In unison, four Erzalis Frames came falling out of the sky, two in front of them and two behind. They landed in complete silence, which startled Ma’Z for a second before he scolded himself.
Could easily be magic, or tech built into their Frames, dummy, he thought.
He watched as the silhouettes spread out around them and readied themselves to attack.
->> This is where the fun begins, boyo <<-
Umbral Eye of the Keeper has awakened. Sending Fate’s projected outcome.
The Tourmaline Eye of Nephthys is threatening to destroy all of the lead members of the Fallen Reapers. Two outcomes possible.
1) Side with the Tourmaline eye and betray Heaven.
Reward: Inherit all of Heaven’s powers and gain the backing of the Tourmaline Eye.
2) Side with the Fallen Reapers and push back the Tourmaline Eye
Reward: Advancement towards second awakening.
Which do you choose? [Side with the Tourmaline Eye] [Side with the Fallen Reapers]
“What?” Ma’Z said to himself. “I don’t even know who the hell these people are. Why would I side with someone like that?”
Even feeling as insulted as did, he was trying to cope with the fact that time had seemed to come to a near standstill. Everything was moving in incredibly slow motion. Because of that, he could see the cultists primed to lunge forward in unison while the beginnings of a flare could be seen emanating from Vivi’s Frame.
It was evident that his choice would have a large impact on how the coming encounter was going to play out, and he couldn’t help but feel uneasy that a single choice was price he had to pay to mess with someone’s fate.
It completely flew in the face of his concept of free will.
The irony wasn’t lost on him that his choice was never a choice to begin with. He chose to stick with the reapers. In doing so, the system prompted him once again.
You have chosen to side with the Fallen Reapers. The awakening of your third eye has turned Fate’s attention upon you. You can choose to deny this power, but certain factions have already taken notice. If you choose to go forward, the path ahead will be very difficult.
Knowing this, will you still keep your choice? [Yes] [No]
Again, he chose yes. What did that have to do with his current situation? And why was it pointing out of the obvious?
With his attention split between the prompts in his Vision and the looming threats just beyond, he nerves were starting to fray as he knew this time freeze would end at any moment, and the last thing he wanted to do was be caught staring ahead like a moron.
The system didn’t seem to care though, as it sent yet another prompt.
“Are you fucking serious right now?” he yelled.
The various factions of Fate have noted your decision and have issued a directive: Save the Fallen Reapers.
Reward: Enhance one ability and gain 5% advancement for every Reaper saved.
“Don’t suppose I can have sightlines or something to see who’s targeting who, can I?” Ma’Z asked no one in particular.
No one answered.
Anxiously tapping away at the command rings on his Frame, he thought of what he was going to do once time resumed. How was he going to save Heaven’s friends?
As he ruminated on it, he thought of what he was just given, and wondered if he was already given a hint.
“Hmm, ok. Awakened power. I think I hear you,” he said.
Concentrating on his third eye, sight lines started to appear from each of the attackers. They weren’t fully formed yet, due to the time dilation, but he had an idea of who they were aiming for.
Now that it seemed his decisions were finally made, he was starting to feel like time was beginning to come back to normal.
The first evidence of this was a party invite appearing in his Vision, which he promptly accepted.
A moment later, his Vision gained a party list, listing all of the Fallen Reapers, and then a second list formed just below them in red text that read: Vasher, Deterion, Solus, and Ramses.
Their names also appeared next to each Frame, giving Ma’Z a new reference point to accompany the enemy Riders. In mere relative seconds, the battle was already advancing, and Ma’Z was now aware that every one of them was targeting Heaven.
This was to be yet another assassination.
“Oh no the fuck you don’t,” Ma’Z declared. “Alright, Fate or whatever you are, I’ve accepted your terms. You can give me the greenlight anytime now.”
Battle commencing in T-minus 30 seconds.
Ma’Z dug his hands into the command ring, initiating the shift into Assault form. Sparkplug responded immediately to his desire to switch, but was still under the influence of the time dilation.
One awaiting spell and one awaiting ability gained from defeating the Selvig Brothers still requires your attention.
Would you like to inherit them now? [Yes] [No]
“What the hell? You’re seriously asking me this now?” Ma’Z growled.
Ma’Z vaguely remembered seeing a similar prompt from the earlier attempt on his life. Due to his deteriorating mental state and sustained physical damage, it was the last thing on his mind then, so he dismissed it thinking nothing of it. He had completely forgotten about it until just now.
Still, whatever it was, it was free power, and he was going to need everything he could get.
Selecting yes, he skimmed the two descriptions, grinning wildly at his luck.
“Oh ho ho ho,” he laughed, “Now this is something I can work with.”
You have gained the following ability:
Bypass Defense: Your attacks have a 20% chance to ignore defense. Successful hits ignore all magical defenses and 30% of all physical defenses.
You have gained the following spell:
Line of Sight: Whenever you make eye contact with a creature that can see, you can teleport them to a location within your field of view.
By the time Ma’Z finished reading the descriptions, time had almost returned to normal. The countdown was now down to three, and the sightlines he created were all very clearly aimed at Heaven.
Two.
He turned his attention towards his fiancé, taking in her readied action, and what she was intending to do.
One.
“Sorry, otru’fin. You’ll understand in a second.”
Time resumed.
Ma’Z completed his transition into Assault form, having veered into Heaven mid transition. At the same time, he shot footloose at her to erase her grip on the road.
The two collided, and Ma’Z quickly yanked at her leg, to pull her further out of the path of their assault.
The four assassins shot over them, only managing to collide with her flailing gun, and no sooner that they flew over her, Vivi’s chaff finally dispersed, coating their forms, and giving the group the ability to see their invisible foe.
Sorry, they were coming straight for your head, and I had to act, Ma’Z sent to Heaven.
Heaven didn’t speak, instead sending him a visual head nod through his Vision, as she turned her attention back to their enemies.
The party dropped their cloaks as Brigand’s ætheric shield shattered on their pass through, but the big man had immediately deployed physical shields to each member of their party. They floated comfortably just at arm’s reach, and found that he had a measure of control over where they were facing.
The four had recovered almost immediately, their sight lines still unmistakably targeting Heaven.
All four are still targeting you. I’ll intercept Deterion. Can you do something about the others? he sent.
Remember when I told you about how rare it was to see a Rider with gold affinity? Heaven sent back.
Um, yeah?
Well, you’re looking at four of them now. They’re all Chosen tier and nearly all of the gold affinity Riders joined together to form the Tourmaline Eye. We can’t fight a protracted battle with them, let alone a sustained head-to-head.
Are we going to be alright?
We have to be. I’m getting you two back to the fraternity no matter what. Now watch and learn. Even with the bad odds, this ain’t our first rodeo, Heaven sent back.
“Formation Four Corners,” she called out.
Ma’Z stayed his course, watching with unblinking eyes as the members of the Fallen Reapers took up position around himself, Heaven, and Striga. He paid particular attention to the enemy’s sightlines as they broke as each body passed in front of them, then re-established themselves with unerring accuracy.
“Am I missing something Sparkplug? They’re only targeting Heaven, like they could care less about the rest,” he said.
“Not sure, but I’ll give you a tip. She might be a high value target, but she’s just a target. Keep your eyes open. This is essentially open PvP. Targets will change on a dime, and you need to be ready to react,” Sparkplug said.
“How far until we get back to the fraternity?”
“Approximately twenty-one kilometers.”
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“Can you center it in my Vision?”
“Got it boss.”
21 Kilometers
During the short exchange, the battle had already gone into full swing. Vivi was already reapplying the chaff as the dust particles were quickly being swept away, reducing what little visibility they had. At the same time, Brigand was using his large body like a swift moving wall. Whenever one would press forward, he was there with his wall and a cluster of grenades in retort. The one he was currently facing was designated as Vasher.
Vasher, however, was matching him blow for blow. The grenades seemed to have little effect, and nearly every time he slammed into Brigand’s shield, the sheer force caused it to buckle, forcing him to create another. If it was true about the nature of titan frames, then his æther had to be draining fast.
Oraria had taken up the right flank position against one the who was marked as Solus. With what little he could make of the Frame, it had the look of a Scout. It was nimble, effortlessly weaving side to side, seeming to prefer melee combat, wielding a dagger in each hand.
Ma’Z looked at his own frame, noting that each arm had a pile bunker built into each arm, which he originally mistook for cannons. Being unable to make out any fine detail of the assailants, Ma’Z felt woefully uninformed.
Solus and Oraria were exchanging blows at incredible speed, giving Ma’Z the impression that whatever spells she was using were likely self-buffs for her to keep up the melee.
It was a good thing too, as each of her swings were either knocked wide, or perfectly parried. She, in turn, was doing the same, neither one giving the other any ground. Given the situation, Ma’Z found Oraria’s skill to be utterly terrifying to be able to perform on that level with such low visibility.
A single report from a rifle blast brought his attention to War, who was positioned on his left flank. The Tiefling held his Sniper Rifle at his hip. He was firing in a steady measured cadence, but instead seeing long streaks fire across the open field, several rays of lights spread out at impossible angles, veering violently towards the one named Deterion.
The pilot was ready for it, however, falling back in a zig-zagging blur. His Frame became almost completely obscured within the fields of crops it was currently plowing through. Each of the rays tracked it with pinpoint precision, but still never found their mark. The only signs that it was still out there was the wake it left as it ripped through the crops like paper, and the gunfire that answered War’s own, that absolutely hammered away his roaming shield. Before War’s last shot failed to hit its mark, the shield had not only crumpled, but his sniper rifle was knocked clean from War’s hands.
Vivi answered immediately, intercepting with her own shield, before War caught the following volley as she moved towards the center with Ma’Z. Using War for cover, she began to furiously type away at a holographic keyboard.
Several small chutes opened up on her Frame where a swarm of nanomachines flew out across the field around them, settling into a wide bubble. Light beams scattered throughout the array, and before anyone could tell what was happening, everything within a kilometer radius of them was surrounded by a real time projection of their surroundings, except now with the added addition of all the enemy Riders rendered in perfect detail.
“Simulation complete,” Vivi said. “Reaper 1, awaiting orders.”
Heaven had moved away from Ma’Z, taking up the south position in front of Striga to put herself between him and the last Rider, Ramses. After the first attack, he had mostly stayed back, but now seemed poised to go all out.
Ma’Z couldn’t quite make out his face, but the Frame itself was nothing short of a weapon personified. The blood red knight radiated an energy that tugged at Ma’Z to engage with it. He couldn’t quite call it a need to fight, but a definite need to establish superiority.
As for the Rider’s Frame, he wasn’t sure he could call it a Knight specialization, only that its features resembled one in a classical sense, complete with pauldrons and tassets. In its assault form, streaks of golden eye-shaped filigree ran across its body, with chrysteeline insets placed throughout. The way the tassets moved, it almost looked like it was wearing clothing, behaving almost organically like Heaven’s prehensile tail. Its head resembled a lion with horns.
“Reapers, mission details are as follows,” Heaven said, calling Ma’Z’s attention back to the present. “As much as I’d like to kill them right here and now, our priority is still to get Striga and Ma’Z to safety. We’re now in a running battle. The objective: fall back to the fraternity. Understood?”
“Yes sir,” everyone answered in unison.
Once she got everyone’s confirmation, she brough up a video of Ma’Z in her Vision.
“Ma’Z, I got a small mission for you as well,” she said.
Ma’Z perked up, not sure what he was going to accomplish in the situation.
“I want you to treat this like a street race. Under no circumstances can you leave the road. Got it?”
“Is this really the time to be doing this?” Ma’Z asked.
Ramses rushed forward in a blur, a hammer in one hand, and a shotgun in the other. His hammer rang loud against her roaming shield, shattering it instantly. Heaven ducked out of the hammer’s path, moving to his flank into his waiting gun. A wall of vines answered Ramses’ follow-up attack, grasping at his gun arm, pulling it just in time for his shot go wide.
Ramses twisted with the pull, using the momentum to dodge out of the way of Heaven’s own burst of gunfire, while Striga concentrating on directing the grasping vines towards the crimson Frame.
“Yeah! This is absolutely the time,” she said, seeming completely undisturbed by the sudden melee. “In fact, if you can manage to keep up with this fight and stay on this road manually, I guarantee you that there won’t be a soul alive that can best you on the tracks.”
“You said these guys were all at gold affinity. I feel like I should be doing something more than using this as a practice lap.”
“You’re also only Blooded tier, hun. What I need from you is to do your utmost best to survive. Your forte is driving. So, use that and keep yourself moving while we keep these guys off of you and the headmaster.”
“Strongly disagree. I have golden affinity too, you know. I can do better than just keep my wheels on the road.”
“Spoken like a true reaper,” Heaven chuckled. “Tell you what, since you haven’t been properly acclimated to the command structure, you can try if you like, but if you manage to accomplish my task, the take will be a complete overhaul of that Frame. Complete custom job from head to toe. Blank check.”
Ma’Z listened as the others clashed all around him, his attention still on the four sightlines glued to Heaven’s head.
Meanwhile, Sparkplug seemed to be holding in a scream of excitement from Heaven’s proclamation.
Ignoring the machine and not wanting to waste another second, he said, “Fine. So, while you guys get pummeled, I get to take pot shots and try not to get shot to pieces in return. Copy. Just say the words.”
Ramses jumped into the air, summoning a series of boulders to intercept the ten-centimeter-thick vines erupting out of the ground in an attempt to restrict the red Rider. He came down in a thunder crash, the impact sending up rubble and debris large enough to knock Striga aside. Even with the aid of his shield, the sheer mass of the rocks were enough to force him aside, and with a burst of jet fire, Ramses rocketed towards Heaven.
Heaven responded by charging towards the front of the pack, a pair of drones launching out of her void space, followed by a quick casting of Flash of the Brightlord. Her simulacrum appeared in an instant, and as soon as Heaven passed Ma’Z, she said, “Green light.”
18 Kilometers
Ramses blew past Ma’Z without so much as giving him a second look, and without hesitation, Ma’Z shot at his feet with Footloose, ‘causing the rounder to lurch forward. Instead of falling over, however, the enemy pilot immediately dropped into Drive form, doing a complete 180 to ride the momentum before rising back into his assault form.
His sightline, however, immediately dropped from Heaven and then locked onto him.
“Well alright, let’s see how good you fuckers really are,” Ma’Z said through gritted teeth.
Ma’Z dropped back, swinging Durandal in a flourish, filling the air with Ion Trails. Ramses came forward, summoning more boulders out of thin air, forcing Ma’Z to duck and weave.
Ma’Z quickly noticed that whatever was giving him his sightlines were also giving him targeting lines from any attacks with him as the target. As a result, he could see a few seconds before the attack manifested where each rock was heading and moved accordingly.
Ramses didn’t stop his pursuit either. His Frame gleamed menacingly under all of the sparks.
Ma’Z turned to face him in a slightly ready position, hiding his rear hand as he snapped his fingers.
Streaks of electricity erupted around Ramses, engulfing him in a web of lightning. Bullet fire from Storm Shatter immediately followed, along with more lightning. Despite that, Ramses continued his pursuit, his sightline never faltering.
Then there was a second.
Ready Line of Sight.
Ma’Z followed the new sightline in the direction of Deterion who had broken away from War. One second he was trading gunfire with War and Vivi, and the next, he was directly over Ma’Z’s head, poised to drop directly on his head.
Deterion’s Frame was covered in similar eye-shaped golden filigree, except his Frame was a blue rounder wielding a war scythe, pointed directly at Ma’Z’s chest.
The armor seemed rather light for a Rounder, with heavier armor around the chest, arms, and shins, while being relatively lean around the waist, thighs and upper arms. Like Ramses, it had a more organic look to it, looking more person than machine.
Unlike Ramses, however, Ma’Z could make out his face, not missing the fact that he had a blue third eye. Ma’Z made eye contact with the Rider, triggering Line of Sight.
“See me now bitch?” he grinned.
One second Deterion was falling towards Ma’Z’s head, and the next, he was face first in front of Brigand, who deftly spun sideways, grabbing the fallen Rider, and using him as a club to bash directly into Vasher.
Vasher caught Deterion. Being a titan himself, the large Frame easily absorbed the concussive force and seemed to erect a shield of his own to cancel out Deterion’s inertia altogether.
“Boss, is your eye still open?” Sparkplug asked.
“Uh, yeah. Why?” Ma’Z said.
“Told you before, you’re capable of so much more than you think. It’s being cribbed at the moment, but I can still amplify what you currently have. Having your eye open just makes it easier for me.”
“Well, if that means I won’t be utterly useless in this free-for-all shit storm, then by all means, amp me.”
Elemental Transmutation: Burst Momentum -> Gravitic Burst.
“Aim it into Vasher’s path and push.” Sparkplug ordered.
Ma’Z turned to the pair, expecting to rush forward to engage them directly, but instead, a hole appeared just behind Vasher. One second the pair were recovering from the sudden attack and were getting ready to double up on Brigand, and then the next second, Vasher was rocked backwards, thrown into the pavement. Brigand made full use of the opportunity, bodily ramming into Deterion to put him on the ground next to Vasher.
Gravitic Burst You create a point in a space you can see and designate the polarity. Any object caught within its gravitation field will either be pushed or pulled in the direction designated at the time of activation.
“Nice move, but warn me next time, kid,” Brigand chided.
Ma’Z nodded in appreciation and said, “My bad.”
“It’s fine. Just keep doing it,” Brigand grinned, dropping back to take up position with Heaven.
Solus and Oraria were still trading knife blows. The two were going at it at such a furious pace now, that Ma’Z could barely make out each individual strike. He could hardly believe Oraria still had the presence of mind to keep up with the rest of their convoy.
Left foot, Footloose. Right foot, Void Grips
Ma’Z dropped each spell in tandem, watching Solus go from viciously going back and forth with Oraria, to crashing into the ground at high speed, tumbling end over end. Oraria adjusted almost immediately, tossing her daggers into her void space, and holding her palms forward. Her arms recoiled considerably as concussive shells exploded from her palms into the tumbling Frame.
Ma’Z noted that it too was blue and covered in the same patterning as the others. The only difference was its scout Frame and the lynx that made up its head.
“If I wanted the help, rookie, I’d ask for it,” Oraria shouted.
“Sorry! My bad,” Ma’Z apologized.
“Skat boy, it’s fine. I needed the help. I hate this bautra with every fiber of my being.”
“Uh, you’re welcome then?”
The two events happened within the span of seconds, and in that timeframe, all of their sightlines shifted directly to him, which quickly got Ma’Z to wondering how they were able to coordinate so quickly without uttering a single word.
And then it hit him.
“Yo, what the fuck? Are they all I’lu?” he said.
Glad you finally figured it out. Now give ol’ Solus a Gravitic Burst too.
He did.
“Falsh yeah! Kiss my auhs, ya three-eyed yautshi! That’s what I’m talking about Ma’Hiz. Keep doing that,” Oraria cheered, as she joined the others at the rear.
It was at that moment Ma’Z realized that woman only had two modes, and he couldn’t help but feel particularly happy at the encouragement.
When he turned back to Vasher and Deterion, he saw that War and Vivi had joined Brigand, laying covering fire to keep the pair at bay.
As he was doing that, Heaven and her simulacrum were flanking Ramses, fighting to gain an advantage over the other. Ramses’ every blow threatened to send Heaven flying, but with her Godseye and First Light, she was able to keep his attention split just enough to stay even with him, knowing the moment she messed up, he would make her regret it.
It was only because of Vivi’s simulation giving them a real time representation of each of the frames that she could even manage that. It also helped that she wasn’t fighting him alone.
Roots continued to sprout from the ground attempting to trip up the quartet. With each destroyed vine, spores were released into the air that started to create buds all over their Frames that eventually started to grow more vines attempting to entangle them further.
Along with the spell assault, Striga bore a pair of handheld shotguns, but to Ma’Z’s absolute surprise, a pair of missile pods soon appeared from Striga’s void space, onto his shoulders.
Ma’Z had seen the sightlines rapidly switching back and forth between him and whatever party members were currently engaging them. However, almost in unison, they all converged on him once again.
Once the pods had attached themselves to the headmaster, he locked himself in place facing the pack. There was the sudden sound of metal violently ripping, as a hole tore through the upper torso of Brigand’s Frame, narrowly missing his face. Brigand quickly dropped an energy shield and backed away towards the Ma’Z.
Ma’Z could hardly believe that Vasher managed to close the gap so quickly and managed to do so much damage in a short amount of time. Thinking back to what he saw of the sightlines, Ma’Z started to wonder if Brigand took that blow in his place.
Oraria, likewise, backed off as several pinpoint dagger strikes ripped through her Frame’s limbs. Again, Solus’ sightline was pointed directly at Ma’Z, and this time he could see she was standing directly in his line of sight, body blocking Solus from making a beeline towards him.
War caught her almost immediately, followed by Vivi, as they deployed more barriers to deter the Rider from following. It was in that same instant that Striga fired.
Two harpoon-like missiles shot forth, snagging both Vasher and Solus. With a violent tug, he pulled each of them to their knees, and the group hastily pulled away, putting as much distance as they could between them.
Ramses, however, continued his pursuit, unperturbed, tagging each of his allies as he passed. Ma’Z dropped another footloose in his path, causing him to falter momentarily once again. His sightline vanished for just a moment, but re-established itself quickly, the line seemingly thicker than it had been the last time.
In that same instant, Ma’Z made eye contact with the tireless hunter, and forced him backwards with Line of Sight.
When Heaven retuned to Ma’Z’s side, she had her rifle out, with War beside her with a new rifle at the ready.
They were granted a moment of reprieve but knew that was all it was. Soon, they would be back on the defensive, their dash to safety only a few short kilometers away. They only had to hold out just a little bit longer.
Round two was about to begin.