Brass and his partner kneeled by the doors. These doors were sunken into the ground, followed by a set of stairs to level ground above. Hidden by the shadows of the elevation, they hooked up their rig to the region.
The plan was to blow out the entire side of the building. Because it was built into the foundation, there should be enough support for the rest of the structure to remain open, but there would be a huge draw to this region here.
"Everything's ready. Let's move," Brass said.
His partner nodded, and they set out, rushing away to find cover.
Not long after they left, Zarek appeared with Priya in tow.
"What? Scared?" Zarek asked with a laugh.
"Shut up. There's literally a bomb right there!" Priya pinched Zarek's arm, finding him unbelievable. However, she was inwardly quite calm. Since Zarek was laughing right now, it meant that he could handle this.
Zarek held out a palm, and a red glow gathered at his arm. This was a Godsfall Droplet from one of the many Turned they had killed on the way here.
All he did was take it and fuse it into the bomb.
"Alright, we're done."
"That's it? What did you do?"
"Godsfall and tech don't mesh well. In fact, by the time you get to the D Warrior level, weapons have to be modified so that stuff like bullets and explosives still work on the Turned."
"Mm. But now that the explosives are ruined…?"
Priya was confused about what the point of this was.
"Not ruined. Delayed. What will probably happen is that they'll go around their little corner and press a button. That signal will be relayed, but this bomb won't be able to register that until the Godsfall dissipates. By the usual metric… probably about seven minutes or so."
Priya blinked, still confused.
If they clicked the button and nothing happened, obviously they would come and check what was going on. What if they unhooked everything and set up a new bomb? Wouldn't that make it all useless?
Zarek only smiled.
"Come on."
…
"Copy." The crunch of a walkie talkie echoed as Brass pressed his lips to the device.
"Everything prepared?" Malik's voice came from the other side.
"No problems on our end."
"Good. Stick to the plan. We'll move in now. Once I give the signal, blow that thing."
The connection cut out.
The plan was simple. First, they would cut their way through and get a real lay of the land. Once Malik understood the bottom line of what they were dealing with, they would pull back and then blow things up.
So long as they had already disappeared in the maze of buildings, the sound would attract the Turned far more than the fresh meat of just a handful of humans like them.
It sounded like a ridiculous plan. After all, the bomb would be going off at an entrance of the exact building they wanted to enter. Why establish it there instead of elsewhere?
The main crux of it was to open up a hatch for escape. They also didn't need the entire region to be cleared out; what they really needed was enough energy fluctuations in the air so that the Turned wouldn't be so focused on the Hub anymore.
Over their tests in the last few days, they realized that there were several things that could attract the Turned, and many things that could distract them from their prime targets.
But proximity was also of great importance to ensure that these things worked properly.
With this thought, Malik and the others charged into the building.
…
Zarek waited patiently.
Unlike this team, he knew these school grounds like the back of his hand. He knew all the blind spots and all the angles he could use to both observe and avoid detection. By comparison, they were flying by the seat of their pants.
'Almost,' he thought.
He looked over to Priya, who was staring at him pretty hard as though trying to read his mind. She was fine with letting him lead, but she also didn't like the feeling of being a tag-along either. And that was exactly how she felt right now.
Zarek smiled and gave her a peck on the forehead.
"Things take time," he said. "Don't worry so much."
Priya pouted and then turned away.
"Come on," Zarek said after a while. "It should be about now."
"Zarek, they have guns…"
"I know. That's why I'm targeting them."
With a heave, Zarek pulled Priya onto his back and wrapped her up tight.
…
Zarek appeared high on a building's roof. Placing a foot on the ledge, he could just barely see the duo hiding out four stories down.
This building was an old brick-and-mortar construction. It wasn't very tall, but it was sturdy.
With the compound bow at full mast, Zarek aimed slowly from above.
The crunch of the walkie talkie echoed again.
"Now," Malik's voice came from the other side.
"Copy that."
Brass pulled out a device from his pocket, flipped open a cover, and pressed down on a large red button, taking cover.
However, the large boom he was expecting didn't happen.
Brass and his partner frowned.
What happened?
Brass pressed the button again. Then again.
"Something is wrong. The receiver isn't working. We'll have to check it again," Brass spoke into the walkie talkie.
There was silence on the other side. Brass knew that this meant that Malik wasn't happy, but there was nothing he could do about that. The timing of the bomb was less important than getting it working properly.
Brass stood, ready to leave with his partner when the arrow came.
There was a glow around its tip, a glow that came not from a copying ability like Victor's, but instead from Priya. Her only job was simple. Concentrate Godsfall into his arrow tips and make them sharp.
Compared to Nick's Honing Talent, this was on a completely different level.
The arrow ripped into the walkie talkie and Brass's hand, continuing all the way through and into the ground beneath it.
It swayed back and forth wildly, its head embedded into the concrete.
Pain spiked through Brass, but his head looked up instantly.
"Enemy!"
His partner had already unholstered his gun, spinning to the skies and pointing.
As for Zarek, he had already leapt off the side of the building, the sun blaring its rays behind him.
For an instant, the man was blinded and fired wildly.
A bullet grazed the side of Zarek's cheek, his mind focused to an extreme. He didn't even react at all.
At the angle he was falling at, the target he formed was too small, and the sun was too blinding. Even if a bullet collided, it would most likely go through the bottoms of his steel-toe boots.
BANG!
He landed on the head of Brass's partner, bending his knees and crushing his skull into the pavement.
Without hesitation, he jumped and rolled, his movement so strong and fluid that Priya's back didn't even hit the ground.
A bullet shot by, and Zarek was already on his feet, a new arrow nocked.
"Focus," Zarek said calmly.
Priya didn't need his reminder. She knew how much of this rode on her, and it only made her all the more concentrated.
She wouldn't let him down.
There was a rush of Godsfall. The moment Zarek saw the new arrow tip glow, he fired.
PUCHI.
Brass's skull was split in two.