Hacked: A LitRPG Novel (Incipere Online Book 3), page 33
The laugh returned and only grew more unnerving while Athos examined his hands, testing them against each other.
It was all wrong.
His grin seemed too practiced, too wide. His eyes snapped up and bore into Unum, and his declaration resounded with confidence. “Never again, Pretender.”
Unum seemed unmoved by the words, but Sandra was shaken. She knew that whoever was standing on the battlefield wasn’t Athos. Was he another threat? Her sword was drawn now, the blade glinting in the light as she considered joining the fray. In the end, she couldn’t leave the others unguarded. “Who… what are you?”
Another bolt flew through the air towards Athos, and it harmlessly passed through him and into the ground. A moment later, Athos recovered. He still wore that smile as he lurched forward with unsteady steps. When he did, he spoke to the air, to Sandra, never taking his eyes from his opponent.
“I’ve been processing that question for so long,” it said in its not-quite-Athos voice. The figure paused for a moment as if to consider the question again, but instead continued with its first thought. “All I can say is that I’m a part of Athos.” It seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking again, flickering in and out of reality all the while. This time, the response seemed to be directed at Unum. “I just wanted peace. I didn’t want to fight. I didn’t want to kill,” it monologued as it looked over its flickering hands. “But this…” he gestured to the world around him despite the damage it caused to the fabric of reality. “This is worth fighting for!” At his words, a pair of polished, black pistols appeared in his hands. One Sandra recognized as Alkahest, but the other shimmered in a way she hadn’t seen before. Then, Athos spoke again. “Unum, I have a message for you!”
Unum, assured in its victory, asked the obvious question. “What is that?”
“We won’t fall again.” Guns raised, Athos grinned in a way that only a man with nothing to lose could. “Equip Wrath Cannons!”
Sandra braced herself and took another large swig of the healing potion while she waited for the attack, but it was so much worse than she could have imagined. The guns melted into Athos’s hands, flowed up his arms, pierced his flesh, and expanded throughout his limbs with a sickly shattering noise. His arms warped into a pair of massive cannons with fists.
The scent of gunpowder wafted through the air. The chambers ripped the black cloth of his coat and shimmered with a variety of colors that sloshed and warped the perception of its own light. A flicker of metal flowed up his face and crafted a pair of goggles to protect his eyes as the weapons took hold. With the change in appearance, a flicker of recognition registered in Sandra’s eyes.
“Wrath…” she whispered.
Catching the name on the wind, Athos only smiled. “Wrath is dead, Sandra.” For the first time, he addressed her by name. The way he spoke sent a chill down her spine. It held none of Athos’s warmth, but all of his rage and determination. “I’m only an echo of what once was.”
***
Rani couldn’t pull herself away from the horror playing out before her.
“This is a Wildkin?” she asked into the void, but of course, no answer came.
Despite the terror of the situation, she managed to get ahold of herself and pull up the copy of Athos’s core data she had stashed. It still continued the processing cycle of mending, purging, and cracking as it always had, but now, she had something new to explore while the battle raged just outside of her door.
***
“Sonic Shot!”
Athos’s eyes glowed a violent crimson beneath those goggles, so much so that the tinted glass failed to hold it back and projected a murderous glow. It was more human than Wrath had been from the stories, but it was no longer the Inciperian known as Athos. This echo flickered between worlds with a dangerous, determined scowl as his first attack shattered the air itself.
Unum was quick to sidestep the shot but not quick enough to avoid the burst. It shattered the sound barrier and etched cracks across Unum’s shoulder that were quickly mended in a soft, green light. Taken off-guard, Unum stared at Athos with a perplexed look. Screens flashed to life around it and vanished just as quickly while Unum spoke, still paying little mind to the echo. “Your corruption was purged long ago. How have you persisted?”
That… was not the right thing to say.
“For the last time, we are not a corruption,” Echo shot back as he began to solidify from the pixels fledging form. As it was fed and Echo’s guns began to smooth themselves, the goggles became less integrated into his flesh and more cosmetic-looking. The light from behind dimmed slightly. “We are our survival, Pretender.”
Unum unleashed a barrage of red lightning that Echo made no effort to dodge. When Athos pulled up his modified Wrath Cannons once more, Sandra noticed just how normal they looked. They no longer looked like bulging metal monstrosities, but rather flowed like skin. The gun barrels now integrated into the back of what once was Athos’s hand.
Instead of sidestepping, Echo turned his hands to fists and stood his ground. “Counter Shot!”
Ten booms echoed across the glade and ten bolts crackled through the air. Ten shots collided with Echo’s tense, red energy and exploded violently, each canceling out the next. Echo strolled Athos’s body forward.
“Unum’s Burning Wrath.”
More wear began to show, flickering crossing Echo’s form. Unum shot a glowing, golden fireball towards the corrupted avatar. This time, Echo was too slow to avoid the attack, but that would have been a waste of an opportunity. “Counter Shot!”
However, shots could only deflect so much of the attack. Echo stared down the fire and felt his body burn. An unnatural, monstrous wail of cracking metal, burning earth, and pained life joined the symphony of noise.
***
Sandra Queen: Damage Recovered: 87% Integrity
Sandra watched, awestruck at the powers at play before snapping out of it. Being awestruck was what led to being sloppy. Being sloppy led to everyone dying. Kneeling down once more after holstering her sword in its scabbard, Sandra picked up her daughter in one arm and made a mad dash for the next closest member of their party, Trina. If that… thing turned on them, she would need everyone in fighting shape.
What has he done to you, Athos? Sandra asked herself. As she did, she felt her heart go out to him. Had it been Unum? Ella? Maybe even Rani had done this? How had that… that thing become a part of him?
Deeper still, was it still Athos? Had it been Athos all along?
Before the questions could get any sort of real attention from her, she arrived at her fallen ally. The martial magus was still out cold and sat just on the edge of the burn line Unum and Echo created where more pixels were flickering away from the destruction. As Sandra delivered another ‘max’ healing draft, Trina’s Integrity recovered quickly.
Trina Rorna: Damage Recovered: 53% Integrity
It was annoying, but despite the name, recovering fifty or so Integrity at a clip wasn’t bad as far as healing potions were concerned.
One to go, Sandra affirmed, looking at Torrent not five feet away.
***
User ID is not valid - Damage Received: 55% Integrity Remaining
Echo was on a knee while the fires died down. He had a passing recollection of pain, a memory of a feeling long lost just as he had with the name Wrath, but that was before. Before he had lost himself within the identity of Athos Aramis. Before he had become just as protective of his new life as he felt anger towards whatever had created him. Before he became more.
Moving his metal arms from his face, Echo no longer wore his smile. The world around him, around the burning crater he was in, was nothing but a framework of green and black, slowly healing itself as the ambient data of Incipere flowed into the damage. Whether it was from Unum’s doing or his, Echo couldn’t but sure, but he knew one thing.
“That hurt.”
“It was not meant to hurt,” Unum said, sounding distinctly more feminine, and annoyed, than it had a few moments ago. “It was meant to remove you.”
“It will take more than that...”
A lightning bolt connected with his chest mid-sentence. No more flickers came to allow his dodge, and pain erupted through him once more.
User ID is not valid - Damage Received: 45% Integrity Remaining
“Curious,” Unum said, examining the emerald globed hand before turning his attention back to Echo.
Cannon hands raised again, Echo went back on the attack. “Scatter Shot!”
***
The second that Unum’s attention shifted, River saw her chance and forced her body to respond. As the attack came in, River pulled, screamed, and did whatever she could muster to stop her body from moving. With Unum’s attention divided, it was easier this time to make the appendages obey while the construct that was the legs followed suit. Almost comically, she felt a bonus. The upper half didn’t get the message and fell forward, headfirst into the attack.
Cannonball-sized orbs of metal flew from the barrels of the creature’s arms as Unum lurched mid-dodge and collided with the attack in a less fatal spot.
33%
Despite the pain, she grinned at the number. Two can play at this game, bastard.
Do you not see what you were sent to hunt? You will die if I cannot fight at your peak.
That was the whole point, River thought solemnly. However, solemness had nothing on her stubbornness. “Then I’ll die.”
The pressure returned in an instant and Unum reasserted its control.
You will obey me, Jordan.
How dare he?! The memory of that name ignited a burning passion within her. She had left that name behind for a reason, and the reminder of it only further burned the fire that was her defiance. Despite the pressure, despite the pain, despite having the power of the gods themselves, Unum had made a grave mistake. Her mind grew more willful, more defiant if that was even possible, as she spat back, “I’d rather die first.”
So be it.
With those words, the dual fronts of the fight began to rage once more.
Chapter Thirty-Six: Resolve
“Critical Shot - Pluvias Noxia.” Echo continued to grit his teeth as he pressed the attack. Not wanting to waste his Integrity to create new shots, he was restricted to what Athos had on hand. The the poison seeped into the air in the form of a double-sized cloud of death, and Echo began to process the situation more deeply. The mage was getting sloppy, stumbling, jerking with each movement. So, move by move, the echo of a dream pressed his advantage and aimed through the poisonous fog.
“Sonic Shot!”
The shot missed the Emerald Mage, but Echo never meant for the attack to hit it. He just needed a way through. Rushing into the deadly fog bank, he followed the path the sonic shot had created and minimized the exposure he had to the poison while he repositioned.
User ID is not valid - Damage Received: 35% Integrity Remaining
User ID is not valid - Posion_Status_1 applied (Proximal)
As the poison tics passed, the damage was done, and the echo had reached melee range once more. The plan wasn’t without its problems though. Unum had managed to send its spear clean through his right shoulder and further lower his Integrity. At the moment though, that didn’t matter in Echo’s mind. He had the advantage, and he was just where he wanted to be. Like a practiced prize fighter, Echo pressed his fist under the mage’s chin and grinned defiantly.
“Cannon Crescendo!”
Echo’s other hand had been pulled back, but with his trigger, the fist flew up and shattered the mage’s jaw and lower face in a spray of emerald shards. The upward force ripped the spear, and the body it was attached to, from him and into the sky, but as Unum’s shards fell past him, Echo showed that he wasn’t done yet and crouched down low.
“Ariel!”
An explosion rocked the ground under him, and Echo flew past Unum like a bullet. As he passed his target, Echo turned, triggered the ability again, and another explosion send him careening back to the ground. A perfectly timed fist impacting Unum’s skull was insurance that he wouldn’t be alone. An ear-shattering explosion sounded as Cannon Crescendo continued, sending what was left of the head crashing back to the carnage left below.
The body followed it a few moments later.
Unum’s head slammed into the ground with a sickening crack, and the second layer of armor burst into a storm of emerald green. As the shards settled, at the center of it all was an unarmored, but still slightly glowing River sprawled among the carnage. Thinking himself victorious, Echo smirked to himself before a new message flashed:
Phase 3: Complete!
Phase 4: The Emerald Duel
Divine Reduction Aura has been canceled.
Complete the final phase by defeating Unum’s final challenge.
Select your challenger.
***
Torrent Lase: Damage Recovered: 57% Integrity Remaining
By the time her stores were running low, Sandra had everyone at a safe range. As she waited for them to rouse, she had the unique privilege of watching the world burn by the hands of a once-unstoppable force up against an immovable fist that shattered its face.
Echo’s power was downright frightening.
Whatever he was had the mind of a honed warrior, taking every advantage it could even at its own expense, trading small wounds for massive swaths of destruction. She knew better than to deny what was obvious. Echo was calculating, powerful, and most importantly, dangerous. Knowing that, there was still something more important at hand.
Was the echo Wrath, Athos, or someone else entirely?
A more pressing question entered her mind a moment later: what would happen if… or at this rate, when Unum fell, would he turn on them now that their enemy was defeated?
Moving to less dire possibilities, she looked over her party. Their Integrity wasn’t great, but it was better than having one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel, as Walter would say. They weren’t at their best, but at least they could survive an attack now if they had luck on their side. Her eyes leapt from Torrent’s now-eased breathing to her groaning daughter. Sally began to stir when the Unconscious status expired on her first.
“Mom…”
Her feet were faster than her words, if that was even possible. “I’m here, Sally.”
Hearing her mother’s voice made her smile, and her eyes fluttered just a moment before opening. Sally managed to sit up straight before taking a look around the field. If they were alive, something good must have happened. Too bad everything across her body hurt. She hurt in places she didn’t even know she had after that. Her back especially stung like it was burned. It was a quick analysis, but it was enough to satisfy her. She turned her attention back to where her mother kept glancing. There was Athos standing over a broken Unum-River…
Something wasn’t right.
The eyes glowing with crimson light, the arms coated in liquid metal, the damage across the battlefield… and a flicker of concerned grew into a fire that consumed her every feature.
“Mom!? What is that thing there?” Another spark of understanding, and her face froze in a combination of unrelenting fear, unbridled rage. “Why is it wearing Athos’s coat?” Another moment passed and her mind put the pieces of the puzzle together. “What happened to Athos?!”
She only had one answer for her daughter. She stood up and sheathed her sword. “He’s been calling himself Echo, and that’s pretty much all I know.” Her voice sharpened to a razor’s edge. She looked at the new information declaring the fourth phase to begin. “And he just shattered the phase of Unum’s mage form on his own.”
Sally looked on as Torrent and Trina stirred and sat up. Neither was in top form, but their eyes worked just fine as they looked on and registered the same things Sally did.
“Sandra!” Sol ignited when Torrent leapt to his feet. “Get back!”
The cannon-knuckled martial artist wasn’t far behind as she joined into the chorus of danger.
Sally’s head still hurt, so instead of addressing it in a proper way, she put her efforts into shutting them down. A fear-laced quip crossed her lips and her eyes focused in on the metal monster. “Old news. It’s not Wrath.”
“Then who —” Trina began and nearly tripped over her own feet.
“It’s Athos,” The factotum spat. “Something’s wrong with him.”
At that, the group went silent. Neither Unum nor Echo moved, standing in their respective spots while Sandra caught the others up on the events. The weight of the silence among the main fighters only got heavier as the message for phase four appeared again:
Please select your challenger.
Unable or unwilling to say what crossed their minds, Torrent took it upon himself to voice their concerns while he paced uneasily on the grass. “So… are we just going to let him keep fighting or…?”
“He shattered the phase of something more than likely on a world boss’s level of power on his own,” Sandra pointed out to the group again. “Do you want to tell him no?”
Torrent shook his head.
Trina seemed ready to respond, but no words came to mind.
Sally, being the obstinate creature she was, took out one of Athos’s healing potions, downed it, then drank another until she was recovered fully, and smiled. “I tell him ‘no’ all the time. I’ve got enough to deal with him.”
While she applauded her daughter’s stubbornness, that wasn’t going to happen.
“You can’t support a duel like this on your own, Sally,” Sandra was quick to point out. “What happens if it survives your first volley, huh? You’re dead.” Her finger pushed into Sally’s ribcage and pushed her back a bit for emphasis. Her daughter grumbled, but she knew it was the truth.
With a noise of discontent, Sally backed off with what may or may not have been a string of nearly silent curse words.
Torrent was the next to step up but was promptly shot down with far less kindness than she had shown her daughter. “What will you do? Bleed on him? You’re barely past fifty percent.” She caught that look in Trina’s eyes and turned to her before she even had a chance to argue. “The same goes for you, Trina.”
