His shield is almost overloaded just from blocking one attack. Not good.
“We can’t win this fight, Titus,” Kaiden said, then tried to dodge as Werner10’s two companions – both level fifty power wardens – charged. He caught the first hammer strike on his shield and his charge bar spiked rapidly, filling to forty percent. The other power warden’s blow caught him in the side and dropped his health bar to seventy-eight percent.
Kaiden swung back with a hammer strike, but it was more about buying time than dealing damage. The power warden didn’t even bother to block it and just attacked again.
“Power wardens gain charge with each attack,” Titus shouted through comms.
That’s right. I knew that.
Kaiden backpedaled, trying to keep distance between him and his opponents while searching for an escape route. They were too close on him, though, hammers swinging constantly. He blocked what he could, but there was no stopping the onslaught. His shield overloaded after two more blows and shut off.
This was bad.
“Remember, no kills. Shackle them,” Werner10 commanded.
“Cover me for a minute,” Kaiden shouted, mind reeling as he tried to piece together a plan. He could just activate Lightspeed and escape, but that would mean abandoning Titus, and that wasn’t an option.
“How?” Titus shouted back from where he was hunkered down beneath an Improved Barrier as Werner10 unloaded on him. Explosions rocked the room and most of the furniture was on fire now.
“Excuse me for a moment,” Kaiden said to the power wardens in front of him, then activated an ability.
Ability: Matter Shift
It took a second to charge, but then swirling energy surrounded him, and the power wardens’ next attacks missed completely because he was no longer there. Kaiden’s vision went dark, then flashed back to life as he reappeared behind Titus. The safety of the barrier protected Kaiden now too, which was helpful because his health already down to forty-eight percent.
“What’s the plan?” Titus growled, teeth gritted against Werner10’s sustained fire. Worse, the power wardens had spotted Kaiden and launched into the air with Heroic Leap.
“Just buy me three seconds,” Kaiden shouted.
Three seconds seemed to be asking a lot, though, as both power wardens landed their Heroic Leaps and a wave of area-of-effect damage lashed out with two hundred percent base damage buff. Titus’ barrier, the ground beneath them, and the walls on both sides all shattered. What was left of poor Marty’s flaming furniture was thrown about the room in the shockwave.
“Gah,” Titus grunted, turning to face the power wardens, who were already rearing back to strike again. “I can’t hold them back!”
“No need!” Kaiden’s ability was done charging.
Ability: Flash Bang
Blinding light exploded from Kaiden’s shield and the two power wardens cried out, hands going to their eyes.
“To the shuttle!” Kaiden shouted.
“You’re not going anywhere, kid,” Werner10 said, then raised his hammer-gun. Instead of firing, though, he paused for a moment.
He has a high-level account, but someone else leveled it for him. He doesn’t know his abilities well yet, so he’s reading the description, Kaiden realized. Titus capitalized on the hesitation.
Ability: Energy Grip
A coil of energy lashed around the blast warden’s leg.
“Wha—?”
Titus yanked and Werner was sent flying across the room to Titus’ feet. The man scrambled to stand up while simultaneously trying to aim his hammer-gun.
Ability: Improved Shield Charge
Energy surged around Titus’ legs and shield, then he burst forward in an explosion of speed and brute force. Werner10 just had time to yelp before he was driven back into the wall, then through it and into the street.
Ha! Kaiden darted past the power wardens and out through the newly made hole in the wall.
Titus’ Improved Shield Charge lasted long enough to crush Werner10 into the wall of the building on the opposite side of the street. Kaiden wasn’t content with that, though. He darted forward and fired off a Hamstring. The attack caught Werner10 before he could recover from the crater Titus had left him in.
“Now go! Back to the Borrelly!” Kaiden shouted, turning to run. Titus followed, right behind him.
“You can’t run from this!” Werner10 shouted, then stopped abruptly.
Just figured out what Hamstring does, Kaiden thought. As it happens, we can run from this just fine. It’s you who can’t chase. Not with any speed, at least.
“That’ll slow them, but I don’t think we’re going to lose them so easily,” Titus said, turning down a side alley. Even as he did, the sounds of the power wardens in pursuit reached Kaiden’s ears.
“Get to the shuttle. It’s our best chance.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A secret organization so powerful it can reshape the reality of the universe? Thorne thought, replaying Elistar’s words. They’d have to be… what? Special NPCs created by the developers? Or maybe developers themselves playing Nova? No, they don’t do that. So… what, then? High-level players? Could any player be powerful enough that the NPC factions create lore about them?
“You called them the Pan… Pan... what?” Thorne asked, still trying to make sense of it all.
“The Pansophists,” Elistar repeated. Then, when that failed to clear much up, he blew a jet of air out of his nostrils and turned back toward the archive. “Follow me this way. I will show you.”
“You ever heard of these guys?” Thorne asked Zelda through comms as they both followed the bookish turen.
“Bernstein’s database only referred to ‘The Syndicate.’ Beyond that, I’ve never heard another name used, which isn’t surprising considering these guys are – apparently – extremely secretive. And powerful,” Zelda replied. “But we know that NPC factions were coded with their own beliefs as to their creation. Could the turen, the grachnids, and the others be confusing this ‘Syndicate’ with their creation beliefs?”
“Or maybe they’re just dumping their useless lore on us?” Thorne fired back. “We could be wanting this to be the answer so bad that we’re
