Growing Suspicion (7)

"I got lucky."

"Bullshit. Luck doesn't make one cross the gap between a foot soldier and an Elite Squad Captain in six months."

As the Captain's grip continued to tighten, Liam frowned under his helmet and mask. Abruptly, he swung his arm. A sonic boom resounded as Liam's forearm hit One's, pushing the Drakkhan's arm away. Around them, the ground shook dangerously. One's gaze slowly moved to his own forearm, staring at it as Liam spoke.

"Why do you care? All that matters is that I'm more powerful now. Won't this help with our mission? Why are you bitching about it?"

"It hurts."

"What?"

One looked deep into where Liam's eyes should be under his helmet. For the first time since the beginning of their conversation, Liam felt the distinct feeling of danger rising around him.

"My arm hurts where you hit it. Before, you wouldn't have been able to damage me at all. Now, your strength got through the armor and hit me directly."

The Captain stepped closer to Liam and lowered his head, placing it mere inches away from the youth's. It was as if he were trying to look through Liam.

"What are you?"

Liam's frown intensified. This scenario was highly uncomfortable and about to get out of control. One wasn't letting it go and none of the other members objected at all, likely just as suspicious of him as the Captain was. Liam gradually started to circulate the Aura within him, speeding up its cycles. If everything went further south, he would need to escape. Could he make it? Could he get out of this encirclement by an Elite Squad and hundreds of millions of Drakkhan, including Commander Arimiar, and reach a safe place on the planet? It was impossible.

He felt the constant pain that racked his body increase. He winced. He did not know why the pain was intensifying, but this was the worst moment for it to happen.

At that moment.

One turned around, swinging his weapon at the shield. The attack flying in their direction was met halfway, creating an explosion. It was a blow by another enemy Elite Squad Captain. The different Elite Squads were converging around their position. Not missing this opportunity, Liam used Waterstep to retreat away from his squad. The other squad members belatedly tried to follow him, but he soon realized that they could no longer easily catch up to him. It was a testament to how much he had improved. However, if it was obvious even to him, the enemy was sure to have noticed it as well.

A vertical flying blade of Aura cut through the air in his direction, almost three kilometers tall. It was as if the world itself was being split apart. The Drakkhan troops in its way either tried to avoid it or were directly cut down. Stopping it was not an option. Liam jumped kilometers to the side, but the Aura blade curved and continued to move towards him. It seemed like his only choice was to meet it head-on.

'Crescent Moon Wave.'

Liam fired three Waves in succession, entertaining no illusions that a single one would be enough. The Aura blade was clearly a Captain's attack, and even though he had just fought against one of them, he knew there was still a gap between his level of strength and that of a Captain.

The three Waves and the Aura blade collided, pushing against each other mid-air. The shockwave was enough to disturb the surrounding Drakkhan, who were forced to act as a group in order to withstand it. The three black Waves' Aura started to crawl over the enemy's own, much to Liam's surprise. The black Aura started to eat away at the enemy attack, reducing its power with each passing second. As Liam's eyes widened, the collision finally reached a breaking point and the Waves abruptly enveloped the blade, crushing it and containing the following explosion. The result was that none of the Drakkhan were harmed as the blade detonated, in spite of its power.

'My Aura has changed.'

First Event Horizon and now Crescent Moon Wave. His Skills had changed, the Aura within them behaving in a different way compared to before. Was it because of his new Skills? Liam's thoughts naturally turned to Chaos and Order, the Skills mentioned by the incomprehensible voices and also the only ones he couldn't use at all.

'They're Hybrid Skills, which means they have both an active and a passive effect. Is the change to my Aura the passive one?'

In the end, there was no way for him to know for certain. Blinking, Liam threw away such thoughts, concentrating on the enemy attacks. The number of soldiers targeting him had skyrocketed compared to before. He had stood out too much from the moment he broke the forcefield. As such, he was forced to keep running through the battlefield, trying to avoid the near-endless blows that came his way. While he had grown more powerful, since the number of enemies attacking him had also increased, the battle hadn't become easier. Was this how it felt like to be truly considered a member of an Elite Squad?

Liam's gaze turned to a green-armored figure on the wall. They were looking straight at him. Fast as lightning, the figure pulled out a strangely shaped weapon and pointed it at Liam. The weapon looked like a thick bow with several strings, almost as tall as its wielder. As the green-armored individual pulled the strings, Liam felt Danger Sense cry out. Immediately, he used Waterstep, reappearing almost ten kilometers away, while throwing out a Crescent Moon Wave at the same time. A gigantic arrow of light was fired from the enemy's bow, piercing through the air at blinding speeds in Liam's direction.

BOOM

The two attacks met in mid-air, exploding and upturning the sand around them, creating a dust cloud that hid Liam's figure from the enemy's eyes. It was an opportunity. Wasting no time, Liam slammed his foot on the ground, raising large amounts of sand and creating a hole that was tens of meters in diameter. Jumping inside, he used his Aura as a blade to separate the sand in his way, falling deeper and deeper. Looking up, he saw that he was already over 300 meters deep into the ground.

'They shouldn't be able to detect me here.'

While he didn't know the enemy's Aura Sight's range, he could make an estimation based on the power of their Aura. Given the distance between Cinzolia and his position, he guessed that the archer was tracking him through their vision alone. By going underground after the dust cloud was raised, Liam was trying to avoid his enemy's line of sight.

Circulating his Aura, Liam waited at the bottom of the hole. Five seconds went by. It was a long enough time to feel certain that the archer no longer knew where he was.

'They should cut through the dust cloud and see the hole soon. After that, they'll just need to keep shooting arrows in the hole's general direction. I need to get moving.'

He was now at a crossroads. He could retreat in the direction of Arimiar's ship for safety's sake or move forward and try to hit the forcefield from underground. Naturally, Liam knew that there was only one possible answer, in the end. His mission was to fight. Until the next rotation, he would have to incessantly pressure the Fortress' barrier. Putting his spear in the armor's Inventory, Liam started digging through the sand, creating a tunnel that led directly under the enemy fortress, knowing that he only had a bit of time but his enemies caught on and did something to stop him.

It was a fighter's resolve.