A Paragon-rank spectre.

It probably wasn’t as strong as the real deal, but Aziz knew that such a distinction was pointless to the him right now, in that sense that a falling mountain and a falling hill were no different to the people underneath.

His Exo-Skeleton began to rumble as he charged upwards, towards the descending foe — his instincts had told him that taking a step back here, at this juncture, would mean the end of his life. There was no escaping this fight, if he wanted to live.

The guns of Camp Starfall, as well as that of the closest Locomotives, were already blasting out. Whether or not they could actually be of use or even arrive before the Paragon casually butchered him was not something Aziz could know. Reinforcements were also on their way, but…

Qi blasted out of his body, propelling the Shipbreaker into a head-on confrontation with the spectre. Something like surprise gripped the shadowy monster for an instant, before it responded with a casual flick of a knife.

The dull silver knife flickered past Aziz’s vision as the spectre’s off-handed parry slapped him into an uncontrolled spin. The Exo-Skeleton creaked as it released jets of qi to stabilise himself, but he barely had a second to appreciate his newfound love for not spinning when the immense presence of the enemy spectre closed in once more.

Only the practiced instincts of a warrior saved him from certain death. Qi exploded out of him once more, this time in an uncontrolled manner, and the spectre landed a glancing blow on his Shell, which shattered a moment later. The force from such an attack had been shunted away with the evasive movements his body had executed from instinct, preventing him from being pulverised by the enemy’s attack.

Acting on instinct once more, Aziz made use of the momentum that had been generated when the enemy Paragon struck him and fled from the enemy. Beams of black light streaked past him over and over again, as the spectre attempted to murder him through an indiscriminate bombardment.

Panting madly, Aziz continued to jolt himself randomly and strongly, dodging the incoming shots by virtue of being completely unpredictable. After around ten seconds of frenzied movement, the bombardment ceased, and his hackles rose as a stifling sensation swept through his body.

He had managed to anger the spectre, somehow.

“Aziz!”

As the howling wind bore down on him, a solid pillar of light streamed past him, and a bestial, monstrous roar ruptured Aziz’s eardrums. With the clammy sensation of blood dribbling from his ears, the colonel forced out another gush of qi, and the thrusters attached to the back of his Exo-Skeleton responded dutifully.

Marie flashed into his vision a moment later, catching him with her left arm.

“Stupid Aziz. Don’t go dying on your boss.” The blazing spear of white fire in her left hand stabbed out once more, and another pillar of light thundered towards the spectre.

The spectre shrieked wildly as the flood of white light slammed into it, but before it could do anything else, the attacks from Camp Starfall and the Locomotives had finally reached it. At the same time, three Locomotives were already rushing towards the stray Paragon-rank spectre at full speed, their guns blazing madly.

Explosions bloomed all around the spectre, jolting it and tearing the shadowy monster apart piece by piece.

“Not enough.” Marie’s cold voice rang out, and she took a deep breath. Qi erupted out of her body, coalescing into a formless mist that dived deep into the spear of white light. The Lance of Light began to pulse madly, and the white light took on a prismatic hue, glittering like the stars that had appeared over Orb recently.

The world fell silent, as darkness blanketed the area. Even the Drums of Order’s regular beating had been muffled, as if some mighty force had willed it into The Lance of Light was seemingly sucking in all light, and as that odd, surreal thought flashed through his mind, Aziz could feel the prickly gazes of everyone nearby fall upon him and Marie.

For a moment, a presence that rivalled that of a Demigod burst out from the weapon Marie was wielding.

“Hey,” said Marie. “Catch me after this, okay?”

“Catch you?” Aziz asked, straightening his aching back with immense difficulty. “What do you mean?”

She smiled for the briefest of moments, before the warmth in her face drained away, replaced by a flood of steel. “Lance of Light — Zeroth Release.”

As those words left her mouth, multi-coloured tendrils of energy rippled into existence all around the struggling spectre, binding the enemy tightly. The monster wriggled and struggled, but the bindings simply constricted in response. Within seconds, the Paragon-rank spectre had turned into a sitting target.

The howling wind stilled as dozens of beams erupted from Marie’s lance, piercing through the spectre. The darkness that surrounded the world yielded to light once more, and the unmoving shadow, already incapacitated by the Lance of Light’s Zeroth Release, turned into ash under the final volley of the arriving Locomotives.

Marie, who had been supporting Aziz, turned limp a second later, but before she could fall from the skies, the colonel scooped her up into his arms.

“Dumbass,” Aziz muttered. “If you have such a powerful weapon, just use it from a safer place next time.”

Checking that she still had a pulse, the colonel glanced at the Lance of Light, which Marie was hugging like a bolster.

The Radio on her shoulder crackled to life. “Marshal Marie, I’m Minister Pauline. What happened?”

Pressing on the ‘send’ button with some qi, Aziz replied, “The marshal’s unconscious. I’m bringing her back to base now. About the advance…”

“Is she alright?” Pauline’s voice replied. “What happened? Why did she see the need to unleash the Zeroth Release?”

“A Paragon barged into the middle airzone somehow,” Aziz replied. “What happened up there? Why—”

“It must have gotten away,” said Pauline. “No one’s fault, really. Okay, about the advance…it has already started. You two stay at Camp Starfall. I will send two Knights who were supposed to stay behind in your stead instead. Make sure that nothing happens to Marie, do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Gritting his teeth, Aziz beat a swift retreat, returning to Camp Starfall with all the speed he could muster.