My Scumbag System-Chapter 367: Heat Is the Answer

The sand exploded around us like geysers, sending glittering particles raining down on our heads.

From each eruption emerged what I can only describe as the lovechild of a crab and a nightmare. Ten-foot monstrosities burst from beneath the surface, their chitinous shells gleaming with the same silvery-blue iridescence as the sand.

Eight spindly legs supported bodies the size of compact cars, topped with clusters of beady eyes that glowed like molten gold in the moonlight.

"Well, fuck," I muttered, readjusting my grip on my bat.

"Harvesters," Monica whispered, clutching Copernicus tighter. "The trees warned us about them." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"They’re surrounding us," Juan said, his voice unnaturally calm now that his fears had materialized. "Eight... no, nine of them."

The crabs clicked their massive pincers, each snap sounding like a car door being slammed. A thick, mucus-like substance dripped from their mandibles, sizzling when it hit the sand. Acid. Because of course it was acid.

"Form a defensive line," I ordered. "Raphael and Jaime up front. Juan, give them support. Celeste, you’re our artillery. Noah, keep her safe. Monica... can you talk to these things?"

Monica shook her head, face pale in the moonlight. "They’re not plants. They’re... hungry."

As if responding to her assessment, the nearest Harvester lunged forward with surprising speed, its pincer snapping toward Raphael’s head.

Raphael didn’t dodge – he stepped into it, meeting the attack head-on. The pincer clamped around his arm, but he grinned like a madman as his Aspect activated. The kinetic energy from the crushing attack flowed into him, his body glowing with absorbed power.

"My turn," he snarled, slamming his free fist into the creature’s carapace.

The impact released all his stored energy at once. The Harvester’s shell cracked with a sound like thunder, sending it flying backward into its brethren. It scrambled to right itself, legs working frantically in the air.

"CONSECUTIVE BLOWS!" Jaime roared, launching himself toward another Harvester. His first punch barely dented its shell. The second left a small crack. By his fifth strike, delivered with the speed of a machine gun, the shell began to splinter, and his seventh punch punched clean through, sending blue ichor spraying across the sand.

"Raphael, Jaime, don’t separate!" I shouted as two more Harvesters skittered toward them.

Juan fanned out his deck of cards between his fingers, a look of intense concentration on his face as they began to glow with stored energy. With a flick of his wrist, three cards shot toward the approaching creatures, exploding on impact. The blasts weren’t strong enough to penetrate their shells but disoriented them long enough for Raphael to engage.

Another Harvester circled around, heading straight for Monica. Celeste stepped forward, raising her hands in a graceful, dance-like motion. The moisture in the air crystallized instantly, forming jagged spears of ice that launched toward the creature. They impaled its legs, pinning it to the ground as it thrashed wildly.

"Lady Celeste, behind you!" Noah shouted, her hand sweeping across her uniform jacket. The fabric hardened instantly into something like steel, deflecting a pincer that would have taken Celeste’s head off. In the same motion, Noah twisted, the edge of her sleeve now sharp as a razor, slicing through one of the creature’s eyes.

I hefted my bat and charged the nearest Harvester, ducking under its snapping pincers. My Thermal Incision activated, creating a superheated cutting edge along my bat. I swung upward, the heat blade slicing through its softer underbelly. Blue ichor sprayed out, steaming where it hit my weapon.

"They’re trying to separate us!" I yelled as the creatures’ movements became more coordinated. "Stay together!"

One Harvester skittered sideways with unnatural speed, its legs a blur as it maneuvered behind us. Another feinted toward Raphael, then changed direction at the last second, heading for Juan instead.

"Six o’clock!" Juan shouted, dropping to one knee and sending a volley of charged cards at the creature behind us. The explosions barely slowed it down.

Raphael was already engaged with two Harvesters, his body glowing brighter with each blow he absorbed. Jaime had tackled another, his consecutive hits getting stronger as he pummeled its shell.

A pincer caught me from the side, sending me flying through the air. I slammed into a tree trunk, the impact knocking the wind out of me. Stumbling to my feet, I saw that our formation had broken. The Harvesters had succeeded in splitting us up.

"Regroup!" I shouted, but two more creatures blocked my path back to the others.

Celeste stood alone, surrounded by three Harvesters. Her hands moved in complex patterns, ice forming around her in beautiful, deadly designs. A wall of frost erupted from the ground, pushing back one attacker, while icicles rained down on another. The third lunged forward, only to be met by Noah, who appeared seemingly out of nowhere, her uniform sleeves now rigid spears that pierced the creature’s eyes.

"Monica!" I shouted, spotting her cornered against a tree, Copernicus clutched to her chest. A Harvester advanced on her, its pincers snapping hungrily.

I couldn’t reach her in time. The creature lunged.

The ground beneath the Harvester suddenly erupted with silver vines, wrapping around its legs and pincers. More plants burst forth, enveloping the creature in a cocoon of writhing vegetation.

Monica stood with one hand pressed against the silver tree behind her, her eyes glowing with the same light as the luminescent fruit overhead. The plants were responding to her after all.

Taking advantage of the moment, I activated Thermal Incision again and leapt onto one of the Harvesters blocking my path. I drove my bat down hard, the heat blade slicing through its shell like butter. The creature shrieked, a high-pitched sound that made my teeth ache.

"Juan! Status report!" I yelled as I rolled away from the second Harvester’s counterattack.

"We’re fucked!" he called back, flinging another card that exploded against a creature’s pincer. "These things regenerate!"

He was right. The Harvester I’d just gutted was already moving again, the wound in its shell closing before my eyes. The one Jaime had punched through was back on its feet, the hole in its carapace shrinking visibly.

"We need a new plan!" I shouted, dodging another pincer swipe.

Raphael unleashed a massive burst of stored energy, the shockwave knocking back three Harvesters at once. The display of power left him momentarily drained, staggering on his feet.

"Jaime! Catch!" I yelled, tossing my bat toward him. He snatched it out of the air with one hand. "Hit them with everything you’ve got!"

Understanding dawned on his face. Jaime’s Aspect made each consecutive hit stronger, and my bat with Thermal Incision active would multiply that damage.

"THE ULTIMATE COMBO TECHNIQUE!" Jaime bellowed, his face splitting into a manic grin. He sprinted toward the nearest Harvester, the heated bat raised high. His first swing left a scorch mark on the shell. His second cracked it. His third smashed through entirely, the bat’s heat blade cauterizing the wound as it went, preventing regeneration.

"It’s working!" Celeste called out, creating a bridge of ice that carried her over the creatures to reach Monica. "The heat stops their healing factor!"

"Juan!" I shouted. "Can you charge the cards hotter?"

He nodded, already concentrating on his remaining deck. The cards began to glow red-hot between his fingers.

"Noah! Get to Raphael and cover him while he recharges!"

She moved like a shadow, her fabric-hardened uniform deflecting attacks as she cut a path to Raphael’s position.

"Celeste! Monica! Can you two do something about the sand?" I called out. "They keep coming from below!"

Monica nodded, kneeling to place both hands on the ground. Celeste mimicked her posture, pressing her palms to the glittering sand. Ice began spreading outward from Celeste’s touch, while silver-green energy pulsed from Monica’s fingers into the earth.

The sand hardened into a crust of ice and interlocked roots, creating a solid platform beneath our feet. The Harvesters still above ground shrieked in what sounded like anger, while their hidden brethren were now trapped below.

"Now we’ve got a fighting chance," I said, charging toward the nearest creature.