Titus Shield Charged directly into the electrical wall. Sparks flew as both he and Nassus were electrified. Their health dropped in rapid bursts – roughly four percent per second – and thanks to Mano A Mano, and Titus’ unwillingness to move, neither was able to pull away from the wall.
Titus dropped to ten percent health. Nassus to twenty-four.
Then Titus to six, Nassus to twenty.
“He’s going to die!” Zelda said.
And then a thought hit Kaiden and he broke out into a smile.
“He is going to die, but I think that’s part of the plan.”
“What?” Zelda asked, but Thorne was smirking now. She’d figured it out too.
Titus dropped to two percent health and Nassus to sixteen. And then, a second later, another burst of electricity flowed through them both. Nassus’ health was shocked down to twelve percent, and Titus down to zero. His health bar was entirely empty. He collapsed to the ground, dead.
Nassus pulled herself off the wall to massive cheers from the audience. The look on her face said she was thoroughly confused, but she had, apparently, won. The crowd went wild. And then an ability activated. The one Kaiden had been expecting.
Ability: Saving Grace
If a target within 100 feet has been reduced to 0% health in the last 5 seconds, they return to 50% health instead and are given 10 charge.
Cost: All of your remaining charge and 50% of max health if targeting an ally. If targeting yourself, all of your charge but no health and you resurrect with only 5% health and 10 charge.
Cooldown: 6 hours
Energy flared around Titus’ corpse and then he was lifted into the air, as if scooped up by the hand of some invisible giant. The force turned him upright, and as his feet settled back to the ground, he opened his eyes. His health bar flashed, then filled back to five percent.
The crowd stopped cheering at the sight. Nassus noticed the change and turned around just in time for Titus’ Energy Grip to catch around her waist. He pulled hard and she was thrown toward him.
At the last moment, though, he stepped aside and she flew right into the electrified wall. Her health took a four percent hit. She seemed to react on instinct – startled by the sudden reversal – and struck out at Titus with a Chain Lash. He blocked it on his shield as the wall shocked Nassus down to eight percent, but she wasn’t held in place by Mano A Mano this time, so she was free to move off of the wall. Or, at least, she was until Titus attacked.
Ability: Shield Slam
Titus lunged forward and slammed his shield into the ground at the edge of the wall. The stun washed over Nassus and froze her in place for two seconds. Sparks flew and the wall did its work.
Four percent health left.
Zero percent health left.
Nassus’ eyes rolled up into her head, then she collapsed forward stiff as a board and faceplanted into the charred soil of the arena.
Stunned silence followed.
Chapter Forty-One
“Titus!” Kaiden hissed again, elbowing the big man excitedly. “You did it, man! You freakin’ did it!”
He’d been healed by the medic directly after the match, then they’d all been whisked off for their reward: a meeting with PlayaSlaya. They were surrounded by Maximus guild members now and being led up a sloping ramp on the exterior of the stadium. A handrail was all that separated the ramp from the billowing clouds of the planet’s atmosphere, and as they rose higher up the side of the stadium, more of Maximus’ guild base was visible. Clusters upon clusters of floating domes, all linked together by skybridges and swaying into the horizon.
The guild members flanking them were trying to look focused, but even distracted with his excitement Kaiden couldn’t fail to notice them sneaking glances at Titus. They were impressed. Everyone was. What he’d done shouldn’t have been possible, but he’d done it. With strategy and ferocity and a brilliance that’d caught everyone by surprise.
Considering the present company, it didn’t seem in good form to jump up and down shouting about Titus’ win, but still, Kaiden could hardly contain himself.
“Dude! You did it!” he said again, grabbing him by the shoulders and giving him a shake.
“I did, didn’t I?” Titus said, smirking and letting himself be shaken.
“You did it!”
“I did it!”
“You—”
“Yes, yes, we know. He did it,” Zelda said, stepping between them. “Titus, you kicked ass and it was awesome. We’re all immensely proud of you. But can we please focus on what comes next?”
“She’s right,” Thorne said from a pace behind. “That win is going to go viral. Biggest upset Maximus has seen in a long time. It was excellent. But none of this means anything if we can’t…” She switched to private comms. “Can’t convince PlayaSlaya to help us. We need to divulge enough information about the database to convince him to support us, that our plan to attack Warden HQ is viable, but not so much information that we’d be screwed if he sells us out to the Party.”
“There’s no way to do this without taking a risk,” Kaiden said, swallowing his excitement and instead focusing on the bitter taste accompanying the thought of what was to come. “None of us know this guy, so we’re going to have to feel him out on the fly. But our plan is solid, and thanks to Titus, we look like we know what we’re doing. We’ll convince him to work with us. And we have the sample file Zelda uploaded, after all.”
“We’re here,” the lead Maximus guild member said as the ramp came to an end at the very top of the stadium. A private skybox had been set up, complete with plush chairs, a buffet – not that you actually needed to eat or drink in Nova – and an assortment of magnifying lenses
