[Chapter 41. There Are No Dumb Plans]

  The Elemental Dire Wolf howled as Searanox was about to pick up his bag. With the strap still in hand, he turned around. Ice and snow flew past him as the strap slipped slowly from his grasp. He stood there for a solid minute, staring at it like a deer in headlights. After he pulled himself together he took hold of the strap again, then he stepped off to the side around the corner, before sliding down the wall.

  His thoughts spun wildly, considering all the possible ways he could meet his end in there.

  With that, he grabbed his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and ran through the tunnels until he reached the bone-filled pit. Four offensive drones materialized behind him and flew into the tunnel he had just left.

  Searanox leaped from the highest plateau, his boots crunching through layers of bones as he landed in the pit below. He scrambled toward the wall, pressing himself against the cold stone beneath the overhanging ledges. Within seconds, the mental connection to his first offensive drone fizzled out, followed by another three seconds later.

  Without hesitation, he summoned two replacements, the blue sparks briefly illuminating the chamber before they shot into the tunnel. The air turned deadly cold. A vicious wind howled through the tunnels, carrying an icy blast that shot down the narrow passage into the chamber. Searanox shuddered as the freezing wind bit at his exposed skin.

  He was trapped, unable to do anything but wait and hope his drones could buy him time.

  The ground trembled violently, and suddenly, he lost the connection to three drones at once. A cascade of ice shards blasted from the tunnel entrance, scattering across the bone-strewn floor. Searanox flinched as razor-sharp fragments whistled past his head, embedding themselves in the wall.

  A brief thought flickered through his mind as he summoned three new drones and sent them into the tunnel. His plan was crude but clear: inflict as much damage as possible before it came to an all-out fight.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  These drones didn't make it far; they were only halfway down the tunnel before they were annihilated.

  With a mental command, he ordered a retreat. Two offensive drones emerged from the tunnel and flew past him, their beams flashing violet. Together with the newly summoned drones, they regrouped and continued firing down the tunnel. Cold fog billowed into the chamber as the Elemental Dire Wolf emerged. In mere moments, the temperature plummeted to the point where he could see his breath in the air.

  Mentally, he activated overcharge on each of the four drones.

  Four thick violet beams carved through the air, striking something he couldn't see before vanishing down another tunnel. Right above him, a massive white claw dug into the ledge, carving deep grooves into it. Its claws were clear like ice and yet strangely opaque. A few seconds later, four more beams shot out from the dark tunnel, hitting the now-visible Elemental Dire Wolf.

  It all came down to this gamble.

  If it saw him, it was over. The Elemental Dire Wolf jumped down from the plateau and vanished into the tunnel, following the trail of his drones. This was the moment he had been waiting for. He repositioned himself below the plateau containing the tunnel it had just entered.

  As his drones reached the end of the tunnel, they fired until they were destroyed. Searanox continued to lead the Elemental Dire Wolf from one tunnel into the next, keeping himself safe within the bone pit. After nearly five minutes of this cat-and-mouse game, his TP had dropped below a third.

  He summoned another set of drones and sent them after it while making his way back to the chamber where he slew the Alpha. While his drones played tag with the wolf, he climbed onto the second level of the now ice-filled chamber. As his TP reserves ran almost dry, he watched his drones fall one after another but he didn't resummon them.

  The minutes stretched on, each one counted in the slow recovery of his TP reserves, creeping past the halfway point. After another ten minutes, the air grew suddenly colder. From the tunnel emerged the Elemental Dire Wolf, its massive frame now bearing a slight limp. As it gathered itself to leap onto the second level, four oval-shaped drones materialized in a flash of blue light, immediately forming a massive barrier above it.

  It lunged straight into the barrier, the impact echoing through the chamber as its massive body connected with the shimmering shield. Dazed, it stumbled back to the ground, shaking its head to clear the disorientation. Searanox seized the moment, dropping from the second level and slipping into the tunnel while the wolf was still recovering.

  But the wolf recovered faster than he'd anticipated. Its crystalline eyes locked onto him, predatory focus cutting through the space between them. When it opened its maw, Searanox braced for another howl, but instead, a vicious hail of ice shards erupted toward him. He threw himself around the corner just as the deadly storm slammed into the barriers. One drone vanished in a flash of blue sparks, another was severely damaged with cracks spiderwebbing across its hull, while the third's barrier flickered violently, nearly depleted from the assault.

  Searanox scrambled to block the tunnel with his remaining drones. As one barrier shattered, another materialized to replace it. He didn't even make it back to the bone pit before his defensive drones were shredded by another ice blast. In a single powerful leap, the Elemental Dire Wolf crashed down into the bone pit below, where four offensive drones already waited for it.

  Positioned strategically near the ceiling at different points. Five thick violet beams converged on the beast from all angles. Searanox lowered his rifle slightly.