SSS-Tier Extraction: From Outcast to Overgod!-Chapter 62: The Shattered Peaks

The world snapped back into place with a jolt that made Ryan’s teeth click together. One moment they were in the calm, safe plaza of Outpost #7, and the next, they were standing on a jagged slab of rock floating in an endless, pale blue sky.

The air was thin and cold, and it tasted like a storm was coming. All around them, other giant islands of rock drifted slowly, like lazy, sleeping giants. Some were close enough to jump to if you were feeling brave. Others were miles away, tiny specks in the distance.

Every few minutes, a geyser of purple or green energy would shoot up from the misty void below, lighting up the clouds with weird colors.

Chris "Boulder" Magnus stumbled a bit, shaking his head. "Whoa. That teleport ride is worse than my aunt’s cooking."

Jennifer "Quake" Lee put a hand on his arm to steady him. Her eyes were closed, and she had a focused look on her face. "Be careful, everyone. This whole island feels... fragile. Like walking on a giant, stale cracker."

Far off in the distance, a shadow passed over them. It was huge, big enough to be a mountain with wings. Ryan squinted, trying to see it.

The outline was that of a massive, bird-like creature. It was one of the "Sky Titans" the Warden’s file had mentioned. These were the local residents, and they probably didn’t like visitors.

"Well," Ryan said, letting out a low whistle. "This place is definitely not on the tourist brochure."

A few hundred yards away, on another floating rock, another flash of light appeared. Tom Kane and his Crimson Banner squad arrived. They looked like they had been born ready for this. All five of them wore matching dark red and grey combat gear. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

They didn’t stumble or look around in wonder. They immediately formed a defensive circle, weapons ready, moving like a single, well-oiled machine. They looked professional. They looked dangerous.

Ryan’s team, on the other hand, looked like a mismatched group of adventurers who had met in a tavern five minutes ago. Chris was built like a refrigerator and carried a huge shield.

Scarlett was lean and wore a new dark mantle, looking like a graceful shadow. Emma was surrounded by floating blue screens of data, and Jennifer seemed to be listening to the rock itself. And then there was Ryan, the new Governor, who still felt like he was just winging it most of the time.

Emma cleared her throat, and a large map of the Shattered Peaks appeared in the air between them. Three spots on the map glowed brightly. "Okay, team. Here’s the situation. Those are the three god Energy Nodes we need to capture: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma."

She pointed to the first one. "Node Alpha is on that cluster of smaller islands to the east. It looks like the easiest target."

Chris’s eyes lit up. "Easiest means we go there first and smash whatever’s guarding it, right?"

"Maybe," Emma said, her brow furrowed in thought. She then pointed to the second spot. "Node Beta is over there, on that medium-sized island with all the sharp, pointy rocks. My scans show a lot of movement. Probably a nest of those smaller flying creatures."

"More things to smash!" Chris said with a grin.

Emma then pointed to the last spot on the map. Her finger hovered over a dark, ominous-looking island at the very top of the sky, wreathed in crackling lightning. "And that... is Node Gamma."

Everyone looked up at the real island. It was dark and scary, and even from this distance, they could feel the raw power coming off it. It looked like the place where villains lived in cartoons.

"Let me guess," Ryan said dryly. "That’s where the really big, grumpy monster lives."

Emma nodded slowly. "My long-range sensors are going crazy. The energy signature is off the charts. It’s an Apex-level Anomaly. A really, really big one."

The team was quiet for a moment. An Apex Anomaly was the strongest type of creature they had ever heard of. Fighting one was not just a challenge; it was a death wish.

While they were talking, they saw Kane’s team start to move. With perfect, silent hand signals, they began to leap from island to island with incredible speed and skill. They were heading straight for Node Alpha, the easiest one.

"Look at them go," Chris grumbled. "They think this is just a race."

"And that’s exactly what Kane wants us to think," Ryan said, a clever glint in his eye. He looked at his own team. "He thinks he can beat us with speed and discipline. He’s probably right, if we play his game."

"So what’s our game, Governor?" Scarlett asked, her voice quiet and steady.

Ryan grinned. "We’re not going to race him. We’re going to be smarter. We’re going to cheat."

He held up his new gauntlet, the Weaver’s Interface Gauntlet. "This thing lets me do some... weird stuff. I can change the world around us, just for a little bit."

He looked at Scarlett. "Scarlett, you’re the fastest and quietest. While Kane is busy fighting his way to Node Alpha, I want you to take a hidden path and get to Node Beta. Don’t fight the big nest. Just find a quiet spot, capture the Node, and hide. Can you do that?"

Scarlett nodded once. "I can."

Ryan then turned to Chris, Jennifer, and Emma. "You three will stay with Scarlett. Protect her while the Node is being captured. Jennifer, your Tremor Sense will warn them of any unstable ground or hidden creatures. Emma, your tactical brain will be their eyes and ears. Chris, if anything gets close, you’re the wall they can’t get past."

Chris puffed out his chest. "I am an excellent wall!"

Finally, everyone looked at Ryan. If they were all going to Node Beta, where was he going?

Ryan took a deep breath and looked up at the dark, scary island at the top of the world. Node Gamma.

"And me?" he said, a determined smile on his face. "I’m going to go say hello to the big, grumpy monster."

His team stared at him.

"You’re going after the Apex Anomaly? Alone?" Emma asked, her voice full of concern.

"Kane will never expect it," Ryan explained. "He’ll be so focused on racing us to the easy Nodes that he won’t even think about the hardest one until it’s too late.

I’ll use my new gauntlet to make my own shortcuts. I can create bridges where there aren’t any and climb paths that don’t exist."

It was a crazy, daring plan. They would split up and hit two targets at once, using stealth and surprise instead of brute force. They were betting everything on Ryan’s new powers and his ability to survive a fight against an almost impossible foe.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then, one by one, they nodded. They trusted him.

"Alright, team," Ryan said, his voice firm. "You know the plan. Let’s go show the Crimson Banner how Outpost #7 gets things done."

With that, they split up. Scarlett moved like a ghost, vanishing into the shadows of the floating rocks, with Emma, Jennifer, and Chris following close behind.

Ryan turned and faced the opposite direction. He took a running leap off the edge of their island, plummeting into the open air. Just as he was about to fall into the misty void, he activated his new gauntlet.

A shimmering bridge of blue light appeared beneath his feet, solid as glass. He landed on it, and without stopping, he began to run upwards, towards the storm, towards the lightning, towards the home of the Alpha Sky Titan.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢