The image of an unassuming old man shimmered into place behind Krum That manÆs hands were tinged with a dim golden right but otherwise there were no distinct details in the image projection After a slow step the old man stepped forward and superimposed itself on ZackÆs body His hands became faintly gold and he reached out with those hands to seize the slash
For a moment Zack missed the fulcrum of the attack Blood spurted from his left palm as he struggled to find the anchor of its power Then his Skills activated and guided his force to the correct portion With a great effort of will he bent the attack in on itself and managed to shift it But as he did so Zack grimaced The muscles of his arms bulged with the strain How the hell he didnÆt even manifest an image Why is it so heavy
In the end Zack could only heave the slash to the side barely moving the attack over his shoulder The strike hummed aggressively as though it deeply disapproved of its sudden vector adjustment and then tore up a long strip of the stone balcony on the way to the wall There it cracked the stone supports and shattered a several meters of the railing The passage between the balcony and the interior rooms collapsed
The sky that had previously seemed so clear became clogged with exhaust and metal These combat specified war machines made the helicopter arm variety of drone look like a sweet voiced request not to trespass
Zack cheeks hurt from the wild and joyless smile on his face He could see no possibility to escape so the only option was to put their lives on the line A thrill ran through him Just as he was about to toss himself forward and rip open a path with his own hands the Chimera woman spoke To the left That small red brick building A sliver of potential
You must be insane Zack spat as he craned his neck around Their speed and the gale of a slash behind them made communication incredibly difficult His eyes were wide as he struggled to shout at her while also keeping the formation of the drones in front of him within his view We canÆt just trust you who has been trapped
But of course Zeta was weirdly infatuated with this woman and Todd had too much faith in everyone but himself both veered immediately after she had spoken Muttering curses about taking advice from monsters Zack hurried after them They banked and curved left the maw of the wind on their heels
However The Chimera woman looked up speculatively at Huang Li who neared them more every second This is an impediment One of you humanoids will need to cause chaos to eliminate the certainty of us dying by this wind before we can make it to that building
Ah Even above the wind Zack could hear ZetaÆs apologetic tone In my experience counting overmuch on humanoidÆs abilities to avoid certainties come with unexpected side effects
You stupid Zack snarled even as he pushed his Scrawled board to the limit and accelerated in front of them The wood couldnÆt withstand the energy and disintegrated beneath his feet but he was there flying between his friends and Huang LiÆs power that sought to sever their path to that innocuous red brick building ZackÆs eyes widened and the emerald eyed old man superimposed itself across his body once more
Maybe if you had kept the scale small I couldnÆt undercut you like this Zack thought maliciously as his hands expanded in front of the massive slash He couldnÆt grab it directly but there were huge flows of those support images surging to make themselves useful to Huang Li The very environment provided plentiful aid to the attack And that Zack could affect
He nudged two of those streams of images aside for just a moment and dislodged them In the chaotic friction that followed he tied a brief knot in front of the slash Wind whipped and eddied curling in on itself in a small net The two forces collided and ground against each other with a deafening roar only five or so meters above their heads
Zeta whipped past Zack first Then Todd followed behind more sedately skimming right in front of the blade He even patted Zack on the back for a job well done and was then gone The impediment disintegrated
Going through the motions Zack produced a scrawled board and stepped onto it He could feel the Mana beginning to flow ready to buoy him away to safety
But he could also feel the shift in the slash because he handled those energy flows For the briefest moment he had slowed the attack and the others probably expected that he would have a moment to move when the slash forced its way through However
Huang LiÆs slash feasted on the flows and jumped a short distance forward using that sudden influx of power All Zack knew was the noise of howling wind before the attack landed
Chapter 1901
Zack blinked and coughed feeling the blood coursing down his face and unsure exactly what was going on Pain very enthusiastically coursed through his upper body with his left shoulder feeling like it had been wrenched out of its socket His dyed red vision and the flopping of his stomach briefly convinced him that he had died and gone to hell For his sins he would be punished for all eternity
He closed his eyes his skin tingling and burning At the very least I protected them this time
This idyllic interpretation of the last few contorted moments was shattered as Zack slammed into solid ground and cracked his jaw For several dizzy seconds he just allowed the mechanisms of momentum and bodies to jostle him as he rolled forward He groaned and spat to get dust out of his mouth Blood dribbled out from between his lips
The possibility is just ahead Truly astounding It should not have been possible for us to arrive like this Perhaps there is meaning to human companionship
The sound of the Chimera womanÆs voice reignited some of his annoyance and helped ground Zack Gradually reality dragged him back His vision swam but soon he became aware of the shattered bricks walls around them and Zeta standing at the collapsed entrance to the small building firing several bolts of Mana at their pursuers Todd crouched over Zack and used a bit of cloth to mop up the blood on his face
Zack batted the hand away and sat up Wha what happened
ToddÆs expression was sour I recognized that look on your face you wanted to do something dumb So when I passed by I Scrawled on your shirt Which apologies has no shredded itself to bits dragging you out of the way of that attack But I figured it was a small price to pay for you to stay alive YouÆre welcome
Awkwardly Zack looked down at his bare bloody and dirty chest Somehow he ended up relying on Todd again Unwilling to face his guilt he instead scowled over at the Chimera woman as she wandered down past the entrance to a staircase down Getting here is fine but I donÆt see how we can get out of this deathtrap
As though agreeing with him wind began to shake the building Zeta hurried past and offered Zack a hand which he took to be pulled to his feet All three moved after the Chimera Zack still occasionally shaking his head to dispel some blurriness in his vision
They heard the rest of the building front cave in behind them as they descended into a high ceilinged basement But at the moment none could worry about it They all stood transfixed at what they had found
How unlikely for this to be here Zeta remarked
Compared to the other two images Randidly was surprised to find almost no issues with these emotional affects his familiarity with his sad roots hadnÆt faded at all It would require some practice to work the correct flavor to balance the various elements but that was just a matter of practice That is except for two glaring unpredictable elements that swam around the edges of the image
Randidly glanced again at the black hole The two unborn drifted in the milky light and crackling electricity with a surprising amount of grace considering their ugliness and misshapen bodies They capered about delighting in the strange influences of the Stillborn Phoenix treating this like a game
Of course they basically ignored the reality of the image as they did so They did not want to acknowledge the suction of the Stillborn Phoenix and thereby invalidated the electromagnetic radiation the light radiation and the entropy it created in the surroundings Their existence and independent wills were a constant drain on the power he could wield