At that speed, the purple beacon left the horizon in minutes. It moved faster that the swirling sky in the background. Now loomed over Enoch and his companion, illuminating the clouds high above.

Enoch let his omnileg pump at an angle. The right one switched to shorter steps. His trail of dirt arced in a beautiful wave. Choo rode it, mad iron surfer, glowing neon purple.

Beacon straight ahead. A Dash and a Sprint. Warp speed into... a nest of traps. If that was her tactic, she was done for. The threats glowed in his vision. Double detected by his Artifact Helm and his High Perception. His body wiggled between the triggers, tumbled over the pits. Hands first in the tighter section. They gripped the tiniest of holds, used them to propel him forward.

He laughed from glee as one trap led to another and to – wait – that section felt wrong. One step here, no other choice, led to a ledge there, all other options deadly. She was funnelling him.

Genius work, that assemblage of traps. He thought he was crushing it, yet individual treats worked together as a puzzle. Led them to his inevitable death. That is, if he hadn’t been decked out in OP loot.

His Blink Sword teleported him forward. Skipped the deadly part. Brought him over a pit covered in glowing spider webs. Neon teal, they pulsed as a beating heart.

Blink sword on cool down, Enoch went to a Double Jump. The pit way too vast. Choo? The scout twisted in mid air. Grabbed the golem core.

“What? Don’t grab me suddenly Master.”

Enoch grunted, no time for a real answer. The Artifact’s carrying strength let him glide a few feet. Not enough. Not by a long shot.

As always in these moments, the chat, absurdly, caught his attention.

“He’s done for.”

“The commentator was right. Worthless.”

“Where did these trolls came from? The guy is in second place with a decent shot at a win.” Tip | 15$

“No matter what happen, I’ll be proud of him.” Tag | Mom

The text faded. His body touched the long psychedelic filaments. They stuck to him. Too flimsy to cushion his fall, the angular rocks hidden under them caught him at a weird angle. The fall damage negligible thanks to his skills, even with his back bend backward.

“Ouch, that got to hurt” Tip | 22$

“He should have built up his Regen.”

“That barely hurt him. What’s wrong with you? I bet the fairy would have gotten you on day 1.”

His arm twitched. Up an inch. Back two inches. Stuck. The sticky filaments covered him head to toes. He pumped his omnilegs. Their mechanisms groaned. Pink steam shot out. His Mana went down. Prosthetics hungry for more. The webs stretched, stretched, and the hold snapped. His free legs found solid ground. The destroyed filament fell back on it. Merged with the rest of the pit’s blanket. Stuck again.

Enoch repeated the process four time. Freed legs immediately caught back by the devious nature of the trap. He went for a fifth time. Stopped, at attention. A noise in the distance. Faint steps coming in fast.

He managed to peak at the sky and saw it. Practically on top of him. The purple beacon.

His legs pumped faster. Same futile cycle. He tried to roll. His bent back stayed immobile, welded to the rock. His head turned, looking for his friend.

“Choo, catch her with the wands before she reaches me.”

“Wands online Master.”

The golem core illuminated. Added a gradient to the translucid filaments, purple to teal. Rocks and prey casted long shadows on the pit’s slope. Choo turned on himself, outer ring spinning, inner core spinning faster, raining sparkles. A wand migrated from the bundle stuck to him, then another, and another. Up until he looked like a raced-up morningstar.

Enoch caught her at the corner of his eye. The Bird Spider. She ran at him, ignoring the sticky trap. Headfirst, arms trailing behind, dagger in both hands.

A beam of pure sun fire pierced her chest, linked to the golem core up above for a fleeting instant. The scenery overpowered to pure white. The fibers carpet caught fire at the point of impact and the Bird Spider, an illusion, disappeared in a puff of teal pixels.

Choo rotated. Dropped the used wand. Pointed another, looking for a target. Found too many. Dozen of illusions closed in on Enoch from all direction. The next Siege Wand evoked a lightning bolt. It fell from the sky with huge splash damage. Four illusions vanished.

The rest raced down the canyon. Choo discarded the spent Wand of Lightning Pillar. Pointed the Wand of Catastrophic Flare.

Heat rose. The spider strands burned. The spider clones too. The chat scrolled, mad with hope.

“Come on, you can do it. Get up.” Tip | 22$

“Go for it. This game is yours for the taking.”

“Go Scout, Go Scout, Go Scout, Go!”

Enoch read the lines, thankful for the support. He wiggled. Had a better range of motion now, but the stuff under him still pinned him to the rock, unburnt. That was the strength of this built. He knew it from the pre-game’s research. Not a spell but a crafted trap. No duration. No mercy.

6 seconds left on his Blink Sword's timer. The last Spider illusion, or most likely the real deal, jumped toward him. Leg flaying under her.

Further up, Choo dropped the used wand, pointed a new one. A large jet of acid came out of it. Rushed toward the Spider and passed through it, splashing droplets on Enoch. The disjointed image, revealed, disappeared. The Bird Spider appeared four paces behind. Damn she was good.

Her dagger swung down with blurring speed. This, at least, he could keep up with. His blade deflected the next blow, and the one after. At the edge of his ability. No time for a counterattack. All his attention, all his speed just to survive.

Epic music blasted from up above. The Tower Golem fell inches beside Enoch’s face. It blasted the Bird Spider, point-blank. She dodged. Split into four images. Only four, she was running out of Mana.

Choo’s next blast vaporized an illusion. The remaining ones stabbed Enoch. [-2 Health]. He blocked two attacks. One with his sword. The other with his hand, gripping the fake dagger’s blade, ignoring the negligeable damage.

[-154 Health] [Heavy Bleeding | -12 Health/second]. Oh. A real dagger straight to his heart. Lucky shot.