71 Orbits

{STEPHEN POV}

{REALM: THE SEA OF STARS}

{DEPTH 12}

Stephen didn't know just what exactly happened in front of him, but what he did know was that the momentum of battle just shifted into a different direction, and that was simply unacceptable.

"What a stupid power," Stephen mumbled to himself in annoyance. "I can't believe it's actually working..."

/Chaos is just like that sometimes,/ Astra casually chimed in in his head. /Little Nyx has a lot of tricks up her sleeve. Not a lot, but they're still potent in the right hands./

The astrologer narrowed his eyes at the offending Champion that just refused to die in front of him. While their yacht was slowly gaining on his targets, his own projectiles stopped being effective the moment the Champion of Nyx began using his nonsensical ladder to swat away his planets. Even the exploding gas giants he used found a lot of use in stopped being useful when the damn ladder came into play. And yes, he knew that the man in front of him didn't have any lick of ranged options on him whatsover. The only one that could theoretical touch him was the Champion of Tyche, and she clearly didn't have the skill to get past his barrage of projectiles and had seemingly given up based on how he hadn't seen a hair of her ever since his last successful volley.

/Oh yeah, I can sense a portal near us,/ his god suddenly chimed in. /You might want to wrap this up if you don't want them to escape./

Grumbling in annoyance, Stephen didn't bother replying to his god as he focused more on the task at hand. He didn't need a reminder that his targets were somehow getting away from them. He didn't like to hear that the power of the universe was somehow weaker than mere cards or the seemingly random power of chaos. No, his superiority must be uncontested, even if he had to kill people to prove it.

"Whatever your power is, it is no match to mine!" Stephen gloated at the knife-wielding Champion glaring at him from his boat. "The power of the cosmos is unmatched!"

As per usual, the enemy Champion didn't bother to engage him. Instead, the young man stood still, his knife at the ready as if goading him to try his luck.

Well, if that was his wish, then so be it. If he wanted to swat away at the planets he was throwing at him, then he would simply have to make them harder to track down. After all, the nature of gravity and celestial bodies didn't just mean he could throw planets on a whim.

***

{RIKU POV}

/We're about a few minutes away from the portal, my Champion./

Riku mentally nodded back at his goddess as his eyes remained glued at the astrologer in front of him. The man was clearly planning something based on how the planets threatening to overwhelm him suddenly stopped. His chaos ladder did wonders to his lack of reach, but its ridiculous nature also took a toll on his stamina. After all, swinging around a long ladder like it was nothing wasn't easy. He wasn't used to wielding long swords or any of the sort, and his wrists and arms were starting to burn at the nonstop deflecting that he had to do for a few minutes now.

Taking the breather at face value, Riku did his best to remain alert as he watched Stephen do his ting. Whatever it was, it was taking all of his concentration, and he would've killed if he could just reach the man while he was distracted. The twin Jupiters made it impossible for him to swing at the man using the ladder if he didn't want to get sucked into their well of gravity, which meant that he was still stuck on the defensive while he waited for Shizu to finish whatever it was that she was doing.

"Hah! I dare you to dodge this next few attacks, Champion of Nyx!"

At the sound of the enemy Champion's words, the former assassin was alerted of the next attack coming right at them. Looking at the planets forming over Stephen, it looked the same as any of the other attacks before it. However, Riku knew not to take things at face value. Whatever these planets now had going for them, they probably wouldn't be fun to deal with.

*WOOSH WOOSH*

And so, they were off. The next volley of planets sailed through the air, and Riku was more than ready to intercept as he kept a keen eye on the exploding ones coming straight at him. Swinging his knife, he exerted his power once more, allowing the blunt ladder to come out and intercept the planets before they could even reach a distance where they'd be dangerous.

However...

'I missed?'

His eyes widened as his ladder was quickly dodged by the planets themselves. Curving through the air, it almost looked like they had a mind of their own as they promptly exploded on the boat, Riku's footing getting rocked once again as he was forced to crouch on the ground to keep his balance.

/Woah! We have a massive leak!/

Nyx's warning made the former assassin click his tongue as he forced himself up, just in time for more projectiles to start flying at them. Immediately, he did his best to understand what was happening before he even made the first swing to defend the boat.

'The planets are curving in unpredictable ways,' he thought to himself. 'Almost wobbling in between each other...'

His keen senses took in everything that was happening, the planets almost looking like they were moving in slow motion as he assessed the situation. Surely, there was a pattern here that he could use. If he was using his simply knife, his reaction time would've been more than enough to intercept these things. However, the addition of the ladder's weight and undeniably reach made it impossible for him to swing it fast enough for his speed to matter.