Chapter 95

Gideon flicked his blade at me as I lay there, my CUT surged into his sword, sending his arm snapping back, staggering him. Lance pounced with a terrible downward CUT. I rolled, not avoiding the attack completely. But my SHIELD flared, the digits flickering across my visor, rising to 2.6. The combination of my roll and the pulse of SHIELD sent Lance’s blade glancing from me. It still hurt, but caught bodily that blow might have disabled me. Hell, it might have killed me.

Then I was on my feet.

My sword sang. They tired to move to either side of me, tired to pincer me, make my position impossible to defend.

I would have none of it. My BEAM spoke, spearing Lance in the shoulder. My sword screamed, CUT smashing into Gideon's defenses.

The crowd screamed. The sound of the crowd had been one of panic when I went down. Tones of despair had rustled among them when it seemed I would be outnumbered. But the energy of the crowd, the noise of it, grew higher and more rapturous as I moved. My sword declared this no uneven contest.

My sword clashed against Gideon’s. The sound rang, steel on steel, the crackle of the kinetics fizzling between the blades. I booted him back to make room as Lance charged again. I wheeled on Lance, and the bastard actually flinched. He didn't want to face me head on. My CUTs were a blur, hacking at his sword, driving it down, down.

I turned again to Gideon as he swing at me. My parry carried his attack away into nothingness.

As I fought my CUT attribute flashed in my visor. 3.2, then 3.4 in what felt like a blink.

The sword felt lighter in my hand. My body moved so easily. Had I truly become this good?

The voice spoke, You can be a little hard on yourself sometimes.

I parried another blow from Gideon. I thought, what? I don't have time for this. I'm fighting.

The voice said, You're fine. Look at you. You're fiiine. But you're a little too low on yourself, kiddo. I was thinking about that business with the BOOST. You haven't using it, but when have you given yourself the chance?

My CUT caught Gideon in the side. He pulsed SHIELD, a SHIELD that was paltry compared with mine. The explosion of my kinetics sent him spinning to the dust. I thought, I really don't have time for this.

The voice said, You've got time. I just, well, you know. I was just thinking about it, and I felt kinda bad. You've been in the thick of things. You've been putting yourself to pretty good use.

Lance moved defensively. Everything he did was so perfect. His feet moved perfectly. His sword moved perfectly. His stance, his poise, his choices. But I drove him to panic. I slashed and drove him back. He barely kept his feet. He kept me at bay with a desperately wild swing, an attack that would have left him open if I'd had any expectation of it.

Gideon was scrambling to his feet. He fired BEAM, but I spun, deflecting with my sword. Lance struck two-handed from above, but I dropped to a knee and smashed my sword up into his. 3.4 faded and was replaced with a 3.6.

I was winning! Against both of them. The air around me seemed to crackle with energy. The crowd was erupting, the crowd was reeling with the insanity of the display.

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But, I turned my head and understood things were more complicated than me besting Lance and Gideon. Some of Lance and Gideon's teammates were attached to the Orb, drawing FLOWS. Even at that, my comrades were outnumbered. My heart raced a little as I understood. I didn't have time for this to continue. It needed to end fast or it would end badly.

I doubled my efforts, hammering at Gideon and Lance with a flurry of strikes that had them both stumbling backward. My CUT surged again—3.9. I was so close. I could feel it. Lance’s face was a mask of horror, his disbelief absolute. He couldn’t comprehend how I was still standing, how I was fighting both of them off so easily. Gideon’s eyes widened with panic as my sword nearly cleaved through his defenses.

If I could just push a little harder, reach level 4, I could end this. Finish the fight. Finish the whole damned tournament once and for all.

As I fought, the images of those who mattered to me flickered through my mind, each one stoking a different fire. Harold—up in the stands, watching me with that quiet, reserved affection that had sustained me for years. Was I glad it was him, and not Father, witnessing this? Harold, who had shown me subtle warmth in a life otherwise bereft of tenderness? And then there were Katya and Lauren. I couldn't tell in the chaos if they were fighting or drawing Flows, but they had to see me, had to witness this transformation. I wondered what they thought, seeing me not just holding my own, but dominating—actually dominating—both Lance and Gideon at once. Was I their hero now? Their regret? I couldn’t be sure, but the thought gave me wings, made my sword feel weightless.

And then it happened.

CUT 4.0 flashed before my visor.

The sensation was unlike anything I had ever known. My whole body seemed to catch fire. It was like the light of a deity had shone into me and filled me. Gideon and Lance both cowered back from the light that suddenly blazed from my sword.

Gideon roared with frustration. He charged. His CUT slashed at me, the finest swing of a sword you could ever see. My Level 4 CUT smashed it away, jerking his whole arm back, making a mockery of the skills he had built. I booted him to the ground and turned to Lance.

"Last time", I said, feeling the beautiful darkness take me.

Lance recoiled. He was fearful, openly fearful. He kept his sword in front of him and sank away from me.

He backed away from me.

That triggered something primal in me.

For so long, I had dreamed of this moment. I had dreamed of wiping that smirk from his face. I had dreamed of watching him fall. I had dreamed watching him realize that I was not just his equal, but his better.

As he fled backward, the predator inside me awoke. It was hungry.

I surged after him. He was retreating fast now. He was cowering. The rush of power that filled me left everything I had ever felt in my life feeling like a grey sketch of nothingness.

I was close! So close to finally ending this!

But even as I lunged for him, something changed.

His lips flickered into a grin.

It wasn’t the smug grin of someone who had been playing with me all along. No, the fear had been real. But he had played it into a trap.

But I'd been here before. Too many times.

I'd been splitting my skull with HEARING as I closed on Lance. The bastard always had something up his sleeve.

Theo came gliding in, like the angel of death, from my blind spot. He was diving, airborne, his axe was blazing like a comet, arcing around to try and take my head off. I met his movement with an upward cleave, the blinding fury of my Level 4 CUT striking him from underneath. The explosion set him hurtling upward, lifting him, before he crashed to the ground.

Lance screamed, "No!"

Then, shaking, quietly, he barely breathed it again. "No..."

I CUT him. Maybe it wasn't honorable. I didn't care. I would have my moment.

The CUT opened the chest of his suit and knocked him on his ass. I stood over Lance. I'd always wanted to be here.

Theo staggered to his feet, but Leona drifted in, occupying the space behind me, to my right. Good. She only needed to keep Theo away for a moment.

Lance looked up at me pitifully, his chest sparking and sizzling.

Then his eyes widened in a strange new horror.

I didn't understand.

Two arms snaked around my body, closing suddenly, their bladed fingers locking together. I wrestled to break free. My captor was smaller and weaker. I would be free in a second.

Lance held a hand out, screamed, pleasing, "No! Not like this!"

My captor turned my body, presenting my head. I only had the briefest impression of a meteor of terrible brilliance, Theo's axe, searing towards me.

Then nothing but blackness.