Chương 80: R&R2 Ch. 19 — A Bigger Fish

Twister couldn't help but wonder what the point was of so many people trying to become heroes when juggernauts like Retort and Retribution existed. That she was mostly keeping up with them was a point of pride for her; she wasn't near their levels, but she wasn't slowing them down, and she was taking the pressure off them. But she wasn't under any illusion, the two of them could have handled this by themselves.

Though, contrary to their usual fighting styles, they seemed a lot angrier than usual, as if these imps had done something that had personally spited them. She kicked herself mentally for that thought; it was obvious why the duo was mad and she would be mad too if that had happened to her; it had been ugly when she got there, Retributions armor dissolving into motes of light while Retort was unconscious and bleeding from several injuries.

It was inspiring; if that had happened to Twister, she would still have been on the train recovering and hiding from it all; she wouldn't be out here fighting. The band of wind around her wrist spun faster; she would not let them carry this burden all alone. There was no point in being a hero if she wasn't going to help out.

"Guys, get me some space, and I think I can push them back for a minute or two," Twister said, relishing the telepathy earring. It was the best way she had ever communicated with people, and it fostered a sense of closeness, even if they had made a lot of small talk when fighting. She hadn't known how to participate in that originally, but it was easier after twenty minutes of this.

"On it," Retort said.

"After this, Twister want to get food with us?" As he asked the question, reality bucked as a new command echoed across the battlefield." Barrage" Bolts of energy streamed out of Retort's outstretched hand, killing and dazing several of the imps. Retribution's swords spun through the air, the sound of them cutting through the air creating a symphony of death. Twister couldn't let herself get distracted. She wasn't going to lose control of her signature move.

Though she really had to ask Retort how he was talking telepathically and doing other things at the same time. Once her will was imbued into the technique and it was spinning properly, she released her tornado and let it rampage across the battlefield.

"Every time I see it, I'm always impressed you're really strong, Twister," Retribution said, touching down beside her to pat Twister on the back.

"I would love to get food after this. I'm starving," Twister replied. For the next minute, the trio chatted about food options, letting the tornado do its work. With the will imbuing Twister was capable of it would keep itself spinning for a while, targeting all the appropriate enemies without her command. It was the one thing she had over her friends, and they cheered her on for it.

"You think they're intentionally letting this many through, or if there really are just that many of them?" Retort asked, eyeing the bunker. Twister was stunned, trying to figure out what he could mean by that. Unfortunately, he wouldn't get the chance to ask. Retribution knocked Twister and Retort back with the blunt flying swords as a monster exploded from the ground. Twister wasn't sure, but it felt like a C-rank to her.

Beowulf was beginning to get bored of this. While it was an important job to destroy these imps, they weren't a challenge, and it wasn't like he was ever going to fail to kill them. The only reason some were getting by was that he couldn't attack everywhere at once, and the rest of the spearhead wasn't nearly so capable. He was pretty sure he would have been doing a better job if he didn't have to carry them; the worst part was being unable to go full speed.

Since this was a mixed-ranked team, they had brought drones for the lowest common denominator. Which was the trio of E-ranks on the surface. And because the cameras were tuned for E-rank speeds, everyone had to take it slow and farm clips. It was easy to look like a badass when the world was going at half speed, but because they were all posing, that was letting monsters get out. The E and D ranks up top were doing a good job up there. His senses were more than keen enough to tell him that.

The three E-ranks were monsters in training. He could say that much. All three of them were doing better than the D-ranks were, and he could tell they were still in the early stages of power. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Part of him was so tempted to speed up and kill everything here, but that's not what he was paid for. There wasn't even really a point for him to do this; he had already gotten all the belief and karma he could from this city.

But when S-ranks offered to pay you for jobs, you listened, especially because he wasn't being paid in money. With hard work, you could get to S rank without cheating that was possible, but Beowulf figured it would be easier to cheat his way up so here he was doing odd jobs for S ranks hoping they would pay him the information he was looking for.

He could have tried his luck with one of the Pinnacles, but since he had spent almost his entire life in the lands of Equilibrium and Star Strike, they weren't likely to give him anything or even let him in. Only young supers and those who traveled constantly were allowed to hop borders, and they took concessions every time. A particularly large B-rank burst into the room, and Beowulf cut it down with a thought. It had been a long time since that could get him. He would have to look up the trio later.

Two of them especially seemed like they would be the type to come back for revenge for his little stunt trying to subdue them. He hoped they would; it was going to be a blast if two of them came at him eventually. They would have been boring if they had cowed instantly. Beowulf yawned as he swung his sword again, cutting through a swath of them. They probably had enough clips now, so he was going to speed up to E-rank speedster levels. The cameras could follow that. And an E-rank speedster wasn't so bad.

And he had a reason to go faster; there was something strong beneath him, he could feel it now. Whether it was B or A didn't really matter; a B-rank monster would let him stretch his legs just as much.

Nicholas wasn't sure if he was excited or terrified when the thing two ranks above him burst out onto the battlefield. That was a lie. He was both; the part of him stuck in the first fight with the imps was terrified beyond belief. This was everything he didn't want to deal with right about now. But the part of him that relished pushing higher as a hero? That was all burning bright." Maximize" Energy flowed through Book and into Jasmine and Twister. He also stole a fragment for himself, enough for one word.

"I'll draw his attention, get ready you two," Nicholas said, shooting off on his flying sword as he picked what would be best. Barrage was classic. Burn would be unlikely to work. Lullaby would be counterintuitive along with hesitate. And Call would make the monster focus on Nicholas more than he was willing to deal with at that exact moment. That left him one option that really fit his criteria, but it was a good one.

Flying low, Nicholas used his hand to turn sharply, fingers digging into the ground as he shot closer to the beast. As Beyonders got stronger, Nicholas was of the opinion they got uglier too, and this one was horrific; it was all exposed muscles and pulsating flesh sacks. What exactly they were supposed to do, he didn't even want to know, though he had to guess that this was some kind of mutation ability in play.

Not that he was fighting a Beyonder, but he figured the ugliness thing applied to demonic hellbeasts just as well. What he wouldn't give to figure out what was creating them, but that was a mystery for people way stronger than him. As a flesh tendril swelled in size, reaching for Nicholas, he twisted, trusting the runes on the sword to keep his feet planted.

It wasn't often that his buffs were useful for himself since they tended to not work with his workings well for long, but for an instant burst of extra power on a strong single-use word? Maximize was great. Nicholas threw the stone he had picked up at the eye of the giant demon creature." Impact" The imp rocked back, ichor spewing from its eye, before it landed with a thud, remaining eyes blazing with fury as it reached for Nicholas. This was going to be difficult, but he had gotten what he set out to do.

The imp was engaged with him and was ignoring the storm building in the sky as a tornado master and someone wielding the hundred tempest swords got to work." Shield" The panels of silver light got up just in time as Nicholas was blasted back, flying sword and all, from the force of one of the imp's strikes. Only two shields left, which wasn't ideal. And he couldn't use a new command since Shield required sustained effort, and maximize the same.

"I'll keep it occupied as long as I can. Good luck," Nicholas said to his companions before he threw himself fully into the game of keep-away. It was stronger than him, faster than him, bigger than him. And a whole lot of other descriptor words better than Nicholas, but he wasn't afraid. He trusted his friends, and more than that, he trusted himself. Especially to dodge a lumbering brute like this and use the blind-spot of it missing one of its eyes to his advantage.

Two blocks left, and then he would have to change strategies, so he would have to make it count. It was a fun role reversal in some ways; Jasmine was often the hammer and the shield, but this time he was the anvil and she was the hammer. Though he hoped that they would begin sending help his way soon. As if one of them had a connection to his soul and could feel how desperate he was, a baker's dozen of flying swords shot out to help harry the imp, arcs of electricity causing the monster to seize up.

Nicholas glanced at the sky to confirm the plan before he started working in conjunction to push it to the target spot. He couldn't be too sure how effective childish name-calling and insults were on the demon, but Jasmine had said they were shockingly effective even against the strongest opponents. Something to do with at the end of the day as strong as a super got they were still human.

"I can't put any more into it dropping the Twister," Twister said. Nicholas flew the other way and dropped behind a barrier of stone he had prepared earlier. A twister twice the size of the previous one slammed down onto the colossal imp and started dragging it up into the sky. Nicholas understood immediately what the plan was. This was going to suck because he couldn't use down without ruining what the rest of the plan was."

Up" With all the power of his mind, he lifted the beast into the air; the weight slamming down on his mind. That was when the rest of Jasmine's swords struck. The world flashed white as thunder boomed.