Aurora Over a Dead World

Chapter 18: A Quick Fight

Using this spatial "veil" — an enhanced, refined, and far less costly version of what Charlotte did — I’m shielded from the ambient radiation, so I drop to the ground and land softly.

Charlotte could only protect herself from the radiation by forming a "bubble" that kept her from moving freely, whereas I can move without restriction. Obviously, outside a simulation I would never attempt this; my unstable powers could kill me at any moment.

But here in a simulation, I don’t hold back, because overload and risks aren’t a real problem for me.

’Charlotte clearly knocked me down on purpose... but fine... I already wanted a chance to fight freely.’ The Nemesis watching me seems more cautious than she was with the others. Since this Nemesis is weaker than the real one, I’m a genuine threat to her, but the opposite is also true — she’s still far too dangerous for me.

’Considering the risks... Nemesis’s next move will be...’ I dodge by leaping high and far backward using my tail just as she appears behind me with a slash of her claws. I land behind her.

I drag the sky in front of me, creating a wall that blocks Nemesis’s kick, but the kick is still so intense that space itself seems to tremble under the blow.

"Students, learn that most monsters won’t just charge in stupidly without a strategy. Many of the truly dangerous monsters plan their attacks," I say to them as Nemesis studies me. She quickly kicks the ground, shattering it and kicking up the rubble with her feet.

I lose sight of her in the process, which would be a problem, but I can feel the abnormal behavior of the vectors around her. When she moves, I move, intercepting her with a punch that she catches.

My tail grabs her leg, and I use my entire body as a lever, taking advantage of the freedom of my robotic limbs to spin upside down and land a kick to her face.

My kick tears through space, pushing her back and forcing her to let go. I hit the ground with a spin to soften the impact and, with my tail, shoot a stone at her face to stop her from charging freely.

Crack!

I hear a snap and briefly glance to the side, seeing a rock that’s cracked. Nemesis used her power to steal my focus for a second — a single second she exploits well, leaping toward me in a fully downward slant.

With a pull, I warp the space in front of me, but she uses her powerful legs mid-charge to veer left, dodge the wall, and spring forward, drifting slightly to the right, which brings her right up to me.

’T-Too fast.’ I try to step back to reclaim at least a few inches of advantage, but like a true monster, she gives me no time for that.

The drone above her emits a red glow that completely scrambles my vision. She grabs the middle of my arm with her leg, slamming me to the ground, and with her hand she pulls, breaking and ripping off half of my left prosthetic.

Using my tail, I yank her other leg, leaping backward and using my back to pull it off, then rise to my feet again.

"!!!" Using the extreme proximity, I intensify the potential of the sky drag to its maximum, tearing through the space in the area where she is. Nemesis still manages to dodge the tear in space, losing only a few fingers that didn’t escape its reach in time.

But she deliberately let them be torn off so she could launch them at me with a kicking motion. I dodge the fingers, which fly faster than any bullet, though one leaves a small cut on my cheek.

A sort of rip remains in the spot that took damage. It’s like taking a piece of clothing and tearing it with your hands — the difference is that the torn part is floating in the sky and emitting a strange, pale, somewhat dark glow.

Nemesis uses her own deformed vectors to close in with an upward kick. I barely defend against it with my tail while grabbing her fist with my right hand.

The violent impact of her fist generates a faint shockwave; if it had connected properly, it would have pierced straight through my body from one side to the other.

Nemesis tries to bite me while using her other leg, slipping it between mine and dragging sideways to try to topple me. My tail, designed like a series of interlinked vertebrae, spins.

A function I hate using because it hurts my spine, but one that serves moments like this. The extremely fast rotation emits a buzzing sound as it works like a drill, and I manage to hit Nemesis’s arm, tearing it off with a strike she didn’t see coming.

’So much trouble against an extremely nerfed Nemesis...’ I could even put on grand displays, pulling the entire sky down like a wall or creating immense tears in space.

But the reality is that the resistance Nemesis has against modified vectors makes that kind of attack useless — unlike normal physical attacks, like my tail ripping her arm off.

Even if I could tear an entire city in half with a spatial rip, it still wouldn’t be enough to wound Nemesis; it would only make her more cautious of me.

Nemesis uses fear to regenerate, her lost arm rebuilding itself as if nothing had happened. I take a brief look at my students who are watching this.

’Why not do it, right? It’s just a simulation... it’s not like I’m going to die... besides, normal physical damage is the best answer, considering Nemesis’s vector resistance.’ I take a deep breath and try something I would never do outside the simulation: I apply "Pulling the Sky" to my own body.

Since it’s possible to change the distance of things this way, I start pulling the sky in various areas. I push Nemesis’s body far away from me and cut the distance between my fist and her, landing a punch to her face from hundreds of meters away.

I throw several punches, feeling my arm tremble with every blow I deliver. Her resistance is still monstrous, and a large part of the impacts is absorbed.

Nemesis is only caught off guard for a few seconds before adapting to it. She starts leaping, using each warped "space" I create as platforms to jump at high speed, cutting the physical distance between us and closing in.

She throws a punch that sends me flying into the sky because I block it with my tail. I pull the sky beneath me as a platform, then pull down the entire sky from miles around, creating a gigantic surface like an immense platform.

"Wait, since when does she—" I’m caught off guard when Nemesis leaps up from below, piercing through this "wall" that is the sky, and not only propels herself but somehow flies.

And her speed surpasses my reaction in a fraction of a second. She appears behind me, using her leg to hold my body in place, her claws embedded in each of my shoulders.

Before my tail can impale her, she finds my "weak point." Her claws sink into the flesh of my back, and she pulls, tearing out my entire spine and prosthetics.

The pain is terrible, but I’m already used to it, so the worst part is feeling my limbs completely lose all mobility, the sensation leaving them entirely. My powers immediately become unstable, and the simulation deactivates because the damage has reached critical levels and threatens my brain.

My six students and I wake up outside the simulation, completely fine. However, out of the six, only Charlotte looks "fine," while the others are stunned, with Eirwen still crying and touching her body as if to confirm she’s okay.

Rouge has a dark look on her face as she stares at her hands, as if she can’t believe what happened. Ashlyn and Edith sit in uncomfortable silence, and even the arrogant Tanya wears a defeated expression.

’Damn, even in a simulation she still beats me... she probably flies in the simulation because someone else must have had Nemesis’s data and used the machine... damn...’ I take a deep breath, disappointed to have lost.

If it weren’t for that damn resistance to vector attacks, we humans could have killed Nemesis already. But killing something that’s extremely strong, regenerates, and takes almost no damage is ridiculous.

In short, that explains how Nemesis has never died. Creating a weapon that deals strong enough normal physical damage is difficult. Landing that hit is even harder. And in a post-apocalyptic society where such weapons are useless against powerful monsters, it’s not worth it when resources funneled into vector projects yield better returns.

Just like normal technological equipment is something she can control, so the weapons would have to be very crude and simple for her not to control.

And as long as Nemesis isn’t an active threat trying to destroy humanity, it’s better to reallocate resources to more immediate dangers.

"Well, students, it seems our class today is over... it was... enlightening for me. I hope it was for you too," I say, unfazed by having lost. I expected difficulties one way or another.

Besides, I’m just a former military commander. I’m not some kind of hero meant to defeat the "final villain." Killing Nemesis is something these idiot students or some future generation are supposed to do.

"You can go home. You’re dismissed for the next three days so you can reflect on what you felt," I tell them, reactivating the simulator to get recordings of everything and analyze them.

’The Nemesis in the simulation noticed the structural weakness of my spine far too quickly... so the simulator’s Nemesis was highly perceptive. This can help show where each student failed and why Nemesis chose to kill them in that order.’ I ignore the possibly traumatized students to focus on what matters.

"Oh, except you, Charlotte. You stay. I have a matter to settle with you." I stop everything, remembering something else that also matters — that bitch who shoved me to my death.