Chapter 104: SHATTERED
Sean looked at his "evil twin" alertly, readying himself for battle.
The 11 members of Team Zero raised their rifles and submachine guns, opening fire while moving to cover.
The 7.62 NATO rounds fired from Sean's SCAR-H hit their target. Yet the bullets are quickly expelled out of his "evil twin" 's body, dropping onto the floor. The 9mm pistol rounds fired from Xu Qing's QCQ-171 are also expelled from his body.
"He barely flinched, that means he also has the insane durability of us Squad Artemis members," said Sean, his heart sinking as he realised how tough these enemies are.
Ori and Constantine gave the order to advance. The humanoid beings marched forward, shielding the 2 of them behind this living wall.
Behind Ori and Constantine are Aurelia and Camila, wearing full Sellardraxian armour.
Louis peeked out of cover, realising that this Constantine has some minute differences from the one they met in the space station, such as moles on faces.
He fired a volley from his Noveske N4, then moving back into cover to reload. Louis hence deduces that Constantine's seeming immortality is due to the usage of some kind of backup bodies.
With these intel in mind, Xiao Tian start to come up with a plan, which is to isolate the enemy into separate groups.
More specifically, Nanami, Frederica and Sean, being Squad Artemis members, will need to tank the humanoid beings and buy Xiao Tian and Louis time to figure out a way to defeat them. Xu Qing, Santos, Jay and James are to take out Ori Yashar and Constantine. Ariel and Phineas are tasked with engaging Aurelia and Camila.
Ariel starting channeling Cosmic Energy to her body, showing off her insane magic potential as her body started to give off a golden aura.
"This Draco..." muttered Duchess Livia in surprise and respect, seeing Ariel's near unmatched raw magic potential at work.
Ariel roared, channeling a giant burst of flames which enveloped the enemies in flames. This fire instantly separated Aurelia and Camila from their compatriots.
"AHHH!" Ori and Constantine screamed in agonising pain as they are burned alive by the flames. The humanoid beings in front of them formed a layer of iron shells on their bodies, similar to that of lava snails, shielding them from the flames.
Ori and Constantine hurriedly jumped out of the barrier from the agony, giving the Team Zero operators the opening they need. Xu Qing and Santos opened fire, gunning down Ori Yashar, bullets hitting him in his body armour and head, killing the traitor for good.
The flames generated by Ariel soon melted the floorboards underneath and they bent, causing Constantine and the humanoid beings to fall to the floor underneath as it shattered into pieces, now unable to support the weight.
Xiao Tian, Sean, Frederica, Nanami and Louis jumped in after them, followed by Xu Qing, Santos, Jay and James, hovering down using their repulsors, intending to strike down these seemingly immortal beings when they are disorganised.
Phineas opened fire with his SIG 516, charging forward with Ariel, who also fired her AUG A3 SF.
Aurelia and Camila generated strong bursts of wind, deflecting the bullets' trajectory, sending them off course.
"Oh yeah?!" sneered Ariel condescendingly.
She jumped, charging forward at full speed, pulling out her pair of plasma blades, igniting them.
Aurelia and Camila saw her getting close, quickly raising their staffs and firing bolts after bolts of magic attacks. Ariel spun wildly, dodging and deflecting off the blasts, quickly coming into attack range.
Aurelia grunted, deflecting the blows away. Camila too parried back Ariel's acrobatic advances, struggling to keep up with her high magic output and speeds.
Phineas' SIG 516 locked empty, he continued his advance, igniting a plasma blade as well, jumping into battle.
Camila just managed to pull a distance between herself and Ariel when Phineas struck her, barely dodging it in time. Phineas' blow had aimed for the gap in her armour plates. Had his attack hit its target, Phineas would have sliced off her arm at the shoulder.
Phineas then changed hands to his left hand and redirected his attack, which Camila parried off with her staff.
Yet Phineas still had another trick up his sleeve. In the split moment his attack is parried off, Phineas raised his Glock 17 in his right hand, firing it point blank at Camila's head.
"SH*T!" she cursed, knowing that she has no time to dodge it.
2 bullets hit her squarely in her faceplate. While it did not penetrate the armour plating, it still managed to knock off some metal, which cut into her face.
"AHHH!" she screamed in pain, angrily looking at Phineas, fuming at how he destroyed her appearance.
"You will pay!!" she shrieked, and generated several phantoms, which are rapid moving incorporeal constructs.
Phineas grabbed his SIG 516, reloading, quickly destroying a phantom, only for more to flood at him like ants swarming a sugar cube.
He dodged one phantom, which exploded in a huge burst of Cosmic Energy, charring his Exo-suit.
"Damn it..." he cursed.
More phantoms swarmed him, and soon his bullets ran out. He switched to the shotgun accessory on his gauntlets, opening fire.
3 phantoms managed to sneak past his firewall and arrived straight in his face.
Phineas yelped, bracing himself for the explosion.
"GET YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF HIM!!" Ariel yelled. She broke contact with Aurelia, jumping in front of Phineas, forming a wall of flames which shielded them from the explosion in a way similar to explosive reactive armours on tanks.
Phineas opened his eyes, seeing Ariel standing in front of him, facing him. He quickly noticed Aurelia charging over, wanting to seize the chance to attack Ariel.
He grabbed Ariel by the waist, pulling her towards him, causing Aurelia's attack to miss.
Ariel then moved her body, now that she is leaning onto Phineas, whose hand is now on her belly.
She grinned, raising her AUG A3 SF and firing at the phantoms, destroying them before they can enter the "suicide bombing" distance.
Aurelia and Camila charged again, using the dissipating phantoms to cover their movements, coming out of the misty smoke.
Ariel moved, kicking Camila squarely in her face plate, then jumping out of Phineas' arms, throwing a huge fireball down which split up into a huge wall of flames, destroying the remaining phantoms.
She then landed in Phineas' arms, firing her AUG A3 SF at the rapidly moving Aurelia, with Phineas adjusting his grip on her to give her the best firing angle and position, the two in sync.
"Me and my beloved are so sync... we are like, that assassin couple from the 21st century movie," Ariel thought, blushing.
She locked her legs onto his waist, and leaned back, firing her CZ P07 pistol at Camila, while Phineas trained his Glock 17 at Aurelia, pulling the trigger.
Aurelia and Camila are shot again in their faceplates, which angered Camila even more.
She charged, waving her staff wildly which generated strong bursts of wind, pulling objects in the room with it, throwing them at Ariel and Phineas.
Ariel released Phineas, floating into the air and ignited a plasma blade, gracefully slicing her way through the barrage of items, closing their distance.
Camila then channeled all of her Cosmic Energy, transforming into her "true form", a black Eastern Dragon with blue eyes and grey horns.
She shrieked, and an orb of electric energy is formed from her mouth.
Aurelia also transformed into a purple and white Eastern Dragon, too emitting an orb of electric energy from her mouth.
The 2 orbs started having arc currents jumping through them, then forming a Tesla Coil of sorts. Soon, bolts of electricity are thrown at Ariel and Phineas.
"LOOK OUT!" Phineas yelled, pushing Ariel out of the way, taking a direct hit. The Exo-suit's electric shielding is quickly overwhelmed by the huge voltage its subjected to, and it short-circuited, jettisoning Phineas out of it, its emergency detach mechanism activated.
Just as Phineas stood up, he is struck by a bolt of electricity, sending him spasming in agony on the floor.
Seeing her beloved in danger, Ariel too transformed, transforming into a red Eastern Dragon with yellow horns and yellow eyes. She jumped between Phineas and the 2 hostile Dragons, using her dragon body to shield him from the attacks. Her scales turned red hot from the amount of electricity she is being zapped with.
Ignoring the heart wretching pain, she turned around, breathing a huge ball of fire at the 2 hostile Dragons.
The combined electricity attack and the fire attack met in the center of the corridor, stalling there,
Both parties absorbed Cosmic Energy, intending to use brute force to overwhelm and destroy the other.
In the end, Ariel emerged victorious, her flame breath consuming Aurelia and Camila in a huge explosion. The 2 are forced to convert back to humanoid forms to heal from their injuries that would have killed them, since transforming between forms would allow Sellardraxians to heal their damages and wounds from their previous forms.
Ariel too transformed back, though its from exhaustion and over straining, now unable to sustain her form, fainting onto the floor.
Camila weakly stood up, reaching for her staff.
Before she can reach it, it is kicked out of hands as Phineas appeared, he then kneed onto her chest and pinned her down. Phineas then reached for his combat knife, Camila weakly tried to stop his hand, but she is unable too, and Phineas stabbed it into her unclothed chest, right through the lungs.
Her arms flailed, her head turning to one side as she started losing consciousness. Phineas then saw Aurelia getting up. He reached for his pistol, firing. 4 bullets hit her in her torso, now naked and unprotected, and she fell, a pool of blood forming underneath her body.
Moving away from the 2 dying enemies, Phineas went to check on Ariel, who had reawakened, and is standing up.
Just then a "whoosh" is heard, Phineas turned, shocked to see that the 2 dying bodies have disappeared.
"Huh?! Where did they go?" he asked in shock.
"They disappeared?" asked Ariel, staggering forward, turning around to Phineas in confusion.
Phineas froze, looking at his friend, his nose bleeding and his cheeks flushed red, prompting him to cover his nostrils.
Ariel realised that she is now clothless in front of her beloved, her cheeks then turned a deep red, as if she is running a very high fever.
"PHIN YOU DUMMY! CLOSE YOUR EYES!!" she screamed in embarrassment, punching Phineas gently while trying to cover his eyes.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone