104 Pushing The Deadline

Holy fuck.

I fall to my knees; weakness spreads through my body as I struggle to breathe.

Maybe I overdid it.

I struggle to raise my head towards the bitch that put me in such a state, and can't help but grin. Her eyes are wide open, and she looks to be in pain.

Good, if what I did was not enough then I wouldn't know what I would do.

My remaining strength is used to get up. I'm light-headed and can barely walk, but I'm still standing. The Oracle doesn't react to me and stares at nothing; she's completely immobile.

I had no idea that it would work so well since it was, once again, based on an assumption.

Using small chunks of my soul to damage my opponent in my Soul World worked well in the past, so why not try it in the real world?

I managed to infuse my bullet with quite a lot of my soul strength, to the point where Phase 3 deactivated on the spot, and I'm almost certain that I won't be able to use even Phase 2 for a while.

The goal was to combine the strength of the EGB with the power of an offensive soul chunk. I had no idea what would happen, but it seems to have worked wonders. The Oracle has been paralyzed, and I aim my gun towards her head. The gun retained its golden sheen so it was likely upgraded like my armor, by Phase 3.

Another mystery to add to the pile. But figuring out why reaching new phases upgrades my equipment is not high on my priority list.

I fire a bullet into her face, but the projectile barely causes ripples on her skin as it falls on the ground.

Oh well, it isn't like I wasn't expecting something like that.

The Oracle is finally out of her stupor, and she glances towards me with eyes full of- I can't discern her emotions right now. There's definitely anger in there, but there's also something akin to admiration, and even excitement?

I wouldn't be surprised, all the people I know seem to have a mental problem of some sort.

"P-Pretty good, P-02." She finally mutters. "I certainly wasn't expecting something like that."

Her expression shifts into a grin, and I take a step back.

"But it isn't going to be enough." She says as a ball forms under her palm before being ejected. The metal ball is covered in small spikes, but it's nothing compared to what usually remains after I shoot someone with an EGB. It just shows how sturdy the flesh of that damn bitch is. If I wanted to really harm her, then I would need to force her to swallow an artillery shell. And, even then, I won't be sure that it will do any lasting damage.

The ball of metal floats into the hand of the Oracle and, if my eyes aren't deceiving me, it shudders briefly when it touches her hand.

"But that was a commendable effort. I'm genuinely impressed." She says before disintegrating the ball.

I'm fucking spent. I don't have any strength left; Phase 3 really drained me. Dying again isn't something I'm eager to experience, but I don't have any other choice. I can't even recharge my soul by farming the Destroyer again since the efficiency of the absorption goes down with each attempt, no matter what.

The only option left is to Rewind for years until I regain my strength, but I don't think it will be possible since my sanity would suffer too much.

The woman smirks and leans in her chair, "I guess it's enough for now. I was sufficiently entertained, and you seem to improve by leaps and bounds the more time passes. I'm looking forward to our next encounter; then I won't have to restrain myself so much!" The Oracle declares before vanishing from my sight.

I can't help but smirk as I lie on my back, so she was holding back?

A laugh escapes my mouth, "I'm fucked, aren't I?"

The Oracle was already beyond what I could muster, and only the temporary power-up granted by repeating eating the soul of the Destroyer allowed me to survive this encounter.

"And remember, P-02. I'm always watching." The voice of the Oracle carried by the wind reaches my ears, and I can't help but shudder.

I sigh, now things have become even more complicated. I have to deal with the Stonecrusher Empire and the other Enforcers, but I also have to take care of an invincible god-like existence that so happens to like to toy with me.

Fuck my life.

We'll need to develop even stronger weapons if we want to deal with the Oracle.

The next time she decides to attack me, I'll unleash the full might of the Order on her. We'll see how she likes it!

I look around, the remains of the Tower Of Justice are slowly crumbling, and I shouldn't linger here too much. The drop would not be pleasant if the building collapsed, so I create a portal under my feet and go back to my Shard.

"Prometheus!" a familiar voice reaches my ears as soon as I emerge in the familiar scenery, and Mary hugs me with all her might. "Are you alright?" the teary-eyed hybrid looks at me, and I dismiss her concerns with a smile.

"Don't worry about it. There's nothing I can't handle!" I say while feigning confidence. There's no sense in making her panic by revealing the truth, the only persons that have to know more about the Oracle are Alan and Terrence, these two should understand the threat she poses and they'll find a solution.

Or at least I hope they do. I don't know what I'll do when she comes back.

I look around, "Where's Krognar?"

"I'm here, b- Prometheus." The shopkeeper emerges from a corner. He's wearing a tiny red robe with the Fabricator's emblem, a sign that he has already become part of the Order. "Thank you for granting me my request, I didn't see his death with my own eyes, but I'm certain that this bastard suffered."

I nod, you have no idea how right you are.

"So who was this Oracle?" the draconic woman asks.

"Don't worry about that; it was just a minor inconvenience," I say, and Mary nods even if I can clearly see that she isn't happy with my answer.

"I don't want her to approach him... I have to get stronger." Mary grumbles. I realize that my senses became a lot sharper since I activated Phase 3, but it feels like I wasn't supposed to hear that.

I turn around, "So, what-"

My question is interrupted by my ringing phone. Terrence is the one calling me, so I immediately pick up.

"Prometheus, I'm glad that you're back! I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you, this is an emergency so you'll want to have a look at this!" he says.

I nod and teleport into the command room.

Terrence greets me and points to the massive central screen.

"What am I looking at?" I ask.

"This is a base of the Stonecrusher Empire in what used to be Wolfheart territory." The Commander declares.

I raise an eyebrow at the familiar name. It's true that I haven't heard from the two brothers in a while, but I was busy with other things.

"Used to be? What happened?" I question.

"The Wolfheart Family fell to internal strife, and from what we know a group that calls itself the Freedom Movement took over the core territories of the Family." Terrence answers, "But they couldn't keep everything, so the Stonecrusher Empire took over the rest."

I nod, my expression is grim. I hope that the brothers are alright.

"So why did you call me?" I say.

Terrence points to a particular area and presses a key, causing the screen to zoom. "This began a few minutes ago, but an unknown force appeared near that base. From the looks of things, we can safely say that they aren't Stonecrusher forces. They aren't from a rebellious Family since they are of different species, so I think they are from the Freedom Movement."

This hodgepodge group is definitely not from a Family. Their equipment is too varied; it's like they had to take whatever was lying around. I glance over the figures; there are a lot of different species. Dwarves, BirdFolks, Werewolves-

My eyes stop on one particular figure. I swear I saw that Werewolf somewhere, so I ask Terrence to zoom onto the person in question. I almost fall on my ass when I realize that it's Steve!

He looks a lot more tired than the last time I saw him and his armor, which used to be some fancy piece by the looks of things, is battered and well-worn.

"What are you doing here?" I mumble to myself before Rewinding to hide my shock.

So Steve is somehow part of the Freedom Movement, a group that destroyed his Family. And, from the way people move around him, he seems to be an important figure. Terrence did tell me that the Family fell to internal strife, but I would have never thought that Steve of all people would betray his own family.

"So what should we do?" I ask the Commander. I would like to intervene to save Steve, but it might not be the best solution in the long run.

Terrence looks pensively at the screen before turning towards me, "I think we should let them do their things, for now, to see if the Freedom Movement is a threat to us. If they fail to take the base, then we should intervene and flatten the area before meeting them. With any luck, they'll understand what's good for them and accept the words of the Codex."

I nod and observe the unfolding battle with gritted teeth. Steve is my friend, and I believe that our friendship still exists so we should be able to work something out. Or, at the very least, he could tell me what happened and where Riley is.

I didn't see him in the group, so he's either not in this particular unit, or he died.

Just thinking about it makes me nervous, so I focus back on the screen.

...Steve's PoV...

It's finally here.

There have been a few delays, but the operation is finally starting.

Griko and his cohort made is easier than usual, so I can only thank him for that. Most of the people he dispatched were expert in warfare, so his group re-imagined the plan to make it flawless. I can't help but be impressed by the setup we currently have.

Everyone is grouped into specific units, and the chain of command is such that orders and reports from the field are well-organized and reach the correct person in record times. It's a far cry from the operations I was leading in the past, where there was just a big disorganized group that was more or less briefed before the mission.

"The command post is done, our position should be defended enough to allow us to flee before the enemy reaches us if we are detected." An officer reports, and I nod.

Another difference with my own operations is that we aren't trying to win at all cost; this is something that the people Griko introduced put in place. According to them, we have to admit that we can't win frontal confrontations. It's a hard pill to swallow, but I can only agree with them. Our equipment is all over the place, and we don't have much in term of true destructive power.

So we have to rely on guerrilla tactics, we strike the enemy when they least expect it and make a hasty retreat before they understand what's happening. The grand plan is to whittle down the forces of the Empire until we start to take territory. Then it will snowball, and we'll destroy those bastards for good.

Of course, all those futures operations hinges on our success. Griko's plan to make me into a figurehead would give us all the leeway we need to move the Freedom Movement as one cohesive group, and get rid of the traitors of the Freedom Union.

I'll be honest; I'm not accustomed to this amount of pressure. I check my equipment every two minutes and continuously look around in fear of being spotted.

"The drilling unit is ready!" someone reports, and I nod. It marks the beginning of our operation!

"Alright, then let's begin!" I shout, and the soldiers move into place. The weird artifact starts to create a tunnel under the earth, and the BirdFolk air force is getting enhanced by a myriad of spells. It won't be long before the drills reach the enemy base and cause a commotion. According to the plan we need to strike at the barracks first to eliminate as many Stonecrusher dogs as possible, then the BirdFolk will hit the barrier and provide yet another distraction. The enemy will not be able to deal with this attack on two fronts, and the wall will fall.

Then we'll take care of the survivors and raid their warehouses for vital supplies. This operation is only possible because we somehow got our hands on the plans of the base thanks to Griko's extensive informant network.

I grit my teeth as I listen to the constant stream of reports from the drilling team, it won't be long before-

A small-scale earthquake suddenly starts, and my eyes survey my surroundings. Are we getting attacked?!

"Sir!" One of the officer reports, "The drilling team is under fire! The enemy somehow sensed them, and they are not going to hold for long!"

I slam my feet on the ground. I should have seen that coming! The Stonecrusher have a lot of Families under their control, and I know that there was a couple of Dryad Families around! Dryads are fragile but they are fearsome mages, and their affinity with nature makes them good sentries, and even better alarm systems!

"Why didn't I think of that! How could we overlook something so obvious?!" I grumble before unsheathing my sword and covering my body in flames.

"Everyone, our comrades are under heavy fire! We need to deploy now!" I roar before running towards the enemy base. Mages deploy their barriers, and the warriors put their training into practice. It doesn't take long for us to move as one big group; our formation should turn us into an impenetrable fortress while the continuous harassment of our air force should cause a few casualties. Teleporting will not work in such a situation since we are all using different methods with different casting times and range, so we have to walk.

Our charge grinds to a halt when a line of large rocks appear in front of us and start rolling at tremendous speeds.

"Mages, trenches!" I shout, and the group at the back get to work. Soon the earth rumbles and parts in front of the massive boulders. I grin when it deviates them from their initial trajectory, but my happiness doesn't last long. The projectiles suddenly accelerated, and they turned on their own!

They jump over the massive cracks we create in the soil, and the rolling boulders plow through our hastily raised barricades without a sign of slowing down.

"Fuck!" I shout and raise a fist. Flames and air compress into a small ball that hovers above my index finger, and I throw the spell with as much strength as possible. The spell explodes when it hits a boulder, and most of the rocks are vaporized. The sharp chunks of red hot stone hit our barrier, but it should hold.

"Charge!" I shout.

Our carefully crafted plan failed in less than a second, and now we're back to a chaotic melee. We can still win, but we're bound to lose a few people with this strategy. Sadly, I can't order a retreat. We need this victory to stabilize the Freedom Movement, so our sacrifice will not be in vain!

Various spells fly from both side, and I narrowly avoid an icicle that hits the soldier behind me. He falls to the ground and screams in pain, clutching his dangling arm that has been pierced by the icy projectile. A mage rushes towards him, and he's back up in a few moments.

It is reassuring, at least our good organization should allow us to survive this battle with minimal casualties, but-

Memories of the disastrous Scalebound assault resurface, and I am frozen in place.

The faces of my dead comrades all glare at me, and they are shouting insults.

"Coward!" one half-melted werewolf shouts.

"Why did you survive, and we didn't?!" a dwarf that has been turned into mush groans.

"Sir!" someone shakes me and takes me out of my nightmare.

"Sorry about that. Let's go!" I shout while raising my father's sword in the air. The nightmares and panic attacks should stop at some point, and I always have a trusty bottle of mana-infused whiskey handy for when it becomes too much.

Flaming meteors rain on our position while a wave of lava crashes on our barrier.

"Keep going forward! Not one step back!" I shout as I wave towards the rest of the group.

A couple of BirdFolks crash, their wings burned and their body full of sharp rocks.

I walk over their fresh bodies while doing my best to ignore the horrifying sight.

This is war; there will be casualties. But it's hard to keep going when faced with the reality of the situation.

"Forward, forward!" an officer shout and a group of adolescent Dragonewts charges into a wall of lava.

What are we doing... They are basically children!

We endure another volley of meteors, then-

There's a sudden lull in the battle. I raise my head and soon realize what's happening. A dozen of portals just appeared above the enemy base.

"What is this!" I shout, but nobody answers. The Stonecrushers are also surprised, so it can't be something they called in.

Multiple explosions echoes and large projectiles emerge from the portals.

I jump to the ground as the very fabric of reality shakes when the mysterious projectiles unleash their might. Massive pieces of metal are slammed at tremendous speeds against the barrier of the Stonecrushers, and the magical construct is all but destroyed.

Another volley shatters it, and the rest of the projectiles create craters into the base we attempted to assault. My jaw drops when a piece of metal the size of a grown man goes through a building like a hot knife through butter, and it explodes on impact.

The assault keeps going, and the base is quickly wiped out. There are no survivors; not even the grass remains. There was once a well-defended base teeming with life here, but now it's a dead wasteland.

A pile of rubble moves to the side and reveals a group of wounded soldiers. They are battered and in bad shape, but the fact that they survived is already amazing. However, a couple of small portals appears above their heads, and the Stonecrushers explode after a few moments.

I can't help but rub my eyes to make sure that I'm not hallucinating.

The entire Stonecrusher base was wiped out in less than a minute.

Another group of similar portals appears near us, and the ones that aren't too stunned do their best to raise as many barriers as possible. I don't even bother. If one of those projectiles comes out, then nothing will save us.

But, to my surprise, a deadly weapon isn't what comes out. Instead, a group of armored men wearing red robes who are carrying what looks like a rifle emerge. They instantly aim their weapons towards us, and something tells me that they aren't standard weapons.

I tense up and tighten the grip on my sword as more of them arrive.

Some people in my ranks stir, "Do not even move!" I shout. My experience tells me that one wrong move will sign our death warrant. The stream of mysterious men stops; there has to be a hundred of them. We outnumber them, but the idea of doing anything doesn't even cross my mind.

The group forms a defensive circle in front of where the portal was, and one of them raises his head before saluting, "Prometheus makes his entrance!" he shouts as loudly as he can.

Another portal appears, and a lone figure emerges. He's wearing a red robe covered in intricate gold inlays that seem to flow on the fabric, and his armor is made of sleek, polished steel with a gold shine. The same golden engravings that appear to pulse with power are stylishly covering the metal suit.

A sudden burst of golden aura emerges from Prometheus, and the power it radiates is almost enough to force me to my knees despite the distance that separates us. A beautiful woman soon appears behind him, and he starts to walk towards me. I gulp and take a step forward, causing all the soldiers to re-adjust their rifles.

I can't see anything through Prometheus' visor, and he finally stops a few steps away from me.

"What the fuck did you do?" Prometheus asks.

My jaw drops when I realize that this voice is familiar.