Chapter 46: The Glove and Lock Down

Now that the numbers of shock wave grenades in Rydel's arsenal is actually quite low after a few more attempts at finding the gap in between the outer radius of the shield and Sadie Allen's body, and that it is already proven to be insufficient especially if both of them are going to be moving at speeds that artifact users know that they could move at so wasting any more of it has little value, Rydel knew it's time that he will have to switch up his strategies.

Fortunately, creative combat style is what he is good at, and having one more artifact at his disposal only aided in the number of combinations that he has tried back in the months of training. From the look of things, Sadie Allen's main mode of attack appeared to be coming in close into melee combat range and using his shields to attack. However, it wasn't clear to him how exactly it works. The size of the shield is obviously changing, like how Rydel felt it when probing it with the glove...

Hold on, when probing it with a glove? Rydel thought, and he looked down to his right hand, can't he just warp the whole of Sadie Allen and...you know, throw him away?

'That sounded simple enough.' Rydel said to himself, then he activated his artifact instantly, the fingers reaching forward and out before closing in all around Sadie Allen. The space bends and contorts around the outer layer of shield before Sadie was scooped up like a ball of ice cream and engulfed into the warped space from within Rydel's palms. If all of the fights are like this from now on, then Rydel would definitely be the strongest person here.

Usually, when Rydel tries to warp someone through the glove, like just now with the groups of people, it was akin to holding a bubble in one's hand. He needed to maintain the shape in his fist while ensuring he doesn't close in too much or he would have crushed whoever's being warped. When he was training, the only training partner that is willing to go through the risk was actually Valerie, after they have tested that Rydel's glove cannot crush her when she locked herself and the space around her down. So as she is practicing her own technique, Rydel gets to practice his.

However, seeing that Sadie's shield is of an even higher grade of protections than Valerie's Lock Down, Rydel can warp him and throw him away no problem. However, just as Sadie is under his control, there is a strange stretching sensation from within his hand, almost as if the pocket of space the Glove creates is getting pushed against like an balloon that's being pumped up. Rydel didn't think it was possible, but it appeared that Sadie Allen is rapidly expanding outwards with his shield and pushing back against Rydel's grasp!

'You will not lock me here!' Sadie commanded as he groans with his effort, stretching his limbs for outside and concentrating all his will in expanding out the bubble of shield outward from him as fast as possible. He has heard the intelligence of roughly how Rydel's artifact is working, but it is when he was warped into the center of his glove that he finally realized what kind of power this is. Instead of what can be offered when Zel warps someone into the pocket domain, Rydel's Glove really puts whoever's inside in a prison, with the hard surfaces all around and everything void of light and sounds.

When Sadie Allen felt the touch of the hard surface around him, that's when he realized maybe he can push the shield into it and see what happens, and that's exactly what he is doing.

'Damn it!' Rydel can feel his grips loosening, and trying to forcibly close his left fist with the help of his right hand is of no use either. Knowing that this is not a battle he can win, Rydel will have to throw the hot potato away before it burns him. Dropping into a split stance, Rydel launched Sadie Allen away as quickly as he can.

'OPEN!!!!!!!' Finally, Sadie Allen broke free, however, Rydel was still able to somewhat achieve his objective as he found himself in the air and flying backwards towards the base. The shield is still expanded far and wide and it left a five meter long indent on the walls of the base before Sadie dropped back onto the ground. There was no harm no foul however, and Sadie Allen looked at Rydel with a taunting smile before shrinking the size of the shield again.

Meanwhile, Valerie and Sir Deva has finally finished examining with each other as Sir Deva left behind the careful and calculated use of his artifacts and went full on into close quarter combat. Knowing that Valerie is indeed skill in this department, Sir Deva knew it won't be an easy fight. However, he is stronger.

With three giant steps, the distance between the two shrunk to within a hair's length, as Sir Deva swung his giant fist towards the side of Valerie's head with his left arm and crunching low to deliver a punch to the torso with his right consecutively, the amount of power and speed in his attacks generating a small whooshing sound as it flew through the air.

Valerie's eyes widened as she jabbed the foot forward and leaned back at the same time, displacing both her head and body backwards to just outside of the range of Sir Deva ridiculous reach. Reaching for a pair of blades in her belt and preparing for a counter attack, but Sir Deva moves even faster.

Continuing the momentum of his body, Sir Deva extended his right arm, changing the fingers from a punch to a grab and attempted to hold onto Valerie's arms as his legs pushed him forward even more before spinning around before dropping onto his hands and reaching out with his legs with a drop kick straight to Valerie's torso. She continued to back paddle, but the kick comes even faster than she could move, and she took in the impact with both arms crossed in front of her.

The kick rammed into her body and she flew backwards before landing hard on the ground. Using the momentum, she rolled back onto her feet, albeit a bit shaken. Before Valerie can get any of her bearings back, Sir Deva is already here. Trying to focus to the best of her abilities, Valerie activated her artifact and locked down the region in front of her as Sir Deva is about to enter. Whatever's caught in Lock Down will remain in its current state, and if an arm is caught, the arm would be gone.

Seeing the glow in Valerie's right arm, Sir Deva stopped on a dime as his shoes dug deep into the ground and cracking it. Turning the nozzle of smoke towards the region right in front of him and seeing their stoppage, Sir Deva hopped backwards as Valerie chased him with Lock Down. However, there is a size limit for how fast she is creating the regions of Lock Down. If she wanted to lock down a bigger area, she will need to focus for longer and harder, but that time is a luxury for her even right now.

'You have a limit with Lock Down, don't you?' Sir Deva asked as he side stepped yet another attempt at Lock Down as Valerie deactivated her artifact once again. Then, he charged at Valerie once again, but she instead pulled out a circular shaped disc from behind her back and throwing it high up in the air. Once air born, the disc turned on and began hovering.

'We all have our limits.' Valerie said coldly as she also side steps and avoided Sir Deva's charge and created some semblance of distance between the two.

'What is this , you brought a toy to a fight?' Sir Deva looked at the hovering disc before reaching out with his hand and activating mass projector to destroy it, 'a drone?'

'A drone.' Before Sir Deva can destroy it, Valerie, who's been fighting passively throughout this fight closes in suddenly with both blades in her hand as she slashes both of them across Sir Deva's body. The blades shot through the air in an instant before Sir Deva can block it with his hand, and it left several cuts on his armor, but it did merely a scratch on his body.

'I heard that you have a certain sentiment with the blades.' Sir Deva grinned nastily at Valerie and reached out to punch her in the face just as she moved out of the way, 'perhaps it was a memory of the Black Wolf?'

Instead of answering Sir Deva's taunt, Valerie remained silent. The drone fired a shot from above, but it didn't hit Sir Deva as he moved out of the way towards Valerie. To his surprise, Valerie also moved towards him, almost like she is seeking melee combat.

Swinging his gigantic fists, Sir Deva sends out another barrage of punches, but Valerie's thin frames navigated the gaps in between perfectly and at the exact time that is needed. Before Sir Deva has landed multiple hits on her, but now she is avoiding all of them? No, it was more than avoidance. Sir Deva realized as straching sensations fed back from his hands and arms, as the blades made light cuts all over his arms, as his every punch went in and out, Valerie's blades were there.

That's when he realized that Valerie is way faster than him as he doesn't even see the current action, but rather the movement of her arms around his arms. Damn, so was she just trying to scout me out? Trying to see the rhythm and tendency of my movements? Sir Deva thought to himself as he abducts both hands far out and wide horizontally, swinging them outwards and forcing Valerie back with a big attack.

This is no good, Sir Deva thought, as he looked back at Valerie, who's now put on a pair of black gloves which covered all traces of the artifact in her right hand. The motion of her movement and focus will still be evident when she is focusing on activation and usage of her artifacts, but the light that is given off is no longer visible to Sir Deva. That's irrelevant to Sir Deva, however, as long as he can keep up with the attack and land a few heavy blows, Valerie will be out.

The drones fired a few more shots, and Sir Deva moved immediately. None of the shots hit him as the drone continued the barrage of fire all around them. As he charged forward in a zig-zag path towards Valerie, she also moved towards him at an equally fast speed. Then, she launched the blade in her right hand towards Sir Deva at an even faster speed than the speed both of them are moving at.

Seeing the quickly approaching projectile, Sir Deva knew that he won't be able to completely move out of the way. And Valerie is only half a second of approach away with no sign of activating her artifact to lock down a region that's enough to contain him. There is no point in avoiding the tiny scratch and losing the opportunity to attack, Sir Deva simply puts on hand in front of him and tried to knock aside the flying blade with his left hand.

However, as his hands moved through the air, he missed.

How is this possible? '

Sir Deva's eyes widened as the blade froze in mid air. Then, as his hand moved out of the way, the lock down on the blade is cancelled and it continued it's original trajectory towards Sir Deva's face. Seeing the blade tip flying closer and closer towards his eye balls, Sir Deva twisted his head in the last second as the tip broke through the enhancements on his face and dug itself in his cheek bone. The cold dull pain of his injury was immediately suppressed by the nanotechnology enhancements and he continued charging forward.

The shock of getting hit by Valerie's thrown blade shock him for a split second, and in that instance, Valerie puts her hand forward and began locking the entire region of space around him. The smoke particles that traveled in front of him were gradually slowed down as the area of Lock Down spreads. Planting both of his legs and trying to stop his forward momentum, he saw Valerie snap her finger.

Then, a multitude of projectiles shot into his back, though not enough to damage him, it shoved him forward into the area of Lock Down.

'How...' That was the last thought he head before everything around him froze up and he was kept at a single point in time. There is no thought, no realization, no concept of time.

Finally caging Sir Deva in Lock Down, Valerie dropped onto her ground and breathed heavily as she tried to catch her breath. The drone was her special order from Torelamri, as she knew that locking down a large area of space is both energy intensive and slow, as both of the previous owners of Lock Down came to discover. However, both of them used Lock Down as a means of defense, locking down whatever projectiles or damage that might lead to direct harm to the bearer. However, why not use her artifact for attack?

The drones are set to fire projectiles at a set speed and direction, according to Torelamri's programming, and that is used to accompany Valerie's final attack. But before even that, she knew that she has a speed advantage in the beginning, however, she has never seen how Sir Deva fight before. Allowing herself to get hit multiple times, she gained a feeling of Sir Deva's preferred mode of movement and attack sequences, gauging his rhythm and flow. Then, with all those taken into account, Valerie is able to avoid most of his subsequent attacks.

However, the small scratches from her blades are not going to be able to do anything to those that are enhanced, and she knew that she will have to take out Sir Deva with her artifacts. That's when the drones come in. Instead of using projectiles as an immediate means of attack like the rest of the galaxy, Valerie is able to freeze those projectile in place and wait for the perfect moment to use it.

The first few shots were missed deliberately to give Sir Deva a false sense of understanding of the function and purpose of the drones as it re-positioned in a cone shape behind Sir Deva and waited for the perfect angle to fire. Then, the same cone shaped region was locked down for the fire projectiles at the same sequence. Due to the small size of the projectiles, the effort and concentration that's required for Lock Down is very little.

The timing of it all is the most difficult bit, and Valerie has been training to get it just right over the past two months. However, it turned out that those projectiles will not be enough to take down Sir Deva, and is most likely just going to pierce through the surface. It was sufficient, however, to give him some forward momentum and send him straight into the zones of Lock Down just as the activation is complete.

Letting out a long sigh of relief and rubbing her sore rib cage with her fingers, Valerie looked over towards Rydel.

After letting Rydel know that he can no longer harm him ever since Sadie doesn't need to shield Sir Deva any more, he has become a lot more aggressive in his attacks. Instead of staying back and allowing Rydel to comfortably use the Glove to throw him around, Sadie Allen instead dashed all around the area looking for opportunity to repeated hit Rydel with the sudden expansion of the shield as his body was knocked around like a pin ball. Their speed are comparable, but Rydel just doesn't have a counter for Sadie's shield pushes, which packs a surprising amount of punch judging from how his body felt.

With his blades swinging, Rydel can occasionally block the impact with the lightning rod, but the shield would have reflected the jolts of lightning back into the rod, and when Rydel's swinging fast enough, it even reflected the strike itself.

'You disappoint me, Rydel.' After knocking aside yet another futile effort by Rydel to throw a grenade towards him followed by a barrage of fire from his rifle, Sadie got in really close and clashed the shield against the Lightning blade, 'I thought you are much stronger from your resume.....'

'Well, I am strong not because of who I am.' Rydel said, absorbing the impact the best he can, but Sadie Allen still sent him flying with a shove of the shield, 'I am strong because of those that has helped me along the way!'

'And you can't do anything without them!' Chasing after Rydel, Sadie Allen jumped into the air and prepared to expand the shield outwards and dunk Rydel onto the ground.

As the shield expands, the Lightning Blade in Rydel's hands disappeared. Then, it made impact and slammed Rydel back onto the ground.

That's the opening! Rydel screamed internally, but the impact from the drop prevented him from truly capitalizing on this opportunity. The thing he knew he can do is that he can warp things into the shield fairly accurately if the size of the Shield is big enough, like shooting a basketball into a hoop, however, the only times that the bubble is big enough would be right after Sadie attacks. However, he has had the wind knocked out of him every time Sadie finished his attack, so he could never have taken advantage of the opening.

There is still hope, however, as Rydel planned to condition his opponent into falling into a pattern of success, like how Valerie baited Sir Deva into ignoring the drones, Rydel too made sure that Sadie Allen becomes overly confident to the point of arrogance in his close quarter combat. Seeing Sadie's expression shift from cautious and anxious to a controlled smile, Rydel knew the opening has just become bigger for him.

From feeling the impacts of Sadie's attacks, Rydel knew he would only have a couple of chances. Flickering the shield generators that he carried, Rydel prepared for yet another charge at Sadie, which arrived an instant later after Rydel's far inferior shield has formed all around him. At the same time Sadie is about to run into the outer radius of the shield and greatly challenge the capacity of the shield, Rydel is also stepping backwards in the same direction of Sadie's movement rather than clashing head on with him like before.

Then, he felt a shove from the interactions of the shields as Sadie's artifact easily pushed his shield generator to the limit. Then, the radius of the shield expanded the knocked him into the air, however, the impact was much less than before, and the opening is right there in front of his eyes! The split second of artifact activation in which a big zone of space is exposed for Rydel to attack with!

This will be how he finishes this fight, and he is finally able to use this special move!

The Lightning Blade is reconjured in his hand, but it suddenly disappeared into the thin air. This is also the exact moment Valerie turned her head to look at the other fight here. With all of his strength, speed and concentration, Rydel warped the Lightning Rod into his left hand and throw it like a javelin towards the opening of the shield!

'THIS IS WHERE YOU FALL!' Rydel declared, as the Lightning Blade appeared an instant before Sadie shrunk the size of the shield out of panic and the blade pinned itself into the ground. Then, a burst of lightning storm exploded from it outwards and filled the bubble of shield with a bright white light and vibrating jolts of electricity. The shrinking size of the shield only packed the lightning denser and Sadie screamed while being imprisoned in his own protective bubble.

The attack was all Rydel had, and it continued for another ten seconds as the scream was silenced.