novel bin Chapter 1181: Flight and Fight
Chapter 1181: Flight and Fight
chapter 1181: flight and fight
the vindicators scaled the building with inhuman speed. their armored hands and feet easily gripped every tiny edge and windowsill, making them move like spiders on steroids as they crossed multiple stories in mere seconds.
emily, crouched by the window, was looking at the building where amber and mira were taking care of the barrier masters without moving her rifle to make sure she was ready to strike in case something bad happened. it was then that a sound caught her attention-the subtle click of weapons being readied.
the world slowed to a crawl as she activated her time freeze brain crystal power, the familiar sensation washing over her like honey dripping from a spoon. colors dimmed slightly, and sounds became muffled, stretching each millisecond into what felt like several seconds.
two mana bullets hung motionless in the air, like fireflies caught in slow motion, aimed at her head.
however, in front of them was a bird, whose wings spread wide.
the clone moved to intercept the bullets, intercepting them to prevent the young woman from getting harmed, and was ready to sacrifice himself to save her. he was going to die. she pushed off the ground while her mana was getting drained by the massive amount she was using to slow time that much. it would be easy to just get out of harm's way, but she couldn't just let june die.
emily grabbed the clone-turned-bird and jumped off the building. the mana drain
intensified, forcing her to release the time freeze. reality snapped back to normal speed. the bullets shattered the concrete where she'd stood moments before.
she clutched june to her chest and leaped from the building. wind whipped past as they plummeted toward the street.
her legs absorbed the impact of the landing. her knees bent to distribute the force across her muscles.
the concrete cracked beneath her feet as she did, and then the woman pushed forward, accelerating into a rapid sprint that left footprints in the pavement.
"what—" june shifted back to human form, running beside her. "how did we get here?" "saved your life," emily said between breaths. "who are those guys?"
june noticed the clear silver insignias on their chests-each showed a simple v with two swords crossing behind it.
"vindicators. the ones patrolling this sector, at least i think."
behind them, the vindicators slammed into the street. their boots punched through the concrete on impact, sending cracks shooting out in all directions. the force of their landing split the pavement like glass.
the concrete gave way under their weight like paper, leaving craters that showed just how much their armor was.
they both wore blackguard combat suits. however, these suits differed from those worn by terra, vex, restro, and levium.
their armor was reinforced with plates june recognized as being made with mernium, the second strongest mana-conductive metal in existence.
the metal plates covered their chest, shoulders, and legs. a single plate of mernium this size would cost more than most people earned in a lifetime.
if he was not going to be there, emily would have to do that alone. not only would she lose time, but she would also risk being hit.
for both june and emily, the vindicators' footsteps thundered behind them like massive steel hammers striking an anvil. it scared them because they knew each step brought the vindicators closer, and being pursued by heavily armored soldiers wasn't exactly the most pleasant of the situations.
the massive soldiers in their mernium-plated armor were gaining ground, and the situation didn't even allow june and emily to do anything about it.
"be careful!"
emily moved to the side just in time. a mana bullet sizzled past her shoulder. it was so close to her head that she smelled the ozone. another scorched the ground near june's feet. the vindicators weren't trying to kill them--not yet, at least. perhaps they wanted to capture them to use as leverage against erik, assuming they knew their connection to him, or simply to extract information about their mission.
it didn't change things. if they got caught, a world of pain was going to come for both of
them.
besides, the vindicators likely understood what the two wanted to do. head back, and they were doing their best to prevent them from doing so. crippling one of the two was going to do
the job.
"left!" june said. he was helping the woman by acting as a navigator.
they went into a narrow alley. the small space gave them some advantage-the vindicators' larger frames couldn't maneuver as easily between the walls. but it also trapped them on a predictable path and made them easier targets.
emily's lungs burned. the earlier use of time freeze had drained a lot of her mana. she couldn't even understand how vex was able to use it so often and so well. of course, time freeze must have been the man's birth brain crystal power, and he likely had years to learn
how to use it efficiently.
june ran beside her, his face tight.
"how far to the building?" she asked.
"six blocks," june said. another shot sparked off a wall near emily's shoulder. they burst out of the alley onto a wider
street.
emily's heart sank.
"this is the wrong place!"
june was right. the vindicators had strategically herded them with each shot and pursuit
angle, forcing them in the wrong direction. even june, who rarely made such errors, had been
outmaneuvered.