The tunnel shook.
The massive eyeless monster sprinted on all four limbs.
Its heavy claws tore chunks of concrete out of the floor.
It covered fifty yards in three seconds.
“Move.” Quinn shoved Emma backward.
Noah raised his sleek black handgun.
He didn’t hesitate.
He emptied the entire magazine.
“Bang!.
Bang!.
Bang!.”
Sparks flew.
The bullets hit the Blood-Hound’s sickly gray skin and completely flattened.
The monster’s thick black scales acted like Kevlar armor.
It didn’t even slow down.
The beast lunged through the damp air.
Its massive jaw unhinged.
Three rows of jagged translucent teeth snapped directly at Noah’s face.
Quinn activated Crimson Step.
The world went pitch black.
The freezing vacuum ripped her forward.
“Whoosh.”
She teleported perfectly into the air directly above the monster.
Gravity took over.
She dropped like a stone.
She drove both of her black sneakers violently into the back of the monster’s neck.
“Smack!.”
The impact sounded like a car crash.
The monster slammed face-first into the rusty steel train tracks.
But it was Level 20.
It didn’t stay down.
The Blood-Hound whipped its massive head backward.
Its thick skull smashed into Quinn’s ribs before she could jump away.
Quinn flew across the tunnel.
She crashed hard into the damp concrete wall.
The wind was completely knocked out of her lungs.
[HP: 110/500]
[Warning.
Level gap is too high.
Direct strikes are ineffective.]
The monster ignored Noah.
It smelled the raw Trailblazer energy radiating off Quinn.
It wanted the Prime Core.
It shrieked and charged at the wall where she landed.
Quinn gasped for air.
She rolled sideways across the wet floor.
The beast slammed headfirst into the concrete wall.
The entire tunnel trembled.
Brick and dust rained down on them.
“Quinn.” Emma yelled.
The medic pulled a thick glass bottle from her medical bag.
It was filled with a bubbling blue chemical.
“Cover your eyes.”
Emma threw the bottle as hard as she could.
It shattered against the monster’s thick scaly shoulder.
Thick white smoke exploded from the broken glass.
It smelled like burning sulfur and acid.
The chemical burned the monster’s pale skin.
The beast shrieked in absolute agony.
It thrashed wildly and swiped its massive claws through the smoke.
One of the heavy claws clipped Emma’s shoulder.
Emma cried out.
She was thrown backward and hit the wet concrete.
Her medical bag spilled everywhere.
“Emma.” Noah dropped his empty gun.
He ran to the medic and dragged her away from the thrashing monster.
Quinn pushed herself up.
Her eyes glowed with furious blue light.
Nobody touched her medic.
She looked at the monster.
She couldn’t punch through its armor.
She needed a weapon.
She looked down at the old rusted train tracks.
The heavy steel rails were bolted to the floor.
A massive jagged piece of steel was sticking up from the ground where the monster had torn up the concrete.
Quinn grabbed the jagged steel rail with both hands.
She planted her feet.
Her muscles tightened like steel cables.
She pulled upward with a brutal agonizing scream.
“Snap!.”
The rusty steel rail broke free from the rotting wooden ties.
It was six feet long.
The end was jagged and razor-sharp like a massive metal spear.
It weighed at least a hundred pounds.
Quinn held it like it weighed nothing.
The white smoke cleared.
The Blood-Hound sniffed the air.
Its blind head snapped toward Quinn.
It roared and charged again.
Quinn didn’t run.
She stood her ground right in the center of the tracks.
She waited until the massive beast was exactly five feet away.
Its jaws opened wide to bite her completely in half.
Quinn dropped to her knees.
She slid forward on the wet slick concrete.
She slid directly under the monster’s massive leaping body.
She aimed the heavy jagged steel rail straight up.
The monster’s soft pale underbelly exposed itself.
It didn’t have thick black scales on its stomach.
Quinn drove the heavy steel spear directly up into the beast’s stomach.
The momentum of the leaping monster did the rest of the work.
The creature impaled itself.
The jagged steel ripped through its internal organs and punched cleanly out the back of its spine.
Dark black blood rained down on Quinn.
The monster shrieked in terrible gurgling pain.
It collapsed onto the floor pinning the steel rail beneath it.
But it was still alive.
Its claws dug into the concrete trying to reach her.
Quinn didn’t let go of the steel rail.
She channeled all of her raw crimson Trailblazer energy into her right hand.
The air around her fist vibrated with a deafening high-pitched whine.
“Die,” Quinn growled.
She slammed her glowing fist directly onto the bottom end of the steel rail.
[Skill Activated: Sonic Strike (Lv.
1)]
“BAM!.”
The sonic boom didn’t hit the monster’s armor.
It traveled directly up the solid steel rail and detonated completely inside the creature’s body.
The internal shockwave was devastating.
The beast’s chest cavity expanded violently and exploded outward.
Thick black blood and pale flesh splattered against the tunnel walls.
The monster went completely limp.
The glowing red bio-chip on its forehead flickered and died.
Absolute silence fell over the dark subway tunnel.
[System Alert: Dimensional Boss Defeated!]
[Level Gap Bonus Applied: EXP + 3000]
[Total EXP: 4500/2500]
[Ding!
You leveled up!]
[Level 12 Reached.
All Stats increased by 5!]
[Remaining EXP: 2000/3500]
[Current HP: 500/550]
Quinn let go of the bloody steel rail.
She stood up slowly.
Warm golden energy flooded her veins.
The cuts on her face healed instantly.
The bruised ribs snapped back into perfect alignment.
Level 12.
She wiped thick black monster blood off her cheek.
She turned around.
Emma was sitting on the wet floor holding her shoulder.
Her scrubs were torn but she wasn’t bleeding badly.
Noah knelt next to her.
He looked at the massive exploded monster.
He looked at Quinn.
“You just killed a dinosaur with a train track.” Noah whispered.
He was completely out of breath.
Quinn walked over to them.
She picked up Emma’s medical bag and handed it to her.
Emma took the bag.
She looked at the dead beast.
She actually smiled a crazy tough smile.
“I’ll live.
But remind me never to make you angry.”
Jax groaned loudly from the wall.
The unconscious assassin finally opened his good eye.
He looked at the dead Level 20 monster.
He looked at Quinn covered in black blood.
“I missed a really good fight didn’t I,” Jax croaked.
Quinn rolled her eyes.
She reached down and pulled Jax up to his feet.
She let him lean heavily against Noah.
“We need to keep moving.” Quinn looked down the dark tunnel.
“If my mother can drop monsters into the city we are not safe anywhere.”
Suddenly the dead Blood-Hound twitched.
Quinn spun around instantly.
She raised her fists.
The monster wasn’t moving.
The glowing red bio-chip embedded in its ruined skull suddenly flared back to life.
It didn’t glow red this time.
It glowed a bright blinding gold.
A beam of golden light shot out of the chip and projected a massive hologram directly into the damp air of the tunnel.
The hologram was a woman.
Maria Carter.
Her mother looked down at Quinn from the golden projection.
She wore her sleek black tactical suit.
She stood in front of a massive glowing blue portal.
A Dimensional Gate.
“Congratulations Quinn,” the hologram of Maria said smoothly.
Her voice echoed off the concrete walls.
“You killed a basic hunting hound.
You always were resourceful.
But you are running out of time.”
“Where are you.” Quinn demanded fiercely.
Maria smiled a cold calculated smile.
“I am at the Trailblazer Academy.
The World Board invited me to sit at their table.
They are very impressed by the Prime Core currently sitting inside your neck.
They want it back.”
The hologram flickered slightly.
“You think you can hide in the dark with your little friends.” Maria laughed.
“The game is global now.
I opened three more Rifts in the city above you.
If you don’t surrender yourself to the Academy by midnight the monsters will slaughter every innocent person in this city.
Including your sweet little friend Marcus Reed in his hospital bed.”
Quinn’s blood turned to pure ice.
Marcus.
“You are a monster,” Quinn whispered.
“I am an architect of the new world.” Maria’s eyes narrowed.
“Midnight Quinn.
Come to the Academy.
Or the city burns.”
The golden hologram vanished instantly.
The tunnel plunged back into darkness.
Only Emma’s flashlight cut through the gloom.
Quinn stood frozen.
The quiet dripping of water echoed loudly.
She couldn’t run to the harbor.
She couldn’t steal a boat and escape.
If she ran thousands of people would die.
Marcus would die in his hospital bed.
Noah stepped forward.
His ruined red suit was covered in grime.
He looked at Quinn.
“She is bluffing.” Noah said quickly.
“She just wants to trap you.
We have the money.
We can leave the country tonight.”
Quinn turned around.
Her eyes burned with a terrifying cold blue fire.
“We are not leaving.” Quinn said.
Her voice was completely dead.
“We are going to the Academy.”
Level 12 reached and a dinosaur defeated!
But Maria just raised the stakes to an impossible level.