Pillars of light streamed down from the heavens as Gaius disposed of his first target, cleaving through it with a grand swing. Five had appeared in the first few moments, after Gaius fired, but it would seem that the Lifespring had enough of him.

“Nine Lords, all focused on me. I’m flattered.” Gaius dipped downwards slightly, dodging a sharp burst of qi aimed directly at his throat, and watched a few strands of black hair drift off his forehead. “This is one hell of a welcome party. But unfortunately for you, I also got stronger.”

The boy’s eyes drifted over to the new arrivals that had appeared with the pillars of light, snapping back a second later to the enemy in front of him, who had closed in on him with a large burst of speed. Gaius clenched his left fist, and a solid block of air slammed into the incoming assailant. The Lord in front of him staggered as Gaius continued to create more and more blocks of air from his local surroundings, smashing them onto his hapless foe. Mini-vacuums, left behind in the wake of his Ability’s activation, slowed his target long enough for the other attacks to land.

This new Ability, Telekinesis, came from the Engine Paragon Ying Xin had given him. It was modelled after her own unique manipulation of matter, one of the many feats that had earned her the title of the “Hand of Fate”. This ability enabled him to gather and compress matter into a space. Their size was dependent upon his qi and control, but the manual had recommended creating blocks up to one cubic metre for maximum efficiency.

After spending three or so seconds to disorientate his foe, Gaius moved in for the kill, but before he could close in, energy swarmed towards him, forcing the boy back. Gaius glanced at the origin of the attacks — three Lords a kilometre away, their hands blazing with azure light — and cursed inwardly.

He whipped the Terminus upwards, slamming it against a descending foe that was clearly trying to take advantage of the numerical advantage. The impact blew the two of them apart, and as the two began to tumble, another volley of azure light bore down upon his left.

Gaius smiled. His body vanished from the spot, reappearing in the trajectory of the Lord he’d sent blasting away a second ago. The sudden teleportation had retained his momentum, and the Terminus glinted under the faint moonlight as it perforated his target’s chest. His right hand turned into a blur, carving his shivering foe into a lifeless body within moments.

Qi blasted out of his left hand, sending the lifeless corpse tumbling into the sea below. It would disappear into motes of light a few minutes later, but in the moments of respite his savagery had brought him, Gaius knew that he didn’t have that much time. The Lifespring had discarded his ground troops for the sake of killing him — sending ten Lords seemed like an appetiser, all things considered.

The Radio, which was now secured onto his shoulder, crackled.

“Gaius, this is Command. Backup is arriving in five minutes. Hold on until then!”

Qi blasted out from his body, throwing the boy to his right. As a river of azure light rained down on where he was a moment ago, Gaius slapped his Radio and snarled, “Make it snappy, I’m getting cornered.”

He ignored the reply, blinking towards the closest Lord in sight. Fleeing was easy, true, but that would leave the rear of the assault force exposed, and Gaius couldn't take that risk.

His sudden attack was met with a swift guard of the opponent’s own, but the Terminus chopped through the enemy’s blue blade without much suspense. The Lord, however, wasn’t flustered, and another blade appeared in his hands out of nowhere as he discarded his old weapon. Gaius clicked his teeth at this unexpected development, but he didn’t spend more than a heartbeat thinking about it. His left hand slipped into his cloak to withdraw a silver knife, gripping it firmly as he and his foe looked at each other quizzically for a moment.

The moment was broken by Gaius’ Dragoon, which emerged out of his body to slice towards the enemy’s torso. The Lord slashed outwards at the blade of qi, but the Dragoon traversed the thin slip of metal like it was never there, before burying itself deep into his body.

A crimson flower bloomed in mid-air as his foe came apart in a bloody spray. Gaius winced slightly at the sheer brutality of his attack, but he’d exposed yet another trick in his book in such an attack. The Lifespring was clearly paying attention to his abilities, coming up with ways to counter them. The more he exposed, the less he would have when push came to shove — Gaius was well aware that he was still able to use his Blink ability only because the God of Water hadn’t locked down the area yet.

Pillars of light descended from the skies again, but this time, they were all focused on a single point. An enormous presence registered itself onto Gaius’ mind, and a few moments later, the Radio came to life again.

“Gaius, this is Command. One of the Lifespring’s Paragons has disengaged from Paragon Shizo—”

“Yeah, I know,” Gaius interrupted. “He’s already here.”

Conrah’s Lords retreated as the Paragon fixed its gaze on Gaius. He was clad in blue armour from head to toe like the rest, but it was far more elaborate. Patterns reminiscent of waves were drawn on the chest piece, running down through the armour plates that protected the limbs and neck.

The boy could hear the person on the other side of the Radio say something, but he wasn’t paying attention anymore. This was the first real Paragon he’d met — Xanadu didn’t count in his mind for some reason — and the boy was strangely excited to face his foe in combat.

“I am Paragon Abele,” the Paragon said in a resonant baritone. “I’ve been called away from a worthy battle to kill you.”

“You can speak?”

“Yes, and more.” The Paragon’s eyes glittered through the azure helmet. Blue sparks appeared in his hand, coalescing into a blade. “I’ve been ordered to kill you. Therefore… hear my order, little Knight! Do not die — not until I’m satisfied!”

The sea trembled madly, forming a huge dome that separated them from the outside world. Paragon Abele raised his blade and pointed at Gaius. “Come! Mortal! Do not disappoint me!”