Within 15 minutes, my words to Xilia rang true as the tide of battle instantly shifted in favor of the returners due to the reinforcements from the Western Team.
From the moment they joined the fight, the NightWalker, who had probably believed it was about to dine on a hearty meal, was blasted on all sides by lightning, and soon enough, through the combined effort of the four Zap members, and the Player who dropped the sky on the Western NightWalker, the northern gate was cleared, and everyone headed southeast, to assist the Eastern Gate.
’That’s two down and two to go; unfortunately, even if everyone shows up at our gate, they wouldn’t be able to do much.’ Finally feeling well enough to sit up on my own without Xilia’s help, I placed my legs in front of me and lightly kicked the ground with my heels.
Coming back from being paralyzed is never fun, and right now, although the sharp pain in my back had vanished, I was still dealing with the most intense "pins and needles" sensation in both legs I had felt in a long time.
’Why? Is it because they’re all Alpha-Rankers, and our NightWalker is Beta?’ Sitting beside me and watching as I shook my legs out, Xilia inquired, only to get a light chuckle out of me.
’Beta-Rank? I suppose in the Eyes of Arkadia, it could be classified as such, but in actuality, the damn thing is closer to a Mid-Level Gamma-Ranker, at least statistically.’
’There isn’t a single returner outside our team on the squads that are in the Beta-Rank, so I doubt any of them could even put a scratch on the NightWalker given how high its Physical and Metaphysical Defences are.’ Thinking back to how much effort I had to put into each of the attacks that landed flush on the NightWalker’s body, I shook my head and compared the output presented by the other returners and even Players.
In the end, there was only one conclusion I could come up with, and that was, even if every single member of the other teams joined in, the end result would be a bloody massacre, leaving only my family and Xilia still standing.
As it is, Dad, Brenden, and Emilia are doing everything they can to hold the monster down; if they suddenly have to worry about the NightWalker breaking free and going on a killing spree, then their productivity will plummet, as none of them are able to ignore casualties.
’Xi…Taylor…you’ve got that creepy look on your face again, the one you get before doing something exceptionally insane…’ Scooting away from me by more than a foot, Xilia spoke with an unsure voice, causing me to raise an eyebrow and stare directly into her eyes.
’I have no idea what you’re talking about. Do you watch me so carefully at all times that you know what I am thinking by how I look or something…’ Blinking twice, Xilia and I sat there for a moment, staring at each other, me expecting an explanation, and her trying to figure out how to approach the subject.
’I…you…well…I JUST KNOW, OK, you do this thing where your eyebrows crease, and the rest of your face goes perfectly still like you’re dead or something, and when that happens, you always do something crazy.’ With a slight huff, Xilia broke eye contact again and refused to look at me, which, I had to admit, was pretty funny to see.
Over the years, one of my greatest pastimes was teasing the girl, as you could practically read everything she was thinking just from her body language alone.
’I mean…you aren’t wrong, by the way, I do have an idea; however, you have a part in it too.’
With that said, wearing a twisted smirk, I began explaining things to my slave as I started building a plot twist for everyone watching.
---
Up on the platform, the situation hadn’t changed much, Brenden and Dad continuously and relentlessly blasting the NightWalker, Emilia setting up airborne footholds so they could move with ease while trapping that monster at any given opportunity, and not far from the battle Piniki was giving emergency treatment to the critical Sonas, who was still stuck in the wall unmoving.
(Northern Boss Cleared, Joint Team NWP (NorthWest and Players) enroute to the Eastern gate to aid.)
The call-out came over the comms, causing Brenden to look away from the monster and to the East, then back.
Although nearly every inch of his body was covered by his Hero Suit, his hair was matted with dirt and sweat, and exhaustion was evident in his movements as with each new punch or kick he threw, they became slightly less sharp and more sluggish.
The same could be said for my Father, who, although in better shape, was struggling to keep up with Brenden’s pace.
"Jaxx, we can’t keep this up forever. Nexus is down, probably critical like Sonas, and LadyFell has gone to retrieve him, leaving us short-handed." Brenden muttered softly, yet with enough volume to be heard by our Father.
"What do you have in mind?" My Father asked while narrowly avoiding a combination of slashes and punches from the monster.
With the Annihilation Aura shut off, the two of them were now able to get in close for a real brawl, and between using their enhanced physical abilities and air-pressure blasts, the fight had been extremely fast-paced from the get-go.
’I don’t know why you two are so panicked. I leave for 30 minutes, and you both get so tired that you can hardly stand, let alone fight.’ My voice entered both their minds in the moment of desperation, causing my Father and Brenden to push harder for a moment, probably an outburst of anger, but meh.
’Tell me you’ve got a plan, son, because if not, we may be up shits creek here; I doubt that even if you continue bombarding it with your Spikes, it will inflict any damage.’ Talking to me while weaving in and out of the fight with the monster, my Father’s voice held a hint of relief that I was near enough to use Telepathy.
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’Of course I do, don’t I always? Now act like you’re charging a big attack and watch the show… it’s been a while since I’ve used my Full Cowl….COUGH, Actuate at 100%, time to let loose.’
Hearing the Word, Actuate caused Dad and especially Brenden to stiffen for a moment, as they knew what was coming next would cause a shitstorm, but being too exhausted from hours of combat, both of them just wanted this all to be over. Hence, they did exactly as I asked.