Her body was enveloped in more shadows, returning to her previous state as she howled.
Orange, I need ideas. Now! I know you’ve been analyzing this entire fight. That’s all you ever do is analyze. Now put that to use and help us get out of this alive.
Fleeing has the highest chance of survival for you.
And the others?
They will certainly die.
The sphinx spread his massive wings wide and created a barrier of swirling sand around him. The grains form a protective shield, deflecting Tasha’s onslaught of shadowy spears.
Next option.
You lack the firepower required to inflict significant damage while being slower. With the lack of resources, tools, and weaponry, in forty-five thousand simulations, we can’t find a solution where the werewolf is subdued and everyone else survives.
So you’re saying I need a bigger weapon? Is there a way I can use that mana battery? Can I overcharge a shot from my gun?
The gun in question doesn’t have such a function. However, I would suggest you not retrieve the mana battery, as contact with it will drain the mana into you. This mana battery has enough mana to leave you in a debilitated state, making it unsuitable for a combat situation.
What about her? What if she absorbs all the mana? Will it do the same?
Insufficient data.
Tasha lunged at the sphinx. Her claws tore through the sand shield, but the sphinx swiftly dodged into the air. The gust of wind from his wings pushed Tasha back, but she dug her claws in to stop.
Guess.
Highest probability: she would suffer light mana poisoning and thus have excess mana. This would prove counterproductive once she recovers from the initial shock if she were to absorb all the mana instantly.
What do you mean by that?
She would have to willingly absorb the mana from the battery. Unlike you, she doesn’t have conductive skin, allowing for such an opportunity.
Can I force it on her?
No. Your best option to force the werewolf’s body to absorb extra mana is to destroy the mana battery in close proximity to her, and her body will absorb the residual ambient mana. It won’t have the effect you wish for, as the destruction of the battery will have a more explosive reaction.
Like a bomb?
Correct.
Tasha had become a whirlwind of claws and shadowy spears. The sphinx could only maneuver out of the way, desperately keeping his distance. He deployed another sand shield to absorb the impact of Tasha’s blows when he was backed into a corner.
Orange, did you ever think about using that in your simulations?
In one hundred of them.
And?
For the best results, the mana battery must be in contact with her at the time of detonation. Otherwise, she will be able to escape the lethal blast radius.
Could I survive the blast?
We estimate a 46.32% chance of survival.
What about the sphinx, Elara, and Shadara? Will they be all right?
Depending on their distance from the blast’s point of origin, they can suffer anywhere from lethal injuries to light mana poisoning. The sphinx has the highest probability of surviving along with Elara, as she is a spectral being. Shadara needs to be as far away as possible to survive. At least thirty feet.
I promise, I’m not a masochist. Now how do I get it to touch her and detonate it?
The first obstacle that must be overcome is touching the battery yourself. Use one of the latex gloves in the bag of holding to insulate yourself before doing anything else. Then, once you have the battery in position, one bullet from your gun will rupture it and cause the explosion.
Tasha’s claw grew enormous as inky black shadows converged on it. The sphinx dissipated into another cloud of sand just before Tasha struck. Her claw shredded stone, wood, books, and everything else that was there.
When the sphinx reappeared, there was a massive gash running down his entire side, leaving his one wing barely hanging on. He stumbled to the ground, bleeding heavily. I sprinted over to Shadara and pulled her over to the wall.
Elara ran up to us. “What do we do?”
Tasha was running towards the sphinx.
I pointed at the sphinx as I sprinted towards him. “Help him. I need time.”
Elara followed after me. “You have a plan?”
“Something like that,” I murmured. It’s either success or suicide. But if I do nothing, we all die.
I ran up to Tasha and swiped at her with my arm blade. She caught the blade and growled at me before snapping it. My vision flashed white as I dropped to my knees and clutched my broken arm blade.
Tasha slammed a foot on my chest and pinned me to the ground. As she raised her claws, Elara wailed something incomprehensible. The shockwave knocked Tasha back and forced her to cover her ears. I rolled away and out of the line of fire from Elara.
I scrambled to fish out the latex gloves from the bag of holding. When I pulled out the one for the left hand, I noticed it was bright pink and would cover up to my elbow. Killa, what were you thinking, buying something like this?
I used what was left of my arm blade to cut the majority of the gloves so that they just covered my hand. Elara began her auditory assault on Tasha and held it. I used that time to desperately get the glove on, but the latex and the metal of my skin weren’t exactly a good combination. I had to tug and pull the glove every inch because it wouldn’t slide on my skin.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Come on. Come on.
Elara kept screaming until she likely ran out of breath. Tasha glared at her sister and raised her hand. She made a crushing motion, and a field of shadow tentacles appeared from under Elara, wrapping her up and pulling her to the ground.
No.
I finished putting on the glove and reached into the bag to pull out the mana battery. But just as my hand went into the bag, Tasha plunged her claws into Elara’s mouth and pulled down, ripping off her bottom jaw, and everything down to her navel. My heart dropped as I nearly dropped the mana battery in my hands.
Elara’s body exploded into a flash of light and a blood-curdling shriek.
Tasha stared at the hand that she killed her sister with. “You can rest in peace again, sister. This place will never use your soul like that again, I promise.” The werewolf turned her glowing red eyes on me. “Your turn.”
I pulled my gun out of my pocket and screamed as I charged the werewolf. I kept the mana battery close as I fired off one of my two final rounds. The bullet struck Tasha in the center of her chest, but she barely flinched. She swiped a claw, and I ducked it only to receive a knee to my gut, knocking all the wind out of me.
Tasha’s claws dug into my back as she caught me before I hit the ground. She hoisted me up with one hand and held me up so that we were face-to-face.
“You had your chance, yet you sided with the Soul Nexus.” I could smell blood on her breath as she spoke to me. “Now, what are you planning to do with that?” Tasha pulled the mana battery from my grasp and analyzed it. “It wouldn’t have worked anyway. You were too weak, and now I'll tear you apart—slowly.”
Her jaws opened wide and bit down on my shoulder. I could feel her teeth puncture my lung and crush my bones. She’s still holding the battery. With every ounce of consciousness that was slipping, I raised my hand to have the gun touch the battery, and before Tasha could react, I fired.
The mana battery detonated with a high-pitch zip into a deafening roar. It felt like the very air shattered around us as a blinding flash of intense, vivid light engulfed us. The explosion filled my vision with a chaotic tempest of iridescent hues, swirling in a mesmerizing dance of colors.
The shockwave ripped through me, and I could feel my skin burning away. I went hurtling through the air, tossed like a rag doll in a tempest. The concussive force stripped every sense from me other than sight as, somehow, my eyes continued to function and survive the damage.
As the world settled, I hit the ground. It wasn’t because I felt the impact, but everything stopped spinning. My energy rapidly plummeted as I could feel Orange repairing me with the nanites. It wasn’t long before my organs were repaired and restarted as my nanites worked from the inside out.
I survived.
Then all the agony of exposed and tender nerves hit me. I screamed in pain, as I no doubt was feeling the pain I should’ve felt when the battery exploded. Even though time for me did move slower, everything slowed down even further as I writhed on the ground.
My energy level was at seventy percent and dropping. Will I have enough energy for this? Orange, are there any injuries you don’t have to heal? Can you save some energy?
Apologies; just to survive, you will use your entire energy reserve. You need to consume calories as soon as you regain the function of your muscles.
What is there to eat? Nothing.
You can eat anything. As long as it is organic, we can break it down and convert it into energy.
I could feel my muscles twitching as my brain reconnected to them. My energy level was down to twelve percent. There’s nothing here. I crawled to my hands and knees.
Tasha lay sprawled amidst the debris on the other side of a crater, her fur matted with blood and several obviously broken bones. She was still barely moving, but her missing arm and half her torso were horrifically burned, guaranteeing her death.
You must consume something.
I shook my head. No. There is no way I’m going to eat her. That’s—that’s wrong. I can’t do it.
If you don’t, you will die!
I crawled over to Tasha. It felt like everything was back to normal, but my HUD said I had one percent energy.
Tasha struggled to turn her head towards me. Her crimson eyes, dull and filled with pain, met mine. “You—you survived?”
“I told you, I am hard to kill.” I sat next to her. “Although, I’m not out of the woods yet. I might not make it.”
“Why did you do it?” Her voice was hoarse, and I could hear the subtle gurgle of fluid too.
I sighed. “You left me no choice. You killed Elara, your sister, again. Then you were going to kill me. And if I hadn’t done anything, you would’ve killed the sphinx, and then the tower would eject everyone on this floor into space.”
“What?” Tasha sputtered into a coughing fit. “Did I really stand no chance of destroying the Nexus?”
Now I almost feel bad for her. All the pain and suffering she went through and caused—all of it was for nothing since, in a moment, the Nexus would end everything.
“I don’t believe you.” Tears fell from the werewolf’s eyes. “You’re lying.”
I closed my eyes. “I’m not. Gary told us about what would happen, and that’s why we were even here. If the Nexus has a failsafe like that, do you really believe that you’re the first person to challenge the Nexus?”
Warning: Energy at point five percent.
Tasha just laid there, crying. “But I am—I was different. I was going to succeed. Who will save everyone? Who will end this nightmare and destroy this abomination of exploitation?”
I put a hand on her shoulder. “There have been others like you, and there will be more after you. Everyone who enters this place thinks they are the ones to succeed whereas everyone else has failed. But that’s not true.”
Tasha coughed up a blob of blood. “So, why did you come? If you are so pessimistic, why bother?”
“Because I want to live.” I clutched my fist and pressed it against my heart.
Warning: Energy at point two percent.
Tasha’s eyes flared with anger. “Why do you want to live so badly? Why would you risk your life just to live?”
I—I don’t know. Why do I want to live? Because I’m afraid of dying? Because I don’t want to be simply erased? I don’t have an answer for her. But I can’t find an answer if I die now.
Warning: Energy at point zero seven percent.
I stabbed my arm blade into her heart. I put my whole body weight on my blade just to drive it in until she stopped breathing. My HUD displayed that I received twenty stats and seven hundred twenty-six thousand six hundred and twenty-seven shards.
She’s finally dead. It’s almost over.
Afterword, I cut out a chunk of flesh from her. With a grimace, I stuffed it into my mouth. It was awful, and I almost gagged. I forced myself to swallow. It was the most inhuman thing I could think of, but I wanted to survive.
Then I ate another, and another.
Each piece felt like I was betraying myself. Tears rolled down my face, and I couldn’t take it anymore. The guilt was too much. I collapsed on her chest as my energy levels rose to one percent.
Warning: Lycanthropy DNA not purged. Warning: Shadow corruption not purged. Placing the host in stasis to prevent further damage.
I didn’t have time to comprehend the message before everything went black.