"Fortis! Fortis! Fortis! Hey! Fortis… open your eyes. Damn it, taking a nap at a time like this!" Veda yelled, his eyes glued to the CCTV footage.
'Damn it, are you kidding me? Is there no one who can head over to the boss's location and assist him? Fortis is down for now and won't be waking anytime soon. Our members have the upper hand in the ongoing clash, but there's no guarantee they'll have the strength to help the boss.'
"Do I really have to go? I'd just end up in his way. I have zero combat skills and a fragile body on top of that. What can I do? What's the best move?!" Veda thought to himself, pulling at his hair with both hands, squeezing his trembling eyes shut, and gritting his teeth.
After a few seconds of frantic deliberation, Hakera's voice crackled through his tactical radio: "Veda, I'm heading to the boss's location. I'm now equipped with my gear."
Veda immediately felt a wave of relief wash over him. He touched his chest and took a deep, refreshing breath. "Great timing, Hakera. You've just saved me from a panic attack. Don't worry about this place either, I've got it under control."
"Alright, may we not lose today," Hakera replied, leaping between buildings with his mask and tech boots.
"Yeah," Veda responded with resolve.
As the battle raged on, both sides suffered significant losses, with Fortis of the Starfall Reach and Rattle of the Echowood Retreat out of action.
Echowood Retreat had members more skilled in close combat, but Starfall Reach compensated with long-range attacks and environmental advantages.
Unbeknownst to both sides, vultures lurked in the shadows, waiting patiently to devour the remnants of the battle.
…
Meanwhile, in the air, Klause glanced up at what was holding him. Its legs resembled those of a bird but were as large as a human's. It was clearly a piece of advanced tech, with a wingspan of approximately six feet that could also serve as a blade for high-speed glides. He could only see its underside due to the way he was being carried.
He looked at his right arm to confirm that his blade was still in its sheath, and it was. Other than the pain in his cut left eye, he noticed severe pain on his left side, where its metallic claws were pressing against his broken ribs.
"Haaaaa… Let go of me!" Klause yelled as he unsheathed his Iaido Katana,, cutting deep into its metallic leg as well as the insider's leg.metallic
The suited person immediately released Klause, who fell onto the rooftop of a nearby building, rolling off and crashing through the glass of the building next to it, before finally hitting the ground.
It took Klause about twenty seconds to recover and regain his senses. As he tried to get up, he coughed up blood and held the left side of his abdomen. Resting on his left knee, he surveyed his surroundings.
'Fortis is probably fighting Rattle right now, and I know he'll win. If my deduction is correct about my location based on the buildings I've seen, then I'm very close to the Great Chiming Clock, which is a mile away Hall Olympusfrom our base, Hall Olympus. If backup were to come, it would take at least ten minutes minutes considering the shortcuts, but if it's only Hakera, he should be here in five about fiveminutes. Until then, I'm on my own,' Klause soliloquized.
After this, he saw something glide across the cloudy moon in a flash. He knew it was the creature that had interrupted his battle with Rattle.
He stood up slowly, placing his right hand on his right knee for support, gritting his teeth against the pain. Once upright, he sheathed his blade and held it in his left hand. Closing his right eye, he took a deep breath. When he reopened his eye, the flying figure was heading towards him at full speed.
Klause adopted the quick-draw posture, unsheathing his katana slightly with his left thumb and preparing his right hand for a quick a quickdraw.
As the bird-like figure approached with intent to cut him with its sharp wings, Klause leaped above it, spinning mid-air and unsheathing his katana in the process. "SLASH," he cut its left wing and landed on his right knee, sheathing his katana immediately.
"CRASH," the bird-like figure, now missing a wing, crash-landed into the building behind Klause, shattering glass and wreaking havoc on its path.
Klause immediately sprinted towards the crash site to deliver the finishing blow.
Unsheathing his blade as he neared the head of the creature, he prepared to behead whoever was in it. However, when he reached the head, he found it empty. No one was inside. He noticed drops of blood on the floor next to his boot and followed the trail to the other side of the building.
"PHISHH," he broke the glass and emerged on the other side, holding his abdomen. Looking up, he saw the silhouette of a tall, slender figure on a nearby rooftop.
He leaned forward and squinted, trying to identify the figure. "Isn't that Wolf-bat? Was he the one in that tech gear? How did he know I'd be attacked today? Did he plan this? Are they already at Hall Olympus?" These thoughts raced through Klause's mind as he recognized Wolf-bat of the Shadowmere Groove.
After a little whilesome few seconds, Wolf-bat disappeared into the darkness.
"Oh no, you won't!" Klause shouted, attempting to pursue Wolf-bat.
As he put his right leg forward to give chase, he caught a glimpse of something from the corner of his right eye. Reacting quickly, he blocked the incoming attack with his sheathed blade, but the force sent him flying and crashing into a building.