133 A Dark Edge
Zarek bent down, staring at the curve in the ground. He crouched in silence like that for a long while, his expression unreadable. However, the others, even Priya, didn't dare to speak, as though they were afraid of interrupting Zarek's thought process.
Crux was indeed overthinking things, but so was Belladoll. Zarek had come late not because he had some great trick up his sleeve, or because he wanted Belladoll to overthink things, but instead for a very simple reason.
He wanted to scout his opponents.
He knew Belladoll and Crux's abilities like the back of his hand, but there was too large a range of things they could be capable of in this life, considering the variable that was Suki and their own memories.
Seeing this mark in the ground, he knew he was right to do this. That was especially so when he saw the marks that denoted the others they had come with.
This curve, though… it wasn't just the strength it took to do such a thing, it was the control. Destroying thickly packed, steel-reinforced concrete like this was one thing. Doing so without the slightest crack or fluctuation, like the effortless swing of an arm, was a different matter entirely.
Zarek looked back toward the open vault, a very obvious pink diamond missing.
He had already seen the change to Belladoll's umbrella, and it didn't take a genius to know what happened.
'Transmutation Matrix… he's already so powerful…'
Transmutation was among the most sought-after Matrix Master Paths. It was the ability to take one material and change it to a different form. This could either be an adjacent element of some sort, a fusion of two materials transmuted at the same time, or, in this case…
A complete change in shape.
This was the form of Matrix that Suki was most well known for—his famous Armaments that had once made the Angels so powerful. And now he was already doing it again, and this time Jiade was taking advantage of his Rebirth status to find easily accessible materials ahead of time.
Who knew how many Angels he had gathered by now?
'Does Crux have his Armament by now too? No. From their interaction here, it seemed that Belladoll gained the upper hand with this; he shouldn't have his. But there's no way Crux would be accepting of Belladoll getting hers so much easier. There's a good chance that his is nearby, or only needs one more piece to finish as well…'
Knowing Suki's Armaments, they would be powerful even into the B Grade and scale well with the present strength of their users.
This was trouble.
Suki's abilities were one reason why Zarek really wanted to learn how to use materials that were on hand to trigger Temp Duplicate, but his Mastery simply wasn't enough, and his fear was that it would never be enough.
If Temp Duplicate was capable of that, it wouldn't be known as such a useless Talent by so many, allowing him to easily get his hands on it.
His only hope was that Atom Link could awaken the senses he needed to do so, but that was far from guaranteed.
Zarek stood, his gaze calm.
'Both teams have used a slot on a scout and a healer. There are about a dozen of them total, which leaves around just eight or so actual combatants. There's a heavy bias toward melee fighters, with Belladoll and Crux, along with one character from the Sakks and Dalton group, being capable of long-ranged assault. Smart…'
They didn't need more than this. Belladoll and Crux alone were already difficult for Zarek to deal with. Focusing the rest of their power on people that could slow Zarek's pursuit toward them would practically trap him like a frog in a well.
Zarek walked into the vault, looking around until he found something. It was a huge chain with a spinning wheel of diamond on it. Judging by the letter and football that made up the center, it was probably being prepped for some professional football player to pick up, but now it would benefit him.
"Is this really the time to bling yourself out?" Mitch joked.
A light chuckle came from Zarek, but it was decidedly darker than usual. He was already not in a joking mood. He was too focused.
"Trust me, this will probably save all of our lives at some point. Take a rest here for a couple hours. Sleep if you need to. We move out once everyone is in top condition."
"Are we sure there's enough time?" Priya couldn't help but ask in worry.
"Well, why don't you check?" Zarek asked with a smile. "It's about time all your training came in handy."
Priya was confused for a moment before it clicked.
That was right… all that time she spent analyzing Godsfall Tears and then cross-referencing what she found inside with what she felt on the outside…
It was time for that to bear fruit.
She smiled brightly.
"He's different all of a sudden," Snooz muttered, looking at Zarek's back as they stepped outside.
"Have you seen him this serious before?"
"No."
Priya's gaze flickered. She had seen Zarek that serious before. It was the night he cut a path through the city to help her get to the Challenge Hub. That night… there had seemed to be something particularly dark about him.
And now it was back.
But that edge… she knew it was exactly what they needed right now.
Zarek unsheathed two daggers as they stepped out into the night. Mismatched in their form, one was long, jagged and red, while the other was a small, sleek black that looked as though it was better thrown than wielded.
It seemed that unlike these last few days, Zarek planned on taking the vanguard this time.
"Follow behind me closely. We cut through in one go."
There was a flash in Zarek's eyes and the concrete beneath his feet seemed to sink down, the heavy chain around his neck swaying.
Shu.
He shot forward.