Apocalypse Architect: A Tower Defense LitRPG

Chapter 110: Tar Pit Trap

Jax sprinted, his lungs burning. It was a race against time.

Every second wasted was a second the arachnids drew closer.

He reached the base of the third Wall and immediately pulled up his interface, selecting a location he had scouted hours ago. He slammed his finger on the [Build] option.

[Building Tar Pit Trap. Please wait…]

The skittering of sharp claws against stone echoed in the distance, growing louder. Jax’s heart hammered against his ribs; sweat slicked his forehead, stinging his eyes.

He couldn’t leave. Not yet.

He scrambled back a few meters to a second strategic choke point and hit the [Build] button again.

[Building Tar Pit Trap. Please wait…]

Jax checked the construction timer.

“Five minutes,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “Just hold out for five minutes!”

As the words left his mouth, the clicking of mandibles grew deafening. They were here.

“Damn! Already?”

A knot of tension tightened in his chest. He checked his skills—he still had his Decoy Clone available.

“The clone can buy me sixty seconds,” Jax calculated rapidly. “I have to make it count.”

He rushed past the construction zones, positioning himself at the corner of the corridor. Two massive Tier 3 Arachnids rounded the bend, moving in tandem. Their multifaceted eyes locked onto him, glowing with a sinister crimson light.

They didn’t hesitate. One of the spiders reared back, its maw opening to unleash a stream of viscous white fluid.

“Shit! Spitting on the first date? That’s just nasty!”

Jax threw himself backward. In mid-air, the mucus expanded, hardening instantly into a massive, sticky web that slapped against the concrete wall with a wet thwack.

“Too close,” Jax muttered, eyeing the web. If that had hit him, he’d be dead.

A hairy, chitinous leg hooked around the corner.

Jax didn’t think; he reacted. He pulled his heavy iron hammer from his storage space and swung it with every ounce of strength he possessed.

CRACK!

The hammer connected with the joint. The spider shrieked as the leg buckled and snapped.

“Now!”

Jax vaulted up the side of the Wall, scrambling along the top of the fortifications to put distance between him and the monsters. Below, the two spiders hissed, spraying jets of silk upward. Jax weaved and ducked, knowing a single touch meant immobilization and death.

He reached the final defensive line and leaped down, landing in a crouch. The injured spider was limping, but with eight legs, losing one or two barely slowed it down. They scurried over the obstacles with terrifying speed.

Jax glanced at his watch.

“One minute down,” he thought, adrenaline flooding his system. “Will they keep chasing?”

He looked back. The shadows were moving.

Suddenly, a flicker of light appeared in the distance—a Torch bobbing in the darkness, moving toward him.

“What the hell? Go back!” Jax roared.

The figure didn’t stop.

“Jax! Are you trying to die?!” A familiar voice screamed back. “It’s too dangerous! Get back here! I’m coming to cover you!”

Jax froze for a split second. It was Elena.

“Damn it! Run! I have an escape plan!” he shouted, but she kept coming.

He couldn’t wait. The spiders were closing in. He activated Decoy Clone.

In a shimmer of light, an identical copy of Jax appeared beside him.

The lead spider lunged, its razor-sharp forelegs slashing through the clone. The image flickered but remained, drawing the beast’s fury.

Seizing the distraction, Jax gripped his hammer and flanked the monster. He knew he couldn’t win a contest of strength, but he could cripple them. He aimed for the legs.

Smash!

Another leg shattered under the blow. The spider screeched, thrashing wildly, but its aggression remained focused on the intangible clone.

Emboldened, Jax swung again. And again.

One leg. Two legs.

Finally, the first spider lost its balance. With only a few limbs left to support its bulbous abdomen, it collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

The second spider, missing three legs, wobbled unsteadily. Yet, driven by mindless rage, it continued to slash at the fading clone. The decoy was sliced apart repeatedly, growing more translucent with every hit.

“Time’s up,” Jax realized.

He turned and bolted toward Elena. She was standing there, torch held high, her eyes blazing with a mix of fury and fear.

“Have you lost your mind?!” she yelled.

Jax felt a warmth spread through his chest—a stark contrast to the cold terror of the fight. She had come back for him. She was the only one reckless enough to risk her life for his.

He grabbed her hand. “Save the lecture! They’re about to Self-Destruct! Move!”

Before she could process his words, Jax yanked her toward the safety of the platform.

BOOM!

A violent explosion shook the ground behind them. Then came a second, deafening blast.

From the high platform, Kaleb’s voice rang out, frantic. “The little ones are coming! Get the Torches ready!”

Flares of light erupted along the defense line as the team prepared for the worst.

Simultaneously, a sweet sound chimed in Jax’s mind.

[Tar Pit Trap construction complete!] [Tar Pit Trap construction complete!]

Jax peered into the gloom. He couldn’t see the traps clearly, but he heard the sound—a terrifying, rhythmic rustling like dry leaves blowing over pavement. It was the sound of a thousand legs. An Insect Swarm.

“Up! Now!”

Jax shoved Elena toward the climbing rope. She looked pale, her earlier anger replaced by sheer horror. Before the club, she had only ever seen Tier 1 Sandworms. This was a nightmare on a different scale.

“O-Okay!” She scrambled up the rope, pausing at the top to yell down, “Hurry up!”

Jax followed, hauling himself onto the platform just as the first wave breached the perimeter.

From his vantage point, he looked down at the third and fourth Walls. Two large, dark pools had appeared on the ground. They looked like mud, but the surface shimmered with an unnatural viscosity.

“Let’s see if it works,” Jax muttered.

The swarm of spiderlings surged forward, a carpet of chitin and hunger. They hit the Tar Pit Trap at full speed.

The moment the first spiderling touched the sludge, it stopped dead.

It struggled, trying to lift its legs, but the tar held fast. It was like industrial glue. The creature pulled so hard its own leg snapped off, but its body remained trapped, slowly sinking.

“What is that?” Kaleb asked, staring wide-eyed at the writhing mass of stuck insects.

Jax grinned, wiping the sweat from his brow. “That is our new kinetic braking system. A little something to slow the traffic.”

“Boss, you built another trap?”

“Yeah. With this, we don’t have to worry about being overrun by speed.”

The defenses roared to life. The Sentry Towers unleashed a hail of arrows, turning the immobilized spiders into pincushions. The Howitzer Turret thundered, its shell landing squarely in the center of the tar pit.

BOOM!

Flames erupted, and dozens of spiderlings were instantly vaporized.

“Haha! It works! We held them!”

Cheers erupted from the team. Jax let out a long breath, his shoulders sagging with relief.

[Task Complete. Reward obtained: Architect’s Codex.]

Jax’s eyes lit up. He immediately opened the system interface.

“Finally,” he whispered. “A tech tree. No more guessing games.”

The interface displayed a holographic schematic. A central trunk split into two distinct branches.

The first branch was labeled: [Kinetic Defense].

The second was labeled: [Energy Defense].

The Energy branch was currently grayed out, locked behind requirements Jax hadn’t yet met. But the Kinetic branch… that was full of possibilities.