Collide Gamer

“John, how many of your combatants are here right now?” Maximillian asked immediately.

“Me, Jane, Aclysia, Momo, Scarlett, Ehtra and the elementals,” John gave the shortlist.

The gravity king gave her Master a deep nod. “You, Jane and Scarlett stay here. I want Aclysia, Momo and Ehtra to accompany me as I meet this challenge.”

“Ya sure?” Rave asked. “You’re… well, not a Latebloomer.”

“And yet I must go,” Maximillian responded. “I am not weak enough to cower behind the curtains.”

Though Aclysia was loath to leave her Master’s side at a time of uncertainty. The selection was smart. If it turned out that this was a distraction to vacate the palace, her Master would cover enough ground with the elementals to protect the entire structure. That and two of them would be able to emergency teleport back.

“Ehtra does not have the same ability to return to me instantly,” John spoke to that fact. “I recommend Jane and Scarlett also go with you.”

Maximillian’s jaw muscle tensed up visibly. He must have weighed the hard choice of assuring his own safety against further reinforcing the protection for his wife.

“I can call back Beatrice and Claire in an emergency and my non-combatant haremettes are also here – they can throw a mean punch if they have to,” John reminded.

“Why aren’t you calling them back now?” Maximillian asked.

“Strategic wiggle room.”

Her Master’s best friend grunted in understanding and displeasure. If he had demanded that John call them back now, he would have. Ultimately, he wisely went with her Master’s judgement. “Fine!” Maximillian declared. “You two, with me.”

“Yes, sir,” Jane responded, chipper as always.

“Could you at least pretend to be concerned?” Maximillian requested.

Aclysia’s sister-wife had the decency of taking the eager smirk off her face. No mental connection was needed to sense the excited beating of her heart. The empress of Fusion was looking every bit as much forward to the scrap as their apparent enemies did.

As they followed Maximillian, John stayed in mental contact with her. His perfect voice resonated in her mind, carrying with it calm and authority that no other sovereign could ever match. ‘It’s been less than two hours since Nahoa made first contact with that group,’ he broadcasted his thoughts. ‘Either Jane is wrong and they were planning to do this anyway or there was some intel gathering at play.’

‘Scrying magic on their groups, perhaps?’ Momo suggested.

‘Possible,’ John agreed. ‘Even then, they must have had this ready… or they must have started to move instantly. Displaying a message in a smoke cloud is hardly high alchemy. They could have had this ready and travelled over in those 2 hours…’

Maximillian was now barking orders at the group of military advisors and royal guards that rapidly coalesced around him. Hawpler and Laralia had appeared by his side, Alice had put on her null dress, and the insistence the king stay in safe reclusion was immediately shut down. “This isn’t chess, this is my kingdom and I will be no coward that drinks wine while his knights fight and die for him!”

A thunderclap echoed through the building, closely followed by another rattle of the windows.

“Sylph has reached the central plaza,” Aclysia revealed to them all, before another panic could set in. “She is dispersing the cloud as we speak. Further, she has located a large alchemical flask that served as the origin of the smoke. She has found several unconscious people, but does not report any loss of life or obvious injury. She will guide healers to them once they arrive.”

The gathered military minds stared at Aclysia as she gave her report. Evidently, they were coming to understand the incredible superiority of their tactical flexibility. While the military of Austria was still organizing, her Master’s forces were already on the scene.

“I will go meet the challenge,” Maximillian declared, taking control of the situation. “Half my royal guards will be with me, the rest will stay to protect the queen and my heir. All of you that are brave enough to meet the foe head on, follow me to the royal dungeon.”

“”Yes, your majesty,”” the shout rang out and the hasted gathering in the palace’s entrance hall dispersed.

Aclysia was reminded that this was a feudal military. Though they did obey the central commands according to their oaths, their equipment was their own. Armour, heraldry, steeds and squires, all belonged to each individual knight. It was not a fighting force in the modern sense, but a tight collection of segments.

“Follow me,” Maximillian said to those who remained. Almost 30 people, five of them from the harem, twenty-three more from the royal guard. They marched down into the royal carpark.

______________________________________________________________________

Nothing appeared immediately wrong upon reaching the prison. The landscape was unaltered. When the car stopped in front of the fortified manor, Aclysia noted the first sign that something was wrong.

No one came out to greet them.

Maximillian stepped out of the car after Aclysia. He was brave, to face the challenge of the enemy head-on. He wasn’t stupid enough to stick his neck out too far though.

“Just so we’re all on the same page,” Momo spoke up behind her, “it’s best you stay away from us while fighting – especially Aclysia. We have protection from one another’s magic, but you do not.”

The head maid glanced at the explaining strategist. To reiterate these facts was indeed appropriate. As her Master’s artificial guardian, Aclysia specialized in area denial. The glacial aura would not differentiate the flesh of foes from the flesh of allies of word alone. Only the bonds of love or guild took the bite out of that cold.

“Indeed,” Maximillian spoke with commanding confidence. He pretended well to be in charge of the situation, when it was her Master’s compassion that equipped him to do so.

‘I am being too harsh,’ Aclysia thought, shushing her obsessive-side to the corners of her mind. Just because her Master was so much more capable and beautiful than his friend did not mean that his friend was to be disrespected.

“Aclysia, I want you to operate as the spearhead,” Maximillian commanded. “Scout out to the reaches of the dungeon. Momo, use your additional bodies to clear the grounds behind her.” The gravity king then turned his gaze to the others. “I am not entirely certain of your capabilities, how do you recommend I make use of you?”

The first half of the sentence was a lie to save face in front of his soldiers. Effectively, he was asking how they wanted to do this. ‘A humble man recognizes when it is best to ask for strategy advice.’

“Fighting underground does not suit me,” Ehtra stated. “I will stay here to cover Momo’s real body and help your guard creatures.”

“Jane and I will- are best equipped to help Aclysia scout out the structure.” Scarlett had to adjust her tone to be a suggestion quickly. The combat limbs she had attached during the car ride twitched in a mechanical series of motions. A final quality assurance before deployment. “Whoever is leading this is probably waiting for the strongest to come to them.”

“I always knew ya were a fellow thrillseeker,” Jane purred.

Scarlett rolled her red eyes, which did nothing to dissuade any of them of the notion.

“Very well,” Maximillian agreed. “Then I will permit this strategy.”

Aclysia needed to hear nothing more. The maid outfit she was rightly proud of was replaced with a carapace of black scales and protective sheets of ice. A fifth limb grew into her awareness, the spiked tail growing segment for segment from where her back ended and her hips began. It ended in a sharp point. Testing, she slammed it into the ground. The grass shattered, frozen by her presence before the impact.

The pulse of mana in her circuitry quickened. It was a purely psychological response, a habit born from her only assuming this form when her Master required protection or if he wanted something beaten to a pulp. Aclysia neither embraced nor shunned the rising aggression.

The upper floor of the building was empty. The first and every internal gate she walked past after hadn’t been busted open, but unlocked. Momo’s scattering selves reported that only one path had been unlocked like that. Boisterous laughter and the sound of sex echoed off the walls.

Aclysia anticipated to find their target where the gathered criminals had been kept. Instead, the sound guided her even deeper into the complex, so deep down that the structure stopped being manmade and instead tapped into a cave system.

Jane and Scarlett were right behind Aclysia. By this point, this was either an elaborate ruse or a truly straightforward challenge. Momo constantly kept tabs on the situation, diminishing the chances of the former with every passing second.

“HERE THEY COME!” a deep voice roared in jubilant anticipation, suddenly quieting all of the laughter and moans.

Aclysia stepped around a corner. The already large cave opened up into a particularly enormous cavern. In it, all of the prisoners and their would-be liberators had gathered up. Clothes were put back on while the trio approached.

The head maid paid little attention to the members. They were interchangeable faces of goons, occupied only with the whims born from their own urges and their leader’s command. It was that leader that they all focused on instead.

He was not quite what Aclysia had expected. Awakened were typically people of the current or last generation, those after the baby boom of the post-war years. This one appeared to be older even then that generation.

Even rejuvenated by powerful magic, his old age was apparent on his face. Deep wrinkles and silver-grey hair marked his face. At the top, he wore it short. He must have been bald until recently, the combed back sides still revealing some of his scalp between the thin strands. His beard, however, was thick. A disconnected moustache sat atop his upper lip and a long, white beard fell all the way to his chest.

Though his face still betrayed his age, his body was in a state of prime. He was musclebound, from the thick neck over the veiny arms and to the half-exposed thighs. His large hand was half-hidden in the dark hair of a prison guard, who eagerly bobbed her head right up until he pulled her up. She gasped wantonly. Her fingers danced over the fabric of her uniform, still covering her crotch.

“Traitor,” Aclysia hissed.

“What loyalty is there to be had to a place this boring?” The leader of their enemies laughed. His voice was deep, rumbling, and filled to the brim with well-aged confidence. It was a shame he put that kind of natural gravitas in the service of displaying such callous disregard for civilized conduct. At least he pulled his pants up as he rose from the boulder. “I think you’ve been looking for me, so I decided to make it easier on you. Where’s the king?”

“Above,” Jane responded, her fingers dancing over the Harem Comms keyboard. The message went out to all of them.

Jane: Observe says he’s level 10. Obviously, something ain’t right.

“Didn’t want to meet my challenge head on? Guess I can’t blame him for that, it reeks of a trap! Bwahahahaa!” The old man put his head back and let out a prolonged laugh. The joke was lost on Aclysia. “Well… if my guy was right, you’re the brides of John Newman anyhow? That makes you the true challenges, right?”

The man raised his arms into a ready stance. Something in the air drastically shifted. The ground around him began to exude green light, taking the form of neither mist nor flame but something in-between. Life magic of the highest order surrounded him. All of his goons backed away. His blue eyes exuded a dim light in the magic-lit cave.

“My name is Ernst Eisenberger,” he introduced himself with an unnervingly wide smile. “Come at me when you are ready!”

[Ernst AI: https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/824cf9b0405d.png ]

Aclysia bridged the distance between them and went into a Cutting Flurry. A Baelementium dagger manifested in her hand, cutting through the air. The tip of the weapon felt like it should have left a trench in Ernst’s chest, yet it did not. At the end of the motion, the dagger was replaced with the sword in her Adaptive Bladery. Again, Ernst dodged the backswing with almost atomic precision.

Then, the two spare weapons were replaced with Marice.

The claymore manifested with a crystal clear sound of raw disdain. The prolonged note echoed in the cave while the maid swung down the weapon with all of her might. Black ice enveloped the grey, prismatically shimmering core of the War-forged weapon. The overhead swing could have split a hill.

Ernst caught the armament in his left hand. The edge was precision pinned between his thumb and other digits, never drawing blood. His scarred chest rippled as he drew his arm back. “Decent start!” he shouted.

Aclysia activated Reality Shatter as swift as her mind could race. Her form turned intangible. The fist punched through her without harm. Leaping back, she put just enough distance between them to leave Ernst in the area of her glacial aura when she returned to the physical realm.

Ernst put one foot forward, then tilted to the side. A lance of concentrated electric energy blasted past his face, hitting the cave wall behind him and… achieving nothing? Aclysia tilted her head in confusion. That the enemy Latebloomer had his own bullshit to fight them on equal or even superior footing was expected, but the environment should still have shattered from the impact.

“My informant calls my Innate Ability ‘Perfect Challenge’,” Ernst laughed.

Jane was now next to him, Illuminare covering her curves, headphones pushing beats into her human ears. The quarter elemental fought with her usual rapidity. Jab, kick, light explosion, backstep, lunge, uppercut – all of it was deflected. Ernst grinned wide during the entire exchange, gripping Jane’s arm after her knuckles had minimally missed his chin.

The old Latebloomer swung Jane overhead, slamming her back into the unyielding stone. Rage shot through Aclysia like a spear of ice at the pained cry of her sister-wife. Red seeped from her hand into her armament, engulfing her and her weapon in a pale blue, frigid light.

The Glacial Scourge was supposed to slow her enemy while making her faster. Nothing of the sort happened. There was no change at all. Aclysia charged in, thrusting the tip of the claymore at Ernst. He dodged to the side, then bridged the remaining distance with one large step. His elbow punched into her abdomen, cracking her Glacial Exoskeleton, then sending her flying back. Not even a splinter of rock calved from the cave wall.

Scarlett stopped her attempt to strike midway through, jumping back before she could get into an altercation with Ernst. Growling, Aclysia disabled the Glacial Scourge. Groaning, Jane got back on her feet, rubbing her shoulders. Did she break something? Was any of her wonderful body harmed? How many bodies did Aclysia have justification to stack in recompense?

All of them.

Despite her rage, Aclysia kept her aggression in check. Not only had Scarlett elected not to attack, Ernst permitted them to gather back up, watching them with that continued grin. “You seem the chatty type,” the technomancer hissed. “Might as well tell us exactly what your bullshit does, right?”

“I was planning to,” Ernst responded. “My Innate Ability has three components.” He raised three fingers. “One, the place we fight in cannot be destroyed by accident, only altered by deliberate action.” He gripped a stalactite, snapping it off. “Two, I am always exactly as strong as my opponents combined.”

‘WHY?!’ Momo shouted into the mental connection. ‘Why is that a thing?! Why does he get a permanent Entropy Arena?!’

“Three, my lads and lasses,” Ernst pointed over his shoulder. “Get to be counted as part of my strength if I want them to be.”

‘Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!’

‘Shut up, fairy creature!’ Ehtra shouted back.

“Here’s the thing though: I can’t turn this off,” Ernst told them, putting a hand on his heart for honesty. “So… my recommendation…” He grinned once again. “Come at me one at a time! Let’s make this a Perfect Challenge!”