Capítulo 123: Chapter 39: Return of the Shield
'We need to go. Now.' Ever since finishing the call with Valerie and Rydel, Cellica and Ol has been packing everything as quickly as possible, setting a timer for five minutes as the old Aquarian uses all six of his arms to pack everything from everybody into the luggage. For someone at Ol's age, he is moving incredibly well thanks to all of the physical training done in the home base on Athena 3. As he hopped quickly back and forth the room while Cellica is taking care of guard duty all around the room with her artifacts, they form a rather nice duo in terms of survivability.
So far in the immediate radius, Cellica haven't spotted anyone that looked like they are from Absolute Being, and yet she is feeling incredibly uneasy staying exactly where they are right now. The hotel they are staying at is indeed not positioned on the planet's surface, meaning busy travel lanes for shuttles and ships are indeed near them and there are plenty of beings around them. However, despite the fact that there may not be any big groups of soldiers from Absolute Being coming to their doorsteps, that doesn't mean they will be safe.
If there is anything they know from being artifact bearers, it is that a single person will be enough to cause havoc.
The timer hits five, and the packing is complete. The check out procedure is also quickly performed and Ol failed to get in touch with Torelamri, as he merely kept his usual voice message as the reply whenever someone calls him.
'ONLY TEXTS! MISSED CALL HAS NO INFORMATION.' When questioned about his behaviour, Torelamri very passionately defended his position. A simple line of notification saying a call is missed is not only disappointing but also frustrating, as no useful information is truly gained by the party that missed out, and from the point of view Ol can understand where the overly practical Rockie is coming from.
Knowing not to leave his friend hanging, Ol texted Torelamri about gathering near the Marble Casino of the entertainment district before taking off with Cellica. There are no direct shuttles to the entertainment district at this late in the night from the hotel, but the elevator going down to the orbital ring where more shuttles are available is always an apt option. Throwing a pair of sunglasses on for Cellica and a giant jacket, trousers and shoes for Ol, and they looked nothing like what people expected of them.
As the elevator drops slowly through down onto the orbital ring, the openings is barren and empty with not a soul in sight. There are a few scattering groups of people sitting on park benches or taking a drink of alcohol all around the park, but there is nothing unusual. All of the luggage that Ol picked up was tightly compressed into a single luggage trolley that has a hover function, so it can be dragged around easily.
'We are clear.' Cellica said, as they left the elevator and headed straight towards the shuttle station according to the navigation on her personal interface. As they walked past a single human sitting on the bench mumbling to himself, a voice came from that man.
'Are you going towards the truth, travelling this late, or are you running away from it?'
Ol and Cellica slowed their pace ever so slightly, but they have no time to waste on some drunk.
'I suppose you have no interest in learning it, then I shall show you the truth....' The man shook his head and stood up from his bench. However, he wasn't disappointed at the lack of replies, no, if Sadie Allen is to spread the truth about Absolute Being's goals and dreams, there is no disappointment in those not knowing. There is only passion in potential for more to witness the truth.
The truth that Lady Lily has showed him. However, the Path of Hercules, the journey that brings human back to the times when hard work is valued more, is not lost or forgotten, but merely rechannelled.
The Path of Hercules became the path in which he progressed through the Absolute Academy at break neck pace, completing the four tasks in record time and graduating from the academy after accepting challenges from few other artifact candidates at the same time, and leaving them beat up but kept alive a the arena after the challenge. His defeat to Sir Deva meant only the need for further work to be done, and now, he has done those labors.
He has walked that path, and now he is ready to face those bearers of the artifact.
In a way, he is thankful. He was finally given a mission to fulfill his purpose and that utilizes his full strength. With the boss that Lady Lily and Sir Deva referred to as master giving them hints, he ordered those in his squad that are apt in hacking and obtained the information that a single guest has checked out of the hotel after the time of the call that went out of the Marble Casino, where Lady Lily and Sir Deva is located. The checkout was premature, meaning that their plans were thwarted by something, and that something is Absolute Being.
Reaching out with a hand, Sadie activated the Shield for the first time since leaving the wild regions. The tingly sensation of the force shields that radiates away from his body is nothing but euphoria. Of the two people that initially ignored him, the shorter person spun around and looked at the surroundings all shocked. She is a human female, and as she warned her companion, the expanding shield already crashed into the both of them and threw them onto the ground. Luckily for them, and precisely according to Sadie's plan, the shield's intensity decreases with the square of distance, very much like the intensity distance relationship of gravity or electromagnetic forces.
Reabsorbing the shield back into his body, he knew for sure the two in front are indeed artifact users. If they were random passer by, then they would merely be confused about what has hit them, but the woman reacted preemptively to the poke. However, there is no sign of them doing anything to protect themselves as even the reduced strength expanding shield seemed to have done a bit of damage.
The taller individual is revealed to be an old Aquarian, and he was the first one to get up. Reaching out a hand towards his companion, he asked, 'Are you okay, Cellica?'
'Yes.' Cellica nodded her head and replied, 'shaken, but fine.' Her artifact fully active, and that's what warned her about the activation of shield. However, this brute force of an artifact is not something either of them can take on, 'we can't fight this, we need to run.'
'Agreed,' Ol said, but he isn't moving, 'but how many of those people in this park are his man?'
Cellica couldn't respond. All of those could be soildiers of Absolute Being in disguise and preparing to capture them the moment they are going to flee, 'but we can't fight!'
'But I will buy some time.' Reaching towards the luggage, Ol grabbed a pair of rifles and two Aquarian blades before sliding the lid shut, 'you go.'
'We are not doing this.' Cellica shook her head, as more and more heads in the park have turned their heads towards the trio. Then, they all looked the other way as the sound of a small explosion traveled to their location. Without Sadie giving any orders, a few of the disguised soldiers stood up from behind the bushes, on the benches and against the light posts and started running towards the origin of the explosion.
Sadie looked rather surprised by the interruption, but he is even more surprised that he might not get to fight any combat types. And what are the chances that two of the non-combat type artifact users are grouped together at the same time? Sadie wondered, it really is lucky for both him and them, as he is about to show the truth about this universe to them.
The truth about how power is everything.
'He is going to attack again.' Ol said, pointing one rifle at Sadie while handing the other towards Cellica, 'Who the hell are you?'
'I am Sadie Allen, the user of the artifact Shield.' Sadie said, 'and I am honored to be able to meet you two in this occasion.'
'If attacking us out of nowhere is what you meant by honor, then I am afraid you got it all twisted.' Cellica responded, 'you are with the Absolute Being, so what are your orders?'
'I suppose you know what the order is.' Sadie said with a shrug, then he looked towards the direction where the explosion came from, and both Cellica and Ol opened fire the moment he is distracted. Both stunning bolts and physical bullets shot out of the two rifles respectively and flew towards an unspuspecting Sadie. However, those attakcs were all deflected away without him paying any attention to it.
'So a force field based artifact.' Ol said before turning over to look at Cellica, 'but for real though, real bullets?'
'Those bastards after the double enhancements are tough. Real bullets can't really kill them regardless, but will injure them somewhat so it will at least buy us some time.' Cellica said, 'check if this is a spherical shield or just front facing.'
'Yes.' Ol acknowledge before the two people spreaded out and landed a barrage of fire of the shield, but it didn't even bother Sadie in the slightest. Ol launched a small drone carrying an explosive from his rifle as it crashed into Sadie's back, but the shield covered that too. They emptied the magazine, and quickly realized that nothing they can do will make any difference.
If anything, his artifact is the most suitable for combat. So there are little chance that they can make it out of this one.
'Perhaps we should have stayed at hom.' Cellica said, dropping the rifle to the floor and pretending to give up before spraying another array of bullets that bounced of Sadie.
'Well?' Sadie finally turned his head to face the two, 'any more attempts?'
'HOHOHO What is this? What this is?' The voice of Torelamri came from the sides, and all three turn their attention to the short Rockie who's carrying a giant container box in front of him, his short arms not able to even reach around so he is looking a tight belt all around the box, 'why bad human around hotel?'
'Torelamri!' Celllica couldn't be happier to see him now, 'you are okay!'
Slamming the big box onto the ground and unlooping the belts from his wrists, he looked up at the two with rifles in their hands and greeted, 'of course I am. Who is this?'
'Sadie Allen from Absolute Being, and he appeared to have some sort of force field artifact.'
'Force fields?' Torelamri nodded his head a few times before focusing his gaze at the human, 'built it before, quite expensive.'
'Have you seen our message?' Ol asked, 'the text message.'
'Just now, thank you.' Torelamri gave Ol a wave before slapping the belt on the container that he was carrying, 'this is too heavy, so I have to focus. Hands tied.'
'Ah.'
'You two, go. I will fight.' Torelamri said, now waving Ol goodbye.
'What? are you...' Cellica is about to protest, but Ol raised a hand to stop her. He looked at the little Rockie and his oldest friend in this group.
'Let him. We should go.' Ol said, dropping the rifle back into his luggae, 'you have taken care of those soldiers?'
'What? You?' Sadie Allen pointed his finger at the tiny Rockie before checking his personal interface to confirm what Ol has said, 'so you...are a combat type too.'
'Want us to take your luggage with you?' Ol asked before reaching a hand towards the container box, but Torelamri beat him to the punch. Slapping the container defensive, Torelamri shook his head.
Stubborn Rocky...Cellica cursed in her head, but right now all she can do is follow Ol's lead. She will report the fight here to the local police forces as soon as she gets out of here, and Torelamri's artifact should help him get out of here.
'Damn you Rocky!' Sadie Allen went through all of the communication channels, and all of the soldiers that he has brought down to the orbital ring have been silenced. The single-layer of traps he so carelessly put together is broken easily by this meddling Rocky. He is fight him, and he will beat his face in with his shield, 'you just ruined today's work!'
Yelling angrily, Sadie charged towards Torelamri before jumping in the air with his enhanced physical prowess. He is going to activate Shield and push outwards as he is landing, crushing the Rocky underneath his feet. However, instead of dodging out to the side, Torelamri simply reached into the box next to him while locking his eyes at Sadie.
Suddenly, Sadie realized that he may have made a grave mistake. In his anger, he has charged into the Rock without any thought of what his artifact may be. The fights between any two artifact users depends heavily on the interactions between how the artifacts will interact with each other, whether one will work around the other or the two will compete and clash like the Glove and the Pocket.
What exactly is Torelamri's artifact? What exactly does it do? Is it the luggage that he has been carrying around? Many questions popped into Sadie's head all at the same time but he simply doesn't have enough information to answer them.
What if.....the Aquarian only pretended to want to take away the luggage to fool me? Sadie thought, as he continued to ramp up the intensity of the shield all around him and mentally prepared to deal with whatever consequences that may come as a result of his anger.
Instead of reality bending powrs, Torelamri pulled out a.....rocket...launcher?
'What the f...' Before Sadie had time to finsh, the Rockie already pulled the trigger and sent a rocket his way. The projectile collided with him mid-air, exploding in his face and sending him flying backwards. The shield itself handled the explosion no problem, but he is still going to be influenced by outside forces, and he can also influence the outside. That's how he is able to attack with the expansion of the shield radius and despite it being able to protect him from falls or explosions, the waves back in the chaotic sea can still push him around.
Sadie landed gracefully back onto his feet and scanned his enemy once again. He is trolled by the Rocky once more, first making him think that the luggage is an artifact, and the next being shoved back by the momentum of the rocket.
'Huh, so you can be influenced by momentum.' Torelamri said while casually reloading his rocket launcher, 'looks like I can delay you enough without my artifact.'
'You are just wasting ammo.' Sadie said as another rocket is fired towards him, and he tanked it once again but the shot wave sent him back onto the ground. Then, another is fired but he was able to dodge to the side as the rocket merely grazed the outer radius of his shield. Then, Sadie got onto his feet and started sprinting towards Torelamri once again.
Then, his shoes slipped from underneath him, and patches of ice formed on the ground beneath his feet. He looked at Torelamri, who just put away another item back into his luggage. It appeared drastically different visually and could explain the change in the surface around him.
'Is this how you stopped all of my soldiers? With cheap tricks?' Sadie shouted, arms swinging out and wide to the side of him.
'No, I used artifact.' Torelamri said, the rocket launcher back into his hands.
'You don't think I am dangerous enough?' Sadie Allen lets out a maniacal laugh as a chaotic energy was released from his mind, 'you...you rocky....'
Then, he turned on the dial yet again, as his movement became even faster than before. Torelamri fired yet another shot in his direction, and Sadie spun around it rather than side stepping just to show his agility. At the same time, he shrunk the radius of the shield around him and avoided any tangential impacts as the rocket flied past his side.
In the blink of an eye, he has already closed into within five meters of Torelamri. With his shields still up, he waited for a perfect moment to strike by pushing the radius out suddenly and giving Torelamri a punch. After the failure at hitting the target, Torelamri quickly backpedalled albeit at a much slower rate than Sadie's approach with the launcher still in his hands.
Too slow. Sadie said, as he closed in even nearer towards Torelamri before reaching outwards with his arms and pushing the radius of his shields outwards. Suddenly, Torelamri's moving so much faster as he stepped around to the side of him before going back toward the luggage container that he left behind and reloading his rocket launcher. Then as Sadie blinked once more instinctively, a rocket flew right into his face.
Sadie instinctively puts both of hands up despite the fact that the shield will undoubtedly protect him. However, the forward momentum he carried continued to threw him forward, adding on the boost from the rocket, and he crashed into the side of an elevated garden, shattering the surrounding walls and letting the dirt explode everywhere like gun-powder.
So that was his artifact....Sadie thought, he can enter into super speed whenever he wanted. Damn, this is one of the best combat abilities out there. And though Sadie may not be injured by anything Torelamri is going to do if he maintained the shield's integrity, it will still be borderline impossible for him to try to catch Torelamri's friends.
Perhaps it's time to call for backup. Sadie thought, reaching a hand towards his personal interface. As much as he hated it and doesn't want to get Lady Lily involved in his first solo mission, but to be honest, he doesn't think that he could handle Torelamri alone.
He looked down, and there is no connection for his personal interface.
Torelamri had already set up signal jammers that appeared to be tiny pyramids all around the area Sadie is standing in that overloaded all channels in the neighboring area with noise to the extent that any further attempt at communication will lead to overload and automatic shutdown of the network in order to protect itself. And whenever Sadie tri
In essence, ever since Torelamri have arrived, the trap has been reversed and he is the one that is on the verge of being captured.
Just who is this monster...
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