My Shard Bearer System - Elias's Legacy
Chapter 76: A Small Rematch

Chapter 76: A Small Rematch

"Things just get better and better, don’t they?" Elara muttered, her gaze locking onto the approaching figure.

She didn’t wait for a response. "Kimi, once I have him away, you take off immediately. The ship still has enough fuel to reach Rothshire Base in Veyrion. Get reinforcements. And one more thing—" Her voice hardened. "We can’t trust the guards or the head figures running this place, at least not for now."

Kimi nodded, too many questions on her mind with no time to ask.

Elara turned forward, eyes narrowing as she took in Vincent Ruiz. His profile matched the reports—lean, wiry, a glossy jacket hanging off his frame like it barely fit. His short, disheveled hair gave him an almost careless look, but his sharp features carried an edge of madness. Then there was the shard—jagged, protruding from his pant leg like a parasite feeding off his body.

Vincent’s grin widened. "I only came for the shard user behind you." His voice carried an eerie excitement, his fingers twitching with impatience. "I need to rip it out of his body to finish my quest. To grow. To get stronger!"

His pupils dilated slightly, as if just saying the words sent a rush through his system. "I will be the one to bring retribution to this world and help Silas meet his goals!"

Elara clicked her tongue. "Oh, come on. How cliché can you be? You seriously think this is some grand rebellion? You do realize we have way bigger problems, right? Like, I don’t know—possible alien invasions? Instead, we’re doing this petty nonsense?" She folded her arms. "But I doubt any of that will get through to you, huh?"

Vincent let out a small chuckle, rubbing a hand through his already wild hair. "That makes sense on the surface. But ever since the alien attacks, humans have lived in fear—fear of the oppressive military taking full control. Sure, it’s not as bad as the corrupt political system we had before, but it’s still one bad for another."

His fingers curled into fists. "And you damn well know it."

The shard embedded in his leg pulsed—its glow faint but unmistakable. His body tensed as a thin layer of hardened material crusted over his arms, spreading like living armor.

"But now, with these shards, the gods—" his voice dripped with conviction, "or as Silas has said, the science behind them—will enable us to even the playing field. Let an alien touch down. We’ll tear them apart."

Then he lunged.

The crackling hum of bioelectric energy surged through Elara’s suit as her body responded before her mind even fully processed the attack. Neuromuscular impulses triggered micro-hydraulic actuators throughout her suit, enhancing her reaction speed exponentially. Her palm shot forward, and a kinetic pulse ignited—an invisible burst of force traveling down her arm.

The impact launched Vincent backwards like a cannon round had struck his chest. His body arced through the air, crashing through the open haul and into a jagged pillar of ice left behind by Cube’s earlier maneuver.

Elara’s boots barely touched the metal floor before she vaulted up, snapping her head toward Kimi. "Go!"

Kimi didn’t hesitate. She spun on her heel, fingers already flying to the comm unit. "Elias! Yui! We’ve got a situation—"

The ship roared to life behind her.

"We ran into the same guy back in the tunnels a few days ago," Elara relayed, shifting her stance slightly as Vincent pulled himself free from the frozen column. "I’ll handle him, but you need to hurry up and locate the other shard user. They’ve got tracking tech too—there’s no way they just happened to find us and knew exactly where the ship was." Her tone sharpened, urgency bleeding into her words. "Move fast, and don’t trust the guards. Not a damn one of them."

"Confirmed," Yui responded, his voice crackling through her earpiece. "We’re just about to pinpoint their location. Somehow, they moved across the resort in an impossibly short time—Elias thinks it’s a teleporting Ikona. Makes sense, considering the way they’ve evaded detection."

A pause. Then, a smirk edged into his tone. "Don’t go too crazy, Commander. We’ll back you up as soon as we can."

"Wouldn’t dream of it," Elara muttered under her breath.

Vincent exhaled sharply as he broke free from the towering ice. Fractured chunks crumbled around him, steam rising where the temperature shift clashed against the heated air. He rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck as he locked eyes with Elara.

"I don’t know what the perfect world looks like, and I probably never will," he admitted, a grim certainty in his voice. "But I do know this—I’ll put my faith in Silas, the smartest man I’ve ever met, to figure it out." His fists clenched. "And in the meantime? I’ll control what I can." His expression twisted into something resolute. "Starting with taking you down."

Electricity crackled along his skin, his Ikona responding to his conviction.

"I’ve picked up a few new tricks since our last fight." His smirk widened, shifting into something dangerous. "So don’t get cocky."

The sun hung high overhead, casting sharp shadows between them as Vincent slammed his fists together. "Break the cage."

His Ikona’s voice answered immediately, eager, almost gleeful. "Let’s do it."

A layer of armor erupted across his body—thick, overlapping plates, each one rough and uneven, like natural formations of hardened shell. It built up along his shoulders, his chest, his arms—his entire frame expanding slightly as the exoskeletal plating took hold.

It was dense. Heavy. The kind of armor meant to charge through obstacles rather than evade them.

Elara exhaled slowly and reached over her shoulder. The energy blade locked into her suit’s back plating detached seamlessly, its surface humming as it perfectly matched her grip. The moment she pulled it free, the weapon expanded, doubling in length as the plasma edge ignited with a controlled surge of power.

As Elara prepared to surge forward, Vincent shifted his shoulder. A rifle blast tore through the air from one of the soldiers flanking him, forcing Elara to twist sharply mid-flight. The plasma shot whizzed past, the heat licking at her side as she adjusted course, her suit reacting in perfect sync with the shift in her momentum.