21 You Did What? (2/2)
”...?”
What was this idiot talking about? Wait... did he just admit that he finished the challenge zone?
Aaaaaahh, goddamnit. I was right; this bastard did something when I wasn't paying attention to him. I swear to god, I think he's doing this on purpose...
”That's impossible, I would have been informed if you made it to the bottom. Either you're lying to me or you did something again,” she spat out. ”So, what did you do down there, Mr. Reed?”
”Nothing? I went all the way down like you said we're supposed to and made to the bottom. After I made it down there, a strange ghost tried to give me something... 'a gift for my successor', he called it. It seemed pretty shady, so I just killed it and went back up.”
”.....You did what? Can you repeat that for me again?”
”I went all the way down, killed a shady looking ghost, and then left the challenge zone. There was nothing special down there, at least from what I saw. Maybe it's broken?”
Did he really kill the astral remnant of Lord Mako!? T-there's no way, right? Oh shit!!
Violet immediately warped down into the depths of the challenge zone and came back with a fury never before seen. She roared, ”What the hell did you do, dumbass! Why was your first reaction to kill the damn ghost? Use your goddamn head, you stupid ape!!” She furiously sent out a vicious right hook at Reed that nearly struck him on the jaw.
The moment Reed saw the horrifying look on Violett's face, he instantly broke into a full retreat. He knew on a spiritual level what was about to happen and pushed his abilities to the limit as he forcibly accelerated himself in a random direction without care for his life. A half-second later, an explosion erupted and he shrieked as the blast wave knocked him straight out of their villa.
As he tore through the Villa's reinforced walls, he wondered what he'd done to incite her rage. His first assumption was the ghost, but it was...too weak, right? He doubted such a feeble creature was the source of her anger.
(I doubt she's mad about the fact I accidentally used her toothbrush that one time... Has she realized that I've been raiding her wine cellar? Ahh, she's such a handful sometimes...)
”N-now, now. We can resolve whatever's troubling you if we work together, okay? Violence isn't the answer! So how about we just calm dow-”
A dazzling spear flew out at an astonishing speed and tore through the sky. Reed knew this attack all too well; the damned explosive spear was a relentless hound that would never stop chasing its prey and possessed an incredible piercing ability. The damn thing always broke through his barriers no matter how many he set up and how much he strengthened them.
It was a cheat-like attack skill that he often criticized as unfair in a fair fight; Violett always laughed at his complaints and told him that, ”Life's unfair by design.”
He knew how this song and dance would end; no amount of running would help him in this situation. The spear would pierce through his barriers and end up blowing up within arm's reach.
The only viable options were to destroy it mid-flight or find a way to redirect the spear somewhere else. It was so damn fast that none of his attacks would ever land on it with his level of skill.
Redirecting the spear was tantamount to modifying her attack mid-fight, something he'd never done before. The idea sounded possible in theory, but to put into practice? A miracle would need to happen to make it a reality. He'd need an obscene level of skill over Anima to pull it off...
Neither plan seemed feasible, so he despaired as he sprinted off into the distance. The spear persistently crept closer and closer as time passed and Reed felt his heart drop. It was inching towards him as it picked up speed.
It was a cruel attack because the more one struggled against it, the faster the spear became. As a result of the spear's increased velocity, the attack would actually become even stronger than before.
The more you struggled against your inevitable fate, the stronger the backlash you'd face as punishment. Reed noticed long ago that Violett's attacks were always influenced by her cruel, unforgiving nature as a warrior. Her fighting style offered no mercy to her enemies; it was kill or be killed with this lady on the battlefield...
Pressured by his impending demise, Reed understood he had to make a move here and now, or make peace with what was about to happen. He bit his lips and thought long and hard about his options and finally came to an answer.
Whether it worked was complete up to lady luck; the skill he planned to use was incomplete and even prone to backfiring because of how unstable it was. Last time he tested it out, he accidentally erased half of his training chamber and had a panic attack because of it.
Even so, it was the only thing he could think of that could get rid of the damned spear once and for all. He gritted his teeth and stopped running; He firmly planted his feet into the ground and raised his left hand.
What came after, well, was something that even left him flabbergasted...