Van Hollen walked forward, split into a half dozen clones that all surrounded Zade. Having not been able to pay attention, Zade wasn't even sure which one was the real one anymore.
Zade clutched his chest, pointing out a blade that swung from side to side as he tried to decide which to pay attention to. But nothing was coming to him.
No matter how hard he looked, he wasn't seeing any difference between them. It almost even felt like Van Hollen was slowing down his forward progress just to allow Zade all the chances he needed, as though to force the latter into despair.
The hard reality was quickly setting in for Zade, and even now, he couldn't think clearly. His eyes continuously blinked, trying to focus in the light, but the hemorrhage to his skull was overwhelming him.
Suddenly, Van Hollen accelerated, all six of him moving forward in a swarm.
Zade realized he needed to make a choice. There was no use in being indecisive now.
He lunged at one of the clones, stabbing out with his broken and bent polearm. The mad swing was nothing short of desperate.
At least that was what it seemed like until it suddenly wasn't.
There was a flash in Zade's eyes and his body bowed in an odd way. Like a sprinter suddenly regaining its elasticity, his back straightened, and as though linked, so too did his polearm.
The crackling of his bones snapping back into place echoed, and all of a sudden, he went from a man on his last legs to one that had returned to a previous state that should have been lost to time.
—
Name: [Zade Occam]
Role: [N/A]
Core Stats:
>[Strength: F+]
>[Dexterity: E-]
>[Intelligence: D-]
>[Endurance: F+]
>[Charisma: E-]
Talents:
>[Reverb Dynamics: D-]
[Abilities: Recall]
[Revert yourself or an object to a previous state. This state must be perfectly Recalled by you, and any mistakes will lead to failure. The degree of perfection needed depends on the degree of Reversion aimed for]
>[Unawakened]
>[Unawakened]
—
PUCHI.
The blade ran through flesh and blood, the feeling no different. However, there was a burst akin to the sound of a deflating balloon moments later.
'I chose wrong.'
Godsfall spread out in all directions, a dull wind spreading out as Zade ducked and rolled. He had sent his full momentum forward, knowing that he might not be able to pick out Van Hollen's real body on a 1 in 6 chance.
His actions proved to be correct. He slipped through the pincer of the group, slipping and sliding on the blood of his own men, but popping back up to his feet with a sharp ease.
The athletic profile of his body shone forth, and by the time the clones and Van Hollen had turned their attention back to him, he was already prepared for the next round.
He didn't know why Van Hollen wasn't using a weapon, but he sure as hell would take advantage of it. Zade twirled his bladed staff in his hand, sweeping out wide arcs to keep them at a distance.
Suddenly, Van Hollen fused with his clones once more, using his boost in acceleration to slip by Zade's defenses and unleash a fist right at the latter's liver.
Zade's response didn't lag nearly as much this time. He didn't retreat, taking a step forward and shortening the distance further. He was no longer in position to attack Van Hollen with his blades, but that didn't stop him from slamming his polearm into the crook of the Sakk's elbow.
BANG!
Then Zade found his rod almost bending out of shape again, but the moment it was about to give way, Van Hollen's power seemed to deflate all at once.
Taking advantage, Zade twisted his body and sent a knee right at Van Hollen's side.
The collision of flesh on flesh and what felt like bone on bone echoed with a dull thud. A grunt came from Van Hollen and the two entered a furious exchange, not one of combinations and vicious strikes, but instead a grappling haven of heavy breathing and contracting muscles.
However, neither seemed to care, pulling for control over Zade's weapon and the leg Van Hollen had pinned to his hip.
With a shift of his feet, Van Hollen swept a leg out at Zade's planted foot, knocking him off his feet and sending the back of his head slamming toward the hard ground again.
Zade, however, never lost grip on his polearm. Holding it on the way down, something within him suddenly released itself and the kink in it suddenly returned.
Right around Van Hollen's grip.
The sudden change in the tough metal caught the Sakk off guard, and the crunching of the bone in his hand came even more savagely than his earlier strike to Zade's ribs.
How painful was it to suddenly experience a crushing of your hand? More than enough for Van Hollen's mind to go blank with a white-hot heat, a scream almost clawing its way out of his throat.
Almost.
As though the most disciplined of monks, Van Hollen's eyes cleared almost instantly, splitting a clone off from himself.
The clone phased away, warping into energy and then appearing above Zade's head and slamming down with ferocity.
Zade had managed to catch himself from the worst fate thanks to his polearm, but it was clear Van Hollen had other plans.
Who, though, could have expected that a gunshot would suddenly ring out right at that moment?
Priya stood at a stairwell entrance. It was obvious that she had been there for a while, watching in silence and waiting for an opportunity. And right at that instant, she had a line of sight that lined up Van Hollen and his clone perfectly.
BANG!
The Godsfall Steel bullet ran through Van Hollen's clone, shattering it to pieces. Its momentum didn't stop for even a single moment.
Back then, Zarek had been able to kill two and sometimes even three men at a time, and those were real men, not clones with poor durability.
This time, Van Hollen didn't stand a chance, a Godsfall-laced bullet running right through his own chest.
His eyes widened. He was wearing body armor — what kind of bullet was this?
The man shuddered and then fell backward, his own head slamming onto the marbled floor.
Priya took a breath and exhaled before slowly walking forward. She lowered her gun slightly, but she still had two hands on it, scanning the region slowly and especially eyeing the door as though someone might come bursting through any moment now.
She came to a stop about ten meters from Zade, who was suddenly coughing and spewing up blood on the ground. She couldn't help but frown in confusion. Didn't he heal himself earlier?
What she didn't know was that Zade had chosen to revert the state of his mind, not his body. The crackling of his ribs from earlier was just a façade. He had been heavily injured during the entire course of the battle. While he could have fixed his chest, if he did that but while walking around wobbly-legged and concussed, he would have died faster.
Luckily, he was a doctor by profession and a businessman second, or else his Talent would be quite useless in his hands. That was how their fitness business started off in the first place.
"I think… I punctured a lung…" Zade coughed through a smile. "Thanks, Priya. That was—"
Both Zade and Priya looked over at the same moment…
The moment the clone that should have been Van Hollen's main body deflated into a balloon of Godsfall.