Boundless Evolution: The Summoning Beast

Then faint glow of the runes along the wall thickened into threads of green and violet, spreading outward like a web of light spun across the resin. Each line twitched and pulsed, arcs sparking between them as though the tunnel itself had been caught in a spasm of power.

The sigils wove together into an intricate lattice, the glow crawling farther and farther until the walls looked alive, veins of light throbbing in anticipation of release.

And just as everyone was expecting the explosion...

There was silence...

The retreating party slowed, breaths harsh, their eyes snapping to Kalrek in confusion.

"Did you even activate it?" Veyra hissed, loosing an arrow at the beetles that were rapidly closing the gap.

"They're gaining!" Tholn barked, blades flashing as he cut one down, "If this was your grand plan, Kalrek, it's failing."

Kalrek stayed on Riven's back, jaw tight, his grin faltering but not gone.

He forced composure into his voice, "It's working. Just… wait for it."

At the tunnel's entrance behind them, the runes earlier began to flare brighter than before. Threads of green and violet light spread into a spider‑web lattice across the resin, pulsing faster and faster before erupting outward.

KRAKOOM! BOOM!

One after another, sections of the glowing web burst apart in violent succession, each explosion hurling fire, resin, and stone into the swarm.

Beetles were torn apart mid‑charge, their armored shells splintered, legs flung across the corridor. The shockwaves slammed the swarm back in waves, crushing them against the walls. The tunnel ceiling shuddered with every blast, resin fissuring as dust rained down.

RUMBLE! CRACK! CRACK! KRAKOOM!

The wall itself could not take the damage, its supports splintering as cracks widened and the structure gave way under the relentless blasts, grabbing down the ceiling with it.

Sections of wall buckled and sagged, whole slabs collapsing to bury screeching beetles beneath rubble. The detonations spread like wildfire through the lattice, each eruption both annihilating the pursuers and tearing the very tunnel apart around them.

The explosions continued from there and began to detonated deeper in the tunnel, each thunderous blast ripping through the passageway in a chain. The shockwaves chased outward, racing toward where the party was, rattling the very ground beneath their boots and echoing up through the stone.

Back at the scene of their retreat, the beetles surged closer, mandibles clashing as the party's formation buckled under the pressure.

Kalrek's mask cracked.

He suddenly shouted, "Okay, run! Now!"

Ash and all of his clones whirled in unison, the sudden dread propelling them into motion. Their paws and feet pounded the stone as they broke into a frantic sprint, ears pressed back, eyes darting between the swarm and the rune-lit corridor that had yet to do anything.

Each clone mirrored his panic and urgency, a blurred host of Ash racing beside him as though the air itself had multiplied his desperation.

The others rounded on Kalrek, fury flaring as they watched the incoming swarm of beetles.

Tholn's voice yelled out in rage, his daggers still dripping resin, "If this is another one of your jokes, Kalrek, it's not funny!"

Even before his words could echo, a low, distant rumble began to build at the far entrance of the tunnel.

At first it was like the growl of thunder muffled by earth, rolling softly beneath their feet. Then it deepened, swelling into a tremor that shook the walls, dust spilling from the ceiling seams.

The faint rumble rose to a deafening crescendo—an ominous drumbeat racing closer.

BOOOOM!

A sudden explosion roared from the tunnel's mouth at their backs. The shockwave rolled down the corridor, and all of them froze mid‑action, blinking in disbelief as the light flared from the runes they had passed.

The runes at the end of the tunnel that they could see began to flared brighter all at once, green and violet veins crawling outward like fire through glass as the aether in them prepared to explode.

The first detonation ripped the swarm apart, hurling beetles into the walls, their shrieks cut short in fire and force. The chain reaction followed, each cluster bursting in turn.

Their retreat carried them only a heartbeat farther as the entrance behind them finally erupted, light searing through the web of runes in a blinding cascade as the roar of the explosion seemed to now begin from right behind them, the tunnel's mouth vomiting fire and force that promised no pause to the devastation.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kalrek let out a ragged laugh, his face split by wild relief.

For a moment, triumph lit his eyes as he pumped a fist in the air, shouting over the roar, his tone clearly focusing on Tholn, "I told you it would work!"

His bravado rang hollow though, the tremor in his voice betraying both exhilaration and the edge of fear at the sheer destruction unleashed.

"My apologies," Tholn admitted, his tone rough but genuine before his violet eyes narrowed, cutting through the chaos as the group slowed down, "But tell me this—why did it take so long to activate? We almost died waiting for your miracle."

Kalrek barked a laugh between gasps of relief, waving his hands dismissively, "It's cause I planned it this way—if the explosion starts from the end, any beetles that managed to survive would get cooked in the second round as we come and sweep in. Brilliant, right?"

Tholn opened his mouth to reply, but before he could speak the ground convulsed with a bone‑rattling lurch, hurling everyone off balance. The tremor thundered through the collapsing tunnel like the bellow of a waking titan. Fissures began to snake across the floor in jagged lines, dust spurting upward with every widening crack.

The ceiling split with explosive cracks, resin snapping like brittle glass as shards rained down in deadly curtains. Some fractures in the ceiling even crawled downward to meet the new cracks below, threatening to tear the tunnel in half. Chunks of stone and hardened resin crashed to the ground, smashing beetles into pulp as the swarm screeched in panic. The walls bowed inward under the violence, their groans drowned by the roar of detonations ripping through the web of runes.

Ash glanced downwards as cracks spider‑webbed wider with every quake, eventually reaching them. His ears flicked back, and he turned his gaze over towards Kalrek.

With a foreboding feeling in his guts, he said, "Tell me this was in your plan too—the ground splitting apart under us!"

Kalrek's grin twitched, his eyes darting to the cracks before flicking away. He forced a laugh, thin and unconvincing, "Uh... Of course it was… well, probably. Let's just call it an unplanned bonus feature, eh?"

Just then, the ground split wider beneath them with a violent crack, whole slabs shifting and groaning as the tunnel itself began to lose stability. The ceiling sagged dangerously, resinous beams snapping like dry twigs.

A thunderous roar echoed through the passage as sections of floor collapsed into unseen depths, the entire tunnel beginning to cave in around them.

Ash and his clones didn't wait— Kalrek's reaction had just reaffirmed their thoughts.

Instinct drove them all forward at once, a flurry of pounding paws and blurred bodies as they hurled themselves deeper into the tunnel. Every clone moved as if pulled by the same string, matching Ash's desperate pace, their breaths ragged in the dust‑choked air.

Veyra clung to Ash's back, her bow hugged tight against her chest.

Two of Ash's clones each carried Tholn and Yvren, their forms staggering but unyielding under the added weight as they bounded across collapsing stone. Riven, with Kalrek on his back, rushed forward with grim determination as debris crashed down around them.

Together they formed a frantic, stumbling convoy, ducking falling resin, vaulting cracks, and weaving around collapsing stone as the ground disintegrated beneath their heels.

Heat and smoke pressed against their backs, urging them to run faster, to survive one heartbeat longer.

Tholn shot a murderous glare at Kalrek as they ran. His voice carried over the chaos, raw with fury, "This is your brilliant plan? To bury us alive with your runes?"

Kalrek sputtered, panic breaking through his usual bravado.

"I—I didn't think the structural integrity of this damn place to be so freaking weak!" he cried, ducking as a chunk of resin nearly crushed him, "Just keep running! We can't let ourselves get caught in the rubble or we'll be as good as dead."

The explosions had become a savage double‑edged sword—obliterating the swarm with merciless fury, but reducing the tunnel itself to a collapsing deathtrap around them, floor and ceiling alike betraying signs of imminent collapse.

Ash's breath tore in his throat as the party pounded forward, dust choking every gasp of air. The ground split wider in places, his paws hammering against stone that cracked beneath him even as he leapt.

Veyra clung to his back, her arms tight around his shoulders, her bow digging into his side as she held on through every jolt.

Then, without warning, a guttural screech ripped out from behind.

From the rubble, a beetle—half‑crushed but not slain—dragged itself free and lunged.

'Shit!' Ash cursed as he found himself unable to dodge in time.