The 'Extra' Lord (Unlimited Plunder) - Chapter 81

“Hi Elian, it’s nice to meet you,” Owen said, letting go of the man’s hand.

“You must be a Lineage given those fancy Fragments,” Justin said over Owen’s shoulder. “Strange. I’ve never heard of you.”

So he’s a human from Justin’s Earth? Or rather, the novel’s Earth…

Elian chuckled. “I’m just from a recent Lineage family. I would be surprised if you knew me. But you should know my father? Aaron Ash. He’s a great explorer.”

“I know of him,” Justin simply said, losing his curiosity. He continued, “Let's go. Introductions can wait till later. We have monsters to evade, and a tsunami to beat.”

Justin led the classmates out of the tunnel, and sped up toward another. It was the passageway Justin had found before. 

Owen was in the middle with Pyris, Cruz, Natalia, and Shivam. Justin was in front, in charge of scouting. Together with Owen, was Elian, and another young man. The others called him Louis. He had short dark brown hair. He seemed innocent. He held a wound on his shoulder and tried to hide himself from wincing in pain.

The others were more experienced, however. Maybe because of Owen’s lack of outward seriousness, the other survivors didn’t pay him much heed.

“Are you friends with him?” Louis asked as he jogged beside Owen. He looked at Justin.

“Yeah,” Owen replied truthfully.

“You need to be careful with him,” he said. “I heard that he befriended a Waker a couple years ago. When he was bored of him, Justin threw him to the curb. He’s not someone you can trust.”

Owen remained silent. He knew Justin didn’t have the best personality. You just had to get on his good side and stay there. However, it was interesting to hear more about the Lineages from people of the novel’s Earth. Waker’s were what the people of that Earth called the Unawakened. Those who were currently going through schooling to learn how to survive in the Land Between.

“We’re here–” Justin’s eyes bulged and suddenly leapt on the ground, rolling.

Owen, thanks to his incredible reflexes, noticed it the moment Justin did. He collapsed to the ground, and the moment he did, something tore passed where his head used to be. It smashed into Louis’ shoulder, throwing him, and impaling him against the wall.

He screamed. It curdled Owen’s blood at the sound. 

“Inside, now!” Justin shouted. 

The other survivors left the man in an instant, scrambling into the passageway. All but Owen and his team, and Elian. Elian was the first to rush to Louis. He grabbed his body, relieving the pressure. He turned and said in panic, “Please, help!”

Owen glanced to the side. Monsters of strange shapes filtered out from their dark holes. Their backs were hunched, arms twisted and elongated. One of them emerged from the darkness. Four slitted eyes gazed at the humans. It wore rough hemp clothing. The same that was used to store the crackers Owen had consumed at the ruins. A huge arrow, or bolt, was attached to its arm like it was a naturally formed crossbow. It was responsible for firing the arrow. 

Owen’s eyes widened, but a clumped mass of pitch black spears shot up from the earth. The arrow smashed into the spears, snapping them before stopping. More emerged, aiming their arrows at them.

“Leave him!” Justin shouted. “Screw this!”

From the power of the monster’s arrow’s, Owen understood they were even stronger than the scarlet crabs, despite their lesser size. With the amount of them filtering out the walls, glaring down at them, death was imminent. Yet Owen didn’t hesitate. 

Casting a sand cloud as big as he could, he covered his side of the wall completely. At the same time, he bolted to Louis, legs taking him as fast as he could go. Owen grimly noticed that the bolt had gone through Louis’ shoulder, straight through the rock. 

Owen took a breath, and Plundered both the rock, and the bolt. Louis watched in both amazement and pain as the ammunition sticking through him vanished before his very eyes. 

They retreated into the tunnel. Nothing was following them. They ran for a while before stopping. Louis’ screams were getting louder. More panicked. He had lost an arm. Blood sprayed as his face turned paler by the second.

Justin walked up to him and punched him straight in the face. Knocking him out. 

“What did you do that for?” A young man approached Louis. His name was Frank. He was a big man, gruff, with a full beard. Considering everyone here was just over eighteen, it was a great feat. Fire flickered in his hands, he pressed it against the severed arm.

Louis shot awake, screaming. It only lasted a few seconds before he fully lost consciousness because of the pain. It appeared he wasn’t used to feeling a wound like that. These people must have hid for all of this time.

“All that screaming was hurting my ears,” Justin said. “Ah, he’ll be fine.”

“He lost an arm, Justin, he won’t be fine,” Frank said with a frown. “Not in this place. Not when he has to fight for his own survival.”

“That’s cheap coming from someone who abandoned him so easily,” Justin snapped back. “If I recall, it was only me, Owen, and Elian that stopped to help your friend. And what do you mean he lost an arm. It’s only a flesh wound.”

A flesh wound? Owen thought, glancing at Louis’s arm. A massive hole had ruined his shoulder, effectively making his arm useless.

“Guys, enough,” Owen said, the sound of flesh tearing was still fresh in his mind. “What’s done is done. We don’t have time for pointless squabble. We need to survive.”

The situation calmed down after that. Owen gave Pyris a nod before storing her in his soul, and then in one motion, brought out Tess. Like a statue, she just stood there as an emotionless husk. Owen’s heart pranged, but he swiftly got over the sickening sensation of having just summoned a human corpse.

He ordered Tess to heal Louis, and she listened devotedly. Golden light shimmered from her hands, and in an instant, she healed Louis’s savage wound. The other survivors, and even Cruz and his team looked over in shock. Owen knew what they were thinking. Owen not only had one humanoid Spectre, but a second.

“What the hell,” Frank said, glancing over. “That woman was a Spectre? What rank is she?”

Owen ignored the question as Louis finally came too.

“What… what happened?” Louis gazed at where the wound was located, but now, there wasn’t even a scar. Tess’s healing ability was no joke. Tears formed at the corner of his eyes. 

“You almost lost your arm mate,” Justin said. “If you want to live, we need to move before the desert swallows us whole. Good to move?”

Owen shot Justin a helpless glare, but Louis simply nodded. He grit his teeth, then stood up.

“I can move,” he said, feeling his arm, moving it this way and that.

“Great,” Justin said. “Follow me closely. There’s a reason none of those beasts use this passageway. Let’s find out why.” 

Justin walked and everyone followed his words. They stayed close-by. His words rang true. Why did those powerful monsters avoid this place? Owen was afraid to find out. 

After ten minutes of walking, the passageway opened up considerably. From tunnels, to a spacious room. Owen flinched. On the ceiling was a huge face. It was carved into the mountain. The walls and floor trembled.

Its eyes opened.