Vale, Salo, and Alpha retreated to the end of the corridor.
Toy stood at the bend, waiting for the man.
While they had learned a little about him, they’d only confird a single ability. They still hadn’t figured out why he was walking at all.
It could be to conserve energy, but Vale didn’t buy it. That explosive speed he’d shown earlier would have helped him take down Toy, yet he didn’t use it.
The man appeared around the bend.
"Salo, any ideas?"
The succubus narrowed her eyes, her pupils dilating slightly as she focused her attention.
"I’m not entirely sure, but I believe that ability is the armor’s, not his own."
’Great...’
Vale sighed.
’So, how can we force him to reveal his hand?’
But before that could be mulled over, they had to figure out how to even attack the man. Sure, projectiles didn’t work, but what about slashes? What if everything was nullified and diverted? To that end...
"Toy, be careful, but try attacking!"
Toy flipped around, kicking off the walls. She’d obviously heard Vale, but gave no acknowledgnt, far too locked in on her fight.
The two watched as Toy’s dagger sliced at the man’s hind legs, only to clang off the tal.
’That’s good.’
Vale turned to Salo.
"How do you think we get past the armor?"
Salo lowered herself slightly, preparing her wings in case she needed to dash forward to grab Toy.
"There are few gaps, but none wide enough for our weapons to get through. Plus, all but the oculorium is covered by chainmail."
"I see..."
That left a few options.
To try hitting the armor hard enough to dent it and make the man take it off. Use the shield to disable projectiles and pray Diana can land a shot in the slit of the visor. Or, they could use the shield and have Sivian corrode the armor with her venom.
’No way I owe these options to the mysterious oracle, right?’
Without their involvent, he’d be left with only one option, as the other two involved the shield. And technically, they were the only reason he had the shield.
He consciously dismissed the irrelevant thoughts that had begun to cloud his thinking.
’Coincidence... it’s all a coincidence.’
Vale looked over at his one-eyed commander.
"Alpha, can you have Stacy wield the shield for this battle?"
"Understood."
Stacy’s [Fixation] was much better suited for the shield anyway.
The upside of the armor’s few gaps was the immobility already displayed.
’But he can have speed bursts.’
Yet even with Toy continuing her relentless dodging, the man hadn’t tried such a thing again.
’Nor has he shown an ability of his own.’
Perhaps he didn’t have one. Or perhaps they weren’t visible. Actually, most of the Traits and Aspects Vale had known of to this point were enhancers of the body, or remained unseen until the perfect mont.
Toy possessed [Sixth Sense] and [Featherweight]. Salo, [Vitality Drain]. Edith, [Blood Fiend]. The list went on. In fact, the list of those with visible abilities was quite short.
As Vale thought this over, his wish to see sothing different from the man was granted.
The knight stood still, not even bothering to face Toy, who was darting around and striking him with useless dagger swipes.
’What’s he doing?’
The knight steadied his stance, then pointed his blade at Salo.
A chilling sensation spread through Vale’s veins as he watched the sword rise.
"Retreat!"
Salo and Alpha hadn’t even waited for Vale’s cry. It seed they sensed it too—the sheer sinister power the man was about to unleash.
Leaving Toy behind, trusting she’d dodge the attack with her speed, the three ran for the bend, but it was too late.
The man swung his sword down.
A mont later, the scenery had changed.
Alpha, Salo, and Vale stood within a blue, translucent, octagonal prism. The walls of the dungeon had vanished — so had Toy. An endless field of nothingness stretched out beyond the prism’s dinsions.
’Huh...’
Salo’s eyes went wide.
"Vale, I know the man we face."
Vale’s gaze shot over to Salo.
The succubus continued:
"I never t him personally, but I’ve heard stories of a general of Catatran who wielded a peculiar sword — a sword that would draw anything pointed at it into a pocket dinsion."
Vale stood as the man sauntered toward the three.
"How do we get out?"
Salo grit her teeth and spread her wings.
"We die, or he does."
Salo knelt and sent another volley of quills that got sent straight into the ground.
Vale’s eyes went wide, and his arms shivered.
"You’re not saying we have to defeat him with just the three of us, right?"
"I’m afraid that’s exactly what I’m saying."
Vale grit his teeth.
’Goddamnit!’
His luck... his luck had finally run out, hadn’t it?
’Ah...’
Is this what he gets for thinking Greed would save him if it got dicey?
Who was Vale to worry about his Legions’ lives over his own? Why hadn’t he even considered a possibility like this?
Maybe it was pride.
The man was rely equal to the Class of Mutant, so Vale hadn’t thought that, even if Blood and strong, the challenger would possess an ability like this.
’It’s my mistake. It’s all my mistake.’
But was now the ti to dwell on such a thing?
’No.’
Now — right now — it was ti to rectify his oversight. To face the consequences of his thoughtless arrogance.
Vale started walking in an arc around the prism field, the man setting his sights on him and slowly following.
"Do you know his abilities?"
Salo sneered as she walked along Vale’s path, placing herself between him and the challenger.
"Such things are usually guarded and spread only through exaggerated tales, but the man was known only to have a sensory ability having to do with slls, as well as physical enhancents. It was his sword and armor which made him renowned."
’I see...’
The man’s strength was removing obstacles, then brutally crushing an opponent who couldn’t run. Maybe that was why he walked—to save his own energy while forcing his opponent to wear themselves down.
"And what about his armor?"
Salo drew her quills in and ford them into a mallet — the twenty-two served as the weapon’s head, attached to the crystal arm; the crystal arm which Salo held in her palm.
"His armor is so dense due to the nature of the Scourge — most of Kaldora wore armor like his. And the stories of him line up. That armor of his does indeed deflect projectiles. Considering the fetid black substance of the Scourge was treated as a projectile, his armor amassed quite the legend — The Invincible Warrior, they called him."
Salo stopped walking.
"However, from what I know, his walking habit has always been a thing. Yet that strange quickness he’d shown... that hasn’t been. Or at least, never when wearing his armor."
Just as the man closed into range, Salo and Vale split in opposite directions, sprinting to join Alpha on the other side of the room.
As they ran, sothing odd popped into his mind.
[Draw Back] and [Stay Safe].
’Is that it?’
The Items were the only ones Vale knew to have sothing called a Curse.
"A Curse! In exchange for the projectile invulnerability, the armor is cursed!"
Salo’s face lit up as she fluttered to a stop.
"Vale, are you a genius?"
"My father did call special when I was a kid."
"Oh... well." Salo looked away from Vale, an odd expression of pity on her face. "Not even Hope knew the secrets of that man’s armor, despite fighting alongside him."
’Ah, Hope...’
That was how Salo knew all these stories about this man.
’Hope was probably the one telling them.’
Vale felt a small tinge of hate form inside him as he thought of the man Salo once loved.
’Not the ti! Not the ti!’
Since when was Vale one to get jealous?
In any case, when Vale had disrupted the man’s Aether with [Absolution], its projectile effect had been nullified — but so had whatever Curse was slowing it down, allowing that insanely quick lunge.
Vale gave a toothy smile as he stared down ’The Invincible Warrior.’
"A chance."
Knowing that, if Vale was right, no bursts of speed would co again unless the shield was involved...
"We can win."
They finally had a path forward.
Vale spoke in his ho language, hoping the challenger wouldn’t be able to understand.
"Alpha, stand by with the shield, but do not use it. If he tries to go after you, run."
Vale looked over at Salo.
"Let’s aim to cave in the armor around his joints to lock his mobility. Then we can use the shield without fear of counterattack."
And finally...
"Once we have him locked in place, we disable his projectile defense, and you can either aim for the gaps in his armor or remove it."
Salo’s lips curled into a wide smile as she kicked off the side of the octagon and glided to the other side.
"Sounds like a plan!"
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