Jason tugged sharply at the hovering kunai, but no matter what force he exerted, the weapon wouldn’t budge.
“You can’t reverse my ability just like that.” (M)Alice smirked softly, wagging a finger. “TEMPORALYSIS will stay in effect until I will it not to.” Without so much as a gesture from the young Lurker, the wall of kunai suddenly collapsed before Jason.
“Thanks for making things easier.” Jason smirked back, stepping contemptuously towards the fallen kunai. As he approached where the bladed wall had been, a sudden thought occurred to him, and he waved his hand tentatively in the air before him. Sure enough, his hand brushed against a small number of invisible kunai still imbedded in the air.
“My, you are learning.” (M)Alice grinned smugly.
“What I am is getting a little tired of these tricks.” Jason scowled, slashing out with a dagger at one of the invisible weapons. To his surprise, as he struck the hilt of the weapon, he felt it fly to the side, no longer bound by the Lurker’s ability.
“So there is a way to undo TEMPORALYSIS after all.” Jason grinned.
“To bad you’ll never get to figure it out,” (M)Alice shot back, her voice altering into a cold, blunt male tone.
Jason never got a chance to even blink in surprise, as a blade slipped deep into his back. As the (M)Alice in front of him shimmered away, he slammed his elbow backwards, connecting with a very real (M)Alice behind him.
“Very clever,” Jason admitted, grimacing as he tore a strip off his cape and tied it around his chest as an impromptu bandage. “How’d you get behind me, though?”
“I waited until I dismissed TEMPORALYSIS,” (M)Alice explained patiently. “I snuck behind you while the sound of the kunai falling muffled my movement.”
“And then you got a buddy to talk from the illusion,” Jason assessed. “That way I’d be sure it was the real you in front of me, huh?”
“Yup, it's all thanks to Sandman and his voice-changer!” (M)Alice grinned, pointing to the mini walkie-talkie lying where the illusion had been.
“You talk too much, (M)Alice,” a gravelly voice muttered over the device. “Hurry up and finish him off.”
“I think not,” Jason shot back, flicking a revolver out of a shoulder holster and snapping off a pair of glowing bullets, the second one catching (M)Alice in the arm. With a brilliant ripple of blue, lightning laced up the Lurker’s body, stunning her.
“Time to finish you off,” Jason muttered, lurching towards the girl, revolver leveled. However, before Jason could reach her, the girl collapsed dead away on the ground, eyes rolled back.
“The hell…?” Jason started, when the sound of a rifle discharging cut through the air. With a loud ping, the revolver flew from his hand, which now sported a bleeding hole in it.
Cursing, Jason dodged to the side, but the open battlements offered very little cover. Then, from beside him, (M)Alice stirred.
“Thanks for the save.” She smiled, removing a pair of darts from her arm.
“What the hell, you should be still stunned!” Jason muttered, shooting an angry glance at his electrical periapt-enhanced revolver.
“Sandman’s ability, FEVERED DREAMS, allows him to substitute the sleep effect of his attacks on already sleeping targets for any other effect he chooses,” (M)Alice bragged. “His double-shot dart gun then hits a player with the sleep status effect twice, allowing him to either buff or debuff players however he wants.”
“Enough with the exposition, (M)Alice,” The Sandman’s voice crackled from the walkie-talkie as a pair of darts whistled through the air at Jason.
But he was ready. Sweeping the remnants of his cape in front of him, he caught the darts in its folds.
“Let’s see how you like this!" Jason muttered, grasping his cape and driving the darts into the unprepared (M)Alice. As she dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks, he spun to face the direction the bullet and darts had come from. Sure enough, he caught the distinct glint of something metal coming from the roof of the barracks. Skipping to the side as a second bullet glanced off the ramparts behind him, Jason dashed towards the hidden player, ignoring his wounded hand.
Before he even reached the roof, The Sandman made his move. Tossing the digital-camo cloak that had kept him invisible to the side, a short man in full black leather with thick-cropped raven hair emerged, a bolt-action rifle in one hand and a small, long-barreled derringer in the other.
As Jason approached, the man quickly dropped his derringer and flipped a miniature tablet/laptop hybrid from his belt, laying it to the side and rapidly typing with one hand while keeping an eye on the approaching assassin. With a theatrical wave of his hand, he hit the enter key, then chucked the device aside.
Jason was now only a few feet from the roof. As he made the leap from the wall, the man flung a single, small object in Walter's direction, before raising the rifle to his hip and training the barrel on Jason.
But Jason was faster. Dropping to a roll as soon as his feet touched the roof tiles, he sprang up directly in front of the short man, driving his wristblade into The Sandman's right arm, forcing him to drop his rifle with a grunt of pain.
Kicking the man off his blade and onto his back, Jason advanced on the player, flicking a dagger from his belt into his hand, preparing for a mortal thrust.
“Any last words?” he offered.
“Yeah,” the Sandman spat, pointing with his uninjured arm to a flashing beacon lying at Jason’s feet. “Go to hell.”
The man’s laptop screen flashed, and in the distance, Jason heard a pair of far-off detonations coming from the valley behind the castle. Chancing a stray glance, he couldn't miss a pair of mortar shells glinting in the starlight, streaking towards the fortress!
*******
Isaac and Marie continued to chase after the terrified bandit, as he dodged through side-passages and down stairwells with seemingly random abandon.
“What if… he’s leading us… in the wrong direction?” Isaac wheezed, trying to keep pace with Marie’s open sprint.
“I’ve been watching, we’re still going further in and down, and taking the well-used passageways,” Marie returned, dropping back a little. Even though she was carrying the added weight of Twitch, she didn’t appear the least bit winded. “Besides, once we catch him, we can make him spill Tenshi’s location.”
“Marie, you should… run on ahead,” Isaac panted stoically. “I’ll catch up later.”
“No can do,” Marie shot back, flashing a grin. “If we split up in this maze, fat chance of us meeting up again.” Maneuvering herself behind him, she placed a palm on his back and began to push him along.
“C’mon, find that second wind!” she called out encouragingly, forcing him to speed up to match her pace. “ORYAAAAAH!”
Isaac only wheezed something unintelligible in return, struggling to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Ahead of them at the end of the hallway, their quarry fumbled with a keyring, unlocking a heavily reinforced door and slipping inside, slamming it behind him.
“Oh no you DON’T!” Marie yelled, clapping a hand on Isaac’s shoulder and slamming him downward, boosting herself into the air in the process. “DOORCRASHER!” she yelled at the peak of her leap as she flipped into a cartwheel, spinning forward and slamming foot-first into the awaiting door before the bandit could finish locking it.
Accompanied by the sound of splintering timbers, Marie bashed the door open, connecting it solidly with the jawbone of the rat-faced man and knocking him backwards.
“Kikikikikiki!” Twitch giggled, wriggling under Marie’s arm.
Marie absent-mindedly patted the fluffy-haired minion and set her down, glancing around at where they had ended up.
The room appeared to be something of a guardroom-armoury hybrid, with weapons lining one wall, and bunk beds lining another. Various targets and training dummies were stationed in yet another corner, and the wall closest to the beds was completely covered by a number of sturdy metal lockers.
“Guards…,” the rat-faced bandit called out weakly, staggering to his feet and clutching at his wounded jawline.
“Hmm? What’s up Polygraph?”
The voice came from one of the bunk beds. Dropping a dubious magazine and flipping to his feet, a massive player strode into the center of the room and lifted the fallen player off the ground with a single muscular arm.
The new player had reddish-blond hair, buzzed on the sides and longer in the front, curling into a sort of pseudo-pompadour. Dressed in sandy-colored plus-fours and a burgundy turtleneck that barely fit his muscular frame, every motion the burly player made caused his sweater to contort and stretch, as if the garment was threatening to tear at the slightest errant flex. Further, unlike the rest of his frame, his hands were thin and bony, making his arms look even larger in contrast.
“Hot damn,” Marie muttered appreciatingly at the man’s physique. "I don't need a stud-finder to find you, my guy." From across the room, the man turned to survey Marie for the first time and flashed her a toothy grin.
“So, who’s the new girl, Polygraph?” the man asked, patting the shaken player on the back heartily. “Woah, did she really knock our door off its hinges? That’s pretty gutsy.”
“Don’t you check your messages, Jörm?” Polygraph_Jazz shot back, shoving the man’s arm away ineffectually. “We’re under attack! You’re supposed to be guarding the prisoners!”
The large player looked back at the locked and bolted door behind them. “What do you mean “supposed to”? The door’s still there, ain't it?” He jammed a scrawny thumb towards it.
“And. We. Have. Intruders!” Polygraph_Jazz shot back, looking pointedly at Marie.
“Oh, if that’s all…” The player grinned, planting a fist into his palm and advancing on Marie. “Feel free to sit this one out and guard that door you’re so worried about, Polygraph,” he called over his shoulder. “This should only take a sec.”
Marie instantly assumed a defensive stance, as the burly player stepped closer, looming over her.
“Hey there.” He grinned disarmingly. “I’m Jörmungandr, but you can just call me Jörm.”
“Marie,” she returned, clenching and unclenching her fists in preparation. “It kills me to do it, but I’m gonna have to beat your beautiful face in unless you take me to my friend.”
“Aw stop that, you’re making me blush!” Jörmungandr laughed, taking another step towards her.
“Woah now, back ‘er up, buddy.” Marie boxed the air in front of her, threateningly. “I’m dead serious, I’ll knock your frickin' block off!”
“Honestly, I’m a little sorry you had to end up against me, you know?” The man continued advancing, rolling his head in its socket. “Nekonečno, Rampardner, Ifrit, one of those guys, they might have thrashed you a little, but they’d just clap you in the cell out back with your pal. Me however…”
In the blink of an eye, he opened with a left hook, grazing Marie’s nose as she swung her head back in alarm.
“Me, I’m gonna enjoy turning you into another spot on the wall.” Jörmungandr flashed his toothy crocodile smile again.
Rolling Twitch out from underfoot, Marie regained her balance by flipping herself backward onto her feet. However, no sooner had she done this than Jörmungandr was onto her, arms swinging like twin pistons as he pummeled the air in front of her, forcing her backwards.
A glance of her eye told Marie her back was approaching the wall, not far from where the wrecked door hung on a single twisted hinge. Thinking quickly, she snapped up a quick kick at her opponent’s next punch, connecting solidly with his trunk-like arm. Without waiting for him to recover, Marie skipped backwards, her feet touching the wall as she launched herself forward again, intoning an attack skill.
“BULLRUSH!” she drove her head deep into Jörmungandr’s gut.
However, Jörmungandr didn’t budge an inch. Marie barely had begun to fall backwards before she was seized by her neck and lifted kicking into the air.
“It’s been fun, Marie.” The player grinned sadistically, as his ropy fingers encircled her neck.
Gritting her teeth, Marie drove her elbow and knee simultaneously into the player’s arm repeatedly, but he never even flinched. Winding up with his other hand, Jörmungandr prepared a finishing punch, cracking the knuckles on his hand one by one.
In desperation, Marie changed her aim, smashing her elbow into his hand instead. With a slight yowl of surprise, the burly player dropped Marie to the ground, flicking the pain from his hand.
Not letting him catch up to her again, Marie backpedaled as soon as her feet touched the ground, putting some distance between the two, while she massaged her bruised neck.
Jörmungandr shot an amused glance at her, then slowly began advancing again.
It was at that point that Marie finally put her finger on something that had been bothering her since the start of the fight.
“Um, I don’t know how to phrase this,” Marie started, holding up her hand “But what’s going on with your bod, my guy? Bulging pecs or no, nobody’s muscles ripple that much.”
Sure enough, with every move Jörmungandr made, the muscles beneath his shirt surged and rippled like a storm-tossed ocean.
The player’s eyes went wide in surprise at Marie’s sudden statement, then he broke into a deep, throaty laugh.
“Leave it to a girl to notice something like that,” he chuckled. “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt to give you a little peek.”
So saying, he planted both feet squarely on the ground, and began to flex. Tendons showing clearly beneath his sweater, his body bulged and convulsed, then with a final groan of protest, his turtleneck was torn to shreds, revealing his bare body beneath it.
The very sight of it made Marie turn pale.
Covering every inch of his body were a multitude of snakes.
Three massive constrictors encircled his chest and both arms, and numerous smaller snakes of varying sizes and colours slithered in an out of their tight coils. Further, judging from the movement of his pants, it was easy to assume his legs were equally covered.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Jörmungandr grinned as one particularly friendly serpent slithered around his neck. “Perks of being the Hive class, I get to experience symbioticism at its finest."
“That,” Marie groaned, her face quickly changing from white to green, “is just sick.”
ns3.147.43.250da2
然後按「加至主畫面」