Putting power into his arms, he shoved the ledge to the side and flung his body out of the grenades immediate vicinity. Grabbing his sword and placing it between him and the blast, the force of the explosion pushed him back. Glancing at the screen, indicators were flashing to alert him that he had taken some damage though it was reasonably light.

Everything happened in a split second, Han used one of his feet to land momentarily on a rock sticking out and propelled him forward onto the ledge where Ruby and the enemy was located. He knew that the suit would eventually shade vision of the player, but there was a moment where the enemy player would have still been exposed to the explosion and intense light. Cheating wasn't something he enjoyed doing in this world, but winning this match between him, Ruby, and the opposing assassin was important. Both the rival assassin and Ruby looked to be affected by the bright light, though the enemy was recovering faster considering they had looked away after releasing the grenade.

Landing on the ledge, Han dashed forward with his weapon fully released. Jumping and spinning his body, Han put power into the slash and swung down at the player's body. For a brief second, the assassin seemed to turn their helmet to look at Han and realize that they were about to be killed. If the game allowed for it, Han felt like they would have a question mark and exclamation mark above their head. The blade met a small amount of resistance before it tore through the suit. Blood sprayed everywhere, as Han split the person into two.

The top half of the player was flung off, while the lower was still standing as if waiting for directions that were never going to receive. Folding his sword back into its first mode, Han put the weapon onto his back. Looking at the player laying on the ground, and selecting the method to allow communication with those near them, Han said, "Not this time."

Instead of responding, the player raised a hand and proceeded to flip Han the bird. There was a column of light and then the player was gone, only leaving behind a pool of blood and Ruby's dagger.

"I don't think they are going to be happy when they respawn after the game is over," Ruby laughed as she walked up to Han after grabbing her weapon and tucking it away like she did with the other.

"Yeah. They seem to be rather annoyed at being killed." Han felt himself grin. Looking at Ruby, he asked, "Are you okay?"

Ruby nodded her head. "I didn't take any direct hits, so my health is still good. There are some areas on my suit that are yellow, but everything else is green."

"That's good. If you were hurting then who would head into the spawning area to end the monster rush." Han said, feeling a little self-conscious about his words.

Placing a hand on Han's arm, Ruby said, "Thanks, Han, for helping me out."

Looking at where the opposing gate was located, he said, "No problem. Every member is important."

"Of course," Ruby answered, though her voice didn't sound convinced by Han's words. Taking her hand off of Han, she ran towards the cliff and turned towards Han, "What are you waiting for? Let's go!" She laughed as she fell down.

Seeing her look so cheerful made him smile and shake his head. Ruby was likely happy about not being killed, especially by someone she had lost to multiple times. Running to the edge, Han launched himself off and enjoyed how much easier it was compared to climbing.

Below him, Han could see Ruby using her daggers to slow her descent. Removing his sword from his back, he stabbed the blades into the wall. By not extending his sword, he gained a similar benefit to Ruby's daggers. The main difference was how he had to use more force than she did indicated by the line he was creating on the cliff face. After shedding enough momentum, he kicked the cliff face and backflipped to the ground.

"Show off," Ruby teased him when he slammed onto the ground next to her.

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Han laughed, imagining Ruby being more delicate with her landing compared to his crashing into the earth method.

"I just prefer the more dramatic scene, compared to appearing like a ballerina dancer," Han countered.

Tilting his head to indicate that they should keep going, the two of them rushed towards their next objective.

"We still need to find the monster cores that'll be used to stop the mother from producing any more," Ruby said as they were rushing through The Maze, keeping an eye out for the opposing team.

"About that...," Han said, as he reached into his pocket and took out several cores that glowed slightly.

By the silence Ruby was giving him, she was surprised by how quickly they found one of the keys that would help them win the game. Catching the cores as Han tossed them towards her, she continued, "I assume you'll be heading towards the gate?"

"Yeah, though I keep thinking that the opposing team is planning on getting to us first, considering how quickly you met your counterpart," Han remarked.

"I'll try and hurry up with my task, to give some relief to Ivy, Harmony, and Jessica. That way they can focus on the enemy when the team reaches them. Do you think that it won't just be the Charger?" Ruby asked.

"I wonder... It could be that they are going to try and use the monsters to eliminate our three guards or at least distract them," Han said, trying to anticipate what the other side was doing. The game was still relatively new, so there were still areas to exploit where the other team wouldn't expect such moves.

Looking at the map, Han made sure they were going in the right direction. They were making good time, finally getting to the opposing side of the map. Not running into the other team made Han think that the Charger wasn't aiming for him and was, in fact, going to where his mom an the others were at. He was hoping that the other team's Crowd Controllers were too busy, fighting their monsters to worry about him.

"Jennifer! Are you guys still dealing with the monsters?" He asked his sister.

"Grace and I are dealing with a new wave that showed up. Where are you at, right now?" Jennifer informed him.

"Ruby and I are on the other side of the map now, and the fact I haven't seen the Charger means that person should be heading to sneak past you," He cautioned Jennifer.

"I'll keep an eye out for them," Jennifer said.

"Don't worry, Han. I'll make sure that Jennifer doesn't have too much fun that she loses focus on the objective." Grace chimed in.

Han then had to listen to Jennifer and Grace bicker with one another, as he made his way through the top half of the map.

"I'm going to head to complete my objective," Ruby said as she split away from him.

"Okay. Be careful of any surprises from both the monsters or our friends on this side." Han cautioned her, though he knew that she was well aware of the dangers.

She waved a hand back at him to indicate she would be fine. It was only a few seconds before she was no longer in his sight, from her activating her camouflage.

In front of him, he noticed a wave of monsters that were heading in the same direction as he was. As he closed in on the wave, he felt tense from not knowing whether the team was somehow able to enter into the area even without an assassin.

Getting close to the wave, he sighed in relief when they merely looked at him but didn't attack him. The other team could still do something, but it was likely that he wouldn't have to deal with these monsters. It wasn't like the Crowd Controllers could just let the beast pass them by just to fuck with Han.

Rushing ahead, he hoped to make his way around where the opposing team was likely dealing with the current wave. If he timed it right, then he wouldn't have to fight them.

It was definitely going to be a gamble, which he couldn't spend too much time on.