Eater Blade: Grinding in Apocalypse
Chapter 35: BATTLE BUDDIES AT THE ANOMALY QUEST PART 3.
CHAPTER 35: BATTLE BUDDIES AT THE ANOMALY QUEST PART 3.
Johnquis felt the new power burning through him and through his chains. It was nothing like before. Back then, he’d been unranked, alone, trash. But now? Now the power of the Dance pulsed inside him, fused with the rush of Bronze rank.
He didn’t waste a heartbeat of his Hell’s Snare. He lunged at the nearest Eater, the chain snapped out, hooking tight around its throat.
SWWHIP—CRACK!
The head twisted clean off, rolling across the blood-slick tiles.
[Feed Count: +300]
[Feed Count: 21,800 / 70,000]
He swung the chain sideways, it cut into another’s neck, popping vertebrae like bubble wrap.
[Feed Count: +200]
[Feed Count: 22,000 / 70,000]
Another lunged, half-free, too slow. Johnquis spun, his heel crashing into its skull. Bone split like an egg.
[Feed Count: +200]
[Feed Count: 22,200 / 70,000]
The rest snarled, straining against the spectral chains. Johnquis’s grin widened. His feet slid across the slick food court tiles. Broken trays, spilled fries, and neon ketchup smears blending with Eater gore.
Above him, Dancer’s kills trickled down:
[Feed Count: +400]
[Feed Count: 22,600 / 70,000]
He ducked under a wild swipe, chain wrapping around an Eater’s midsection then he pulled. The thing folded, its spine snapping under the torque.
[Feed Count: +300]
[Feed Count: 22,900 / 70,000]
A shriek echoed from the upper mezzanine. Dancer landed beside him in a flash, her heel-blade carving through a pair of Eaters that had managed to drop down behind him.
[Feed Count: +400]
[Feed Count: 23,300 / 70,000]
Johnquis glanced at her, sweat and blood streaking down his jaw.
"You’re late!"
She tilted her head, that savage half-smile lighting her slit pupils. She just stepped aside, clearing his lane.
He barked a laugh. "Fine. My show then!"
The last Eaters snapped the spectral chains, lunging. Johnquis whipped the chain forward, the links snaked like living serpents, snaring limbs mid-strike.
SWWHIP—CRACK! CRACK!
Skulls split open under his feet as he pivoted and swung, each kill a burst of heat that flared through his veins.
[Feed Count: +300]
[Feed Count: +200]
[Feed Count: +300]
[Feed Count: 24,100 / 70,000]
Breathless, Johnquis straightened.
"Goddamn... my chains can tear through them now. This is the level up I needed — YEAH!"
He met Dancer’s eyes, she stood across the court, claws dripping, foot-blades gleaming under the flickering food stall lights. Her pale hair clung to her brow, that predator’s calm in her half-human smile.
He sucked in the taste of the kill, the warm rush of the Flow stitching torn muscle, refilling his lungs with burning life.
"Hey, Dancer..."
He flicked the chain behind his back, the links coiling.
"You’re not the only one who can dance now, huh?"
Her shoulders shook with a tiny sound— a breathless, rasping laugh. She tilted her body, heel-blade flashing, another Eater’s head dropped to the tiles.
[Feed Count: +200]
[Feed Count: 24,300 / 70,000]
Eaters still clawed at the edges of the food court, their hissed hunger rolling out under the neon burger signs. Johnquis cracked his neck, smirk feral.
"Still more? Good..."
His eyes flicked to Dancer, who crouched low, one heel-blade glinting under the dirty cafeteria lights.
"Ready when you are, battle buddy..."
They launched at the same time — chain and claw, human and monster, brother and sister in a dance of teeth and steel.
Dancer cut through the swarm like liquid death — her foot-blades flashed, claws slicing necks and spines, her whole body moving with that impossible, savage grace.
Johnquis laughed, drunk on the rush, whipping his chains out across the food court. The links coiled and snapped like hungry snakes, hooking into Eater flesh, ripping limbs apart. His chain was longer now, deadlier, moving as if it had a mind of its own.
The feed count surged too fast to follow. Every kill a hot pulse under his skin, every heartbeat a promise that he was done being weak.
[Feed Count: +1,700]
[Feed Count: 26,000/70,000]
He caught Dancer’s eye through the spray of blood. She was already gone, spinning into the next wave. He bared his teeth.
"Keep up with me, Dancer. I’m not staying Bronze forever."
A harsh ping cut across Johnquis’s vision, blinding white against the blood haze:
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
— Anomaly Special Effect Triggered —
[KILLING STREAK DETECTED]
— You will enter FEEDING FRENZY.
[FEEDING FRENZY: Feed Count doubled for 1 minute]
Johnquis eyes shined as a unfamiliar message suddenly flashout.
"Oh, hell yeah! You seeing this, Dancer? Double points! The system’s feeling generous now? Fine. Bring it on!"
Dancer paused mid-step, her claws buried to the knuckle in an Eater’s chest cavity. She tilted her head, as if amused by the message she couldn’t even see. Her foot-blade flicked, the corpse dropped like a rotten meat.
Johnquis felt the chain tighten around his forearm, links pulsing with his heartbeat. He licked blood from his teeth, violet eyes gleaming.
"ONE MINUTE?! You messed up now, freaks!"
[FEEDING FRENZY STARTS...NOW]
[00:59]
He barked a wild laugh. "COME ON! THE REAL FEAST STARTS NOW — FEEDING FRENZY!"
He ripped his chain free from an Eater’s shredded throat, dark violet blood spraying the broken tiles. Dancer flashed by in a blur of silver claws and whistling foot-blades, carving through necks and spines. Each kill burst like a violet fountain, misting the neon-lit court in hungry rain.
[Feed Count: +1,000]
[Feed Count: 27,000 / 70,000]
Johnquis lashed out, hooking the chain around a table leg. He pulled it sideways, knocking a knot of Eaters off their feet.
"Table for six? Coming right up!"
The Eaters slammed to the floor.cBefore they could even snarl, he swung the chain overhead.
SWWHIP—CRACK!
The weighted end smashed through two skulls in one swing. He reversed the arc, snapping the chain low.
SNAP!
It sliced through another neck clean. Blood sprayed the tiles. One tried to crawl up, he booted its head sideways, chain whipping back around.
WHIP!
The hook end punched straight through its eye socket.
Two left. They scrambled to stand, he turned around, chain lashing out like a blade.
SWWHIP—CRACK! CRACK!
Both heads split open before they could take a step.
[Feed Count: +1,200]
[Feed Count: 28,200 / 70,000]
He exhaled, chain dripping.
"Next course."
Dancer flickered behind him — the next line of Eaters turned just in time to see her heel-blade flash like moonlight. Their heads rolled in near silence across a spilled tray of fries and neon soda.
[Feed Count: +1,000]
[Feed Count: 29,200 / 70,000]
Johnquis kicked one corpse aside, eyes wild.
"Hey, Dancer! Bet you can’t top that swing!"
She tilted her head and promptly carved an entire line of Eaters down the cracked escalator like shearing wheat.
[Feed Count: +1,400]
[Feed Count: 30,600 / 70,000]
Johnquis burst out laughing.
"Cheater! You’re gonna eat my whole buffet!"
He hooked the chain behind him, testing his balance. His eyes locked on the next cluster of Eaters.
"Alright... let’s try it your way."
He pivoted, swinging the chain around his waist. His feet mirrored Dancer’s—steps light, strikes flowing.
An Eater lunged, he rotated sideways, chain snapping out like a blade, cracking its jaw open. Without stopping, he reversed the arc, hooking the chain around the next one’s neck.
YANK!
Head popped like a grape.
He kept moving, letting the chain dance in wide, cutting sweeps, backhand, spin, knee up, using his whole body to guide it. The chain sliced low across legs, then snapped high through ribs, carving paths just like Dancer’s foot-blades.
An Eater lunged behind him, he let the chain loop under his arm, spun his heel, and the hook end ripped through its spine mid-twist.
One more step. Another flick. Another kill.
He felt the rhythm, control and chaos wrapped tight around him. The chain obeyed.
[Feed Count: +2,000]
[Feed Count: 32,600 / 70,000]
He exhaled, eyes glinting in the neon haze.
"Yeah... this works."
Dancer bounded overhead, flipped over the half-shattered railing. Landed heel-first into the skull. The blade popped it like a melon. She turned, foot a blur, slicing two more.
[Feed Count: +600]
[Feed Count: 33,200 / 70,000]
The timer flared: [00:30]
"Half a minute left!"
Johnquis roared. His heart slammed against his ribs, flow burning.
[Skill Ready: Hell’s Snare— Blood Cost: 10%]
"Perfect timing!"
He hurled himself into the next wave. In the thick of the swarm, he slammed his chain into the ground.
[Skill: Hell’s Snare— Blood Cost: 10%]
Activating...
"HELL’S SNARE!"
A dark violet circle spread under the Eaters’ feet. Chains snaked up in a frenzy, snapping around legs, wrists, claws, anything to bind them down.
"Let’s dance!"
Johnquis crashed through them like a beast, spinning, whipping, slamming his chain through skulls and spines. The snared Eaters shrieked, helpless as they were ripped apart.
[Feed Count: +2,400]
[Feed Count: 35,600 / 70,000]
"YEAAAAHHH!!!"
A fresh snarl. Dancer twirled through a pile of crawlers trying to flank him, her claws flaring. She left four twitching husks sprawled over a cracked arcade cabinet.
[Feed Count: +800]
[Feed Count: 36,400 / 70,000]
Johnquis wiped blood off his brow with the back of his fist, laughing between ragged breaths.
"I’m gonna need a damn mop for you when we’re done, Dancer—!"
[00:15]