SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

Jayden pushed himself up from the broken stones, one hand pressed against his ribs. He looked toward Helen first, then toward the path behind them.

The path was gone. Dozens of undead couriers had filled the tunnel entrance, their thin bodies packed together like a moving wall. Behind them, rusted undead guards stepped forward with old spears and cracked shields.

"We are sealed in," the short Vahir said quietly.

Helen gritted her teeth. Her mana was running low. Her breathing was rough, and the fire around her fingers flickered weaker than before. Even so, she forced herself to stand between the injured giant Velhari and the approaching couriers.

The Devouring Bone Giant turned toward them again.

This time, it did not reach for soul stones immediately. Instead, it raised both arms.

The chains wrapped around its ribs lifted into the air and stretched outward. Red light gathered along the links, and the soul stones in the mound began trembling violently.

Varok’s pupils shrank.

"Scatter!"

The chains shot forward.

FWOOSH!!!

One chain struck the ground where Varok had stood, tearing open a trench several meters long. Another chain swept toward Jayden, forcing him to throw himself aside despite his injuries.

A third chain rushed toward Helen.

She raised a fire barrier immediately.

BOOM!!!

The chain smashed through the barrier and struck her staff, knocking her backward. Her body hit the ground hard, and for a second, her vision blurred.

"Helen!" Jayden shouted, rushing toward her.

Before he could reach her, another chain dropped between them.

BOOOOM!!!

The impact separated them completely.

Helen tried to rise, but her body refused to move properly. Her arms trembled, and the staff nearly slipped from her fingers.

She looked up. The Devouring Bone Giant was staring at her; red light gathered in its mouth again.

Jayden’s face lost color at the sight.

Varok tried to move, but his leg gave out for a moment. The short Velhari rushed forward, but several couriers threw themselves at him, slowing him down just enough.

The giant Velhari roared and forced himself up, but he was too far away.

Helen saw the red light growing brighter.

For one brief moment, she thought about the market square again. She thought about Zich cutting the chain before it reached her throat, and for some reason, the thought made her feel even more frustrated than afraid.

’Not again...’

The bone giant fired.

FWOOSH!!!

A red beam tore toward her, screaming through the air.

At that exact moment, the cavern ceiling above one of the main soul stone channels exploded.

BOOOOOM!!!

A massive section of stone collapsed downward, crushing part of the channel and cutting off the stream of soul stones flowing from that direction. Dust and broken rocks scattered everywhere, and several couriers were smashed flat before they could react.

The beam missed Helen by less than a meter as the giant’s head turned instinctively toward the explosion. The red blast carved through the ground beside her and left a smoking trench across the cavern floor.

Through the falling dust, a black armored figure dropped down first.

Iron landed on the broken channel, his massive sword already raised.

BOOM!!!

Its landing crushed the stone beneath its feet, and the crimson lines across its armor glowed faintly as it turned toward the Devouring Bone Giant.

Right after that, a blue slime bounced down from the opening and landed near Helen.

BOING!!!

Slimy wobbled once, then turned toward her as if checking whether she was alive. Seeing her still breathing, it bounced in relief before facing the couriers with poison bubbling across its body.

Blood Leech crawled out from the broken ceiling next, its claws digging into the stone as it dropped onto the side wall like a spider. Its face turned toward the couriers, and its needle like mouth twitched with hunger.

Finally, Zich stepped out from the dust.

His clothes were dirty, and his expression looked more annoyed than concerned. He looked around the cavern once, taking in the injured group, the endless couriers, the giant mound of soul stones, and finally the Devouring Bone Giant.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Helen stared at him from the ground, her lips parting slightly.

Jayden froze in place, his face darkening immediately.

Varok looked at Zich with a complicated expression, while the giant Velhari coughed blood and started laughing weakly.

"I knew it," the giant muttered. "This bastard is really alive!"

Zich ignored him. His gaze stopped on the soul stone mound. Then it shifted toward the broken channels still feeding the giant.

"So this is where my stones went," he said calmly.

Helen did not know whether to laugh or curse at him.

Jayden’s expression twisted. "Your stones?"

"I saw them first," Zich replied without shame. "That gives me senior claim." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The Devouring Bone Giant slowly turned toward him, seemingly annoyed by the interruption.

The red light in its chest pulsed harder than before. Every courier in the cavern stopped moving for a second, then shifted toward Zich at the same time.

Zich looked at the moving channels and raised one hand slightly.

"First," he muttered, "we stop feeding it."

Iron stepped forward before the words fully settled, the earth beneath his feet evaporating.

The Elite Undead Knight charged toward the nearest channel while Slimy spat poison across another route. Blood Leech rushed along the wall toward the couriers carrying fresh sacks of soul stones.

The Devouring Bone Giant roared, clearly angered by the daylight robbery that was unfolding right before its eyes.

RAAAAAAA!!!

The cavern shook again.

But this time, Zich was already walking forward. Initially, he wanted them to do most of the damage, but that was clearly not possible.

The only way they could kill this thing was if he joined the fight himself. Hence the reason he had decided to take matters into his own hands.

The others were very weak and could barely move their limbs. It was something most of them hated to admit, but right now, the shameless white haired man whom they had abandoned was their only hope of getting out of this situation.

’Don’t you guys even look at me with those eyes,’ Zich sneered inwardly, feeling the weight of the gazes behind him. ’I’m doing this for my own personal gain.’