ZETA

Peak physical condition. That’s what Zeta spent his growing years striving for on that mountain. His first steps towards Balder Rex carried immense, booming weight as he trucked across the ground.

With one finger raised, a hail of Impossible Shots burst forth. Regardless of whether or not Rex had the full Natural Padding set, Zeta and Hera had a greater tool: knowledge. Curse knowledge. Knowing that Natural Padding did not protect against bullets.

However, Zeta had no plans to stand still and shoot idly. He may be a sublime swordsman, but in contrast, he was a piss poor marksman. Rex was an expert at avoiding the shots. Ultimately, they served as a distraction so his proud sword could do the real damage.

Tired of shifting from side to side, Rex paused and opened his palm in Zeta’s path. “Sonic Ray,” he said.

An array of vibrant light-gray rings rapidly emitted from his palm. As soon as they passed through Zeta’s ears, he collapsed with deafening pain. A moment later and he felt punched in the face with a force that launched him back to where he started.

Shaking off the residual ringing in his ears, Zeta charged in again, sword drawn and shots fired.

“Sonic Ray.”

This one was aimed for the chest. No screeching sound, but a great deal of force pounded his chest. Once again, he flew back to square one.

Unpredictable is predictable.

Zeta charged again, and Rex scoffed at his third attempt. When the ray came forth, Zeta sidestepped it, sword pointed and aimed at the heart.

Rex’s grin didn’t vanish, however. Instead, he reeled back his hand and swung.

Zeta ducked, slashing at the belly. He missed, and Rex followed up with a jab in Zeta’s stomach instead. Agh! It was the same with his earlier strikes. He had felt this before. Enhanced. Rex’s blow sent him flying upward. He landed sooner than expected because he was sitting on the roof of a building.

Zeta sat up and stroked his chin. Little rivers of red were flowing from his mouth. He rolled over to see Balder standing next to the ground floor of the building.

He punched his hand into the wall. “Complete Collapse,” he said and yanked it out.

The entire foundation fell apart. The supports and walls toppled, and the ceiling’s plaster shattered as it came crashing down. The stones dissolved into powder and the wood cracked into splinters. Somewhere in the rubble of rock, he lost his grip on Black Meridian.

“Zeta!” he heard Hera cry, although it was nearly inaudible. His ears were plugged and his vision obscured by sawdust. His mind slipped in and out of conscious focus.

A cold, meaty hand gripped his throat out of nowhere. “And here I thought you were supposed to be a tough guy. How the hell did someone like you beat my two best men!”

Like a pebble, Rex threw Zeta across the street as if he offered no resistance at all. What made it more fearsome was that the throw was natural, not enhanced. Zeta’s first response was to vomit a blob of blood.

His arms were too weak to lift him off the ground, and thousands of red flags were popping off in his brain like fireworks. The dust of death sprinkled in his vision when he closed his eyes.

“All those little pads on your body. I’m assuming those injuries were sustained by Crue and Gust. Understandable, they aren’t easy opponents,” Rex said. “I can also assume you’re not at your full strength, then, so normally I’d forgive your weakness.”

Zeta felt Rex’s boot crash into his spine, and he yelled in agony.

“But the true insult is the fact that you believed you could defeat me while in that state!” he said with venom, grinding his heel into Zeta’s back.

“Rex, stop! Enough of this!” Hera cried from the sidelines. In his aggravated mind, Zeta wondered what anchored her to the ground. He knew she was stronger than this. Come…fight…Hera…

Rex ignored her, his eyes still trained on Zeta. “You arrogant bastard! Read my sigma score and compare it to yours. You’ll understand how infuriating it is that someone like you possessed the audacity to challenge me.”

He eased up on the pain and stepped away, giving Zeta a breather. Gradually, Zeta crawled to a sitting position. He looked up to Rex and smiled. “Sorry, I can’t read.”

That was it. First, Zeta saw Rex’s face distort into a reddened scowl. The sun complemented that look by offering a dark shadow complexion. Next, Rex’s weight was on top of him. He couldn’t see, hear or speak as a storm of fists pounded away at his face.

Eventually, Rex stopped, although his furious huffing and puffing did not. When he spoke, spit dribbled onto Zeta’s bruised cheek. “Well, I can. It’s a whole digit difference. I don’t know where you found the incentive to challenge me, because to you, I may as well be a god. Pathetic.”

Zeta started laughing, even though that was the last thing his lungs needed. He broke into a coughing fit and still smiled through bloody red teeth. “Sigma scores don’t matter to me. They don’t matter at all. They’re just numbers that fools like you to delude yourself with. No wonder you call yourself a god. It’s because you’re insane.”

A vein popped in Rex’s forehead. “That mouth needs to be sewn shut. Maybe then life like yours would be worth living.”

He kicked Zeta in the jaw, and the world could hear it snap from the socket.

HERA

Hera was about to burst into tears. The crack took her out of reality. In a flash, she caught a brief glimpse of the manor.

Five years old. People were walking behind her on the street, but she couldn’t turn her head to see them. No, all she could do was stare at the empty playground next to the manor. The swing was moving at a constant rate. Constant, but no one was aboard.

She heard the crack again, and the garden door opened. Someone was inside, but she couldn’t make out the details. That didn’t matter, she knew who it was.

Crack! “Hera, you useless brat! Get over here!”

Crack!

Back on the streets of Aspic, a bystander to her ally’s suffering. Rex had no mercy as he smashed Zeta into every structure on the block, yet somehow had not managed to kill him.

This is not why we came here. Somewhere along the way her feet molded with the ground and refused to move. We came here to win. What the hell am I doing!

The last crack was when Zeta broke his jaw, and from the way his body was lying, he was either unconscious…or dead.

Rex’s glare shifted to her immediately; the bloodlust had not dissipated from his eyes. A bucket of icy northern water trickled down her spine. It was so intense she almost imagined it to be real. She thought that hooded figure was nearby again, but she knew he wasn’t the cause. All this was terror derived from her own heart.

“Harpy,” Rex said quietly. With Zeta out of the way, his demeanor calmed. “Are you proud of sending people to their doom?”

“He’s…not dead,” she declared.

Rex kneeled down. His muscular fingers pressed against Zeta’s neck to check for a pulse. “Not yet. I can change that if you desire.”

“Don’t.”

He turned to face her with his full body, bare. Zeta left not a single blemish nor a scratch. The entire battle was a hopeless endeavor.

“Desire. You’ve been asking why I’m doing this, but the truth is you really don’t need to know. I think the uncertainty is what is keeping you frozen in place, weak and helpless. I like that. Lena would too.”

“L–Lena?” Hera asked.

“So you know her? I’m shocked. Lena Kurova is not a name thrown around among the poor folk. I take it you must know about the Pentagon as well.”

“I’ve heard of it. They sound like a vile group.”

“Now, let’s not be too harsh on those we haven’t met, Harpy.” His mood lightened as he made a friendly kick in Zeta’s ribs. Zeta made no sound. “Did you love this one, Harpy? I can see why. He has the looks–or he did, anyway. The strength. The overwhelming pride. The stupid, stupid sense of duty that all white knights seem to love. Indeed, a prince of legend.

“If love drives you, I understand. It’s why I hate to see you speak like that about strangers.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Rex looked to the sky like a poet amidst a dream. “Lena. Dear Lena, they call you the Wise for your gift of the mind. Your beauty knows no bounds, enchanting to all those touched by your knowledge.”

An aura of creepiness swarmed her. Balder Rex was a brute, yet somehow this woman transformed him into a poet. It was sickening, but not as sickening as the fact that he had the upper hand on both of them.

“Harpy, will you help me seek this courtship? You look exactly like her, you know. A bit younger, and definitely not as mature, but you were a treat to stare at when the world remained stagnant.”

A chilly breeze swept through the street. Rex's words were violating. Eye candy? That was her full value to him after all this time?

“My ambitions have grown since then, and your tenure as a substitute has run its course.”

“You…you did this all for some absurd love? You plan to destroy Aspic for what, then? Some kind of trial to prove you’re worthy of the bride?” there was a choked overtone to her words. Never in her life had speaking been an arduous effort.

“Wrong. That’s the part where you come in,” Rex said as he grew closer. “Not only did you mirror dear Lena’s looks, but you also have her focus as well. Your sigmas are my ticket to the Pillar of the Mind, and you will give them to me!”

When he started marching forward, her feet could finally move. “Get away!” She started running, throwing Neural Flashes behind her every second she could. It was unfortunate that the sigma needed concentration to successfully hit the target.

“Not going to work, Harpy! I’m prepared against the mind! I have to be! For her! Give me your sigmas!” he cackled with hideous joy. “Sonic Ray!”

Hera felt an awful burst of sound ring through her ears and throw her off balance, a subsequent force sent her soaring into a nearby stall.

The rampant rumble of aggressive footsteps grew closer, and a knee of pure bulk pinned her chest down with crushing, unrelenting weight.

Balder Rex raised his fist in delight. “A long time ago, my dreams were just an illusion. But those days are long past! My love is not absurd anymore, Harpy! I will join the Pentagon, and the most beautiful woman in the world will be my wife. I guarantee it. Goodbye, and thank you for your service!”

When she was a child, Hera’s favorite book was The Dragon’s Gold. Like most fantasy children’s books, it featured a princess. A damsel in distress. A pure-hearted soul that could never be harmed. It was her favorite because she hated it. The real world didn’t work like that.

Right now, she wished it did.

Hera struggled, but Balder wouldn’t budge. He wasted no time bringing his fist down on her face, again and again. He frequently paused, as if each hit was something to savor. The right place spot needed to be selected. An appropriate amount of force was required. She needed enough room for her head to roll after the hit.

Hera eventually stopped resisting. Through a beaten and bloody face, she could see what she assumed would be the killing blow. You call yourself a man, yet you can’t kill if it isn’t brutal. That’s not a husband, that’s a savage. I hope Lena kills you the second you touch her doorstep.

But Balder’s hand did not finish her. First, it was pierced by an invisible bullet, then his shoulder was stabbed by a black sword, cutting through his flesh like a javelin.

Go away, Zeta. I refuse to be the damsel.

Hera gripped Balder’s knee and clenched her fist to make sure Neural Fighter was active.

“If you want something to love, try defeat. Be warned, Balder, it goes through many relationships.”

She jammed her finger into his thigh with the most significant force her strength could muster.

Sonic Ray - Sound: Projects a sonic beam of deafening force from the user’s hand. (455).

(A) Aim with the palm of the hand. The ray is a cylinder, not a cone, therefore its maximum radius is the palm of the hand. Ray fires for a maximum of three seconds with a single activation The sound of Sonic Ray can only be heard if the beam crosses the target’s ears. Otherwise, targets will only feel the force.