Chapter 139
Chapter 139
Iskan wavered like a ghost in the stormy rain. I didn’t know what technique he was using, but his presence blended into the scenery, becoming indistinct.
I focused, trying to separate his form from the background. That moment of perceptual shift was exactly what Iskan had been waiting for.
He advanced as if swelling forward, his spear tip shrinking to a fine point, aimed directly at my forehead.
Ka-ang!
I barely managed to deflect the spearhead with a wide swing of Crucis. Iskan retreated, not hastily, but as if probing.
Kkirik, kkirik.
A grinding noise came from my arm. I had been injured by Paigon’s self-destruction. The damage to both my cybernetics and my flesh was severe.
Even Crucis felt unbearably heavy. Just holding it was exhausting; my upper body and arms drooped under the weight. For the first time, I regretted wielding such a high-density heavy weapon.
...I needed to assess my body. And I needed time—time for the pieces I had set in motion to start moving.
I wasn’t fighting Iskan to die.
“Do you know what the Commander of the Imperial Guard is planning? Perhaps even that it may be an act of disloyalty and rebellion against the Empire?”