Everything seemed to freeze for a moment as Kyle understood what was about to happen. Without thinking, tendrils of Parasitic Resonance moved through the chamber, connecting to each person before jumping to the next. As soon as he connected to each, he used them as a point of origin to activate Storm Shelter.
Still, it wasn’t fast enough. D’Oillelat sat on the opposite end of the long table from him, preventing him from connecting to her. Furthermore, Kyle simply didn’t have the time or space to fully form Storm Shelter around each person. So, he improvised. If he couldn’t put together a full barrier, he could at least try and shape the half-formed structure to isolate the blast.
He felt his mana reserves plummet as he pushed more energy into the skill, fully accepting the inefficiency of his actions. For all intents and purposes, Kyle was trying to stop Storm Shelter from fully taking shape, instead pushing the protective barrier into a one-sided wall between the bomb and the Resistance leadership. The lack of structure and interlocking plates meant that he would end up with a significantly weaker version of his skill for a ridiculous cost, but he didn’t have a choice.
A cry of alarm rose as the barrier appeared throughout the room, and D’Oillelat’s eyes darted to Kyle just as the runic inscriptions on the box lit up, fully charged. There was an eerie silence for a fraction of a second, and then the room was awash in light and fire. Kyle swore as he felt parts of his skill breaking apart, the hasty construction insufficient to fully contain the blast.
A wave of heat brushed past him as the weaker barrier in front of him shattered. He focused most of his power on the center of the room, reinforcing the protection around the most vulnerable unawakened. His skin was scorched, Adaptive Regeneration and a charge of Healing Impetus regenerating layer after layer of his Enhanced Carapace. A moment later, he was left with nothing but the smell of acrid smoke and ash. He could hear loud coughing and wails of pain from around the room, and he barely registered the door behind him opening as the guards called for backup. The only think on Kyle’s mind right now was saving as many as he could. “C.H.A.D.D., do we have injured? Dead?”
[MULTIPLE INJURIES, DR. MAYHEW, BUT NO DEATHS.] Orange lights indicated the positions of bodies strewn about the room, and Kyle moved to the closest, who he recognized as the goblin Ner’has. The bespectacled goblin had severe burns across his back and chest, and a quick projection from C.H.A.D.D. showed that his windpipe and lungs had both been scorched badly. Kyle activated Healing Impetus, focusing the skill around the lungs and throat before moving on. With his mana reserves limited after his stunt, he didn’t dare do more than focus on stabilization.
He moved to a nearby ogre next, who was unconscious, though only sporting minor burns. After confirming there was no major damage to her head or neck, he moved on. Before he could get to the troll clutching their arm, however, Auric Perception warned him of a massive movement of mana from across the room.
Kyle barely had time to raise his arms to guard as a bolt of what appeared to be black smoke slammed into him, knocking him off his feet and against a nearby wall. A creeping chill began to set into his arm where he’d been hit, but he couldn’t investigate further as he narrowly ducked out of the way of a second blast, a third managing to graze his thigh.
“Betrayer!”
The voice was undoubtedly D’Oillelat’s, though it sounded deeper, warped somehow. Storm Shelter sprang up around him just in time to intercept a condensed beam of shadows aimed for his head. An odd rushing sound could be heard on the other side of his barrier, and a moment later the beam was replaced by a pitch-black greatsword that crashed into it with incredible force.
Looking beyond the blade of swirling shadow, Kyle got his first look at D’Oillelat. If it weren’t for the similar mana signature that she gave off, Kyle hardly would have recognized her. She’d been badly burned, having been at the weakest part of his barrier, but the wounds were visibly closing before his eyes. Swirling shadows and smoke shrouded her body like armor, and her flame-red hair could barely be seen beneath the roiling darkness surrounding her head.
The starker differences, however, were present with her physical form. Large horns emerged from each side of her skull above her sharply pointed ears, pointing forward directly toward him. Her body had grown nearly a meter, with musculature that wouldn’t be out of place on an ogre. Tusks jutted out on her lower jaw, and Kyle could see fingers tipped with claws on the hand not holding the greatsword.
“Face me, you coward! Answer for what you’ve done!” Her voice was thunder, a roar that shook the room nearly as much as the explosion had. She took 3 more swipes at Storm Shelter with her blade, then made a gesture with her free hand. Synaptic Barbs warned him as smoke appeared and coalesced inside the barrier, deadly lances aiming to pierce him from behind.
Stepping to the side, Kyle shouted back. “This wasn’t me! I had no idea. Just think for a minute! Why would I stay in the room if I knew? Why would I have tried to save your people?”
Her face looked conflicted for a moment, before the look of rage appeared again. With a wordless roar, D’Oillelat redoubled her efforts, slashing against Storm Shelter while she materialized lances within the barrier.
“Calm down and listen! Kyle shouted, a note of desperation in his voice. Storm Shelter wouldn’t stay up for much longer, and if Identify was anything to go by, D’Oillelat was only growing more powerful by the minute. Whatever boosting skill she used seemed to ramp everything, much like Ignition. Added to her already impressive attribute pool, Kyle knew he was likely outclassed.
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Even though he had confidence in his ability to escape, it wouldn’t be an easy trip. Kyle cast a quick look around the room, seeing the Resistance leaders, injured and not, all unmoving and unconscious. Even the D Grade guards seemed to be having a hard time, almost looking shackled by the shadows and smoke swirling around the room. What’s going on? Kyle thought. At this rate, there was a strong chance that the injured would succumb to their wounds from lack of care.
Just then, D’Oillelat released another feral scream, grabbing her weapon in both hands and leveling the point at Kyle. He felt mana begin to gather, and knew that this was going to be a big attack.
Kyle sighed, activating Ignition as power filled his limbs. In a fluid instant, he deactivated Storm Shelter, dropping below the tip of the blade and closing the distance between himself and the raging queen. She tried to pivot and react, but she was too slow. Kyle launched a high-speed palm strike into her stomach, and immediately activated Repel.
D’Oillelat was blasted across the room, slamming into the opposite wall hard enough to crack the sturdy material. Kyle’s attack wasn’t done yet, however. The moment he made contact, he attached a tendril of Parasitic Resonance, invading her mana network.
Among all of Kyle’s opponents, D’Oillelat may have possessed the highest Willpower so far. It felt as though his skill was moving through thick clay instead of water, and Kyle instinctively knew that he’d be hard-pressed to cause lethal damage against her defenses. Fortunately, that wasn’t his goal. He felt the mana flowing through her, seeming to emanate alongside her very heartbeat. With a surge of Willpower, he shifted the boosting skill into a different rhythm, disrupting the flow of the skill.
The results were near-instantaneous. The horns and claws began to recede as D’Oillelat began to shrink, though her shroud of shadow persisted. Most importantly, however, the suppressive effect against her people began to lessen. Kyle could see them stirring, the guards instantly rushing to her side as medics began to enter the room.
Weapons were leveled at Kyle, and Auric Perception warned him of a handful of Mages concentrating energy as well. With a stabilizing breath, Kyle stood calmly. He still had some tricks up his sleeve if he needed to escape, and he thought this was a situation he could salvage. With her boosting skill deactivated, Kyle saw a noticeable lucidity enter D’Oillelat’s eyes, and he hoped beyond hope that they could find a way to talk things through.
His hopes wavered as her gaze sharpened, raising the greatsword in a 2 handed stance. “Your excuses mean very little to me, Courier. My people are injured, dying because of the weapon you brought into my halls.”
“I’m the only reason your people are still alive,” Kyle interjected, meeting her eyes without flinching. “Believe me, I don’t take being used lightly, and the Council will have a reckoning to face when I pass their misdeeds along to the Verdant Republic.”
D’Oillelat snorted, though Kyle noticed her tighten her grip on the weapon. “Bold of you to assume that you’ll be leaving this room at all, Courier.”
“I protected your people, I fought and bled alongside some of your most decorated soldiers, and I was treating your injured before you attacked me. I’m not claiming to be your ally, but it should be pretty damn clear that I’m not your enemy.”
By now, Storm Shelter was ready for use, and Ignition had gone a long way toward replenishing his dwindling mana reserves. If D’Oillelat chose to fight, Kyle was as well-positioned as he could be. Several of the guards bristled at his casual address, but their attention was focused on their queen. The tension in the room was thick, and just as he saw her muscles tighten for an attack a loud voice cried out.
“Your Majesty! Praise the Ancestors, you’re alright!” Drokh pushed past some guards, walking up to a surprised D’Oillelat. “I’d heard there was an explosion, and got here as quickly as I could.”
She looked at the towering ogre, lowering her blade, just a bit. “What are you doing here, Drokh? You’re supposed to be in recovery from your surgery!”
“I pledged my life to protecting you, Your Majesty. I couldn’t stay in a hospital bed after I heard the news.”
With that, he turned to Kyle. “Courier, do you have an explanation?”
D’Oillelat, seeming to just remember Kyle was standing there, raised her sword once more as she refocused on the Survivalist. “He brought a bomb into these chambers, and nearly killed everybody present.”
Drokh raised an eyebrow to Kyle. “Is this true?”
Kyle nodded. “The document box was trapped. A formation inside a formation, only activated once it had been opened. I acted as quickly as I could when I saw it, but wasn’t fast enough to fully form a barrier. The best I was able to do was confirm that there weren’t any casualties directly after the blast.”
“Lies!” D’Oillelat hissed. “You’re no simple courier, that is plain as day.”
Drokh looked at the goblin queen, then to Kyle. “He’s certainly not simple, Your Majesty. But if his goals were to harm the Resistance, to weaken your leadership, he had plenty of opportunities to ensure that neither Ver’ah, Hanastrel, or I survived. As you know, he’s the only reason I’m still alive today.”
D’Oillelat looked conflicted, her hands tightening around the greatsword’s hilt. Finally, she let out a breath. “Damn it all. Everybody, out. Except you, Courier.”
The guards began to protest, though she silenced them with a glance. Slowly, the destroyed conference room was vacated, leaving Drokh, D’Oillelat, and Kyle. She looked at the ogre. “You were included in that, you know. Go. Heal. I’ll be fine.”
“Your Majesty, I –“ Drokh began, before D’Oillelat cut him off. “I know, you’re worried. I’ll be fine, I’ll keep my temper in check. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and I’ll hear him out. But you being here injured won’t help with any of that. So go and get better.”
Drokh looked about to argue further, but finally gave a curt nod. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
D’Oillelat watched him as he left the room, then turned her attention fully to Kyle. “Why do you think I sent them away, Courier?”
“You know, I was just wondering the same thing,” Kyle said.
“Because I think we can speak honestly. I think we can broach some topics they would be upset with. But mostly because, if I decide that you were involved, they would get in the way. Your attack earlier confirmed that your power is a cut above my guards, Drokh included. That doesn’t mean it’s a cut above me. Understood?”
Kyle nodded, deactivating Ignition as she lowered her sword. “Understood. Now, do you mind telling me what the hell is going on?”