Finn and Justin charged side by side. Finn threw fast and relentless punches at Andreas. Justin's hammer swings were slower but heavier.
Andreas didn't have a problem with dodging punches and occasional hammer swings. He parried Finn, pressed two consecutive kicks into his stomach, and shifted his attention back at Justin to catch his hammer.
Kyoya sprinted around Andreas to flank while calling Werner through his gear and unleashed a continuous stream of bullets at his back. The shots connected and exploded.
Andreas gave a dangerous and annoyed glare behind his shoulders, still not letting go of Justin's hammer.
Kyoya's eyes narrowed, grip on his pistols tightening. The click of the call connecting pulled his attention away. He stopped with a slide at a good distance from the fight. "Werner, report."
"Do not worry, Master Aquila," Werner replied over comms. "Her Royal Lady…. She took down fifteen armed soldiers by herself and is now heading to the container zone to aid Her Royal Highness, Princess Lysandra."
Kyoya paused, surprised. "Really?"
"Yes. We'll be heading in soon as well. Feel free to focus on the task at hand."
Kyoya smirked.
"That feels a lot better."
The call ended. Kyoya spun his pistols with a competitive smile. Both pistols flared brighter. He charged back into the fight, shooting relentlessly and sprinting straight at Andreas, who was distracted by Finn and Justin.
Andreas finally turned around after pushing Justin away as a few shots exploded on his gear. He dashed towards Kyoya.
Kyoya instantly jumped and flipped mid-air, aiming and firing another three rounds of explosive bullets.
Andreas covered his face with his arms.
Finn took the opportunity and went for a punch to his abdomen.
The hit connected. Andreas staggered back.
Madoka and Kageri were still locked into a duel of precision, trading wind and ice-infused slashes like two siblings arguing.
Kageri blocked Madoka's next strike. "Too slow."
She pushed it aside and slashed left to right, right to left, then an upswing, staggering Madoka back. A vertical swing followed.
Madoka managed to put her blade in its way. Her shield was taking too many hits.
Kageri's gaze shifted past Madoka and landed on three figures running at them from the courtyard gate. "Oh, great. More trouble."
Max, Edric, and Alex ran straight into the fight while deploying their gear.
Max's longsword formed in his hand.
"Need a hand?" he said out loud, smiling.
He swung horizontally at Kageri from her right.
Edric instantly followed with a sweep of his Great Axe from the other side.
Kageri rotated her right shoulder, then her left, and dodged both swings.
Alex jumped at Andreas with her Claymore. Andreas caught it with one hand.
Justin came at him roaring.
He caught the handle of the hammer with his other hand, not even flinching.
Justin pressed harder on his hammer.
"Move already!"
Alex did too, so much so that her hands were shaking, like pushing against a wall.
"What is this guy?!"
Finn went for another punch to capitalize on the opening.
Kyoya circled and waited for a clean shot.
Andreas pulled on Justin's hammer, dragging him closer—then kicked him in the stomach hard while pulling his hammer away.
He quickly adjusted his grip on the heavy hammer and swung it at Finn with one hand.
Finn's eyes widened mid charge, and he managed to take the hit on his gauntlets, but went back flying.
Andreas didn't stop and followed with another swing at Alex, heavier this time.
Alex got caught off guard and took a hit that sent her back flying.
With both hands free, Andreas got a better grip and swung with a combined force of the hammer and his battle bracers at Justin. Justin reacted too slowly and took a hammer to the stomach. He went flying over the ground and crashed into a pillar of the academy building.
Kyoya watched him handle Finn, Justin, and Alex in less than ten seconds.
"Hell…"
He fired a barrage of bullets. Andreas rushed at him, closing the distance in seconds. Kyoya moved without hesitation.
Andreas threw hammer swings at him with great speed.
Kyoya outmaneuvered him with just enough space.
His agility was a bigger advantage than his aim.
The mercenary leader kept pushing with each step and swing. Cassie desperately blocked every strike as fast as they came. Metal rang out continuously as the heavy cleavers met the blades of her staff.
The container zone guards and the Solheim guards were caught in close-range combat, preventing them from helping Cassie.
The mercenary leader had isolated her.
Her shield was already halfway down.
His next swing was too heavy for her to block. It staggered her.
He tackled her hard with his shoulder.
She crashed onto the ground.
Before she could react, he plunged one cleaver into the ground to free his hand, caught her leg, and threw her at a container with a swing.
The metal wall bent as Cassie slammed into it.
Cassie pushed against the ground to get back up.
The mercenary leader picked up his cleaver again and slowly walked towards her, smiling.
"History repeats itself, doesn't it, kid?"
He prepared to swing again.
"I think I'll just get rid of your sorry ass life this time. Consequences be damned!"
A roar echoed behind him.
He paused, smile fading, and looked behind.
"What the shi—…"
A lioness was already mid-air, jumping at him.
Cassie's eyes widened.
The lioness landed a paw strike.
He blocked with his cleaver, staggering back.
The lioness followed with more, forcing him to take multiple steps back.
Viara ran straight to Cassie.
"Cass!"
Cassie got back on her feet the moment she saw her.
"Vi!"
Viara jumped on her with a hug.
Cassie hugged her back.
Viara pulled back, cupping her right cheek.
"Are you okay?"
Cassie smiled.
"Almost."
"Not to be rude, a little help here?" the captain yelled.
Cassie and Viara briefly glanced at him, then back at each other.
"I'll take care of the big guy. Go help them," Viara said.
"Are you sure?" Cassie asked.
Viara nodded, confident.
Cassie matched her confidence with a grin.
"Alright."
She turned and sprinted away to help the guards.
Viara watched her go, then turned her attention to the mercenary leader.
The lioness was keeping him occupied.
He swung at the lioness, forcing it to step back.
His gaze shifted past the beast and landed on Viara, already swinging her scythe at him.
"My turn!" she yelled, charging in.
Meanwhile, the container zone guards who had flanked right were behind cover, firing at the remaining thugs at the breach point.
The thugs were under pressure. Some of the thugs were in cover with rifles, occasionally firing back at the guards. Another part of the thugs was extracting supplies. The guards' gunfire was slowing them down, but they did not stop.
The rest of them, around twelve individuals, were fighting on the left side.
The six guards who had flanked left with Julianna were providing covering fire.
Julianna sprinted full speed at the thugs, passing rows of stacked containers on both sides. Three thugs peeked out and opened fire at her from the cracks of a few containers.
Julianna projected a water shield in front of her without stopping. The bullets hit the shield like rain against bulletproof glass, and fell—completely harmless.
Julianna closed the distance quickly. She jumped on the wall of the container to her left and boosted herself towards the right, jumping straight on two thugs hiding between the cracks.
She landed two back-to-back kicks on their heads.
Both heads hit the metal walls, and they got knocked out.
She instantly turned and threw a water spear at the thug who was aiming at her from the opposite crack of containers.
The spear blew up on him, taking him down.
Julianna continued forward, not giving a damn about the thugs that kept popping out of the cracks. She pressed kicks and hits of her lance as she zoomed through them.
Just ahead, she could see the rest of the thugs who were fighting the right flank and extracting supplies. Their full attention was on the guards firing at them, just as she wanted.
Her eyes narrowed with determination.
"I get only one chance at this."
She jumped off the right container wall, boosting herself to the left, and landed on top. She continued her sprint towards the thugs, approaching faster and from an angle they wouldn't anticipate.
Her grip on her lance tightened. The pupils of her eyes flared blue as she channeled her elemental energy. Her entire body radiated a blue aura.
She reached the end of the containers and jumped high, holding her lance up with both hands, pointing at the large group of thugs behind cover.
A few thugs noticed her while others were distracted. They aimed at her while she was still mid-air and unleashed a barrage of bullets.
Julianna couldn't do anything beyond commit to her plan, leaving her vulnerable. Bullets passed by her at great speed. Some connected. Her gear shield protected her, but it was ticking down fast, from 92% to 74% in just a few seconds while she was still airborne.
At the highest point of her jump, her channeling completed. Water converged behind her, continuously pooling together until it was a fifteen-foot-tall, ten-foot-wide, and eighteen-centimeter-thick wave, weighing a total of two and a half tons.
In that short moment, the faces of all the thugs firing at her went pale. Some were still crouched and frozen, some were already getting up to escape. The ones carrying supplies were dropping them to run.
Julianna committed and plunged at the thugs!
The wave behind her followed and slammed onto them, flooding the area, sweeping the enemies off their feet!
One of the large container trucks flipped to its side and crashed from the sheer force of the wave.
The other truck, seeing all the thugs lying on the ground, groaning and coughing in pain, instantly stepped on the gas pedal and recklessly turned the truck around with the supplies that had already been stored. He drove through the breach point, and just as he hit the road, he noticed a large group of armored military vehicles heading straight for it. The driver panicked and turned right in an attempt to escape. Two military jeeps and a truck separated from the group and chased him. The rest entered the container zone.
Squads of soldiers rushed out of the vehicle, their boots hitting wet concrete.
Julianna was on her knees, breathing heavy, hands still holding her lance that was plunged into the ground. She took a moment to catch her breath, then checked her gear HUD.
"Elemental Energy Reserve: 38%"
"That was… quite exhausting."
Soldiers rushed to assist her.
"Are you okay, miss?"
They helped her get back on her feet.
Julianna clutched her head.
"I'm just… low on energy."
She looked around.
The soldiers were already arresting the thugs.
The battlefield here had settled.
But not past the new wave of freshly deployed smoke grenades.
The elementals still outnumbered the container zone guards.
"Reloading!" one guard yelled.
The captain was right beside him.
One elemental popped out of the corner with a battle axe infused with fire.
The captain reacted fast and blocked the swing with his rifle.
He kicked the thug back, then hit him with the stock of his rifle.
Two more closed in.
Cassie launched two explosive arrows at them. Both connected with a boom, putting them to the ground and buying the guards some time.
She didn't stand still and moved on to help others in combat.
Lightning-infused punches hit two container zone guards, instantly knocking them unconscious.
A tall, muscular elemental grinned, slamming his gloved fists together, sparking with electricity.
Cassie noticed them fall as she was fighting three enemies to cover the other guards.
"I have to help them!"
Her enemies charged at her, keeping her occupied.
Cassie focused back on the fight at hand.
"But how?!"
Gunfire came from his left.
"What the—?"
Three armed Solheim guards were here, crouched into firing position.
Werner dashed in from behind the tall guy and slammed a kick on his back.
The guards held their fire.
Werner repositioned and slammed three more consecutive kicks into the guy's abdomen before throwing one more jump kick to his face. "Amateur."
The guards rushed in to detain him.
Cassie was in a blade lock. Relief washed over her face at the sight of Werner's arrival.
With renewed motivation, she pushed harder against her opponent, breaking free.
Reinforcements pushed through the smoke in the lane and joined the fight against the remaining elemental thugs in combat gear. The battlefield had flipped.
Viara continued her one-versus-one against the mercenary leader.
He slammed his foot on the ground.
A pillar suddenly popped up in front of Viara and the lioness.
They sidestepped and continued.
He kept slamming his foot. Pillars rose left and right from beneath them.
Viara timed her dodge with each slam to avoid his attacks.
"Is that the best you can do?"
Distance closed again. Viara swung for his head.
"Come @#$% around and find out!" He ducked and upswung his cleaver at her.
She rotated her shoulder. The ground beneath his swing split open violently.
The lioness came with a bite from behind him.
He pressed his cleaver into its mouth.
The lioness bit onto the cleaver and pulled on it.
Viara's scythe came from the other side.
The heat of the bite from the beast and Viara's scythe was very high.
His gear shield wasn't blocking much of it.
His element prevented his metal cleavers from melting, but it didn't help with heat conduction. His skin became rock-hard to withstand the heat, costing him a lot of energy. "Damn you!"
He twisted both his cleavers to break free and followed with a diagonal spin towards Viara, performing twelve consecutive rapid strikes.
Viara held her scythe forward. Sparks flew as her weapon vibrated with every hit.
She dashed back.
The lioness jumped on the mercenary leader's back and bit into his gear shoulder plate. He wrestled against the beast to break free.
Viara channeled her energy. The fire on her scythe's blade burned brighter with energy.
She spun and threw a thin line of fiery-orange energy at him.
"No. Damn YOU! Haaaa!"
Five lionesses spawned around the line as it flew straight at the mercenary leader. The lionesses converged, turning into one large beast.
His eyes widened. He screamed out loud at the top of his lungs.
The beast opened its jaw while charging at him and closed in with a bite.
A loud boom echoed through the entire container zone as a small explosion engulfed the surroundings with thick black smoke.
Everyone's attention shifted as small chunks of fire burned around the spot.
The mercenary leader lay in the middle of the surrounding fire, gear wrecked, covered in burn marks, only kept alive by the tough skin provided by his element.
Footsteps echoed in his ears. He slowly opened his eyes, groaning in pain.
Viara stopped in front of him, breathing unevenly. She stood there for a moment and then pointed her scythe at him, eyes narrowing. "You disgust me."
Saya was a minute away from the academy. Her comms ping—a call from Stelle's phone number. She answered.
"We need you here. Right. Now." Stelle said.
"Copy. Estimated arrival time: forty seconds," Saya replied.
Her gear thrusters were already full supersonic.
As she descended around the academy courtyard, multiple signatures popped up in her visor.
Black Scorpion, Resilient Knight, Iridescent Tundra, Cinder Crown, three standard gear, and two unknown signatures.
But she didn't have the time to help and flew away towards the administration division of the academy building.
Kageri and Andreas covered each other's backs like two sides of the same coin.
Madoka, Finn, Max, Edric, and Alex surrounded them with a barrage of their designated attacks.
SMACK!
Alex rolled on the ground and slid to a stop near Justin. Her Claymore stopped beside her. She groaned as she tried to push herself up with shaky hands. Her hands gave up.
Justin had just finished picking himself up after getting hit by his own hammer.
He walked over slowly and kneeled to give her a hand.
"That hurt, huh?"
Alex grabbed onto his hand.
"Yeah… Quite the hammer you got."
Max and Edric kept trading blows with Andreas.
Madoka pushed her speed as if she were turbo-charging herself to match Kageri. Finn charged, jumped, and flew by Kageri with a punch—missed!
Max and Edric swept with their Long Sword and Great Axe one after another, not giving Andreas even a second of breathing room.
Kyoya couldn't find an angle to shoot. He flipped over above Kageri and Andreas and fired a stream of bullets.
The sound of a loud explosion reached the courtyard. Madoka didn't care. Finn forced himself to stay focused. Max got fully distracted. Edric snuck a glance at the sound direction for barely a second.
Kyoya landed on the ground and paused.
"What was that?"
Madoka breathed in shallow gasps.
Kageri swung vertically.
She blocked horizontally, hands shaking.
Kageri chuckled, not making a move yet.
"Tired? It has to happen eventually."
She violently dragged her blade against Madoka's, pushing it away, and instantly threw two wind slashes and an infused wheel kick.
Madoka went brushing against the ground before coming to a stop. She flipped and got back onto her feet.
Finn threw a flying kick at Kageri. She grabbed his foot and slammed him down.
Kyoya didn't stop shooting at her.
She didn't stop slicing his bullets. "Is that all you can do?"
Eventually, he had to, feeling his body weaken. His gear HUD popped up.
"Elemental Energy Reserve: 45%"
He exhaled through his mouth loud enough to sound like a cough.
"We won't last long in this battle."
Madoka's gaze remained on Kageri for a moment, then slowly drifted up towards the fourth floor of the building.
Kyoya arrived beside her.
"Let me guess. Running out of energy."
Madoka's gaze lingered on the broken railing of the building, then snapped to Kyoya.
"Hey, bowling boy, come closer."
"Who are you calling 'bowling boy'?!" he protested, but leaned in to listen.
"Shush. Listen," she whispered.
"Go to the fourth floor, room four-o-seven. Find out what these two are after. I'll distract them."
Kyoya paused, then nodded.
"Alright."
They got back up.
Madoka gripped her katana tighter.
Kyoya moved towards the right and fired at Kageri.
Kageri sliced through them like she did every time.
"This again…"
Madoka pressed her heels against the ground and dashed at her.
"Hey, Finn! Get up."
Kageri and Madoka's blades met again.
Finn put all his effort into getting back up.
"My sync rate's struggling…"
Madoka swung, dragging Kageri's attention. Finn took a second to reorient himself and then started bouncing on his heels again.
Kyoya stopped shooting and circled the fight, heading towards the building staircase.
Kageri's eyes snapped to him.
"Who do you think you're fooling?!"
She parried Madoka and threw four wind slashes at Kyoya.
Kyoya flipped and dodged them all without stopping.
Andreas pushed Max and Edric aside and appeared in front of Kyoya with a hammer swing.
Kyoya ducked and slid past beneath him.
Just as he was about to reach the staircase, a knee slammed into his stomach.
Kyoya's body jolted. He crashed onto the ground.
"What the—?"
He looked ahead.
It was… a human projection made of wind?
Upon closer look, it was none other than Kageri's.
The container zone chaos had finally settled. Convicts were being arrested. The soldiers picked up the mercenary leader on a stretcher and left.
Julianna walked slowly, left hand brushing her right arm. Just ahead, she spotted Cassie and Viara alongside Solheim guards and… Kyoya's butler?
She took a deep breath, steadied her posture, and approached them.
Viara noticed her approaching.
"Miss President!"
She ran up to her.
"Are you injured?"
Julianna gave a weak smile.
"I'm fine. Just… a little low on energy."
Then her face turned serious again.
"Communications from the director are down. I'm heading to the academy building."
Cassie and Viara exchanged worried glances.
"We'll go with you," Viara said.
Saya sprinted through a long corridor of the administration division. She could see the hydraulic door to the control room ahead.
She slid to a stop at the door and tapped her ID.
No response. "System's down…?"
She looked at the door, thinking. An irritated groan escaped her throat as her eyes narrowed.
Inside, all the operators sat helplessly at their desks, some clutching their heads. The main console operator was also still.
Stelle's eyes were still on the big screen. A faint crackling noise reached her ears. She turned towards the door, noticing sparks traveling from left to right along the edge of it.
A metallic bang followed, which sounded like someone kicking the heavy door, and soon it fell flat on the floor, breaking the tiles.
Saya sprinted in and stopped in front of the main console.
"Sasha! What's the situation?"
"T-the entire system's compromised!" replied Sasha, the main console operator.