Chapter 123

  The cultivator stepped forward across empty air, sword raised.

  Alexander’s body moved before his mind caught up. Metallokinesis carried him backward in a desperate retreat. The drones scattered around him under Droney’s direction. Pain screamed through his shoulder with every movement, every shift in the air.

  Blood streamed from the stump. He could feel it, warm and wet, soaking into what remained of his sleeve. His vision blurred at the edges.

  The cultivator’s sword moved in flowing arcs, each swing sending water qi lashing out from the blade. Thin ropes of it, whipping toward him.

  Alexander released his control over the turrets. Too much to manage. He needed everything focused on survival.

  He reached for five of the drones with Animachina. The connection snapped into place, his Will flooding into their systems through his Core. Technopathy and Metallokinesis rode with it, the synergy making the empowerment almost effortless despite his condition.

  The drones shot forward, boosted by Metallokinesis. Shield-blades extended with synchronized clicks. They wove between him and the cultivator in a dangerous mobile net, cutting through water threads before they could reach him.

  Droney coordinated their movements, understanding what Alexander needed without words. The little drone stayed close to his shoulder, managing the combat maneuvers of the others. Alexander could feel the little machine’s intent to be a last line of defense should it be required.

  Another water thread whipped toward his face. A drone intercepted it, shield-blade severing the construct. Then another thread, another intercept. The drones moved in perfect coordination, creating a wall of cutting edges.

  Alexander kept moving backward. His breathing came hard and fast. The pain wasn’t fading. If anything, it was getting worse as the shock wore off and his body fully registered what had happened.

  He was going to pass out soon. Blood loss would take him down before the cultivator did if he didn’t do something.

  A roar split the air.

  The red dragon crashed into the fight from the side. Its massive claw closed around the cultivator mid-stride, catching him completely off guard. The man had been so focused on finishing Alexander that he hadn’t tracked the dragon’s return.

  The dragon’s wings beat once, powerful and violent, carrying the cultivator away.

  Alexander caught a glimpse of Maximilian on the dragon’s back. Still covered in blood, the wound across his chest was visible, but golden scales had grown over the injury, forming armor where flesh had been carved to the bone.

  Heat washed over Alexander. Hjordis’s aura, returning as she closed the distance. It sank into his muscles and bones, filling him with the feeling of strength. The minor regenerative effect tingled across his wound.

  He grabbed at his shoulder instinctively, hand pressing against the stump. The regeneration wouldn’t be enough. Nowhere near enough. The wound was too severe; the blood loss too great.

  Hjordis appeared in front of him, flames blazing around her form. Her helmet was crumpled on one side, the metal dented inward. Blood ran freely from beneath. She moved toward him, clearly intending to help.

  “Go help Max,” Alexander said. His voice came out rougher than he expected.

  She hesitated. Her expression shifted, genuine concern crossing her face. It surprised him. The warrior who’d been furious about her fallen teammates, showing that same protectiveness toward him now.

  “Go,” he repeated.

  Hjordis held his gaze for another heartbeat, then nodded once. She turned and shot after Maximilian and the cultivator, wings of flame carrying her forward.

  Julia flew past a moment later, hand still bleeding from where the sword had punched through. Her eyes found his.

  They locked gazes. He watched her take in the wound, the blood streaming from the stump, the way he held himself in the air. Concern flashed across her face.

  Then her eyes came back to his. Something passed between them in that instant. Understanding. Recognition. She knew him well enough to know that losing an arm wouldn’t take him out of this fight. Couldn’t take him out of it. And she was needed elsewhere.

  She gave him a single nod, then accelerated toward the fight with ice reforming along her arms.

  The sounds of combat escalated. The clash of metal. The dragon’s rumbling growl. Blows being traded.

  He returned to the immediate problem and reached into one of his pouches on his belt with his remaining hand. His fingers found a spool of wire.

  The last of the metal barriers dropped from the air as he released them. He needed all his focus for this.

  Metallokinesis gripped the wire with precision he didn’t feel. It unwound from the spool, thin and strong. Not its intended purpose, but it would work. The metal responded to his Will, wrapping around the remaining leather around the stump of his arm in tight coils.

  Then he tightened it.

  Pain lanced through him, sharp and immediate. He gritted his teeth, a groan forcing its way past his lips despite his attempt to hold it back. His body bent forward involuntarily, curling around the agony.

  The wire cut into what remained of his arm, padded by the leather of his jacket. The blood flow slowed, then stopped almost entirely.

  Alexander forced himself to straighten. His vision was darkening at the edges. Lightheaded didn’t begin to cover it. He was seconds away from passing out.

  He reached into his Cultivator’s Core.

  Electrokinesis responded, cycling from his soul and into the Core. The power built inside him, contained and controlled. Then he released it throughout his body in a controlled discharge.

  Electricity flooded his nervous system. It wasn’t painful. His power made him almost immune to electrical harm. Instead it was clarifying. Sharpening.

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  Like being injected with pure adrenaline, except more. His senses snapped into focus with sudden intensity. The pain receded until it was something manageable. His awareness expanded, taking in details he’d been too dazed to notice. The sounds of combat grew clearer. The feel of the air against his skin. Even his powers felt more responsive, more present.

  The Core was amplifying the effect beyond simple stimulation. Showing him potential he hadn’t fully grasped yet.

  Alexander took a breath. Then another. His heart hammered in his chest, driven by both blood loss and electrical empowerment. But he was awake. Alert.

  Functional.

  He accelerated back toward the fight, Metallokinesis carrying him forward. Droney stayed at his shoulder, the empowered drones forming a protective screen. Hjordis’s aura continued to wash over him, warmth and strength flowing into his body.

  The cultivator came into view. Julia’s fist, encased in ice, drove into his sternum with force. The impact sent him flying backward.

  Hjordis and Maximilian converged from opposite sides. The dragon opened its massive jaws, fire building between its teeth in a bright orange glow.

  Flame erupted in a torrent. The dragon’s breath weapon streamed toward the cultivator, intense heat distorting the air around it.

  Hjordis flew directly into the path of the flames. They washed over her without effect, her own fire immunity rendering the dragon’s attack harmless to her. She brought her massive sword down in an overhead strike, the blade blazing as she closed on the cultivator.

  Water qi burst into existence around him.

  A spherical shell of swirling water formed instantly, encasing the cultivator completely. The dragon’s flames hit the surface and rippled across it, fire meeting water in violent contact. Steam hissed and billowed. The flames couldn’t penetrate, washing around the orb instead.

  Hjordis’s sword struck the shell. The blade punched partway through the surface, then caught. Stuck in the water qi like it had hit something solid.

  She planted both feet against the orb’s curved surface, flames wreathing her boots. Her muscles strained as she heaved backward, trying to pull her weapon free. The sword shifted, grinding against the resistance. Then it tore free suddenly, the blade ripping out of the water qi with a spray of droplets that flashed to steam against her flames.

  Hjordis tumbled backward through the air from the release of tension, wings flaring to catch herself. She pulled away, creating distance.

  Alexander didn’t slow down. He maintained his forward momentum, thrusting his right hand forward as he closed the distance.

  His gauntlet crackled with the built-up charge. Electrokinesis flooded the metal, more power than he’d ever channeled through it before. Lightning danced across the surface in brilliant white arcs.

  He released it.

  The lightning bolt lanced across the space between them and struck the water orb dead center. Electricity spread across the surface instantly, following the paths of least resistance through the liquid. The water lit up from within, glowing with contained power.

  Through the translucent shell, Alexander saw the cultivator’s body go rigid. Saw his mouth open in a silent scream. The man’s qi-reinforced body protected him from the worst of it, but Alexander could see the pain.

  The water sphere pulsed with contained energy. Alexander watched the cultivator straighten. Watched him move despite the lingering effects of the electricity.

  His sword swept in a horizontal arc inside the sphere.

  Wind qi exploded outward in a devastating horizontal blade aimed directly at Hjordis. She raised her massive sword vertically, the flat of the blade positioned to intercept the attack. Flames blazed along its length.

  The wind blade struck the metal and partially dissipated, the center of the attack breaking apart against her defense.

  But the edges continued past on either side. They carved deep into both her upper arms just below the shoulders. Blood sprayed from the wounds, misting the air behind her. Her sword dipped, losing some of the strength in her arms.

  The water sphere erupted.

  Bullets of water shot outward in every direction, hundreds of them, tearing through the air with lethal speed.

  The red dragon reared up mid-flight, its massive body interposing itself between the attack and Maximilian. Water bullets punched through scales and membrane. The dragon’s wings shredded under the assault, tears opening across the stretched skin. Its body jerked with each impact.

  Julia pushed straight through the barrage, ice forming across her skin. The water bullets struck her and accomplished nothing, her superhuman durability rendering them irrelevant. She closed on the cultivator without slowing.

  Alexander reached into his Cultivator’s Core. Electrokinesis surged, cycling faster than before. He pushed more power through, overcharging the effect.

  His perception sharpened dramatically. Time didn’t slow, but Hyperawareness expanded. He processed the trajectory of every water bullet simultaneously, saw which ones the empowered drones would intercept, calculated the gaps in the coverage.

  One unempowered drone shattered as three bullets tore through its chassis.

  Alexander made micro-adjustments with Metallokinesis, shifting his position in tiny increments. Water bullets passed within centimeters of his body, missing by margins he’d calculated precisely. The drones caught the rest, shield-blades deflecting or absorbing the impacts.

  Fatigue hit him like a wave. Not physical exhaustion, but something deeper. His soul straining under the demand. He couldn’t maintain this level of output for long. The Core amplified his powers, but there were limits to what he could sustain.

  The barrage ended as quickly as it had begun. Water droplets fell, dissipating into mist.

  Maximilian stood on his wounded dragon’s back, golden eyes tracking the cultivator. The man had created distance again with the explosion, air-stepping backward while Julia pursued.

  Then Maximilian jumped, launching himself into the air and abandoning the dragon entirely.

  “Dragon Lord’s Mandate,” Maximilian said quietly.

  The massive red creature vanished instantly, dismissed back into wherever his unsummoned dragons resided.

  A sapphire dragon appeared in the same instant, occupying the same space.

  Smaller than the red, perhaps half the size, with scales that gleamed brilliant blue even in the fading light. Its wings beat once, catching Maximilian mid-fall. He landed on its back with perfect timing.

  He leaned forward, reaching down to pat the dragon’s neck with his clawed right hand. The gesture was almost gentle despite the circumstances.

  The dragon responded immediately. Its jaws opened, revealing teeth crackling with electrical charge. Lightning built in its throat, bright and terrible.

  The cultivator saw it coming. He twisted in the air, sword coming up, air-stepping to change direction.

  Julia’s hand closed around his forearm.

  She’d closed the distance in the brief moment of distraction. She yanked him backward with her tremendous strength, holding him directly in the lightning breath’s path.

  The dragon released its attack.

  Lightning erupted in a sustained stream, arcing across the distance. The cultivator tried to pull free, but Julia held firm. The electricity struck him full force, spreading across his qi-reinforced body in brilliant white arcs.

  Julia took part of the attack as well, lightning crackling over her shoulder and side. She grimaced but didn’t let go, weathering the assault.

  The cultivator screamed. His body convulsed, muscles locking. Smoke rose from his robes where the electricity burned through fabric.

  Then the lightning ceased. The dragon’s breath cut off, the creature pulling back slightly.

  Julia released the cultivator’s arm. Ice formed over her fingers, extending into blade-like points. She thrust them toward his throat, going for the kill.

  The cultivator screamed.

  Wind qi erupted from his body in all directions, a violent explosion of cutting air. It caught Julia mid-strike and sent her tumbling backward through the sky, ice cracking across her arms where the wind blades caught her.

  The cultivator hung in the air, chest heaving, smoking slightly. Burns across his arms and torso. His movements slower, more labored.

  But his qi-reinforced body had protected him from the worst of the lightning.

  The man was still conscious. Still capable of fighting.

  They all were. Wounded, bleeding, and pushed to their limits. Alexander could see it in everyone’s movements. The cultivator’s delayed reactions. Hjordis’s weakened arms. Julia’s labored but determined breathing. Maximilian’s hand holding his chest.

  They had each other’s measure now.

  The next few exchanges would end it.

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