AA. 213

“Quick in and out,” Nil said, straightening out his newest arena outfit. The sleeveless jacket was snug around his shoulder muscles, almost too tight. However, he had already used the sponsor’s pay for a new venture and needed to at least enter the event wearing their logo. “We can’t afford to put on a show or waste time testing things. Agreed?”

“Quick in and out.” Selia sighed. “Doesn’t that sound romantic.”

“I’m not kidding. We need to be back before Emmy finishes—”

“I get it, you big lug. When have you ever needed to tell me twice?”

“Well, there was—”

“Shut up. It sounds like dear-announcer-lady is almost done.”

“—and here we are at the quarter-finals. Both teams have had astounding, flawless victories in all of their matches thus far. Who is going to get through to the next round? One of the Silver Gauntlet’s rare power couples, Godpuncher and Specter, or the Scourge brothers, Rend and Tear, who have left none of their opponents alive? That’s the question, ladies, gentlemen and everything in between. Is it a good day to die?”

“Cheesy and excessive, isn’t she?” Selia asked.

Nil nodded. “I’m starting to get bored of her.”

The pillar of light keeping fighters contained fell, and the pair raced forward, making a beeline for its counterpart on the opposite end of the arena. Selia’s spear shot out of her hand, a sunmetal chain wrapped around her forearm and shoulder. It planted itself on a distant pillar before the tether rapidly retreated into her soul weapon, yanking her forward. She accelerated on making contact with the surface and disappeared through it.

Meanwhile, Nil took off, empowering himself with Expend and investing heavily in Toggled Supercharging. He switched to Absorb straight away and activated Anti-Friction Lattice. Much to his relief, the arena was mostly flat, so he didn’t have to switch modes often or reactivate and deactivate any abilities multiple times. Instead, he occasionally switched off Absorb to push off surfaces, but never long enough to lose his Order constructs. 

A pair of silver knuckle-duster knives extended from each of his hands. Each of them was a foot and a half long. Maintaining and moving with them was far easier than when Nil first came up with the technique about eighteen months ago. It had seen significant refinement since then, and his control had also improved. When the blades grazed surfaces, they left clean slices and frost.

It was different from how Chaos functioned. The silver constructs modified with the power of the Absolute Array technique didn’t disintegrate all they touched. Nil had studied the matter extensively and delved into its physics, his grasp of the subject as much as he would’ve liked but enough to continue developing and growing. 

Entropy increases in cold objects when heat flows to colder objects. Entropy is the dispersing state of energy from order to less order. Energy is not destroyed but dispersed or spread out. Hence, entropy increases, and energy is conserved, even when dispersed.

His constructs were the colder objects. 

Nil had spent unnecessarily long trying to figure out why crimson was Chaos, and silver was Order. Chaos increased entropy in objects, bringing disorder to them. He guessed it got to a point where the molecular or atomic bonds failed to hold together and came apart, resulting in complete disintegration.

Meanwhile, silver did the opposite, reducing entropy and restoring order. His constructs stole intramolecular energy, and his blades broke through at the minutest level instead of slicing—or so he assumed. Nil was an engineer by training, not a theoretical physicist, and he relied on studying during cultivation or his rare downtime to understand such complex topics.

Now, Nil needed to figure out how to use the stolen entropy for more than just restoring Brutal Battery’s stores. Ideally, he wished to find a way to use it to exert ample force while Absorbing to maintain and perhaps even gain speed. Anti-Friction Lattice had swiftly become his favorite ability, and figuring out methods of using it better frequently occupied his thoughts. Such an achievement would take his defensive mode to new heights and make him even more impossible to kill.

“I’ve located them,” Selia said, speaking to him through the temporary communication tattoo they shared. Her ability to pass through all surfaces without obstructions enabled her to cover more ground swiftly. Nil would have no trouble matching her if he took to the roofs, but their foes tend to employ similar tactics, costing him the advantage of surprise. “They’re clearing buildings and creating quite a ruckus. You couldn’t miss the bastards if you tried.”

“Mobile or stationary?” Nil asked without slowing down. His breathing was slow and controlled, and despite the blinding speed, his heart rate was steady.

“Stationary. It seems they’re more interested in the spectacle. These bastards like to put on a show. Don’t they?”

“Wait for me to initiate and then separation tactics.” One With The Source finally detected their presence. It was faint but powerful. He picked up the pace, following the distance Cursed Energy signature.

“Got it.”

Creation of advanced Chaos constructs still took Nil a couple of seconds, and he didn’t yet have the ability to make the same out of Order. Silver was far too rigid. He wasn’t sure whether there was a lot left to discover and explore or if it was a hard limit that he’d never overcome. 

My creativity might’ve also hit a boundary. 

Nil heard the show-boating Scourge champions long before seeing them. It was clear they wished to put on a show. The pair had picked up an otherworldly song in a language the Schema didn’t translate as they cleared a fighting ground in the congested arena. He watched them from one of the few remaining tall buildings in the vicinity. 

Rip wore gauntlets similar to Nil, but they looked more organic than metal. He couldn’t tell whether they were transfigured flesh or molded biomass. Instead of fists, he kept his hands open and fingers curled like claws. His swings ripped giant gouges out of surfaces more than a dozen feet away. Nil neither saw nor felt the attack. It almost seemed as if he was rending reality itself.

Meanwhile, his brother, Tear was a giant of inhuman proportions. He did laps around the growing circle, singing at the top of his voice. His outstretched giant arm tore through all surfaces it touched, smoothing out his brother’s gouges and breaking down still standing structures.

“Are these guys morons?” Nil asked.

“Certainly seems like so. I can’t figure out how they managed to get as far as they have.”

“Let’s not find out. We’re going to put them down as fast as possible.”

“Lead on, handsome,” Selia said.

After taking a moment to pick up speed, Nil launched into the battlefield flying straight at Rip. The Scourge champion whooped, grinning from ear to ear, and swiped at him from several feet away. Nil blocked with his left, leaning away from the attack. Much to his surprise, the silver knuckled dagger shattered. Bits of it landed  on the floor behind him, clattering noisily before dissipating. 

Even though Nil had never encountered anything capable of damaging his silver constructs, he didn’t falter. He maintained his speed and used Vector Change, adopting an angular approach instead of continuing in a straight line. Nil switched to Expend and put together complex Chaos constructs: a tail, four arms, and a pair of knuckle daggers.

Just when I thought Order is going to see some real use.

Rip continued his attacks, taking a couple of seconds between each. Fortunately, the attacks had a travel time. By the time they arrived where the Scourge Champion aimed them, Nil was already long gone. He continued circling around the man, working his way closer with every lap. Meanwhile, Tear continued to try and get in his way. Minor blasts from his palm was enough to keep the lumber giant at bay. He landed a few point-black explosions but the lumbering giant’s flesh swiftly recovered.

Things got considerably easier when Selia joined the fight. Her tactics hadn’t changed much over the past year and a half. Most of her attacks began with trying to catch her enemy off guard and plunge her blade into a vital or drag them into a surface. A chain shot out of the ground and looped against Rip’s neck. It tightened and yanked his head backward. 

The Scourge Champion reacted with the speed and put-togetherness one would expect of a SIlver Gauntlet fighter. He scythed his arms downwards. The ground exploded as he sent deep gouges through it, tearing through stone, chains and everything around indiscriminately. The Scourge Champion’s ability astounded Nil and he couldn’t make heads or tails of him. He had never encountered anything so undetectable and unblockable before. It didn’t radiate Cursed Energy. The attacks didn’t have any resemble to Order or Chaos. It just shredded everything in the vicinity.

Rip’s momentary distraction gave Nil the necessary opening to turn on Tear. The world appeared to ripple around the giant’s fingers. They were both doing something that broke the rules of magic, power seeds, cultivation, and techniques Nil had encountered before. It didn’t surprise him. Over the past five or so years, he has learned that power comes in several forms and from countless sources. Rules were inconsistent, and he knew not to be surprised. When he moved, the world rippled in his wake, appearing two-dimensional and like fabric.

Fortunately, the bigger brother’s ability appeared only limited to melee range. He was big and slow, making him a perfect opponent for Nil. He shot past the man, slipping under his arms, slicing through him with Chaos Blades, and letting the arms strike at any openings. Much to his horror, half his crimson arms flattened and flapped in the wind like they were made of cloth, and Tear’s wounds started to regenerate as soon as Nil moved on.

Quick and dirty it is.

Nil dropped to his knees and span, shaping the end of his tail into an axehead. It swung into the Tear’s knees, separating his lower leg from his body. The Scourge Champion released a guttural roar, and the ground rippled, spreading like a wave from his body. Nil’s instincts told him to jump, and he obeyed. Tear threw his arms up in defense, protecting his head, neck, and chest. The rippling around his hands intensified, but Nil didn’t relent.

All of his Chaos constructs came together like a spearhead as he fell, coming down on Tear. The tips of the crimson tail and arms came apart, turning into rough ribbons and looking like torn cloth. The mysterious ability failed. It seemed Tear’s healing didn’t protect him from the pain. Unfiltered red Source ate through arms, chest, and head. Tear died almost instantly. His damaged legs ceased regenerating.

Meanwhile, Selia and Rip appeared locked in a fierce exchange. She flew around the battlefield, sending sunmetal chains everywhere, trying to entangle the smaller of the brothers. He wasn’t just a turret of devastation but incredibly agile. He sprang around the battlefield, destroying the tidy mini arena his brother had created. Deep scars covered the surrounding structures and ground. Segments of sunmetal chains lingered on the ground. Blood trickled from several shallow cuts on Rip’s torso.

Nil sped in without hesitation, forcing the Scourge Champion to give up on offense. He had no choice but to alternate defending between Selia’s unpredictable attacks from below and Nil’s endless barrage of attacks. Six arms launched strikes without breaks. Kicks and tail swipes accompanied dodges. The confidence and rage slowly faded from his face. Rip didn’t glance toward his brother’s remains, but Nil saw the moment the Scourge Champion realized that he was alone and that there was no help coming. He released a massive attack with both arms that Nil had to dive through, realizing mostly on guesswork. Selia didn’t bother phasing through it and disappeared into the ground. 

When the pair recovered, they found Rip gone. Seconds later, the announcer declared their victory and advancement to the tournament’s semifinals.