The blue paused, revealing itself, and struck.
Clang!
"Don't forget about !"
It was Ava.
As she stepped back, preditatively avoiding an attack that hadn't yet arrived, she struck another with her staff, cracking their skull and dropping them to the ground.
"You talk a lot for soone hiding behind a scrap heap!"
Maraak mockingly laughed in response.
"Alright! Let's test your theory! OVERCLOCK!"
The constructs lit up with Aether and attacked Arthur and Sofia at once, leaving them only a second to react.
But that was enough.
At least for Sofia.
She displayed her martial arts prowess, eting the swarm before they could even attack.
Unlike Arthur, whose each strike depended on luck, she moved with sothing beyond, a level nearing Emir's, a level unattainable by luck.
Her blade sliced through two constructs, their tal plating seemingly offering no protection.
She then completely halted the montum of her movent, using all the strength behind her muscles to attack in the complete opposite direction, ending another two.
Arthur tried to do the sa, but all he could do was swing wildly at them.
Eventually, his bayonet landed on one, and before another could kill him, the one he stabbed killed its fellow construct upon death, accidentally piercing its pincers through its head.
Their blades cut deep, sparks flying, but the more they killed, another would close in, and then another.
The sheer number was overwhelming, a relentless tide.
"These damn things just keep coming!"
It was just as Arthur's panicked scream perfectly described.
anwhile, Ava stayed outside the circle, using nearby rubble as cover as she took the soldiers' attention away from the duo.
She focused her Aether on her own wounds as she repeatedly sustained them, not at all fit for lee combat, following a hit-and-run tactic that she was taught at the Academy.
"Arthur, keep at it."
Sofia yelled, parrying a construct's arm as it lunged toward her.
"Ava, don't let your guard down."
"I won't!"
Maraak's laughter echoed in the tunnel.
"You're resilient, I'll give you that, but resilience without reason is foolishness."
Arthur spat, barely deflecting a blow:
"Says the dumbass attacking the ACADEMY!"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. It's an~."
Ignoring him completely, the two continued to destroy the constructs one by one, each block t with swift retaliation.
With Ava taking away most of the soldier's attention, annoying them to no end, they almost had an easier ti surviving this fight than earlier.
If looked at from that angle, Maraak's intervention was a boon instead of a curse.
The more they killed, the more their confidence grew, their focus sharpening as they fell into a rhythm.
Dodge the occasional laser, deflect an attack or two, and retaliate, ending the life of one or two constructs.
They were nearing victory and their guards unknowingly lowered because of that. Maraak seed to have noticed that, or rather, he might've been waiting for it to happen. Just as Sofia landed another killing blow, his smile widened, and his fingers twitched slightly. Then, another figure appeared, an exact replica of Maraak, and he stood on a flying drone-like construct high above them, near the still-hanging Emir.
It appeared that he was hiding there the entire ti, waiting for his chance to strike.
A small spider-like construct shot out of his hand, and as it fell, its legs-multiple thin, needle-like blades-exited the main body, racing towards Sofia.
She looked up at the attack, and that was when her mind slowed, mimicking her muse's Templar Perception.
Only then did she realize her mistake.
In her road to victory, she had lowered her guard, forgetting an ability that could've easily turned the tables.
Aetheric Hologram.
Maraak had already activated Overclock and Aetheric Pulse, leaving him a single ability slot. She usually would've wondered why an opponent kept his third slot inactive when he could've used it to his advantage, but her growing confidence had clouded her judgnt.
As he did with Aetheric Pulse, Aetheric Hologram was activated before he even stepped into
battle.
He was waiting for her to slip all along.
"Never underestimate an opponent, even if they seem weak, for it might be an act that spells your
doom."
That was when Emir's words echoed in her mind.
It was a seed that sprouted.
Back at the Rite, when she was doubting his capability like an idiot, he said those exact words
to her.
'...Did he know of my weakness all along?'
Sothing that she herself didn't know was spotted at their first eting.
'Just what kind of monster is he?'
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she activated Rapid Retreat, using all the Aether she
managed to stock up in the past minute of combat.
Ti returned to normal as her body moved, twisting just enough to avoid most of the blades.
Sofia was fast, but not fast enough. One grazed her cheek, leaving a sharp, stinging line, another embedded itself in her shoulder, and the last found itself in her foot, tearing through
it from one end to the next.
"UG-!"
Before a scream could exit her mouth, she gritted her teeth, shutting herself up.
"Sofia!"
Arthur and Ava scread her na, montarily stunned by what just happened.
Their enemy too was stunned, though for an entirely different reason, his smug expression
faltering.
"Ah, you actually caught on... Fascinating. I didn't know Elites could be as self-aware. I thought you were all children pretending to play war."
Barely standing, Sofia wiped away the blood on her face, eyes glaring at the real Maraak.
"This isn't over."
Maraak's smirk returned.
"No, I suppose it isn't. Shall we see how it would, then?"
Before he could resu the fight, Ava, hiding behind a massive rock, interrupted him:
"How about a quick break?! Your toys might need so WX-40!"
He chuckled.
"My machines are perfection. Unlike you, they don't falter. They don't tire. They do exactly
what I command and my command is for them to kill you."
"You're right, Maraak."
Schwing!
A sharp sound cut through the tunnel-a tallic slicing noise, and with it ca a deep voice,
cold as ice.
"Machines don't tire. But they also don't think."
It was Emir.
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