Black demon cards spun between Scar's fingers. The vicious Fractsidus Overseer transformed into a dealer at a casino table, flicking an endless stream of razor-edged cards at Rover and Danjin.
Then, the next second...
"Boom!"
Every card detonated into a devastating explosion.
Rover's eyes sharpened. She grabbed Danjin and dodged.
"Too close!"
Danjin's heart skipped. Without the female Rover at her side, she'd have been hit for certain. This enemy outclassed anything she'd faced before, outclassed her by several tiers.
Her grip tightened on her crimson blade.
All the more reason to pull her weight. She refused to be deadweight for the woman beside her.
Rover gave Danjin's head a quick pat, then launched herself at Scar again. Originite: Type II blades flew in rapid succession to pin him down while the Temporal Mandate accelerated her body. Against any ordinary enemy, the fight would already be over.
But Scar was no ordinary enemy.
"Ha ha! Now this is fun. This is really fun!"
The battle maniac's face lit up with feverish delight.
Rover's strength still fell within his ability to handle, but that didn't mean he was comfortable. Every nerve in his body had to stay taut. One lapse and her sword would sever his neck.
That rare thrill of mortal danger sent electricity racing up his spine. Grinning, he flung a cascade of cards skyward, and the moment they touched the ground, they became bombs.
Explosions tore across the battlefield in a rolling chain.
"Ha ha ha! Come on! Let's get crazier!"
"You talk too much. Quadruple accel."
"What?!"
Rover vanished. Cold steel kissed his neck in the same instant. Instinct alone saved him as he threw his arm up to block, and the sword bit deep into his forearm.
"She's... so fast!"
Blood sprayed from the wound. His armor had been sheared clean through. If his body hadn't been hardened beyond that of a high-tier Tacet Discord through years of reckless overclocking, he'd have lost the arm entirely.
Rover gave a cold scoff. After devouring the Frequencies of so many Tacet Discords today, she'd pushed the Temporal Mandate to quadruple acceleration. A shame the ambush hadn't finished him.
She reflected that she might have been too predictable, always aiming for the neck. It made her easier to read.
Meanwhile, replaying that near-decapitation in his mind, Scar felt equal parts exhilaration and lingering dread. This was a Rover. Even with amnesia stripping her to less than a thousandth of her peak, she was this strong.
No wonder their Leader, Phrolova, Cristoforo, and the rest were so obsessed with her. She was worth the fixation.
But that only deepened his confusion.
"Ruthless, aren't you? What makes you so cold? Or do you think everyone in Fractsidus deserves to die?"
"Heh. You, at least, definitely deserve it."
She pressed harder, driving the sword deeper into his arm. He had to clamp down on the blade with his free hand to stop it from cutting further.
"Ha ha ha! Blunt as ever. But aren't you forgetting your companions are still in my hands? Those two women, and the other Rover. Doesn't their safety concern you at all?"
"Concern me? Why would it?"
Rover released the sword. The blade was buried in one of his arms, his other hand gripping it to hold it still. In a sense, both his hands were now occupied. And she...
She had more than one sword.
"No you don't! That's ten! You've used every blade you had!"
"Hmph. Are you sure about that?"
"Big sis, catch!"
A crimson blade came spinning from behind. Danjin's own weapon, thrown straight and true.
Rover snatched it from the air without looking and slashed at Scar.
He hammered his teleport in a panic, but he was too slow. The crimson edge carved across his chest and painted the air red.
"...Impressive. I nearly forgot about the other one."
Scar clutched the wound and warped away to open distance, then shot a vicious glare at Danjin. He'd dismissed her precisely because she wasn't strong enough to matter. That carelessness had cost him.
The damage wasn't critical, though. For a body like his, this was far from fatal and wouldn't slow him down.
Fractsidus members, whatever else could be said about them, had deep health bars. Every last one of them.
We're basically bosses. Thick HP comes with the territory.
That said, it still hurt.
Across the gap, Rover held the crimson blade in one hand and scooped up a discarded Originite: Type II with the other. Dual-wielding now, she answered his earlier question. Of course she wasn't worried.
"Rover is with Yangyang and Jianxin. What is there to worry about? He'll bring them back. And you... do you honestly believe you can do anything to him?"
Her voice was flat. A statement of absolute fact.
She was angry that Scar had gone after Yangyang and the others. She was irritated that she and the other Rover had been forced apart again.
But worried about their safety?
The thought hadn't crossed her mind once since the fight began. There was no need for it.
The moment he'd thrown himself through that portal, their eyes had met and everything was communicated. She would handle Scar. He would protect Yangyang and the others. A clean division of labor, no hesitation required.
"He'll bring them back."
Rover raised both blades, her tone quiet and certain.
They had given each other their trust completely. No matter what happened, as long as the Frequency connecting them hadn't vanished, neither would waver over the other's fate.
That certainty was a comfort beyond words. Knowing there was one person in the world you could entrust everything to, someone you believed in even more than yourself.
It was a feeling too good to describe.
...Shortly before all of this...
Somewhere inside a strange, dark-crimson space.
Hm? Where is this...
Stepping through the portal, Rover found himself in an alien dimension. Crimson stretched in every direction, broken only by a handful of platforms floating like islands, connected to one another and suspended in the void.
He, Yangyang, and Jianxin were all falling.
"Yangyang! Jianxin!"
"Rover!" they called back in unison.
Wings unfurled from his Flight module, and the sky was no longer a cage.
He dove for Yangyang first, catching her mid-fall.
"Hold on tight."
"R-right!"
Now is not the time to be embarassed. Yangyang wrapped her arms around his neck and held on, while he hooked one arm under her legs to support her weight. His free hand fired the Grappling Hook toward Jianxin.
The young taoist took a steadying breath, murmured a quick "Pardon me," and followed Yangyang's lead, clinging tight.
"Don't let go. We're landing on that platform."
Having accidentally unlocked the girl-on-each-arm achievement, Rover set his sights on the platform at the center of the space and dove.
Scar was going to regret this. Badly.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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