Gacha Harem System-Chapter 49: Calculating Contributions...

Lukas dashed straight into the swarm without hesitation.

There was no tactical advantage in waiting for them to close around him completely. The moment he stopped moving, the scorpions would dictate the terms of the fight.

So this was his chance to dictate the terms himself, driving forward into the densest cluster before they could fully organize.

He activated [Blood Armor].

The first scorpion’s tail came down and he rolled under it, coming up with a slash that opened the joint between its tail and its body.

Blood misted into the air, before transforming into a red shell around him. But he paid it no mind as he was already moving to the next one before the first had finished falling.

Two scorpions attacked simultaneously from his left, their tails striking in sequence.

He caught the tip of the first scorpion’s tail on his blade and redirected it into the second, the stingers tangling for a half second.

He took advantage of that split second, his sword coming around and shearing through both tails at once.

He stepped between the two disarmed scorpions and drove his elbow into the nearest one’s eye cluster, then finished it with a downward thrust before spinning to take the other.

The [Dread Cuirass] earned its price within the first minute.

A scorpion got through his guard, its tail connecting solidly with his left side, the impact strong enough to send him staggering back a step.

The combination of his [Blood Armor] and [Dread Cuirass] was strong enough to negate the entire force, and then the armor sent twenty percent of the attack back.

The scorpion recoiled from its own attack, its tail flinching away, and in the moment of its confusion he put his sword through its skull.

He kept moving.

The [Blood Armor] grew with every kill, the shell layering itself thicker as the blood of each fallen scorpion evaporated and joined it.

By the time he had cleared a quarter of the room, the translucent shell was deep red and solid, making him look like he was surrounded by a hardened mix of blood and water.

Attacks that would have opened wounds were absorbed, while glancing hits that would have stung were deflected and returned.

And as he fought, he found himself falling into a rhythm.

Three scorpions attacked him in a line, and he blurred through all of them, his sword trailing behind him, the blade opening wounds as he passed.

Two more attacked from the side, but he planted his foot and pivoted, using the momentum of the turn to extend his reach, his sword flashing beside him.

A scorpion tried the fire beam, but he was already inside its range before the glow had fully built.

Just before it fired the attack, he drove his sword into the base of its tail, severing it.

No longer connected to the main body, the tail exploded, covering the scorpion and extending to the other scorpions near it.

Lukas leapt back, taking minimal damage from the explosion.

But he didn’t stop.

He zipped through the hall, and wherever he passed, blood misted through the air.

Each pass through the swarm left even less scorpions alive. The scorpions that remained began to bunch together, their instinct pushing them to band together, even as their numbers kept shrinking.

He dove into each cluster without slowing down, breaking them apart with his superior strength and speed.

One scorpion tried to circle behind him, but he felt the displaced air and spun, catching its pincer on his forearm.

His [Blood Armor] absorbed the hit, and he grabbed one of the pincer and twisted, shearing it off the beast.

As the beast screeched in pain, his sword descended, ending its life.

Another one attempted the tail-slam-and-pincer combination he had seen in the Scorched Forest. He let the tail come, stepped inside it, and made the scorpion regret the decision.

The last one backed against the far wall as he approached, its pincers raised, its tail making small, uncertain movements without committing to an attack.

He walked toward it without rushing.

It fired the beam.

He stepped to the side and kept walking.

His sword took it cleanly through the eye cluster, and the scorpion slid down the wall, the life leaving its eyes.

[You have killed a C-rank Deathstalker Scorpion (x47).]

Lukas turned.

The boss scorpion watched him from the center of the room, its red eyes burning and its tail raised.

He raised his sword, staring at it.

And this time, the beast attacked first.

It crossed half the room in a single burst, far faster than anything its size had any right to be.

Lukas threw himself to the side, the passing tail leaving a trail of heat in the air where he had been standing. The floor where the stinger grazed it was instantly scorched black.

He spun, regaining his footing, and dashed towards the beast.

The heat radiating off the boss was hot. Unlike the ambient warmth of the regular scorpions, the heat of the boss was much more fiery and constant.

He could feel the heat on his skin, and even the air around the beast shimmered faintly.

He had nothing to protect him directly from heat, so he’d have to play this carefully.

The boss swung both its pincers towards him, and he ducked under the first, before taking the second on his shoulder.

His [Dread Cuirass] absorbed the blow and returned a fraction of it. The scorpion’s pincer recoiled slightly from its own strike, and he used the gap to open a cut along its foreleg.

The boss answered by charging its beam.

The glow that built at the stinger’s tip was not the familiar deep red of the regular scorpions.

It was white at the center, red only at the edges, and the heat coming off it was intense. He could feel it from where he was standing.

He didn’t wait for it to discharge. He dashed forward, circling wide around the tail’s angle, and keeping himself out of the firing line while closing the distance.

The beam released sideways, cutting a burning line across the wooden floor that immediately began to smoke.

He was already at the scorpion’s flank.

He pulled his sword back, targeting the joint where the tail met the body, and plunged downwards with all his strength. The blade sank in deeply, then he wrenched it sideways.

The tail dropped.

The boss reared backwards in pain, its pincers driving towards him.

He leapt into the air, evading the strike, and as he descended, drove his sword down through the top of its head.

The sword punched through its head to slam into the ground, pinning it in place.

It struggled for a few seconds before the glow in its eyes dimmed, then went out.

It collapsed slowly, the heat fading from its exoskeleton.

[You have killed a C-rank Deathstalker Scorpion King.]

[Congratulations! C-rank dungeon, Deathstalker Burrow, successfully cleared!]

Lukas lowered his sword and exhaled.

[Calculating contributions...]

[Rankings:]

[1. Lukas (MVP)]

[Distributing rewards...]

[Congratulations, you have received: +100 Strength, +50 Constitution, 8000 gold coins, [Deathstalker Gauntlet], hundred steel ingots, and three scorpion armor plates]

Lukas blinked in shock, staring at the rewards that had appeared in front of him.

Then a thought appeared in his mind.

"What if I go on a speedrun this time?"