter with every meter, casting flickering shadows across their armor and weapons.
Alicia slowed. "The energy density here is higher."
Vaibhav felt it too—pressure, heat, and something like a heartbeat under the floor.
The next step triggered a low rumble.
A crack split open across the ground ahead—wide, jagged, glowing from within.
Five Mutated Transcendent beasts crawled out of the fissure.
Their hide glowed molten red, like magma trapped under muscle.
Every inhale made steam hiss out of their joints.
They roared together—
the sound shook grit from the ceiling.
Shin smiled faintly. "Finally… something good."
Vaibhav lifted his blade spirit, heat rolling across the edge. "Be careful. These are on a different level."
Alicia stepped forward, her mutated armor spirit tightening across her body. "Let's end this quick."
The first beast lunged—fast, heavy, its claws dragging sparks.
Vaibhav intercepted, swinging upward with a two-handed cleave.
The impact jarred his arms sharply; the beast's armor was far tougher than the Transcendents before it.
It skidded back, carving a trench through the ground but not falling.
Behind it, another Mutated Transcendent charged straight at Alicia.
She threw up a barrier on instinct—
the impact dented her shell and blasted her several steps back.
Her boots scraped lines into the floor before she stopped.
Shin vanished into motion, stepping cleanly between two of the monsters.
A crooked claw swept above him—
he slid under it, sword spirit flickering.
His blade cut across the beast's side, leaving a molten wound that sealed halfway but still leaked heat.
The third beast spun, tail lashing.
It struck Shin square in the torso, launching him into a pillar of hardened chitin.
He rose immediately, irritation in his eyes.
" I'm gonna kill this MOTHERF@CKER!!"
The fifth beast leapt at them all from the rear.
A shadow falling.
Vaibhav dropped low, bracing his shoulder beneath it.
The impact shook the chamber and pushed him to one knee, heat burning through his armor.
"You're heavier than you look…"
Alicia moved in, her Armored hands bursting with hardened flame energy.
She slammed a spike of condensed force into the creature's jaw, knocking it sideways off Vaibhav.
Another roar—
all five beasts regrouped, circling now instead of charging recklessly.
The chamber filled with dust and rolling heat.
Red cracks glowed under their feet as the fissure widened.
Shin tightened his grip on his sword spirit.
Vaibhav steadied his blade.
Alicia's armor brightened, molten lines tracing across the plates.
The five beasts roared again—
louder, closer, synchronized.
The next clash hit like an earthquake.
The trio still locked in combat—
blood flicking through the air, shockwaves ripping across the chamber, and the hive trembling around them as the five red monsters press in from all sides.