Chapter Fifty-Two
Author’s Note: This chapter marks 52 weeks/1 year of me writing a chapter of this story every week. I will see if I can get one or two more chapters out before the New Year, but I doubt it will happen as I’m on vacation. Thank you to every reader for sticking with me this long and to any that continue to stick with me when I get to other projects. I have a chapter written of a light novel I’ve been consistently working on the past year I plan to post soon. So stay tuned!
Then I won’t rely on the illusions, I said. I quick-drew my pistols and fired at them. Psyna merely collected the bullets, but instead of firing them back at me, which I was counting on, she let them drop before the both of them and taunted me.
Anything else? She asked.
The crack--
The crack? Psyna repeated. I had thought without thinking. It was an automatic thing. It was like needing to control my breathing. Unfortunately, with those two words, Psyna was able to figure out what I was thinking about and she looked at the crack that my body created then at Ice Cap. Without sharing a word, the tiger froze over the crack in the dam wall with reinforced ice, then the two of them glared at me, stepping in front of it.
“You’d--ow, shit!” Ice Cap began. Guess he’s never tried speaking with a broken nose before.
“You’d be crazy to try that,” Psyna finished for him. “And you’d just be giving us a bigger advantage.”
I said nothing. I kept my mind blank at the moment, but I was counting on using their own cockiness against them. Or, possibly making them overthink and believe I had a plan that involved the dam that put them at a disadvantage, causing them to become overly cautious and make a reckless mistake.
It was time to reveal something I hadn’t even revealed to my current team yet. The Archs’ eyes widened as I constructed another animal of light. The screech of an eagle pierced the sky as it proudly flapped its wings over my shoulder. Over my other shoulder, I recreated my dragon and it charged a beam as my eagle dove at them.
I watched as Psyna jut her hands out to try and telekinetically control the eagle, but she couldn’t, making this easier for me. My eagle got faster and faster until it disappeared before their eyes, moving faster than the human eye could see. It flew by them and scratched Psyna. Then circled back around to dive at Ice Cap.
They also had to dodge fire from my dragon, but with my eagle flying faster than they could see they couldn’t keep their minds on multiple things. I felt the presence of Psyna’s voice leave my head and I reloaded my pistols as they were preoccupied with both constructs. Then I exhaled as I unloaded both clips on them. Psyna attempted to stop the bullets again, but my dragon blasted her in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. Ice Cap tried to create an ice wall but my eagle tore at both of his arms before he could even raise them fully.
This time they were unable to escape my rain of bullets and they immediately succumbed to the mortal wounds.
As they bled--and before they revived, I sauntered over to the crack and stepped on the ice layer Ice Cap created. I recalled my dragon to my location and had it shoot a beam to melt it. To check my progress after a few seconds, I had it stop and, to my surprise, another sheet of ice was shot at it. I turned around to see Ice Cap was still alive, but Psyna wasn’t reviving.
I walked over to the two of them, but not too close.
“Did Ache take her revive already?” I questioned. “And why aren’t you dead?”
“You…*cough*...you really think I’m gonna answer that?” he asked. I raised my pistol and he flash froze the tip before pulling a pill out of his pocket and popping it into his mouth.
“What was that?”
Of course, he didn’t answer that either as he got to his feet like there weren’t still bullets in his body. Visible blue aura flashed and flared around him as he snarled. He raised his head and glared at me, his pupils and irises being completely gone now. All that came out of his mouth were snarling and roaring noises before he dashed at me. It’s like he was completely feral now.
He swiped and swiped but missed every pitiful attempt as I kept filling him with bullets, but it didn’t matter. I had my dragon blast at him and this seemed to stun him, but only for two seconds before he roared and came at me again. This time, he lunged and I leapt out of the way. What his dumbass didn’t know was that I was still on the crack in the wall he froze over. His claws dug through and broke the ice with such force that the crack in the dam widened.
And widened.
And widened.
Until water squeezed through the top, sprinkling the both of us. The sane him could have easily taken advantage of the water, but I don’t think the feral him gave a shit. I wondered how he even got pills for this kind of situation. I’d have to use him to worsen the damage of the wall because in the time it would take me to focus on it myself, he’d be on top of me. Or I could try using my dragon while my eagle distracted him.
I tried this approach, but the fucker was actually able to dodge my eagle’s attacks and charge towards me. And in my brief moment of shock, he was able to get close enough to me and slash my throat open. I grabbed my own throat to keep it from excessively bleeding, but he knew this left me open and went for my stomach next. I called my dragon to me as he slashed my stomach open next then dug his claws into my forehead and slammed my face into the concrete, creating another crater that cracked.
He roared before I felt his claws dig into my spine, but my dragon blasted him and stunned him long enough for me to sweep kick him and heal a little bit. I got to my feet and riddled him with more bullets. This time, he didn’t resist them and he exhaled for the last time.
Right before his partner rose from the grave and shattered the dam on her own.
