SSS-Tier Extraction: From Outcast to Overgod!-Chapter 72: Race to the Vault

The news that the Iron Wolves had already captured an artifact sent a jolt of urgency through the team. The fun and games were over. This was now a flat-out race.

"Emma, what’s the fastest way to the central vault?" Ryan asked, his voice sharp and focused. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

Emma’s fingers flew across her datapad, her face lit by its blue glow. "The Iron Wolves are taking the main corridors. They’re loud, but they’re fast. They’re smashing through everything. We can’t beat them in a straight race on that path."

She paused, a small frown on her face as she studied the complex map. "But... there is another way. It’s not on the main schematics. It looks like... a maintenance tunnel.

It’s tight, dark, and probably full of whatever passed for giant robot rats in the Precursor era. But it’s a direct line. It will take us right to the vault’s doorstep."

"Perfect," Ryan said. "Lead the way."

He then turned to his new robot friend, who was still standing patiently. Ryan felt a little bad about what he was about to do. "Okay, buddy. New orders. Go find the Iron Wolves. Make a lot of noise. Distract them. Be as annoying as possible."

The Chrono-Golem’s green eye blinked once in understanding. It turned and glided silently out of the chamber, heading off to cause some trouble.

"Is it really a good idea to send it off alone?" Chris asked, looking after it with a hint of sadness. "We were just starting to bond."

"It’ll be fine," Ryan said, patting him on the shoulder. "It’s very good at being annoying. Now, let’s go."

Following Emma’s directions, they found a small, hidden hatch in the floor. It opened into a dark, narrow tunnel that was barely wide enough for Chris and his shield to fit through.

The air inside was thick with the smell of dust and decay. This was the backstage area of the Testing Ground, the part the fancy visitors were never meant to see.

Their journey through the tunnels was tense. They moved as quickly as they could, their footsteps echoing in the tight space. Jennifer took the lead, her hand pressed against the wall, her Tremor Sense acting as their eyes in the dark. She would guide them around crumbling sections of the floor and point out the nests of "Scrap-Mites," small, crab-like cleaning robots that had gone crazy over the centuries and would try to take a bite out of their boots.

After what felt like an hour of crawling and shuffling through the dark, they finally saw a faint light ahead. They had reached the end of the tunnel. It opened up into a massive, cavernous chamber.

The Central Vault.

The room was breathtaking. The ceiling was so high it was lost in darkness. The walls were covered in complex, glowing patterns of light. And in the very center of the chamber, floating inside a shimmering cage of energy, was a pulsating orb of pure white light. The Spatial Harmonizer.

But their eyes were immediately drawn to what was standing in front of it.

It was a Golem, but it made the others look like toys. This was the Apex War Golem. It was easily thirty feet tall, built not like a soldier, but like a walking fortress. Its armor was thick and black, layered like a beetle’s shell, and it seemed to absorb the light around it. Instead of hands, it had two massive cannons. A single, giant red eye glowed in the center of its head, watching everything, seeing everything.

This was a Level 10 monster. The Warden’s warning flashed in Ryan’s mind: Threat Level: Overwhelming.

As they stepped out of the tunnel, the giant Golem’s red eye swiveled and fixed on them. A deep, mechanical voice that sounded like grinding rocks echoed through the chamber.

"UNAUTHORIZED LIFEFORMS DETECTED. YOU ARE TRESPASSING IN A HIGH-SECURITY ZONE. CEASE YOUR EXISTENCE IMMEDIATELY."

"Well," Chris muttered from behind his shield. "That’s not very polite."

The Apex Golem didn’t wait for a reply. It raised one of its cannon arms. The air in front of the cannon seemed to twist and tear, and a small, shimmering black hole appeared for a split second. A moment later, that same black hole appeared right above Jennifer’s head.

"Jen, look out!" Ryan yelled.

Jennifer reacted instantly, diving to the side as the Golem’s attack, a blast of pure gravity slammed into the ground where she had been standing, leaving a crater in the solid metal floor. The Golem could teleport its attacks. This was going to be a nightmare.

"It can bend space!" Emma shouted, her eyes wide as she analyzed the data. "We can’t just dodge! We have to predict where its attacks will appear!"

Ryan’s mind went into high gear. He knew they couldn’t just chip away at this thing. They needed a plan. A crazy, desperate plan.

"Okay team, listen up!" he said, his voice sharp and clear over the hum of the Golem’s power core. "This thing is a king. It controls the whole room. We need to be the jesters. We need to make it dance.

Scarlett, Jennifer, you two are on harassment duty! Be fast, be annoying, hit it from all sides! Make it use its space-bending tricks!"

Scarlett grinned, a wild look in her eyes. "With pleasure." She and Jennifer shot off in opposite directions, becoming blurs of motion at the edges of the room.

"Emma, you are our eyes!" Ryan continued. "Analyze its attacks! Find the patterns! Tell us where it’s safe to stand!"

Emma nodded, her fingers already flying across her datapad, her face a mask of intense concentration.

"Chris! You’re Emma’s bodyguard! Nothing gets near her. Nothing!"

"You got it, boss!" Chris said, planting his shield in the ground in front of Emma, creating a mini-fortress.

The Golem, seeing Scarlett and Jennifer zipping around, became visibly agitated. Its giant red eye darted back and forth, trying to track them.

It fired another gravity blast, teleporting it to appear right in Scarlett’s path. But Emma, already seeing the pattern, shouted, "Scarlett, left! Three feet!" Scarlett juked left just as the attack materialized, the force of it tearing at her cloak.

The battle began. It wasn’t a fight; it was a chaotic. Scarlett, using her Sky Lord’s Mantle, flew through the air, firing energy bolts from a small pistol. Jennifer stayed on the ground, sending waves of tremors to distract the Golem and using her agility to dodge its teleporting blasts. They were like two pesky flies that the giant robot just couldn’t swat.

The Golem grew more and more frustrated. It started using its powers more wildly. It created small rifts in space, trying to trap them. It even changed the gravity in a section of the room, causing a pile of debris to float up into the air and then crash down.

And through it all, Ryan stood perfectly still, watching. He wasn’t just watching the fight. He was watching the space between the fight. He was using his own talents, his Chrono-Manipulation and his unstable Phase Step, to feel the tiny rips and tears the Golem was making in the fabric of reality.

He saw his opening. The Golem, enraged by Jennifer’s constant taunts, unleashed its most powerful attack yet. It aimed both cannons at her, preparing to fire a massive wave of spatial distortion that would probably tear her apart.

"That’s it!" Ryan yelled. "Its focus is absolute! It’s not paying attention to anything else! I’m going in!"

He activated Haste, and the chaotic battlefield around him slowed to a crawl. He activated his newly learned Temporal Field skill, creating a small bubble of normal time around himself. He was a normal-speed person moving through a slow-motion hurricane.

He ran, his feet pounding on the metal floor. He dodged a slow-moving gravity blast. He leaped over a shimmering rift in space. He was heading straight for the Golem, straight for the prize. He was going to steal the king’s crown right off its head.

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