Chapter 54: Round Four (II)

  As I froze in shock at the seemingly impossible display of reflexes, the Crow's blade cut through the air, aiming for my side.

  I braced for death.

  But ZK-0 had other plans.

  It had already assessed the threat and lunged, intercepting the Crow’s armblade mid-swing with its sharp metallic fangs.

  “T-that’s a surprise,” the Crow muttered, struggling against the automaton. Kinetra’s aura around his body was already gone, suggesting that his COG was malfunctioning to some extent after all – sadly for me, not to the extent I would’ve liked.

  I instantly got my shit together. I still had another bullet left – shoot now.

  With my arm still extended, I shifted my aim for his head again. But he was a fighting machine through and through – managing to divide his attention between me and the automaton. He grabbed my shooting arm with his left hand while still grappling with ZK-0 using his right.

  Luckily, most of his strength was still committed to the mechanical dog. If he had focused fully on me, he could’ve shattered my arm with his grip then and there.

  Banking on that, I made a risky move: I dropped the Armor-Piercer from my hand, preparing my right – the sword already sent back to the Inventory – to catch it. Never thought that being fully ambidextrous would be this useful.

  The moment the gun landed in my right, I raised it to fire. But with all the chaos, I couldn’t get a clear shot at his head.

  Still, I pulled the trigger.

  The Aetheris Bullet punched through his armor and struck his right shoulder. He groaned, stumbling back – and with a burst of rage, hurled me toward the junkie in the corner.

  My back screamed with pain as I hit her. But I was relatively okay. So was she – already crawling away from me.

  Meanwhile, the Crow, unable to pull ZK-0 away from his blade, snapped it off with a sharp hit to the sword socket. Then, he delivered a brutal kick to ZK-0, sending it crashing into the wall.

  Metal crumpled. Pieces shattered.

  Fuck, fuck, no!

  I crawled toward the automaton’s broken body as the Crow staggered, clutching his shoulder in pain.

  “Fuck!” he groaned.

  The Enforcers rushed toward the cell, but he roared at them. “Stay out of this!”

  Meanwhile, my mind was already racing.

  I locked on ZK-0’s broken form and, instinctively, activated my second TM skill – Timeline – assuming an automaton fell under the definition of ‘object’.

  It worked.

  Before my eyes, the shattered pieces vibrated, lifted into the air, and snapped back into place with mechanical precision. Within a second, ZK-0 stood whole again.

  I exhaled in relief and turned toward the Crow, who was still struggling with his wound. Now on one knee, he grunted as his hand clutched the hole in his chest plate, fingers twitching near the rupture like he wanted to rip off the armor and inspect the wound – but thought better of it.

  I doubted I’d get another clean shot with the Armor-Piercer – not after he’d proven his reaction time was beyond what I thought was possible.

  Time for plan B.

  I sent the gun back into the Inventory and summoned my COG. The bracer materialized in my hand, and I quickly strapped it onto my right arm. The needles plunged into my skin – it activated.

  Then, I summoned two crystals.

  Before I could use any of them, the Crow stood and raised his armgun toward me.

  “You don’t deserve an honorable exit after the stunt you just pulled,” he growled.

  ZK-0 lunged again, breaking his aim, forcing him to stumble back.

  Using this opening, I slid a Cryora into the Channel Core. The needles pierced again, and a wave of cold mana flushed my body.

  “Zee, come here!” I called – Déjà vu reminding me that was its name.

  Now let’s see how strong Quality level 4 is.

  The automaton leapt to my side right before I raised an ice wall in the middle of the cell, separating us – and the junkie – from the Crow.

  “Break this without crystals,” I muttered, praying he couldn’t, suspecting he would.

  Then I turned to the wall behind me and loaded the second crystal – Umbrium.

  The needles pierced once more, and my COG chimed with messages.

  [Burn Rate lvl. 2: Cryora’s burn paused. Time left – 00:00:55]

  [Memory Slots lvl. 1: Cryora is saved for repeat use – 00:14:59]

  [Multi-Channel lvl. 2: Dual-Channel available – Cryora + Umbrium]

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  Ignoring all the messages, I quickly turned to the wall behind me, attempting to decay it.

  I touched the wall, and a dark shroud seeped from my fingertips. It spread across the metallic surface of the wall, devouring it rapidly. Within seconds, glimpses of the alley outside shimmered through.

  Behind us, the Crow was hammering at the ice. He hadn’t used any crystals yet, but he was still breaking it – with bullets and fists.

  Trying to accelerate our escape, I started kicking at the weakened wall. The hole widened - big enough now.

  Without hesitation, I pushed through it, scrambling out to freedom.

  “Zee, come!” I called, and the trusty automaton followed me out.

  We emerged into a narrow alley between the station and an adjacent building. I turned toward the street – needed to get to the West-Central Cargo Dock Station. That was where plan B happens.

  But I didn’t make it far.

  Three Enforcers rushed in from the street. They must’ve been sent to intercept me the moment I raised the ice wall.

  Knowing I couldn’t hurt them – they were just doing their jobs – I turned back toward the other end of the alley, only to see more Enforcers closing in from there.

  Damn it.

  Thinking fast, I turned toward the adjacent building and channeled Cryora again, forming a jagged ladder of ice climbing up the wall. I grabbed Zee, sent him back to the Inventory, then climbed up.

  [Burn Rate lvl. 2: Umbrium’s burn paused. Time left – 00:00:42]

  [Memory Slots lvl. 1: Umbrium is saved for repeat use – 00:14:59]

  Gunfire cracked behind me.

  That could’ve been concerning – if not for the much louder, sharper sound echoing from inside the station.

  The ice wall snapped.

  “I said stay out of this!” the Crow bellowed, his voice booming from within the station.

  A second later, he burst through the decaying wall – and gunned down the Enforcers with his armgun.

  I didn’t stop to watch and just vaulted to the rooftop.

  Up there, the district spread before me – stacked and dense – as I scanned for the Cargo Dock Station. It wasn’t hard to spot with two massive airships currently docked.

  I ran, crossing rooftop after rooftop, conjuring icy bridges to close the small gaps.

  Then came a metallic groan behind me.

  I glanced back, still sprinting, just in time to see the Crow land on one of the low roofs behind. Kinetra’s orange aura pulsed around him again, fading fast. But it was enough to help the bastard leap all the way from the alley to the roofs.

  He raised his armgun and fired.

  But I expected it. I cut right sharply, the shot missing me.

  I risked a glance at my COG.

  [Burn Rate lvl. 2: Cryora is burning. Time left – 00:00:19]

  Not much left. And I couldn’t pause the burn.

  Once a crystal was inserted, the COG kept draining it and transferring the mana to the user – whether you used it actively or not. Only way to stop it was to switch to a different crystal and allow Memory Slots to preserve the first one for possible reuse, but then you’d be draining the second one instead.

  And this Umbrium…it was my last one – critical for plan B as well.

  I’d just have to use another Cryora once this expired – running out of those as well.

  Close to the docks, I spotted a rooftop access door and ran toward it, flinging it open and diving into the building.

  I rushed down the stairs, lungs burning, almost completely out of breath when I exited the building doors and got back to street level.

  I pushed through the people, making my way toward the docks.

  Then came that groan again.

  I spun around to see the Crow mid-air, Kinetra-boosted again, diving back to the street with his fist raised.

  Déjà vu kicked in and I was ready for danger.

  He crashed into the ground hard, fist-first, and a shockwave of ice erupted outward from the point of impact, surging along the ground.

  On instinct, I spent the last second of the loaded Cryora to raise an icy pedestal beneath me, lifting myself clear of the freezing tide.

  The ground around him – everything affected by his freezing shockwave – froze solid, even innocent bystanders that weren’t quick enough to run away were now coated in ice.

  “Ahhh…” the Crow sighed in satisfaction, rising slowly, his gaze on his fist. “Fully operational again.”

  I swallowed, keeping my face still. I didn’t want to let him see how scared I actually was.

  Damn it. I was so close to the Docks.

  What’s worse is that future Viktors won’t remember that trying to shoot the Crow point blank with an Armor-Piercer had failed. So we’ll likely be making the same mistake again. Who knows for how many times?

  A better strategy for next time would be to prioritize plan B and just watch the Memory Fragment once I’m already at the Docks – to lure him there.

  But alas…what can I do now?

  Empowered by Kinetra, he lunged at me, fist pointed forward.

  And even though I knew I was deader than dead…I didn’t want to die.

  I activated Freeze.

  Everything stopped.

  Well – almost everything. My thoughts still ran wild.

  Based on the skill’s description, once I moved – even slightly – time would resume. Then, I’d die.

  So…what now, Viktor? What did you accomplish with this? Delayed the inevitable? Why? Get a few extra seconds to piss yourself in peace?

  I sighed internally.

  Yes. There was no logic behind this Freeze. I was just…scared.

  As I was about to end the skill and accept my fate, I noticed something. Something that shouldn’t have been there.

  To the Crow’s side, mid-air in a lunge, was Zee.

  What?

  I was so taken aback, I almost moved. But I caught myself.

  Zee…was supposed to be in the Inventory. How did he get out?

  I could’ve spent hours frozen like this, trying to figure it out, but I didn’t. Instead, I decided to use this opportunity.

  I analyzed my field of view.

  If Zee’s jump had enough force – if it collided squarely with the Crow – then physics would take over. A mid-air strike should deflect the Crow’s course.

  By how much? That depended on the weight ratio. But let’s make some assumptions – I’m dead anyway:

  If Zee and an Aetherguard Mark III weren’t too far off in weight…and if the impact landed near-center…then the Crow should veer 45 degrees to his right - my left - crashing toward –

  I tried to focus on my left without moving, suspecting that even shifting my eyes might break Freeze, but it was too difficult.

  Still, I remembered that area to my left. I’d seen it just a second ago when I rushed outside that building. There were unfinished storefronts there, construction materials, and partially demolished walls.

  Even if the collision wasn’t perfect, he should still crash somewhere there. And then, maybe I could…no. Don’t get ahead of yourself. This motherfucker always stretches the limits of what’s possible.

  I steeled my mind, locked in the image before me, and then blinked.

  Time resumed.

  Zee slammed into the Crow mid-air.

  The impact was loud and powerful, enough to redirect the Crow’s lunge, sending him veering off course – close to forty-five degrees to my left, just as I’d hoped – crashing loudly.

  Zee continued along his original path - mostly - redirected just slightly forward, landing hard on the ground in front of me with a thud, claws screeching against the cobblestone as he balanced his fall.

  I spun around to see where the Crow landed – a broken storefront, vanishing into the collapsing remains of what looked like a tailor shop. Luckily, the entire building looked abandoned currently – fully under reconstruction.

  I didn’t hesitate.

  Instead of running away, I bolted toward the very store he crashed into.

  Once just outside, I used Memory Slots and pushed what little I had left from the Umbrium.

  From my hands, clouds of decay spread quickly, drifting toward the already cracked foundation of the building. The stone and metal groaned, blackening and flaking as they were slowly devoured.

  The structure began to tilt, then crack – that was my cue to leave.

  I turned on my heel and sprinted away.

  “Let’s go, Zee!”

  He followed without delays.

  We rushed toward the Docks just as the building gave out behind us.

  A thunderous crash echoed across the district as the entire structure collapsed on itself, burying the Crow under metal, rubble, and dust.

  But I didn’t let myself hope.

  It wasn’t over. He’d somehow come to his senses and then…then he’d chase me again, angrier than ever before.