A single hit had absolutely shredded Aerion before. I didn’t need a repeat demonstration, and by the look on her face, neither did she, so I promptly scooped the elf into my inventory. One less target for them. One less person I loved to worry about.

  The sheer firepower leveled at us was enough to make my stomach churn. A small armada of tanks and armored walkers had their barrels aimed straight at us, and that wasn’t even factoring in the machine guns.

  Each tank had a mounted fifty-caliber gun and the two-legged monstrosities were bristling with missile pods and heavier machine guns that looked more suited for anti-materiel fire than against squishy targets.

  “We stand no chance against those contraptions!” Yashas yelled over the rising roar of gunfire.

  “Yeah, no shit!” I shouted back just before the world erupted.

  A blinding flash of light streaked across the street like a miniature sun, and the next instant, zombies all around us went flying, shredded into red mist and chunks of gore. The air filled with smoke and the stench of burning rot, and I nearly gagged.

  Unfortunately, the undead weren’t their target.

  We were.

  And no matter how strong we were, there was no way in hell we were making it through that alive.

  My mind raced. I had some faith I could tank a hit or two, even from that main gun. But Yashas? Not a chance. Which left me with only one viable option.

  Only speed would keep us alive, and I needed to switch into my Grace build as soon as possible. Problem was, that took thirty seconds at a minimum. Thirty seconds I’d be vulnerable while I swapped sets.

  With that hellstorm of lead raining down upon us, we didn’t even have ten.

  “Yashas!” I shouted. “I’ve got a plan, but I need a minute of cover. You know anywhere safe?”

  Before he could respond, a missile screamed through the night, the roar drowning out everything else. It struck where we’d been standing seconds before, turning the world white.

  The blast wave hit like a hammer. Even from fifty feet away, it sent us flying through the air along with a half-dozen zombies. We crashed hard, rolling across asphalt and concrete. When I finally managed to look back, there was nothing left but a crater—and the ringing in my ears was so loud I could barely hear myself think.

  Only the fact that its guidance systems were likely designed to seek tank-level signatures had saved us.

  “We’ve gotta move!” I yelled, though my own voice barely registered through the ringing. I doubted Yashas could hear anything either, but he nodded, gesturing frantically toward a side street.

  I pulled Aerion out of my inventory, and though she looked confused for half a second, she caught on quick and took point, carving through the remaining undead. Together, we hacked and slammed our way forward, ducking behind wrecked cars and concrete debris whenever possible.

  We finally broke through to a narrow street, out of direct line of sight. The tanks couldn’t follow easily through the wreckage, but the walkers? Those were another story. They were faster, lighter, and could move through tight spaces.

  “They’ll be on us any moment!” Yashas shouted. “Whatever you plan to do, I suggest you do it now!”

  “I’m on it!” I yelled, already disengaging my armor. The plating rippled open and fell away, and for a brief, terrifying moment, I was completely exposed.

  That was, of course, when the nearest walker rounded the corner.

  I’d underestimated how damn fast those things could be. It’d probably rocketed over, bypassing the rubble entirely.

  The instant I stepped out of the armor, its guns swiveled toward me and opened fire. I didn’t even have an opportunity to curse before Aerion tackled me to the ground, taking the brunt of the barrage herself. The sound was deafening—metal tearing into flesh, sparks flying, bullets ricocheting off her sword as she shielded me.

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  Then she did the only thing she logically could.

  “Reaving!” she shouted, a moment before disappearing from my vision. Without my boosted states, I could barely follow her.

  Aerion launched herself straight at the walker like a comet. She slammed into the machine with all the might of her enhanced Dominion.

  As much as I wanted to watch Aerion lay waste to a technological marvel, I didn’t have the time.

  I was already pulling my Grace build from my inventory, stepping into it as bullets hissed past.

  Unlike the movie heroes who could take thousands of rounds and seemingly never get hit, I wasn’t so lucky.

  The armor sealed around me just as a half-dozen rounds tore into my arms and legs. I screamed out in pain and almost collapsed on the spot.

  The only thing keeping me upright was my one good arm that was already half-inside the armor.

  I gritted my teeth and forced myself through the pain, every muscle screaming as I dragged the rest of my body into the suit.

  If not for my boosted stats, I would’ve blacked out from the pain alone. Agonizingly, with bullets flying all around me, I finally managed to seal the armor shut.

  A quick glance showed Aerion still in the fight, carving deep gouges into the mech’s armored plating, the combined might of [Fading Fury] and [Sylvan Current] amplifying her combat ability to what were quite frankly absurd levels.

  If she kept it up long enough, she’d trigger [Origin Reave], which would make her quite literally invincible. I hoped this fight wouldn’t last that long, but I’d be lying if I said a small part of me wasn’t hoping to see Aerion utterly wreck our enemies.

  I quickly downed a vial of Galia’s miracle tears, which killed the majority of the pain. I’d need spot treatment later to get the wounds to fully heal, but what mattered was I was in my Grace suit and back in the game.

  Or so I thought, until the walker fired not one, but two missiles straight into the alley.

  Fired haphazardly in clear panic, both missed, but it hardly mattered. The second they exploded, everything would be gone. This street, the buildings next to it… and us.

  “Yashas!” I shouted. “Hold on! Aerion, flee!”

  Without wasting another second, I folded space—not to Aerion, but to Yashas instead. There just wasn’t time to grab her first and return before the missiles hit. I had to trust she’d handle herself.

  I grabbed Cunning’s Champion by the arm and warped us both onto a nearby rooftop. The blast still caught us mid-jump, slamming into us like a sledgehammer. I hit the roof hard but twisted my body to take the brunt of the impact, cushioning the landing for our squishy friend.

  “Thank you!” Yashas gasped, looking dazed but alive. “You certainly know how to get yourself into dangerous situations,” he added with a weak laugh.

  I barely heard him. My focus was on Aerion. I pulled up her status page, relieved to find everything still there. No death notification, no broken link. Her sword, the one I’d forged for her, was damaged but intact. Its durability had dropped over a hundred points, but I suspected that was more on account of her bashing the exotic-materialed mech.

  She was alive.

  “Be back soon,” I said.

  “Not like I can go anywhere,” Yashas said with a weary smile. He didn’t even try to move, and honestly, that suited me fine.

  I activated [Foldspace] again, warping back to the alley. Or, what used to be the alley, anyway. Now it was nothing but a wasteland of rubble and steel. Dust and concrete filled the air… and there was no sign of Aerion or the walker.

  I was about to start digging when the ground exploded. Chunks of debris flew in every direction, and I spun around, ready to hurl a Siege Bolt at the mech, only to see a familiar armored fist punching its way out of the wreckage.

  “Aerion!”

  I sprinted toward her, already pulling out a vial of Galia’s Tears from my belt. This was our last one, and I wasn’t looking forward to making more.

  But Aerion shook off my hand when I offered it to her. “I’m fine,” she said firmly, brushing concrete dust from her Mythril armor.

  “The walker?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “Don’t know. But we shouldn’t stay here.”

  “Right,” I said, slipping the vial back into my belt. I grabbed her and folded space again, teleporting us back to Yashas’s rooftop.

  “Well,” I said, exhaling hard. “Could’ve gone better, but at least we’re all still in one piece. I’ll call that a win.”

  Yashas shook his head. “You two play a dangerous game. I understand you’re far more durable than I, but you mustn’t let overconfidence lead to your downfall. I would never have accepted such a risk.”

  That caught my attention. “Interesting,” I said slowly. “So the only reason you were down there really was just to find us?”

  Yashas nodded. “Indeed. I sensed your presence and knew you would not escape the lower levels without guidance. At least, not without great difficulty,” he added, glancing at Aerion.

  That confirmed what I’d already suspected. But it also left me uneasy.

  If he could sense us that deeply underground, then just how far did his range extend? What rank was he, really? He didn’t seem like a physical threat, but that kind of omniscient awareness was deadly. Even more deadly than physical might in the hands of a true strategist.

  And Yashas definitely seemed like he was exactly that.

  I was just glad he was on our side.

  “You mentioned a safe house?” I asked finally.

  Yashas gave me a weary smile. “Follow me. It’s not far.”