Broker
Chapter 296

The wind whipped past Nietz’s face as they passed over the thick, mountainous woodland that surrounded Dharan. He could already hear monsters moving down below, but there didn’t appear to be any large groups to really get started on. The easiest way to get points in this was to destroy as many monsters as possible in the shortest amount of time. Hanging back and taking out the first wave of stragglers wouldn’t do much for one’s chances.

He glanced at Hammond, who was still clinging to him. He barely felt his weight around his shoulders. The big guy had his eyes squeezed tight and his mouth shut as the wind caused his face to ripple hilariously. He grinned and shot a look up towards Kong, who was still holding him aloft. The excitement and good humor on the guy’s face had dimmed just a little, and his eyes were fixed on something in the distance.

Nietz followed his gaze and had to agree with his new comrade’s disposition.

The city itself was wrapped in a veil of fog, mist hanging over everything and clouding any decent view inside. Only the outer layer of buildings was clearly visible, rows of houses and residences packed tightly together. Many of them were in ruins, while others were still quite whole. The multi-colored buildings were a stark contrast to the horde of creatures streaming out of any opening they could find. Massive, thick-necked, bipedal creatures with arms larger than trash cans charged with their hands outstretched, while slender reptiles darted around the big one’s feet and crawled over one another in an eerie worm-like dance.

Then there was a veritable wave of hounds - the gaunt, black-furred jackal analogues snapped their jaws and charged with reckless abandon ahead of the Brutes and Skinks. Nietz wasn’t blind enough to miss the scattered Lurkers moving into position atop the houses. It’s like they’re organized or something.

“That’s a lot of monsters!” Hammond shouted over the wind.

“There’s more in the sky!” Kong shouted down to them. “We need to land! I can’t hold you and fight!”

Nietz turned his eyes away from the horde on the ground and saw the swarm in the sky. Bat-winged creatures that reminded him of some twisted pterodactyl shrieked and flapped towards them in a cloud-like mass. Among them, smaller creatures darted around and occasionally clung to the monsters he identified as Shriek Bats that were moving far faster than they were. He narrowed his eyes and nodded. “Right. Let us off here. Can you handle the fliers?”

“No problem!” Kong laughed, “Have fun down there!”

“W-w-wait! He’s dropping us?!” Hammond shouted, “NIETZ!”

Kong released his grip, and Nietz started to fall. “Hammond! Get us a landing!”

“My bags are on my back!” He shouted back, “A-a-are you crazy?!”

Nietz cracked a grin. “Alright then! Leave it to me!” He tensed his muscles and let his evolved body change even more in anticipation of what was coming. He felt every muscle cell and piece of bone structure in his body shift and change. He was like a spring, uncoiled and ready for the pressure that was about to come. The monsters down below kept charging, a few of them looking up to see his descending form. They were small one moment and huge the next. 

BOOM!

Nietz hit the ground and felt all the force work its way up his body and through him. He gave Hammond only a second to hop off before rearing back with a fist and gathering all the forces he’d endured. Just you watch, Locke, Pandora Committee, Sonya, Luca, he thought as the first hound jumped at him. “THIS IS WHAT I CAN DO!” He roared and threw his first punch. A crack of sound ripped the air, and the shockwave pulverized the first line of hounds, leaving naught but a fine mist behind, while a line of destruction followed the direction of his blow.

It was a drop in the bucket, but it was so satisfying.

“HAMMOND!” he shouted.

“I’M ON IT! CASCADE! TREBUCHET! SCORCH!” Hammond shouted behind him, and Nietz felt the swell of mana as three monsters took shape. He didn’t have a chance to look back. All he could do was focus on what was in front of him. He snapped his hand forward and grabbed the muzzle of a hound, driving his fist up and into its ribcage before whipping its lifeless body as a flail against the next attacker.

A bolt of fire ripped past his shoulder and into another hound that shrieked in pain before falling beneath the onrush of its brethren. More firebolts flew, more blasts striking home. Then a wash of water spread out at his feet and sank into the earth. Hounds stumbled over the altered terrain only to be swept up when a sudden jet of water collided with them and sent them further off course. A whistling came next, and boulders fell from the sky, crashing into clumps of monsters and flattening them before exploding into vicious shrapnel. The pellets of stone just bounced off of Nietz’s skin as he powered further into the fray.

“KEEP IT COMING!” he shouted. “I CAN TAKE IT!”

SKREEEEEEK!

One of the bats crashed into the ground at his feet, and he glanced up long enough to see Kong bouncing between the flying creatures, using them as platforms as he kicked and punched his way through. He grabbed one by the throat and spun it around, laughing wildly before throwing it back into the mist that it had come from. A swarm of the smaller creatures raced at him, and the cloud he had been traveling on formed beneath his feet. He kicked off it and threw out a blur of kicks, tiny bolts flying from his heels that sniped the tiny things out of the sky.

Nietz turned and swatted away another hound only for something smaller to leap at him from behind it. The tiny reptile was the spitting image of a skink but the size of a small dog. It clung to his arm and opened its mouth, a globule of green acid erupting from its throat and splashing against his face. It stank. He blinked the liquid away and looked up into the now startled creature’s eyes. He grinned and punched its head off.

Is that what you meant, Luca? he thought as he threw his head back and roared. “COME ON! THROW EVERYTHING YOU HAVE AT ME!” he bellowed. “ALL IT DOES IS MAKE ME STRONGER!”

THOOM!

A massive arc of vibrant blue-white light cut through a swath of the monsters far to Nietz’s right, followed by a roar of hundreds of voices. Stone flew, fire burst, electricity crackled, hounds were twisted in midair, blades appeared from nothing and sawed through bodies, metal shot up from the ground, trees lumbered into view and began carving a path. Music played in his ears from a dozen different sources, each song carrying with it a different effect, each sensation building up within him. He didn’t resist those, letting new strength and vitality pour into him as the rest of the heroes arrived.

The opening battle for the cleansing of Dharan had begun. The outer ring was breached. It was mayhem.

–

Sonya rubbed her chin. Not bad, Nietz. One hell of an opening punch, I’m impressed. That form though… Why do I…

“That martial artist is a cultivator,” Chunhua said in her ear, and she looked over to see Chunhua sitting with a thoughtful expression on her face. “Not an ordinary one either. It’s got a built-in fighting style, like mine.”

Sonya pursed her lips and turned to the screen, watching the vivacious Kong rip through the fighters in the air. He still hadn’t even touched the ground. Sonya raised an eyebrow and glanced towards Leiandra. “Do we know his ability?” she asked.

“Nepal asked to have his record sealed when he registered. They did say that they would be unsealing it after this event,” Leiandra said, examining a tablet in her hand. “We do know it’s Mythic.”

“I’m not surprised,” Chunhua said.

“He’s got good spirit, but I wonder how long he can keep that up,” Medved grunted. “Same with the Neitz boy. They should have waited for help with the opening wave. The important part comes later when the more difficult monsters are fought one on one.”

Sonya turned to him just as Lillian did. “You’ve served in Dharan?” she asked.

He nodded gravely, “Yes. Two tours. You recently served your first, yes?”

Lillian let out a breath and nodded. “Yes. It was quite the experience. Worth just about as much as fighting in the Liberty War. Maybe more.”

“You have seen a lot of large-scale battles for being so young,” Medved grunted. “You have decades of experience crammed into just a few months. I do not envy you.”

Sonya watched her student, who had hardened a lot from the bright-eyed girl she’d been when she first arrived at the camp. Lillian closed her eyes and nodded. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything, sir,” she said and opened her eyes to fix them on the screen. “It’s prepared me for the harder things to come.”

“Wise,” Medved grunted and turned a grin towards Chunhua. “Kitty! Your student is very impressive. I’m jealous!”

Chunhua spluttered, “Kitty?”

He blinked. “Am I saying that wrong?” he asked in confusion. “You are aloof, clean, and quick with your strikes. A ruthless and efficient fighter. You tend to operate alone as well. Does that not sound like a kitty?”

The looks of horror that spread around the room were bad enough. Leiandra was appalled, her face contorted in confused judgement, while Greg clapped his hand to his face. It was Lillian having to turn physically away for a moment, though, that was the final straw for Sonya. She pressed her lips together hard but couldn’t stifle the snort that came out. She winced when she felt a pair of fingers pinch her waist and looked up to smile innocently at Chunhua. “I’m… in trouble later, aren’t I?” Sonya asked.

Chunhua raised her eyebrows and leaned in close, close enough that Lillian and Leiandra let out small gasps of surprise. Sonya felt her chest tighten a bit when her nose touched Chunhua’s and she looked straight into that dark eye. “...Did you want to switch? Because you’re making it seem like you want to switch,” she said very, very slowly and in a barely audible whisper. 

Sonya swallowed. “Chu-chuh… Ah… um… We’re not alone,” she whined.

“You started it, brat,” Chunhua hissed.

Sonya hopped to her feet and fanned herself. “Is it hot in here? Anyone hungry? I’m starving. Are you starving?” she babbled and pointed at Medved. “Snacks, big guy?”

Medved grinned at her and didn’t say anything for a whole ten agonizing seconds before showing blessed mercy. “I could eat! What do we have?”

Oh, thank goodness, that was way more than usual.I’m still so weak to it, Sonya sighed inwardly. This is a good excuse anyway. I’ll just see myself out. She hurried to the door and was about to grab hold of it when she felt Chunhua stand behind her. She closed her eyes and begged, begged, for mercy. 

She did not get it.

“I’ll walk with you.”

–

Sonya was up against the wall in a side room. “Chunhua, what has gotten into you?” She laughed, looking up at the woman a head taller than her and looming down with a glint in her eyes.

“Where are you really going?” Chunhua asked.

Sonya hesitated, pouted, and then crossed her arms. “Was this a setup?” she asked petulantly.

Her wrist was up against the wall next, and she melted a little bit. “Out, splitting with- I mean…” She wavered. “We’re hitting a dungeon during the event,” she admitted quietly, and Chunhua’s grip tightened a bit. She felt a hand under her chin and grumbled inwardly. “That’s not fair,” she mumbled and looked up into Chunhua’s dark eye. I almost don’t want to make her a new one. She’s really… oof… like that.

Chunhua leaned in and brushed against her ear. “Be safe, come back, and we’ll finish catching up,” she whispered.

Sonya’s legs buckled a little. “Yeah. No problem.”

Chunhua let her go and stepped back with a smirk on her face. “That’s for the ‘hitting you’ quip earlier.”

Sonya grinned sheepishly, playing with her hair. “I deserve that.”

“You said it,” Chunhua shot back with a smile. “So, you’re splitting with Ishtar and leaving her to cover for you? Can she handle people like that?”

Sonya smiled as a Legionnaire stepped out of the air next to her. It shrank to her size before Augment Reality coated it in a visage of her appearance, if a bit disheveled and with a few red marks on her neck that Sonya didn’t appreciate. Ishtar, what the hell?

Her well-disguised sister smirked at her. “We need to sell it, don’t we?” she said aloud.

Chunhua looked between the two of them, her eyes wide. “I see.”

Sonya frowned and stomped towards Chunhua, grabbing the collar of her robes and pulling it askew before reaching up and raking her nails down the back of the woman’s neck. Chunhua grunted in surprise before Sonya hopped back and crossed her arms. “There. Now we’re selling it,” she huffed and turned away. “Go have fun, you two. Make sure to flirt a lot, sis. I know how good at it you are.”

Ishtar blinked and looked at Sonya in shock after a heartbeat. “Wait.”

“Nope! You decided to take this route to tease me, so deal with it! I’m going to raid an Epic dungeon with my friends, thank you very much,” she said, and with a wave of her hand opened a portal to her destination. She stepped through and shut it behind her.

–

Chunhua’s neck hurt. She reached up and dabbed her finger on it and was relieved to see that Sonya had, at least, not drawn blood. She sighed and shook her head. Usually I have a bit of a buffer between getting my memories back when I see her and her usual nonsense. This time she jumped right into it. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. I got swept up in the feelings. Good grief. She turned to Ishtar disguised as her lover. “Now we have to flirt with one another to keep up the act.”

“Yes, this did backfire, didn’t it, Hero,” Ishtar said cooly, crossing her arms and frowning at her.

“Usually you’re a bit more tactical about things,” Chunhua pointed out.

“I have emotions with Sonya conscious,” Ishtar shot back. “They are still… challenging. I enjoy teasing her in the little moments when I can get away with it.”

“Definitely her sister,” Chunhua said and shrugged. “I guess we wait here a bit to make sure everything looks…”

“Like we enjoyed one another’s company?” Ishtar grumbled. She wrinkled her nose. “I suppose. Not the company I would pick, but here we are.”

Chunhua rolled her eyes. “Leiandra was right. This is going to be a long event.”