The Lost Vampire System Chapter 47 - Ten Billion Dollar Bounty
Outside of the CyberGirl event location, in one of the many cities in the game, huge swarms of people were heading toward the entrance. Out of all the artifact events, this one was about to shatter records as the player count was about to soar.
Inside the event, CyberGirl was running for her NYXIS life as she sped toward the orange portal in the distance, with CopyLord trailing behind her. He did another sweep of his laser vision, forcing her to do a backflip to avoid the attack. As she landed, she slid along the ground to dodge a lightning strike, and Jareth's head scraped against the ground.
Must escape, she thought desperately as she pushed herself faster toward the portal. I'm so close, I just have to… why are those people running toward us?
In the surrounding area, people had quickly heard the news, as the bounty on her head was at the top, NYXIS news was reporting on it, and some NYXIS influencers participating were highlighting the trail of destruction in the event. Those three reasons combined were why so many people were heading her way.
"There she is!" someone shouted.
"Kill her!" another said.
"No, she's mine!" someone who looked like a kid shouted as he started shooting small plasma balls.
What did I miss?
Before she could think more, she felt an intense heat behind her as a giant wall of fire rushed toward her faster than she was running.
"Agh!" she gritted her teeth as she gathered a large energy attack and fired it at the wall of fire.
The attack made a hole in the wall, and she spun 180 degrees into it. Once she was through, all she could see was an ashy wasteland, as the fire had burned everything. The wall of fire vanished soon after.
"Hello," Damion said as his laser vision went right through her body, cutting her in half.
Just before her body exploded, one of the cheat artifacts she had forgotten she created long ago before signing those contracts activated, stitching her body back together. She blinked, then tightened her hold on CrimsonDawn as she sped toward the portal.
"Damn you!" Damion roared as he raced after her, growing more aggressive with his attacks.
CyberGirl looked up and saw an army of people heading her way. Her eyes widened as her suit told her that all they were shouting was to kill her.
Why are they angry with me? she thought in confusion. What did I do? I explained myself earlier. I made sure the area was clear of influencers.
She opened her NYXIS screen while maneuvering around a laser beam. Her eyes went from panic to sheer horror as she saw the largest bounty ever placed on someone now on her head.
"Ten billion!" she shouted at the top of her lungs as she briefly looked back at the enraged CopyLord. "You psychopath!"
Damion raised his hand, and the ground beneath her erupted. She was flung into the air and quickly transformed the back of her nano suit into a jetpack, flying toward the portal while dodging attacks from countless players and Damion all at once. She tucked CrimsonDawn close as her suit wrapped around his body to protect him. She endured the weaker attacks while focusing on avoiding CopyLord's, which sliced through everyone without mercy.
She activated an artifact she had bought a year ago, creating a massive shield bubble that absorbed the incoming attacks, though its durability drained quickly. Just as the barrier was about to shatter, she flew through the portal with Damion following behind her and the crowd close after.
"Yes," she said as she appeared in one of the random locations assigned after leaving an artifact event.
She opened her suit, dropping a very motion-sick CrimsonDawn. Even in a game, his senses were heightened. As he got his bearings, he saw that her arm was gathering energy at five points, which was what happened when his disguise failed.
No, no, Jareth thought. I can't let her find my identity. I'm not strong enough.
He raised his hand and shot out a Sun Pulse, disrupting the attack.
"I don't have time for this," she said as her other arm shot out a piece of metal, wrapping around his body and pinning his arms down.
She aimed at him again, but even with his arms restrained, he could still move his hands. He aimed his palm at her and waited until the last second before unleashing another Sun Pulse.
Her other hand clenched as she pulled him closer.
"You may not believe me, but I need you," CyberGirl growled through her mask. "I need to see if you're not just somebody sent to spy on me. I need to make sure you don't have a connection with them."
That's when a random group of people came through the portal behind them. They looked at CyberGirl as she turned around.
"It's her!" one shouted, only to be killed instantly by an energy blast, his body bursting into gold coins.
She blasted the others as well, but one took the attack head-on. He growled as he ran at her, but a larger blast sent him flying into the distance.
"Durable Evolved," she snarled, turning back to face Jareth. "Now where were—"
"Where is she!" a voice roared in the distance as a laser beam sliced off the tip of a building.
"Ha ha," she laughed. "We're too far. He'll never find us."
"You sure?" Jareth asked as a smile crept across his face.
She stared at him as the gears in her head turned, trying to figure out what he meant. Damion didn't copy a tracker Evolved. demonicMadison1 didn't have enough money to buy fancy gadgets, much less give him one. Also, CrimsonDawn was a new player. Her conclusion was that he was bluffing.
"Bluff all you want," she chuckled as she aimed the artifact again.
The palm of Jareth's hand glowed as an attack came out. She braced herself, but the attack didn't go toward her; it went into the sky.
"I think you missed," a robotic giggle was heard through the mask.
"Light!" someone in the distance shouted. "Figure out what that is?"
CyberGirl's mask slowly turned toward Jareth, and he stared back at her, imagining her face was either that of shock or anger.
"Why are you so difficult?" she asked as she grabbed Jareth's entire body.
CLAP!
A clap of thunder was heard as a streak of lightning was sent through the sky, and the body of CopyLord appeared right above their heads.
"Let him go!" he ordered as she started to hurl fireballs in their direction.
CyberGirl's suit lit up as it remained in her fast speedster form, and she ran toward the exit of NYXIS. Damion transformed into a lightning bolt. In this part of NYXIS, his level twenty-three Evo cells could not be reduced any further as the sky lit up white. Lightning shot out everywhere as he slammed into the ground in front of CyberGirl's path, creating a large lightning sphere as he prepared to release it.
Just as he was about to fire, he heard the loudest scream he had ever experienced tear through his ears. CopyLord immediately canceled the attack as he clutched his ears in pain, his body vibrating. Visible sound waves rippled through the air, and when traced back to their origin, they came from someone wearing wooden armor coated with frost. Her entire body was covered except for her face, which had an orange hue, making her look almost alien.
When she closed her mouth, the sonic scream stopped. CopyLord lowered his hands from his ears, visibly recovering.
"Gwendolyn Frostwood," CyberGirl muttered. "Leader of the NYXIS-created Frostwood faction. What is she doing here?"
Unlike the other nine main factions of the human race, there is one that operates mostly within NYXIS, and that would be the Frostwood faction. They have some stake in the Becifer solar system, but most of what they do is in the game: farming gold coins and, on the first of each month, using their large number of faction members to convert it into real money. The leader of this operation is Gwendolyn Frostwood. She has three level 10 Evolved powers: sonic scream, sound manipulation, and gravity manipulation. She also has some high-tier NYXIS gear, which is what allows her to rule this territory of NYXIS.
"Now, now," Frostwood chuckled as she looked at CopyLord, who was starting to stand back up. "If you are going to place a bounty, let someone else claim it."
Damion looked between the two and he decided that CyberGirl was more of a threat. He raised his hand for a fire attack, but that's when you could feel the air being pulled to where Gwendolyn was. When the two looked over, you could practically see the air being sucked in. When she was about to let out a sonic scream, Damion took off into the sky to let CyberGirl and Jareth take the attack on. CyberGirl ran at an angle towards the exit of NYXIS as the attack was unleashed.
AAAAGGHHHHHH!!!
She screamed as sound waves were sent out, shredding the ground in the direction of the pair, but before the sound caught up, she got within the teleportation area. The sound slammed into the energy border of the exit. CyberGirl smiled, but unless she beamed up, she wasn't safe yet.
"Time to see you are, whoa!" She grabbed him tighter as Jareth almost beamed himself up.
Her arm started to gather energy at five points as she aimed it at Jareth. The Vampiric struggled, but he couldn't budge through as he was thoroughly pinned down.
"Get out of here!" Apollo shouted desperately in his head.
"I can't move!" Jareth shouted out loud as he could see the artifact about ready to fire.
The energy shot out, enveloping CrimsonDawn's body, stripping him of his disguise and revealing Jareth's true appearance. From under the mask that nobody could see, a smile was forming as she used her ai to scan Jareth's body.
"Unknown," her ai said. "The ai is not developed enough to see into his file."
Not developed enough? CyberGirl thought in confusion. So, who is protecting him? Not my problem now I'll just use my father's ai. She scanned Jareth again as the artifact's power was starting to wear off.
"Jareth Nightshade," a male human voice said. "Son of William Nightshade and grandson of Sebastian Nightshade. The Nightshades are friends with a very dangerous unknown family and is under the protection of what the past governments only called a ghost. Be heavily advised when meeting a Nightshade as their protector likes to leave a trail. Jareth Nightshade is currently 15 years old with a younger sister named Mia Nightshade also 15. Has no Evolved power. Current occupation is a first-year military student at military base 6. First Year Building Number 6."
Her expression behind the mask was one of nervousness, shock, and realization. Nervousness because her ai didn't work but her father's did, giving a warning. Shocked because her dad's ai said no evolved power, but CrimsonDawn clearly showed two, and realization because of CrimsonDawn's current location.
"You're right above me," she muttered.
"Did she say right above you?" Apollo noted very slowly
The energy barrier made a crashing sound above, and when she looked up, she could see CopyLord racing towards her. She got what she wanted as she jumped into a circle, and she was beamed up. Damion, seeing that she had escaped, slowed his speed as he landed next to Jareth.
"Jareth?" Damion questioned, his theory based on what he saw from a few hundred feet in the air. "I hope it is you, or my little stunt would be for nothing."
*****
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