There was a brief moment of stillness on the battlefield. My one hand was already moving quickly in place while I held the drawer of books with the other hand. Why had these people taken this moment to attack and make a mess?

Probably the Avatar, doing something if I had to guess. The soldiers in red had a decent number of stats, but nowhere close to mine. “A choice. What to take? Who to save?” Somehow the stupid Avatar was whispering in my head at the heightened mental speed as I looked at the chaos unfolding in the heart of the Forbidden City.

The Airship Port was a wreck, and the entire plaza was a mess. “SHA!” I roared out loud and had Abs point at the soldiers in red while making her wound disappear. Thank you Bao Wang for teaching me the Chinese word for kill. The Black Talons cheered as the soldiers in red were cut off from approaching. Time to get out of here.

“ACK!” I let out a cry and stumbled as a knife was driven into my back. I dropped the drawer of books and spun. “Acid Shot,” x20. A cloaked figured dodged backwards and disappeared. I ripped the knife out of my back. It was stacked with passive nature-poison enchantments. A star was emblazoned on the hilt. I knew one person who liked stars. But why target me like this?

I used my Sense stat, but I couldn’t find the person who had stabbed me. Whatever skills they were using were top notch.

“Rally to me! For the High Priestess!” I heard a man shout in the plaza as he cleaved his way closer to my position. I dropped the knife in the drawer, quickly picked it up and handed it to Abs who still looked like the Divine Empress.

“Come here!” I told Fuyuka who was carrying the screaming child. She quickly raced over the few steps. I wrapped one hand around her waist and one around Abs. This was going to be messy. “Hang on!” I kicked off the ground as gently as possible. Air Burst. Air Burst. Air Burst.

We landed on top of the palace. I stumbled slightly. Beam attacks flashed in our direction taking out the nearby Black Talon soldiers. “Stay here!” I told Fuyuka, there was no time to tell her my plan. I already leapt off the palace. Air Burst. Air Burst. Air Burst.

I flew towards the center of the plaza and impacted the ground near the pillars. There was a slight tremor and the stone plaza cracked underneath my impact. My armor bent around my feet, but I didn’t have time to care. I slammed both hands down on a pillar and spent 5,512,835 points for a restoration.

My flesh healed, but there was still lingering pain. Probably a bit of curse damage. The strikes from the Inquisitor hadn’t been light.

“RAAAAWR!” A giant made of meat burst out of a building. It had no skin and was dripping blood that kept coming out from between its muscles. It then began shooting red energy beams out of its eyes. One soldier in red was blown apart into flaming chunks. Then it turned some Black Talons who were cheering and blew them apart into flaming chunks as well. Time to get out of here.

I kicked off the ground and soared into the air. I aimed for the airship still flying around and quickly closed the distance, using my Air Burst skill over and over. They zoomed away and were faster than me with my skill. I adjusted my course to get back to the palace as a few beam attacks tried to take me out, but I juked them. I landed on the palace roof. So much for taking an airship. I needed to figure this out.

The first thing I had Abs do was shift into its chair form with a single handle on the back. There was a spot on top of Abs for the drawer of books. Fuyuka quickly sat down while holding onto the child. “Leaving little old me?”

“Nope!” I replied with a grin and grabbed the Avatar around the neck with my right hand and the back of Abs where there was a handle with my left hand. I was about to kick off the ground when a blade emerged out of thin air and decapitated Fuyuka and plunged into Abs. I felt Abs die and the bond between us broke. There was no warning, no danger sense, nothing.

Fuyuka’s head went toppling away in spray of blood. The child was covered in blood as Fuyuka’s corpse went limp. I dropped Abs, but the cloaked figure had already grabbed the child. Ten soldiers in red climbed up on top of the palace while this was all happening and rushed at me.

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“Me or the child. You can’t have both. Oh, and your books are soaked in blood. Too bad.” Screw the Avatar. I tossed her over the side of the five story building. The soldiers in red all leapt after her. I completed the heist, but I had lost the war. Time to cut my losses and get out of here.

“Remember our deal. Save the child. Consider this a gift from me for putting up with my nonsense. You really were a good sport. Revealing thread!” A golden thread suddenly materialized and at the far end I saw the Cloaked Figure running away. A shimmering golden outline surrounded them.

I kicked off the ground and closed in on the figure. They threw several enchanted knives at me, but they were slow. I weaved around them and closed in. Too slow to stop me. “One step closer, and I killed the kid.” A female voice said as an enchanted dagger was pressed up to the kid’s neck.

“Then kill him. But if you do you both are dying then.” I raced forward. The Cloaked Figure tossed the child off the side of the palace and vanished right in front me. The golden outline had disappeared. “Acid Shot,” x100. Air Burst. I hoped I hit that cloaked figure as I dived for the child who was screaming. I caught him by his clothing and quickly pulled him in close.

Air Burst. Air Burst. I landed on the ground gently. There was a roar in the distance and more explosions. All the secondary objectives were lost. Airship, books, keeping Fuyuka alive, and the avatar had all fallen from my grasp. I just had my massive stat gain and the hottest potato around. The child didn’t even count as an objective, since I couldn’t use him to bait the Divine Empress.

I kicked off the ground towards the edge of the city. I noticed the airship from before was flying away at maximum speed overhead. I noted the soldiers in red. They had been after the Avatar. It was her plot to escape all along and I just got roped into it.

Whoever those people were and that Cloaked Figure, they were on my list. I might not be able to kill the Avatar, but I was going to kill everyone she cared about and then bury her alive. If the Almighty System wanted to save her, then it could go ahead and save her. But she was also on my list.

The child was silent, but still alive at least. I kicked off the ground. Danger! Air Burst! I retreated backwards as an enchanted sword pierced the spot where my head would have been. It was the Inquisitor who was now fully healed up and with an angry expression on her face.

“Hand the child to me,” she said.

“And if I don’t? Can you kill me without harming him?” I asked the Inquisitor. There was roar behind me in the plaza, explosions, and ground shaking.

“Can you escape without me killing you until reinforcements come?” she countered. I kicked off the ground vertically. The inquisitor disappeared. Air Burst. I forced myself back down again and kicked off forward.

Air Burst. Air Burst. The child was cradled carefully in my arms as I shot forward. The Inquisitor appeared in front of me, cutting out with her sword. I adjusted the child so he would be in the way. She disappeared with her sword right before the blow would have landed.

It was dark out and I had gotten turned around but it didn’t matter. Getting out of the city was the first priority. I could sort out my direction later. The Inquisitor came at me again. Forcing me to adjust my trajectory.

She was stopping me from gaining height in the air. My Air Burst skill was probably less costly than her Blink skill. I reached the flesh wall. I went to leap over it. The Inquisitor appeared above me forcing me to turn to the side and run along the wall. She stayed at the top.

This time she appeared right in front of me, I turned my head to the side to avoid her one handed sword thrust and my shoulder slammed into her. Her left hand pierced through my armor and struck my side. My flesh began dying and turning to black sludge.

Fine! I adjust the child to hold him only with my left arm, I wouldn’t be supporting his head. “Acid Shot,” x20. The Inquisitor disappeared. I set off on a run again. I couldn’t make any fast turns otherwise there was a good chance the child’s neck would snap.

The Inquisitor moved in again. “Acid Shot,” x50. I sent the skill all around me, covering any approach while I kept racing forward next to the burnt out flesh wall. I saw a gate ahead, but it was shut, and several soldiers were nearby. “Acid Shot,” x50. I targeted the soldiers and the closed gate in front of me. I followed that up by kicking off the ground to gain height. Air Burst. I increased my acceleration.

The problem with Blink was that the Inquisitor needed to predict my movements to intercept me. She was out of position at the gate as I soared up and over the flesh wall. Air Burst. I gained more height and adjusted my trajectory to land on top of a building and kept running from there.

VROOOM! I glanced to the side and saw rocket launch into the air above the plaza. They had rockets?! It exploded in a ball of fire, lighting up the night. I noticed several pieces flying in different direction. One was them was headed right towards me. It had a lot of energy.

Air Burst. Air Burst. I used the skill twice in quick succession to avoid the chunk of debris. The chunk exploded with a white light, an annihilation effect. Soon there was a ripple of such explosions across the core of the Forbidden City.

I didn’t stop running, since I knew the Inquisitor was right behind me. I couldn’t let her catch up and I needed to get out of this city.