103 4.15

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[Jordan's POV]

Everything seemed to be going well for Alexander's plan, as the top shots of this world all fell into his trap.

It didn't make me feel good, however. The gap between us was so big that we couldn't even try to help with the fight, leaving Alexander to fight alone.

I wasn't worried about him, but it felt wrong to just be waiting here while he fights Homelander, Soldier Boy and the teams of both sides.

But quickly enough, we understood that Alexander's plan did not go as smoothly as planned.

While I sat in a room along with the rest of the Team, we suddenly heard the loud sound of a fire being shot, which was quickly followed by a notification from God.

[Score +1. Your current score is 1.]

I got up in alarm as I exclaimed, "We are under attack!"

I had just said that when I felt the building shake. We also heard another fire being shot, although this one wasn't from a sniper. Instantly understanding Asher was being attacked, I jumped straight out of the window, and attached myself to the wall using Chakra as I ran it up.

Reaching the top of the building, I spotted a naked man trying to punch Asher. This was Hughie, one of the main characters of the show, and he was apparently on Temporary V.

Asher was a much better fighter than he was, but he was also much stronger, and looked like he had her cornered. She fired her shotgun straight into his chest, but it only forced him a step back.

Quickly throwing a kunai at his face, I forced Hughie a step back, before weaving multiple hand signs.

"Katon: Great Fireball!"

I fired the giant ball of fire at Hughie, who instantly warped out of there. My attack may have not hit, my objective had been met.

I quickly approached Asher, who explained, "Team Northern Africa is here, along with Hughie and Starlight. Probably-"

She quickly stopped what she was saying, tackling me into the floor, just in time to dodge a sniper bullet that drilled a hole into the ground.

I instantly grabbed her and ran down the wall, jumping back into the building. The sniper attacking us tried to shoot us, but I was too fast for them.

Everyone looked panicked as we were stuck in the room.

It was Sarah who recovered the fastest as she said, "Mindstorm, how many enemies?"

Mindstorm closed his eyes, and after a second replied, "16."

Sarah's expression turned dark, "Fuck. Both Teams are here."

She took a moment to think before saying, "We need to use this building to our advantage. There are four floors below us, although we probably won't be able to defend the ground floor, so that's four floors we can use with this one. Besides, the more they have sent here, the less Alexander will have to deal with, and the faster he will arrive. If they are 17… they must have only brought their strongest to face him."

Claire quickly calculated, "They must have brought 3 people. Butcher, Soldier Boy and Queen Maeve, most probably."

Claire nodded, "Then that means we need to hold on for at most 15 minutes."

Taking out a couple of Kunais, I said, "We should split between the floors then. According to Alexander, they have someone who is capable of sensing our positions, and they probably also know they only have so much time, so if we split up, they should also split up to get as many of us as they can."

Helena, one of the newbies, questioned, "What if they don't?"

I paused for a moment, before answering darkly, "Then those at the bottom floors will probably die."

Asher grabbed a-hold of her shotgun, which had been strapped to her when I brought her, and said, "The strongest should go to the bottom floors then. Claire, how about we take the first floor?"

I looked at her in surprise, not expecting such bravery from her. Not that was a coward, by any means, but that was the most dangerous place to be in.

Claire did not even hesitate to answer, "Alright, even if they all come, we should be able to hold them for some time."

Seeing them, I couldn't help but speak up, "I will be taking the second floor. Jonathan, are you with me?"

Jonathan nodded, and Sarah said, "Then I will be taking the third floor with Erik."

Sarah then glanced at Helena, the red haired newbie who was surprisingly strong, and added, "Helena, Mary, you keep Mindstorm with you and hold this floor."

The three nodded, Helena and Mary definitely wouldn't agree to be separated, the two were very close, while Mindstorm was definitely not going to complain about getting the stay on the safest floor.

That left Maria, Julia, Joel, Charles, Victor and John. Julia and Joel went on the first floor, Victor and Charles with me, and Maria and John went for the third floor.

As we all got into position, the enemy quickly arrived.

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[Alexander's POV]

I could see that down bellow, they had seen the objects flying into the sky. They all had greatly enhanced senses, how could they not.

But I ignored them as I quickly put them on, and started floating down from the sky, using the Force to do so.

As I neared the ground, the two sides separated, and Homelander got closer to me as he asked, "Weren't you supposed to surprise attack them? And why did you pick up these?"

I looked at him blankly, before guffawing. I didn't realize my grasp on him was so strong that he didn't come to the obvious conclusion that I had betrayed him.

One thing to note, however, was how much my hunger for lifeforce had increased when I put on the Fists of Randagulf. This more or less confirmed my theory that my hunger was based on the amount of lifeforce I had, and possibly the ratio between it and my spiritual energy.

Activating Force Valor, I muttered, "They don't deserve a surprise attack from me."

All three of them looked at me with dumbstruck faces, having clearly caught on what was happening, but Homelander nodded matter-of-factly.

Queen Maeve said, "How can you be so-"

I abruptly cut her off by rushing at her, slicing down with Shiroishi.

[Score +1. Your current Score is 1.]

Queen Maeve blocked with her own sword, and proved herself to be slightly stronger than me physically.

It wasn't much of a problem though as while skilled with the sword, Queen Maeve felt like a child waving a stick around as I easily bypassed her defenses, striking down at her shoulder.

While padded with armor, my sword easily cut through it and went deep into her shoulder, making her scream in pain.

[Score +1. Your current Score is 2.]

I could have cut off her whole arm if I pressed on, but I felt a warning from my instinct, and thus retreated, dodging Butcher's laser.

He was quickly forced to stop by Homelander's own as the knock off Superman took on both Soldier Boy and Butcher, leaving me to deal with Maeve.

She was currently holding her injured shoulder, but she had impressive pain resistance as she managed to grit her teeth through it to launch herself at me.

Her approach was once again full of flaws however, which were only heightened by my enhanced perception thanks to Shuten Doji's Mask as I took a step back.

Having impressive reaction time herself, she put more strength into her next step to reach me with her attack, raising her sword to bring her sword down with as much momentum as possible.

This was obviously a move she had trained countless times, and carried all the power she could muster. She had probably created it for Homelander, and it might be enough to injure him.

Unfortunately for her, while being so rigid on a certain move-set was fine to face someone inexperienced like Homelander, it made her even more vulnerable to me than someone without any techniques.

Using my back foot as support, and further strengthening it with the Force, I launched myself at her. Maeve's expression turned to panic as she tried to bring down her sword faster, but it was too late.

[You have eliminated Queen Maeve. Rewarded Rank B Reward and 9000 Points.]

Flicking the blood off my sword, Queen Maeve fell to her knees, her head hitting the ground a moment later.

Queen Maeve had an impressive durability, but her neck was unprotected. Moreover, with my boosts, my attacks with Shiroishi were increased by 50%, which was just too strong for her to resist.

[Score -1. Your current Score is 1.]

[Score -1. Your current Score is 0.]

[Score -1. Your current Score is -1.]

I paused for a moment as I heard the multiple notifications. I had to wrap this up, and quick. But Homelander was multiple steps above Queen Maeve, killing him fast as I was right now was impossible.

I may need to shift onto the next gear.