AA. 203

Only three Scourge Champions remained. Five had pursued Team Forge to the beacon. Selia took out one, and another fell, trying to cover their companion from Zora’s army-killing spell. The spell had enough power to level most of London. Thus far, Nil had felt underwhelmed by Zora’s performance. She excelled at sniping enemies, but all the other members of Team Forge seemed significantly more effective than her. It left him questioning the value and worth of the mage archetype in such a setting. After all, she brought little more than accurate ranged attacks. The challenges with flying enemies would’ve been a pain to take down if not for her. Now, he understood her true power and why mages in Bronze Gauntlet and above rarely participated in solo events.

The time and energy requirements for their best spells were far too large for safe use when alone. The mental strain afterward seemed also to leave them helpless. One mage built and controlled an army. The other destroyed almost half of it in the blink of an eye. Now, all the remaining Cursed Ones and Scourge hunted for Zora while the others sought the Mind Mage. Nil couldn’t help but wonder whether Katherine had anything similar. Her specialties lay in investigation, interrogation, sabotage, and assassination. The Nexus mostly sent her on information-seeking or cult-hunting quests. He imagined her more powerful spells were better suited for such purposes.

One With The Source’s limitations finally revealed themselves as it struggled to find the enemy spell caster. Nil reinforced psychic fortitude, braced himself, and looked, but neither his eyes nor sixth sense managed to find the target. It didn’t feel like the mage had concealed herself with Mind Magic. It seemed she had disappeared altogether. Instead, Nil returned to eliminating the enemy, taking off two, three, and sometimes more every second. He didn’t just rely on the blades and blasts but also created Chaos Lightning Spheres and left them at choke points, covering his rear and whittling down several for him or Iris to take out later.

The smaller Cursed Ones and Beasts had a much easier time navigating and chasing targets now that the bigger, obstructive specimens were gone. The number of foes got smaller, but the fight seemed to get more challenging. Nil and his companions had to contend with creatures bursting out of the ground or leaping out of shadows. The army displayed the most diverse supernatural abilities he had ever seen. He tried to commit as much as possible to memory, but then the rhythm of battle took over, and he thought nothing but eliminating the Cursed Ones and finding the Scourge Champions. He had little practice with his new ability and struggled to pinpoint distant targets in the energy-dense environment.

Energy beams shot past Nil. Some grazed his arms, but he suffered no injury thanks to the Source Gauntlets. He trusted his instincts. The attack had come from Iris, and he knew it wasn’t meant for him. After months of sparring, she knew what he could take, and he was familiar with her incredible aim. The attack burned a hole through several foes in his path and opened the path to the Scourge champion beyond. 

Nil shot at his enemy, speeding up with Expend blasts and then relying on Anti-Friction Lattice to maintain his velocity. He created a Chaos Sphere, hoping to end things in one blow. But then Cursed Ones swarmed him, appearing out of the half-molten structures and seemingly from underground. Nil had no choice but to use his constructs on them.

“This isn’t working,” Selia grumbled. “The fucker’s presence keeps shifting around. I can’t pinpoint her. We won’t have anything left for the challenge at this rate.”

Miniature explosions sounded in the distance. Shawn had started to shatter his barriers. Iris also occasionally detonated her Source Arms, blasting several foes to smithereens at once. Nil knew he would survive the confrontation. As long as he staved off mental exhaustion, he could endlessly push himself. It wasn’t the same for his companions. They’d eventually burn out.

“Fuck it. I’ve got no other choice.” Another giant portal opened far above the battlefield. Zora’s voice trembled. Nil could tell she barely had anything left in the tank. “Remember the deal and finish this thing.”

“Got it, boss,” Nil said. He raced toward Iris. “Selia to me. Shawn, prepare for a storm.”

“Got it,” the first replied. The team’s guardian remained silent but Nil trusted him to adequately protect himself when the time came. He was more than equipped to survive an intense attack.

A giant spear emerged from the portal. It was as long as a lamp post. Lightning danced around it, and the head glowed an ethereal blue. “If this doesn’t flush our Mind Mage out—” A cough interrupted Zora’s words. “—I don’t know what will. See you later. Good luck. Don’t die.”

Several smaller spears slowly emerged from the portal, and Storm Skewer’s lightning arced at them, creating a web of blinding energy. The smell of chlorine filled the air moments later. Then the spears started falling while the largest amongst them remained in the sky. Nil picked up Iris and dove, moving the unaware woman out of one’s path just in time. Selia joined the pair a heartbeat later, and Nil constructed an Order barrier. He didn’t bother with Shiver Shield since it wouldn’t help against lightning. Instead, he stood over Selia and Iris with his arms crossed above his head.

Storm Skewer was the last to fall, and the volume of arcing lightning beams reached a peak, and the hum and Tesla-Coil-like buzzing and jangling reached a crescendo. The energy ripped through Cursed Ones, burning them to a crisp. Nil saw a giant Scourge Champion—probably the guardian of the group—fall in the distance. 

Galvanized has progressed to Bronze 4!

The Source Gauntlets and the weapons wielded by the humanoid Cursed Ones acted as lightning rods. The air around him warmed and sweat trickled down his cheeks and back. None of his clothes besides the trousers gifted by the students of Blind Dragon Manor remained.

Selia dropped through the floor as soon as the frequency of lightning bolts lessened. Iris tried to leave the barrier, but Nil stopped the woman, shaking his head. “Wait a moment longer,” He said. “Let it slow down a bit more.”

“But Selia—”

“She’s immune as long as she stays underground.” He hesitated. “I think. She’ll be fine. I know it.”

Galvanized has progressed to Bronze 5!

When the storm ended, the remaining Cursed Ones scattered. Some attacked each other while others fled into the ruined city. One approached Nil and Iris but failed to break through the barrier. Iris eliminated it by firing a beam through its torso. A complex Cursed Energy signature stood out among the scattering chaos. Now that the crowd had thinned, he had an easier time finding the target. Nil pursued it and found a Scourge Champion. It was a middle-aged man in twisted black armor and carrying a longsword. He had no trouble putting the man down. An ordinary knuckle-dagger made of crimson energy did the job.

Team Forge has scored 1 point and may proceed through the fifth gate.

Your team was partially responsible for the elimination of one Scourge World from the Cleansing and has earned 5 Schema Tokens and 500 Schema Credits.

Team Forge reunited in front of the hard light console, bloody, bruised, and exhausted. All but Nil collapsed, panting. He was sure that Selia had found and taken out the Mind Mage. It was why the Cursed Ones had suddenly lost their coordination and broken off to do their own thing. 

“Hats off to Zora,” Nil said, sitting down among his companions and focusing on purifying the ambient Cursed Energy. Brutal Battery’s stores trickled toward full. “That was incredible. Scary. Got me a couple of ranks in an ability and flushed out the target.”

“We couldn’t have done this without her,” Shawn nodded. “I’m pretty spent. Can we spend an hour on energy recovery? I’ll be useless otherwise.”

“I’m with you there,” Iris said, sitting up. “I burned through a lot there. If not for your mage, I would’ve seen no choice but to surrender. There were too many, and Mind Mage was impossible. How the hell did she hide herself?”

“Woman somehow made an amalgamation of four Cursed Ones and put herself inside, using them as an armored vehicle of sorts,” Selia replied. Tendril-like burn marks ran down her left arm. It seemed she’d suffered a minor lightning strike. Meatball returned to them carrying a hefty chunk of black, dripping flesh. She cast Regenerate on seeing everyone’s injuries and squeaked contently while feasting. “Storm Skewer landed near her, and the energy destroyed part of the twisted, flesh thing. I took her out before she could recreate it.”

“Good job—”

A Schema notification interrupted Shawn.

The teams in the corresponding sector have died or surrendered. As a result, there will be no fifth gate challenge. Team Forge may proceed to the rest area and use the remainder of their allotted time before the final Cleansing. Use your respite well.

“Well, that’s a freebie,” Nil commented. “If Zora didn’t essentially sacrifice herself for our victory, I’d be celebrating right now.”

“It’s a relief,” Iris said, sitting up and stretching. Her outfit slowly repaired itself, patching the holes and regrowing lost fabric. Stains and burnt fibers fell away as new material replaced them. “I need to cultivate, eat, wash, and maybe get some shut-eye before we take on whatever Void monstrosity remains. My gut tells me it's going to be a lesser Void Lord. I hope I’m wrong.”

“A Void Lord?” Selia sounded concerned. She glanced hesitantly at Nil. He had kept his promise and not told her about Watcher’s secret. “We’ll be screwed if anything like the Glimmer is involved.”

“Unlikely,” Iris stated. “There would be a lot more of them in the Cleansing if that was the case. The creature in the challenges and entities you’ve faced thus far should be indicative of what waits ahead. And—”

“Do you mind if we continue this in the rest area?” Shawn asked. His tired tone carried a hint of contempt. “If there is no challenge, I don’t want to spend any more time here than I have to.”

“Let's go,” Nil said, helping Selia up. She didn’t seem to need his assistance but accepted it anyway and kissed him when she stood. The unspoken exchange got a brief smile out of Iris, but she swiftly looked away.  “I’ll whip together a decent meal. We can eat. Recover energy. Rest. Maybe we should discuss how much to give Zora for what she did too. I think she deserves more than an equal share for what she did.”

“Agreed.” Shawn nodded. Selia echoed the sentiment.