Chapter 57: Chapter 57: The Last Technique

Hei flapped his wings of ice, and with a tremendous gust, he soared into the night sky.

From up above, 6E12 blasted down at Hei with wave after wave of darkness. Hei veered sharply, dodging one, then corkscrewed midair to avoid another. He dove down, then ascended sharply, then Voidstepped, weaving through the attacks as though he had trained his whole life to fly. And as he flew, he accelerated until he became a silver blur, like an arrow, in the starry expanse.

6E12 flew higher, fighting to keep his distance, but Hei was too fast. Hei closed the gap with each passing moment, until the two of them collided.

Hei rammed spear-first into 6E12. A jet of ice shrapnels erupted from 6E12's back, as though from an exit wound.

6E12 pulled himself away, briefly tumbling before regaining control of his flight. He shot another blast at Hei but missed. His aim was getting sloppy, I could tell – he was trying too hard to predict Hei's movements and aim his blasts at where Hei would be a split second later. But how could he? Hei had honed his movement to be chaotic, unpredictable. Any pattern that seemed to be there was an intentional red herring, a false promise he fed his opponent.

Hei maneuvered above 6E12 and plunged his spear down. A burst of gravity sent 6E12 careening toward the ground. 6E12 stabilized and stopped his descent in the nick of time, only to be met with an arcing, followup slash from Hei.

6E12 aimed his palm at Hei. Shadowy energy gathered within. But just as quickly, it dissipated.

Now that he flew closer to the ground, I could tell his hand had been frozen solid, encased in ice that glowed with a strange, gray light. And I noticed, just barely, that the ice was sucking into itself the last wisps of that shadowy energy.

Hei followed up with a series of lightning-fast jabs. 6E12 conjured a mote of light in his remaining hand. Hei grazed 6E12's wrist with the tip of his spear. And like an infection, gray ice grew upon the wound and spread across his arm and hand.

The light in 6E12's hand vanished.

Hei ascended, only for a moment. Then with a mighty beat of his wings, he dove down to pierce through 6E12.

And pierce through, he did.

The sheer force sent both of them crashing back into the ground. 6E12 lay sprawled out on the snowy terrain, pinned down by Hei and his spear.

[HP: 2230/ 6E12]

Hei had whittled him down so much. A little more, and I could coordinate an attack with Phoenixcourt – and possibly the players inside the bunker – to take him out for good in one, final volley.

Yes, 6E12 was a victim. Yes, I felt sorry for him, and I had once even put my faith in him. But after everything he had done, and everything he showed himself capable of doing, I had no reservations left. Pity wouldn't be enough to stop me from taking his life.

"Curse you," 6E12 spat at Hei.

And then 6E12 laughed. So carefree. So mockful. So…triumphant.

I shuddered. Something felt horribly off.

"You think I need my arms to win, against you?!" 6E12 cackled. "Know your place!"

Then, for the first time, I noticed it.

All around us, the ground was etched with intricate, barely-glowing crimson lines. They twisted about, connecting and branching out, forming a massive, runic circle centered on 6E12. It must've stretched for hundreds of yards on every side.

Inside the strange, arcane diagram, the ground trembled. Then the ground flickered. For an instant, the ground had straight up vanished beneath us. I had felt myself falling for the briefest moment.

The crimson lines grew brighter beneath us.

"Hei!" I shouted. "Get out of here!"

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I began to run.

If this crimson diagram was like my own Maw of Leviathan, then anything inside would be targeted for obliteration.

Hei followed behind me. Stubborn as he was, he had thankfully chosen to back off for now. He scooped me up in his arms and carried me into the air. We flew as fast as he could toward the edge of the gigantic, crimson circle.

Patches of ground vanished beneath us, leaving nothing but the bottomless abyss in their place. Then, one of Hei's wings disappeared.

We tumbled into the ground; Hei wrapped his remaining wing around us to cushion the landing. I helped him up and we continued to run on foot. We inched closer and closer to the circle's edge as the runes and diagrams beneath us grew more violently bright.

I finally made it out. But as Hei reached the edge of the circle, he crashed into what seemed like an invisible wall. As though agitated by the impact, the wall turned visible for a moment.

It was a force-field, a faint cylinder of red light, stretching up from the perimeter of the runic circle and reaching into the skies far above.

Hei initiated a Voidstep, but the runes on the ground flared around him. He ended up reappearing in the same spot, as though 6E12 had somehow negated his teleportation.

…Why him, and not me? How did I manage to get through?

I remembered. After this whole time, I was still on the same team as 6E12. None of his abilities affected me.

I knew what I must do. I reached back into the circle, through the force-field, and grabbed Hei's hand.

The first condition for adding someone to your team: physical contact.

"Tell me you'll join my team!" I shouted, practically begging. "Just do it!"

Verbal confirmation was the only other condition.

If he joined my team, he'd be on the same team as 6E12 too. Then, at least for the time being, he'd be granted friendly-fire immunity.

And by the sudden stare from Hei, he seemed to have realized as well.

He blurted out, "I want to join your te–"

Crimson light suddenly consumed everything. A great force blasted out from the runic circle, sweeping me off my feet. But I didn't let go of Hei. I never let go.

I landed on solid ground, a few yards back it felt like. The snow cushioned my fall. And the light died down, and I could see again.

I lay on my back, breathing hard. From the corner of my eye, I saw that everything inside the circle had utterly vanished, except for an exhausted-looking 6E12 who still hovered in the middle, above the bottomless pit he created.

Thankfully, I still held Hei's hand in mine. I squeezed it so, so tight. I thought I'd have lost him. To think that he'd face 6E12 head on, and push that force of nature to its limits…

"You're out of your mind," I scolded him, though it came out sounding more like praise.

But then I realized.

The hand, severed at the wrist, was the only thing left of Hei.

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