Trapped In Elysium: A Virtual Reality Nightmare-Chapter 30: Killing the Advanced beast

Jason rejoined the group, his body still aching from the impact, but there was no time to rest. They all stood together, forming a defensive stance as the beast perched a few meters away, its glowing red eyes locked onto them with eerie intelligence. Its talons dug into the wood of the fence, splintering it as it shifted its weight, calculating its next move.

Liam tightened his grip on his sword. His breath was heavy, but his mind was still sharp. "We need to be smart about this. Hacking away at it isn’t working. Its body is too damn sturdy. We need to find a weak spot."

"Does it even have one?" Marcus grumbled, "This thing is built like a damn tank."

Sophia, standing in the middle of the group, clenched her bow with frustration. She had only three arrows left, and none of them had done more than scratch the beast. "If we don’t figure something out soon, we’re going to run out of energy before it does."

The beast let out a low, guttural screech, flexing its wings as it prepared to launch itself at them again. Liam could see the subtle tension in its muscles—an attack was coming. "Spread out! Now!"

The group barely had time to react before the creature lunged forward. Its talons gleamed in the sunlight as it dove straight for Sophia, its sharp beak ready to tear into her. Her reflexes weren’t fast enough—there was no time to dodge.

Liam threw himself at the beast, colliding with it midair. Both of them crashed into a stack of hay nearby, sending dust and straw flying. The impact knocked the wind out of him, but he didn’t let go. He wrestled with the beast, its powerful wings flapping wildly, throwing up debris.

The creature’s talons tore into Liam’s arms, drawing deep gashes that burned like fire. He gritted his teeth, using all his strength to keep its snapping beak away from his face. The beast screeched in frustration, thrashing violently.

Marcus didn’t hesitate. With an angry roar, he charged forward and swung a heavy kick into the beast’s side, putting all his strength behind it. The impact sent the creature flying off Liam, but the force of the kick almost shattered Marcus’s leg. He collapsed to one knee, clutching his shin as pain shot up his body.

"Fuck! That was a bad idea," Marcus groaned, biting back a scream. "Take that, you ugly piece of shit!"

The beast recovered quickly, landing on its feet with deadly grace. Its wings flared, and its gaze locked onto Marcus with newfound fury.

Eleanor and Sophia rushed to Liam’s side, hauling him to his feet. His arms were covered in blood, but he waved them off. "I’m fine," he muttered, even though his vision blurred slightly. "We need to end this."

Jason adjusted his glasses, his brain working frantically. "Liam, I think we need to target its wings. If we can ground it, it’ll be a lot easier to take down."

Liam nodded, wiping the blood from his forehead. "Sophia, can you still shoot?"

She took a deep breath and steadied herself. "Three arrows left. I’ll make them count."

The beast screeched again and launched itself at them. This time, they were ready.

"Now!" Liam shouted.

Sophia loosed an arrow, aiming directly for the joint where the beast’s wing connected to its body. The arrow struck true, sinking deep into the flesh. The creature let out a piercing shriek, its flight faltering for a moment.

Jason took the opportunity and swung his axe at the other wing. The blade connected, cutting through a few iron-like feathers but not doing enough damage. The beast retaliated instantly, ramming Jason with its massive body and sending him tumbling across the dirt.

"We need more force!" Eleanor shouted, gripping her daggers tightly.

Liam clenched his sword, his muscles screaming in protest. "Then let’s give it all we got."

The beast spread its wings, trying to take off, but Marcus, despite his injury, lunged forward and tackled it, wrapping his arms around its thick neck in a desperate attempt to hold it down. The creature thrashed violently, throwing him off, but the distraction was enough.

Liam rushed in, his sword raised high. "Sophia, last arrow! Now!"

With one final deep breath, Sophia aimed at the beast’s head and let the arrow fly.

It struck directly between its glowing red eyes.

The beast let out a final, agonized screech, its body convulsing as its wings faltered. Liam didn’t waste a second—he drove his sword deep into its exposed chest, twisting the blade with all his strength.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then, the beast collapsed, its body hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

The group stood there, panting heavily, bloodied and exhausted. The battle was finally over.

Marcus, still lying on the ground, let out a weak chuckle. "Holy shit... We actually did it."

Eleanor rolled her eyes and helped him sit up. "Barely."

The farmer and his daughters, who had been watching in stunned silence, rushed forward. The old man looked at them with a mix of shock and admiration. "I take back what I said... You kids are something else."

Liam let out a deep breath and wiped his blade clean. "We did our job.

The group stood amidst the aftermath of the battle, catching their breath as the last remnants of the fierce fight settled. Their bodies ached, their clothes were torn, and the scent of blood—both theirs and the beasts’—lingered heavily in the air. Yet, despite their exhaustion, they knew they had to gather the spoils of their hard-fought victory.

Liam wiped the sweat and blood from his forehead, his fingers brushing over the fresh wounds on his arms. "Alright, let’s gather the crystals before we collapse," he said, trying to steady his breath.

Jason, still a bit sore from being slammed into the fence earlier, pushed up his glasses and let out a small groan. "Great. More manual labor. As if fighting for our lives wasn’t enough."

Marcus, despite his bruised leg, grunted as he bent down and pried a crystal from the remains of a beast. "Quit whining, nerd. This is the best part. Looting the fallen like true warriors."

Sophia rolled her eyes as she retrieved a crystal of her own. "You mean like grave robbers? Real classy, Marcus."

Eleanor, ever the pragmatist, ignored their banter and focused on efficiently extracting the crystals. She turned one over in her hand, observing its dull black color. "These are basic beast crystals. Not worth much, but still valuable in bulk."

One by one, they collected the spoils, placing them in a small cloth bag Jason had found in the farmer’s shed. When they finally finished counting, they had amassed a total of 27 basic beast crystals, their black glow barely flickering. Alongside those, they had gathered 53 intermediate beast crystals, radiating a faint blue hue. But the real prize lay in Liam’s hand—the single advanced beast crystal, harvested from the leader. Unlike the others, this one pulsed with an eerie, vibrant energy, as if it still held a fragment of the monster’s rage.

Liam held it up, watching the shifting light within. "This one’s different. Stronger."

"No kidding," Jason muttered, stretching his sore arms. "We nearly got ourselves killed getting it."

Marcus, still favoring his injured leg, snorted. "At least it better be worth something. If I don’t get paid after all that, I swear—"

"You’ll what? Complain louder?" Sophia cut in with a smirk. "Because that’s all you ever do."

Marcus glared at her, but before he could retort, the farmer cleared his throat from the entrance of the house. He had been watching them from a distance, his weathered face carrying an expression of reluctant respect.

"Y’all did good," he said, his gruff voice cutting through the air. "Didn’t think you kids had it in you."

Liam dusted off his hands. "We keep proving people wrong."

The old man gave a small grunt of amusement before jerking his thumb toward the house. "Come inside. Get yourselves cleaned up before you drop dead in my yard. My daughters will help."

At his words, the twins, Nadia and Celeste, rushed past him, carrying buckets of water and clean cloths. They both wore eager smiles, clearly impressed by the group’s performance. Celeste, the more outspoken of the two, nudged her sister. "Told you they’d win."

Nadia nodded shyly, her eyes lingering on Liam. "They were amazing."

Sophia crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes slightly at the two girls as they hovered a little too close to Liam. Meanwhile, Marcus, still limping, wiggled his eyebrows at Celeste. "So, do we get a hero’s welcome? Maybe a—"

Eleanor elbowed him hard in the ribs, making him cough. "Don’t push your luck."

Marcus groaned.