"Uh, boys… do you really think I'm just going to let you leave?" Lara snorted, rushing over to me in an instant. 

A quick use of [Propulsion] on my arms was the only thing that allowed me to get my sword up in time, just narrowly managing to block an energy blast that she had thrown out. The quick movement of my sword caused her to dart back once again. It was the only option I had that could actually deal damage to her in this situation, It'd bite right through any manna based attacks or protections she had. 

While in terms of pure strength and speed Lara had us both beat, it would only take one mistake from the girl for the fight to end in our favour. That was my power play. 

"Get out of here Akash, I'll keep her tied up," I said, launching myself forward in another strike as I said it. 

Lara dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding my vertical chop, before retaliating with a punch of her own which I just about managed to duck behind, bringing my sword back up with me as I stood up. 

"You want me to leave you here, alone with her?" He questioned, "She'll kill you!" 

"Just get out of here!" I yelled again, swinging my sword in a rapid combo of blows, none of which managed to land. "Find Yr'Arl, find Fal, Get as many civilians onto a ship as you can… leave me behind if you have to!" 

I was slashing faster and faster with every hit, pushing as much as I could into my strikes just to keep Lara tied up so Akash could have a chance at escaping. 

And then Lara managed to break through my assault, weaving past a strike to deliver a devastating uppercut to my chin. 

[-500HP]

The hit sent me flying into the air, cracking away almost half of my HP in a single blow. I landed hard but tried to keep the immediate pain off of my face. I couldn't let her see that she was already starting to do some major damage. 

Fortunately, as I staggered back to my feet, I could see that Akash had listened to what I'd said and made it out of the area. It was about time that giant tree did something I told him to. 

"Looks like it's just me and you now, Lara," I said, bringing my sword up and ready once again. 

"And what exactly do you hope to do on your own?" She said, slowly stalking forward toward me. I matched each step backwards. 

"Oh there are plenty of things I could do right now," I said, still slowly walking back. "I could try and fight you, that'd probably get me killed though. I could try and run, of course, but we both know that you're faster than me. Really narrows down my options that, doesn't it." 

I'd started charging a manna bolt as soon as I'd started moving backward, my hand behind my back so that she couldn't see what I was doing. I fought to keep the smirk off of my face as I passed through the hole in the wall that Lara had previously made by tossing me through it. 

I had one shot, one shot to get away, and this was the one I was going to take. 

"That being said, I could always do this," I said, finally letting a grin pass over my face. 

With a burst of [Propulsion], I raised my hand and let the manna bolt off. The massive blast of raw magical energy ripped straight through the wall, which on my side hadn't been reinforced by anti-manna shields at all, and broke straight up through the superstructure of the megabuilding, causing tons upon tons of rubble to come cascading down between myself and Lara. 

I wasn't foolish enough to think that the rubble I'd just brought down on top of Lara would last for long, so I quickly applied my [Anti-Gravity Field] and engaged [Propulsion] as hard as I could, pouring everything I had into the speed. With my enhanced cognition, I was able to tear around corners at a breakneck pace. 

I had no idea where I was going, or how to link up with the rest of my team, all I knew was that I had to get away from Lara at any cost, because if I didn't there wouldn't be anything to stop her from killing me where I stood. 

[Quest Success!

The Big Bad I has been completed!

Rewards:

+60,000XP

+5000CRED

+25 Stat Points]

[Level Up! You are now Level 22!

You gained 2 Stat Points!]

That made me feel a little bit safer. By that metric, I should have been safe from Lara, if the system was telling me that I had gotten away from her, but I didn't want to put all of my faith into the strange system that seemed to be looking out for me. 

[Quest Gained! 

Getting The Band Back Together

Find Akash, Yr'Arl and Fal so that you can get off of this rock! 

Objectives

Rendezvous with your team at the teleportation banks so that you can teleport up to the moon base shipyard, taking out any Null Space Invaders on the way. 

Rewards: 5000XP, 100CRED]

I had no idea where the teleportation banks were, but as soon as I had the knowledge that was where I was supposed to go, my direction changed immediately. It was just like the first time I left the forms to make my way over to the meeting area where I fought my first Mannachoid. Like my body just instinctively knew exactly where it had to go. 

No wasn't the time to get bogged down by the potential horrors of my reincarnation, it didn't matter if I'd stolen someone elses body or not.

Lara was going to destroy this world, all we could do now was save as many people as we could.