Chương 61: Maximum Pump No Evade

Meno put both daggers away and drew the last battered axe that still counted as a weapon. The trap still needed one rude opening swing before the real fight began. do not miss axe ceiling tech this is so stupid"Stay back," Meno said. Bradbaron had already obeyed. He sat near the widened entry cut with both hands on his shovel. Chadculator stayed closer, arms folded and eyes narrowed toward the tunnel. Meno crawled forward. The dirt pressed close around his shoulders.

Crystal roots glowed in the packed wall, thin blue veins that hummed whenever lightning hit above. He reached the chamber under the Sleepwalker, rose into the cramped space. Above him, lightning snapped. Meno lifted the axe.

"One." The first hit bit into dirt and crystal overhead with a hard crack that punched feedback through his hands.

"Two." The ceiling shed dust into his face, then a chip of violet crystal dropped near his boot.

"Three." The tunnel answered with a low ring. Meno kept his stance narrow, careful not to clip the wall and waste what little room he had. The fourth hit cracked something thicker. The fifth spilled dirt over his shoulders. The sixth sent a pale line racing across the ceiling. break it Sleepwalker basement surprise ceiling HP low"Seven." The axe struck, and the ceiling started to crumble.

Meno dismissed the axe before the hole fully opened and equipped the Deepwater Dagger in his right hand and the Earthen Edge dagger in his left, fast enough that the combat state never got a chance to punish him with the weapon-swap speed debuff. The ceiling broke. The Sleepwalker did not fall. It drifted down through dirt and shattered crystal like a body lowered by invisible strings, pale cloak hanging still while blue-white lightning followed it into the chamber.

The first bolt struck the exposed crystal overhead, jumped to another shard, then died in the dirt instead of spreading into a full web of light. The hole worked. IT WORKS not falling lol floating cheater stab it now Meno hit the Sleepwalker the instant the Rune Dagger could reach. [Compound Swing | Chain: 2 | Damage: +20%] The feedback came through the blade, real and valid.

He could have burned Break Surplus right there by forcing a chain break and taking the free ten, but the thought died before it became temptation. One saved mistake mattered more than ten early stacks. Panic Pump was off the table until the end. The Sleepwalker lifted its hooded head. [Conductive Wound: Lightning damage taken increased by 20%.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked]"Good glove," Meno said, and kept stabbing. Right. Left. Right. Left. He tucked his elbows and made the movement small.

The daggers stopped being weapons with style and became sharp pistons, punching into the cloaked body again and again while the timer ticked at the edge of his vision. The Sleepwalker blurred whenever lightning flashed near its hood, but the hit feedback stayed true. [Compound Swing | Chain: 18 | Damage: +180%] [Compound Swing | Chain: 36 | Damage: +360%] [Compound Swing | Chain: 54 | Damage: +540%] faster FASTER stabbing arc chain climb timer timer Bolts still found him.

One struck his chest and cracked across the plate, reduced by Earthen Guard and Defense before sinking through his nerves. Another hit the dirt beside his foot and sprayed bright grit across his shin. The hole had cut down the arcing, but it had not made the storm safe. Meno kept stabbing. A bolt snapped into his face. For half a second, the haptics turned his nose and cheek into itching static so sharp he wanted to claw at his own skin. His right hand almost lifted.

He bit down, kept the dagger line moving, and watched his HP shift. Meno's HP ticked down to 98% before the fight had even properly started. The Sleepwalker cast again. [Debuff Applied: Nerve Jolt] Action speed reduced by 20%. His hands dragged immediately, each stab arriving late enough to feel wrong.

"Cleanse." [Nerve Jolt removed.] Meno slammed back into rhythm. [Compound Swing | Chain: 100 | Damage: +1000%] [Timer: 00: 08]"Too slow." eight seconds too slow? bro what Chad was right FASTER He pushed harder. The hole became lightning, dirt, cloak, daggers, timer. He stopped looking at the Sleepwalker's hood and focused on the space where his hands needed to land. The aura split the ground into false versions of itself, and every flash tried to steal his eyes. Faster.

[Conductive Wound: Lightning damage taken increased by 20%.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked]"Good," Meno snapped. The daggers blurred. [Compound Swing | Chain: 142 | Damage: +1420%] [Compound Swing | Chain: 180 | Damage: +1800%] The next cast slipped through. [Debuff Applied: Static Lock] Cooldowns do not recharge. Meno's stomach tightened. Static Lock meant Sleepless Grip stopped coming back. If he let it sit, the next debuff cycle could stack the wrong thing and bury him before he understood the mistake.

He activated Deepwater. [Static Lock removed.] Dual wielding meant forty total hits before the Rune Dagger reached twenty. When Deepwater cleared the debuff, the Curse Eater damage vanished with it. [Compound Swing | Chain: 200 | Damage: +2000%] [Timer: 00: 15]"Still behind." The Sleepwalker had barely moved, still sitting at 99%. Meno had already dropped to 94%. that hp bar uhhh ramp later keep going FASTER Meno knew the math. Early stacks lied. The first two hundred were the climb, not the kill.

Knowing that did not make the Sleepwalker's nearly full HP bar less annoying. He stabbed harder. His arms turned into motion before thought. Right, left, right, left, shoulders tight, elbows tucked, wrists snapping only as much as needed. Lightning flashed against his face again, filling his mouth with a coppery taste that the capsule had no right to simulate. [Conductive Wound: Lightning damage taken increased by 20%.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked] The next debuff landed.

[Debuff Applied: Arc Hunger] Healing received reduced by 100%.

"Keep that," Meno said. Curse Eater surged, pushing every hit 50% harder. The dagger hits thickened. The Sleepwalker's cloak jerked under each stab now, subtle but visible through the glare. Meno hit three hundred stacks with the timer already showing the cost of every blocked flash and every bad cleanse. [Compound Swing | Chain: 300 | Damage: +3000%] [Timer: 00: 24] Three seconds behind.

He could leave Arc Hunger for damage, but if Nerve Jolt landed next and Deepwater picked the wrong debuff, the run would slow at the worst time. Meno clenched his teeth and triggered the rune when it charged. [Arc Hunger removed.]"Fine." good call damage greed denied safe play? FASTER [Conductive Wound: Lightning damage taken increased by 20%.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked] Meno closed his eyes. The lightning kept flashing through his eyelids, but the false paths vanished.

He opened them only in tiny cuts to check debuffs and HP, trusting his hands to keep the rhythm. The daggers punched forward in a line so tight it stopped feeling like two weapons and started feeling like one engine.

"Faster," Meno said. The Sleepwalker cast before Deepwater was ready. [Debuff Applied: Nerve Jolt] Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Action speed reduced by 20%.

"No." His hands slowed anyway. The drag was physical. The right dagger came late. The left dagger followed late. Each late hit made the next Deepwater charge feel farther away. [Deepwater Rune Activated] [Nerve Jolt removed.] [Compound Swing | Chain: 400 | Damage: +4000%] [Timer: 00: 32] Meno's throat tore around the word.

"FASTER." Lightning cracked across his face again, and another aura tick shaved him down to 88%. The itch became maddening, crawling across his nose and cheek while his hands refused to stop. He wanted one scratch. One hand lift. One break in tempo. He gave the Sleepwalker another stab instead. [Debuff Applied: Grounded Charge] Movement abilities disabled while taking lightning damage. Meno laughed once, sharp and angry.

"That one's useless." Curse Eater activated again. A second later, the real danger arrived. [Debuff Applied: Conductive Wound] Lightning damage taken increased by 20%.

"Fifty-fifty," Meno said. Deepwater charged. He triggered it. [Conductive Wound removed.] [Grounded Charge remains.]"YES." RNG HIT THE RIGHT ONE grounded who cares keep stabbing FASTER [Compound Swing | Chain: 500 | Damage: +5000%] [Timer: 00: 39] Meno felt it in the hits. Five hundred stacks made each stab leave visible tears in the Sleepwalker's pale cloak.

The faceless hood twitched toward him, and the lightning in the hole tightened, striking the dirt walls, the plate over his chest, the crystal flecks in the ceiling. [Nerve Jolt: Action speed reduced by 20%.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked]"Good block." The Sleepwalker's HP finally slid to 93%, but Meno had already fallen to 83%. Still high. Too high. But the bar was moving now. The next cast came before he wanted it. [Debuff Applied: Static Lock] Cooldowns do not recharge.

"Bad." Deepwater was not ready, and Sleepless Grip was frozen mid-recharge. Meno kept attacking, but the thought of the next debuff landing dirty made his hands want to rush past clean movement. He forced the stabs small, tight, repeatable. [Deepwater Rune Activated] [Grounded Charge removed.] [Static Lock remains.] Meno's chest went cold. wrong one RIP static stays this is bad FASTER NOW"Shut up." He attacked faster. [Compound Swing | Chain: 600 | Damage: +6000%] [Timer: 00: 46]"FASTER."

The Rune Dagger charged again through pure spite and repeated motion. [Deepwater Rune Activated] [Static Lock removed.] The next debuff hit almost immediately. [Debuff Applied: Conductive Wound] Lightning damage taken increased by 20%. Another tick dragged Meno down to 78%, while the Sleepwalker's HP finally crossed to 90%. At least Curse Eater fed the damage. The hole flashed white-blue as another bolt struck the plate chest and ran down his left side.

Meno's left hand twitched, one stab almost turning into a scrape instead of a hit. He corrected before the chain window thinned. [Nerve Jolt: Action speed reduced by 20%.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked] He waited one extra second with Conductive Wound active, stealing the Curse Eater damage while his HP ticked lower. Then Deepwater charged. [Conductive Wound removed.] [Compound Swing | Chain: 700 | Damage: +7000%] [Timer: 00: 53] faster faster faster FASTER chain good hp okay?

not okay The next Conductive Wound landed clean. [Debuff Applied: Conductive Wound] Lightning damage taken increased by 20%. Meno watched his feet and arms, not the storm. A bolt struck him straight on the nose.

"Damn it!" His right hand jerked toward his face by instinct. The left dagger came up late. The hit missed by a finger-width. [Chain Break Prevented] [Break Surplus Activated] [Compound Swing | Chain: +10] Meno's heart slammed so hard the sound almost covered the lightning. saved BREAK SURPLUS RUN SAVED NO MISS holy"Keep going," he said to himself. The Sleepwalker cast again. [Debuff Applied: Arc Hunger] Healing received reduced by 100%. Deepwater charged. Meno needed Conductive Wound gone.

[Deepwater Rune Activated] [Arc Hunger removed.] [Conductive Wound remains.]"No." The lightning hit harder. [Compound Swing | Chain: 800 | Damage: +8000%] [Timer: 01: 00] Three seconds behind.

"FASTER. FASTER. FASTER." His arms became a blur that no longer felt attached to normal decisions. The right hand drove in, the left followed, the right returned, the left returned, each movement stripped down until there was no style left to waste. The Sleepwalker flickered inside the hole like a pale smear trapped in a storm drain. [Static Lock: Cooldowns do not recharge.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked]"Good." Then the next Conductive Wound stacked.

[Conductive Wound] Stack Count: 2 Lightning damage taken increased by 40%. Meno's HP started dropping in chunks. Deepwater charged. [Conductive Wound removed.] Both stacks vanished. [Compound Swing | Chain: 900 | Damage: +9000%] [Timer: 01: 07] The Sleepwalker's HP slid to 77%, but Meno's had been carved down to 62%. The fight changed. The first nine hundred stacks had been climbing a wall with knives. Now every hundred stacks cut meat from the bar.

The Sleepwalker's HP moved with each burst of stabs, not enough to feel safe, but enough to make the kill visible. Chat felt it too. HP MOVED NOW NOW IT STARTS FASTER FASTER FASTER The next debuff landed before anything was ready. [Debuff Applied: Nerve Jolt] Action speed reduced by 20%. Meno snarled. The speed loss hit harder now because every slowed hit cost damage, rune charge, and pace. His arms dragged through the debuff while lightning hammered the walls around him.

The timer kept counting, indifferent and cruel. [Conductive Wound: Lightning damage taken increased by 20%.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked]"Good block," Meno said through his teeth. Deepwater charged. [Deepwater Rune Activated] [Nerve Jolt removed.] [Compound Swing | Chain: 1000 | Damage: +10000%] [Timer: 01: 19] Nine seconds behind.

"STUPID RNG NONSENSE." The Sleepwalker fell to 72% HP, while Meno clung to 54%. FASTER FASTER FASTER rage buff don't stop DON'T STOP [Debuff Applied: Arc Hunger] Healing received reduced by 100%. Lucky. He left it on. He had no healing anyway, and Curse Eater turned the useless debuff into damage. The daggers punched harder, tearing brighter lines through the cloak while the Sleepwalker's hood tilted down at him with no face inside. Then another cast slipped in before Sleepless Grip returned.

[Debuff Applied: Conductive Wound] Lightning damage taken increased by 20%. Meno waited for Deepwater, then rolled the dice. [Arc Hunger removed.] [Conductive Wound remains.]"NOT THAT ONE." Lightning started eating through the reduction. His face stung in scattered points now, every bolt leaving an itch that stacked with the last until it felt like angry insects under the skin. He kept his hands moving because the alternative was lifting one hand and losing everything. The timer hit the next mark.

[Compound Swing | Chain: 1100 | Damage: +11000%] [Timer: 01: 26] The Sleepwalker hit 66% HP, and Meno slipped below half at 49%. The slope was turning. Eight percent gone in the last window. Meno saw it, and the sight pulled a raw sound out of him.

"Faster." [Nerve Jolt: Action speed reduced by 20%.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked] Excellent. Deepwater charged. [Deepwater Rune Activated] [Conductive Wound removed.] [Debuff Applied: Grounded Charge] Movement abilities disabled while taking lightning damage.

"I'm not moving." Curse Eater came back. [Compound Swing | Chain: 1200 | Damage: +12000%] [Timer: 01: 32] The Sleepwalker hit 60% HP, but Meno was already bleeding out at 42%. The Sleepwalker's HP began dropping in chunks large enough for chat to count. 60 KILLABLE BURN pump FASTER [Debuff Applied: Conductive Wound] Lightning damage taken increased by 20%.

"Won't stop me." [Nerve Jolt: Action speed reduced by 20%.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked] Perfect. Deepwater charged, and Meno hit it. [Grounded Charge removed.] [Conductive Wound remains.]"Bad purge." The lightning dug into his HP harder. He could survive one stack. Maybe. He did not check chat, did not breathe in a way that mattered. [Compound Swing | Chain: 1300 | Damage: +13000%] [Timer: 01: 39] The Sleepwalker slid to 53% HP, while Meno crashed down to 34%. The two bars were finally racing.

Meno was standing inside the hazard, being cooked by the field. The Sleepwalker had no face, no weapon, no footwork, only debuffs and lightning and the refusal to die quickly. The daggers answered with thirteen thousand percent bonus damage and rising.

"FASTER." [Debuff Applied: Static Lock] Cooldowns do not recharge.

"No." Static Lock had to go. Sleepless Grip froze. The next cast came before Deepwater finished charging. [Conductive Wound] Stack Count: 2 Lightning damage taken increased by 40%. The next bolt hit his shoulder, ripped a grunt out of him, and dragged his HP down to 29%. Deepwater charged. [Static Lock removed.] [Conductive Wound remains.] Good enough and not good enough. [Compound Swing | Chain: 1400 | Damage: +14000%] [Timer: 01: 46] The Sleepwalker hit 45% HP, but Meno was running out of room for mistakes.

Viewers: 103, 522 six figures DO NOT DIE FASTER FASTER FASTER this is insane Meno could no longer feel his arms clearly. They moved because the rhythm existed, not because he ordered each stab. His body blurred in the lightning prison, plate chest flashing under strikes, daggers hammering the cloaked figure while dirt shook loose from the tunnel ceiling. The whole hole rang with metal, thunder, breath, and Chadculator shouting something he could not process.

[Conductive Wound] Stack Count: 3 Lightning damage taken increased by 60%. Meno's HP dropped hard. He waited for Deepwater like a man waiting for air. [Deepwater Rune Activated] [Conductive Wound removed.] [Nerve Jolt: Action speed reduced by 20%.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked]"That block saved it," Meno gasped. [Debuff Applied: Arc Hunger] Healing received reduced by 100%. Good. Harmless. Damage.

[Compound Swing | Chain: 1500 | Damage: +15000%] [Timer: 01: 53] The Sleepwalker's HP fell to 36% HP, but Meno's plunged to 14%, low enough that every flash felt final. Chat stopped being words for a moment and became one demand. FASTER FASTER FASTER FASTER FASTER FASTER FASTER FASTER FASTER FASTER Meno did not have room for fear now. The next debuff was Grounded Charge, and he let it sit. The one after that landed before Sleepless Grip recovered. [Debuff Applied: Static Lock] Cooldowns do not recharge. Bad.

Grounded Charge and Arc Hunger were already on him. Deepwater had a one-in-three chance to hit the right debuff. Every second of waiting for charge shaved HP away while the Sleepwalker's health finally bled in proper cuts. Viewers: 124, 200 Deepwater charged. Meno activated it. [Deepwater Rune Activated] [Static Lock removed.] RNG KING HE HIT IT STATIC GONE GO GO GO FASTER Grounded Charge remained. Arc Hunger remained. Curse Eater stayed active.

[Compound Swing | Chain: 1600 | Damage: +16000%] [Timer: 02: 00] The Sleepwalker hit 24% HP, but Meno was down to 9%, barely alive inside the lightning. Final burn. Meno's voice broke.

"FASTER. FASTER. CAN'T STOP. WON'T STOP." [Conductive Wound: Lightning damage taken increased by 20%.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked] Huge. The next debuff landed. [Debuff Applied: Nerve Jolt] Action speed reduced by 20%. The world slowed at the worst possible second. Meno's arms dragged through syrup while his HP sat in single digits and the Sleepwalker's bar finally looked mortal. Each delayed stab felt like a stolen kill. Each missing fraction of speed pushed the timer farther out of reach.

Deepwater charged. [Deepwater Rune Activated] [Grounded Charge removed.] [Nerve Jolt remains.] Meno made a sound that was not a word. RIP NOOOO wrong purge still damage curse eater still on HIT THROUGH IT He hit through it. [Compound Swing | Chain: 1700 | Damage: +17000%] [Timer: 02: 10] The Sleepwalker crashed to 12% HP, but Meno had only 5% left and no room for anything except more damage. This was the checkpoint that did not care about plans. A wrong bolt could kill him. A missed stab would kill the chain.

Static Lock could freeze the last glove cycle. Conductive Wound could turn every spark into a death sentence. [Debuff Applied: Conductive Wound] Lightning damage taken increased by 20%.

"Cleanse." He drove the daggers faster, dragging Deepwater toward charge through the Nerve Jolt penalty. [Nerve Jolt removed.] [Conductive Wound remains.] Speed came back. [Static Lock: Cooldowns do not recharge.] [Sleepless Script: Debuff Blocked] Good. Deepwater no longer mattered. Planning no longer mattered. The Sleepwalker had under twelve percent HP, then under ten, then eight, and the chain kept climbing while Meno's health drained through Conductive Wound and the lightning hole shook around him.

[Viewers: 152, 222] [Compound Swing | Chain: 1800 | Damage: +18000%] [Timer: 02: 19] The Sleepwalker fell to 5%, but Meno was down to 3%, one bad tick from becoming a cautionary clip. FINAL FINAL FINAL FASTER DIE DO NOT BLINK [Debuff Applied: Grounded Charge] Movement abilities disabled while taking lightning damage. It was almost funny. Meno had no thought left for laughing. Both bars hit 2% HP together. Lightning struck his chest, ran into his jaw, and left him at 1%. He activated Panic Pump.

[Current HP set to 1] [Compound Swing | Chain: 1940 | Damage: +19400%] The damage multiplier jumped. Meno swapped the plate chest for the Charmleather Vest. [Armor Swap] [+7% Action Speed.] Chat went feral. NO WAY CHEST SWAP ONE HP 1940 DIE DIE DIE FASTER The world snapped faster under his hands. His daggers became white streaks inside blue lightning. The Sleepwalker's cloak shredded under the final rush, and a single stray bolt could end him. Meno screamed.

"DIE!" Right dagger. Left dagger. Right dagger. The Rune Dagger punched into the faceless hood as the last bolt came down. [Kill Confirmed: Sleepwalker] [Royal Bounty Contribution Registered] [Titan IV Achievement Requirement Met] [Level Up | Level 42] [Class Progression Available] The lightning cut out. [Timer: 02: 23] For one impossible breath, the hole was dark.

Meno stood with both daggers buried forward, arms locked, jaw clenched, HP sitting at one point because the game had not found a smaller number that still counted as alive. Then the Sleepwalker came apart into blue sparks, sudden silence, and loot. Chat arrived all at once. HE LIVED ONE HP TITAN IV HOLE META FASTER WORKED NERF JAXXON PRAYERBEADGOD WHAT WAS THAT Bradbaron's voice came from somewhere behind him, thin and horrified.

"I think my shovel is worth more now." Chadculator said nothing for three seconds. Then he exhaled.

"Still sloppy." Meno turned his head very slowly, face still itching, arms trembling, faint lightning smoking off his body.

"Yeah," he said, breathing hard.

"But it died."