Beatris should have known the plan would fall apart from the moment the poison became a problem they needed to handle.
Selene had been talking with their competition, hopefully trying to stall them, until the system notification came through.
Then Selene tried to run to where Aiden was.
Pip intervened.
Weirdly enough, he still did not draw his weapon.
The man who had been with him, on the other hand, locked eyes with Beatris and started toward her.
So Beatris did the smartest thing she could think of.
She hid like a coward.
"Uh," Malt asked as he floated beside her, where she had darted into a nearby bush next to one of the other flag points, "isn't this the part where you triumphantly stand there and defend the flag?"
If Beatris had not been focusing on hiding, she might have barked out a laugh.
"Hells no," Beatris whispered. "He is fifteen levels over me, and unlike half of the battle junkies we travel with, I value my hide in one piece. Preferably with as few beatings to it as possible."
The man did not seem to try looking for her.
Instead, he made his way toward the circle where her flag stood.
It was calm.
Deliberate.
One could have almost mistaken it for a serene scene in a quiet forest, if not for the sound of impacts and gunfire from where Selene seemed to be engrossed in battle with both Pip and Jackson.
"Looks like she's being corralled," Maribel said, tapping down her closed umbrella and leaning against it as if she were standing on a platform.
Beatris stayed quiet due to her distance from the third member of their team.
Luckily, Sera was thinking along the same lines as she was.
"Corralled?" Sera asked, floating over to Maribel. "What do you mean?"
Maribel shook her head.
"Well, the one shooting isn't aiming for her," Maribel said. "He's aiming for her feet, keeping her dodging in a direction away from glasses over there, who seems to be slumped on his knees and twitching."
She tilted her umbrella toward Pip.
"The tiger isn't really fighting either. He's just staying in the way and pushing more than punching. He hasn't even drawn his weapon yet."
Beatris's brow furrowed.
It was bad enough that Aiden seemed pretty out of the fight.
But Beatris could not fight one of these people in a one-on-one.
And Selene was being pushed away from helping Aiden.
Which left the question of whether to change plans or stick with the one they had come up with.
The man reached the flag.
With a simple tap, it lifted up and flew to Beatris's back.
Beatris quickly jumped out, caught it, and planted it before it had time to lose more than a single point.
The man watched her with a raised eyebrow, as if silently asking whether that was seriously their plan.
Then he planted his own flag down.
Beatris did not wait for him to look back.
She dove into the bushes again, rushing over to hide while the three angels floated overhead, watching him.
Just as casually as before, he began making his way toward the flagpole Beatris had planted.
When he reached the halfway point, Beatris rushed to his planted flag and swiped it with her tail.
The flag flew to his back.
He paused and watched it return.
Beatris expected him to walk back with the flag.
Instead, he continued toward hers.
She waited in the bushes near the third planting point, letting out a small sigh.
"So far, so good," she mumbled, more to herself than anyone else.
Beatris watched as he calmly walked toward the flag and tapped it again.
Then her system screen exploded with notifications.
Party member Selene has used skill 3x Mutate (C).
Party member Selene has used soul skill Chimeric Surge (C).
Party member Selene has used skill Chimeric Cowl (C).
Party member Selene has used skill Titan Form (C).
Party member Selene has used item "Buff Potion Concoction" (D).
Party member Selene's skin hardens.
Party member Selene's focus is enhanced.
Behind Beatris came what could only be described as the bellow of a rabid beast.
Then the sound of flesh ripping.
Her head jerked toward the noise.
Through the foliage, she saw what looked like a towering figure covered in hard, shiny, purple scale-like growths. Selene stood twenty feet tall, holding what looked like an arm in one hand.
"Selene, this is pointless!" Pip called as he landed and skidded to a stop, his chainsaw in hand.
Where his arm had once been was now a bloody, torn stump.
Even as Beatris watched, flesh bubbled and a new arm began growing before her eyes.
"You can't kill me," Pip said. "I heal too fast."
"GOOD!" Selene roared. "BECAUSE I'M GOING TO KEEP RIPPING UNTIL YOU BEG FOR ME TO STOP!"
Selene's foot arced.
It caught Pip center mass and launched him from the lava side of the field into the back wall on the opposite side, where he splattered into a red puddle before starting to reform.
She was already charging him again.
But gunfire from Jackson was clearly building damage as she tried to power through.
"I knew she was dumb," said a voice behind Beatris, "but if she could fight back to this extent, then I might have to re-evaluate her."
Beatris turned.
All she saw was a dress shoe flying at her face.
She winced.
The impact forced the air out of her lungs as she flew from the bush she had been hiding in and crashed into the stones in the middle.
Beatris hit the ground with a gasp.
She expected more pain.
Then a system message appeared.
Xudes has used skill 2x Unholy Command (D).
Two of Xudes's followers fall for the great leader.
Item Spirit-Warding Bone Charm (E) has blocked 50 damage from a spiritual source.
You have taken 16 damage.
"You're still awake?" Xudes asked. "Shame. I was hoping to knock you out so the next part would be painless."
He continued walking slowly toward her.
"The Great Xudes will not make such a mistake a second time."
Beatris turned toward Selene.
Then she turned to the lava side and ran as fast as she could, ignoring the increasingly dire messages about Selene's fight as she sprinted toward Aiden.
He sat on his knees, his spear at his side.
His head was upright, as if he were mid-conversation.
But his face was tense, and his entire body seemed to be shaking.
Beatris shook his shoulder.
It did not help.
She turned back.
Xudes continued slowly marching after her.
Beatris scrambled to think of a plan that involved them surviving.
At this point, she was not paying attention to the points at all.
"Did you seriously call yourself 'The Great Xudes' unironically?"
Xudes kept walking until he was about thirty feet away.
Lava bubbled around them.
Beatris's thick coat was not helping with her head spinning from the impact or from the rampant heat around them.
"Why would I not?" Xudes asked. "I am chosen by so many it is impossible to count."
His voice rang with pride.
"I am the one selected by the Soul Taker. Born of the will of beings beyond the gods. Whole towns exist to speak my praises and serve my woes."
He spread his arms slightly.
"If I am not great, then who dares to have authority?"
A plan clicked into place.
Beatris's thoughts rushed back to the rabbits she would hunt as a child.
The ones she always lost because she thought they could never escape.
"All right then," Beatris said. "Since it's clear you intend to kill me, how about we make it a show?"
She forced herself to grin.
"What better way to show off your greatness?"
Xudes paused, taken aback for a moment.
Then he threw his antlered head back and laughed.
Beatris's thoughts raced as she ran through every god she knew, praying he would take the bait.
"I see," Xudes said. "You have a skill you believe you can use to defeat me, as long as you have enough time to prepare it."
He smiled.
"An interesting, if rudimentary, plan."
Beatris flinched, waiting for him to rush forward and strike her again.
But no blow came.
Instead, Xudes spun like he was addressing an audience.
"Though you may believe you can accomplish this, I have faith in two things."
He raised one finger.
"My HP being greater than anything you can do to me."
Then another.
"And your limited time with your system making you the weakest of an already lousy party."
Beatris clenched her teeth.
"Thus," Xudes said, "I will graciously give you twenty seconds to prepare this strike you believe could possibly harm me."
Beatris stared in disbelief.
Then she heard him begin counting down.
This was a chance.
She did not have time to figure out how they knew she had only recently learned to use her system.
She did not have time to wonder whether this would work.
Beatris bit her paw hard, feeling a twinge of pain as blood trickled down.
She quickly drew a circle around herself.
More blood was drawn as the ground beneath her formed into a six-pointed star with a collection of strange symbols beneath it.
"Twelve," Xudes counted. "Eleven. Ten. Nine."
Beatris placed her paw against the circle and forced all of her mana into it, doing what Liora had called upcasting.
The circle hummed a brighter blue.
Her mana dropped to zero.
It was not enough.
So Beatris pushed.
Even knowing she was out of mana, she pushed.
Pain sprouted in her chest.
Her health drained.
The world spun.
She forced more energy into the circle.
You have used skill Blood Sacrifice (D).
The effect of your pacts has been magnified.
You have channeled more power into skill Blood Sacrifice (D).
Skill has been upcast to x3.
You have substituted HP for mana.
HP: 29 → 15.
Skill has been upcast to x4.
"Six," Xudes said. "Five. Four. Three."
He took a wide stance, arms open to his sides.
Beatris felt power surge from the angels near her.
Even though she was lightheaded, she had seen the others have their cool moments.
And though it might get her killed, she wanted one for herself.
"Hey, Xudes," Beatris said. "You're right."
Xudes's cocky smile did not fade.
"I have no skills that can harm you," she said. "Much less kill you."
His smile widened.
"But you forgot something."
Xudes chuckled.
"Switching to begging, are we?"
At that, it was Beatris's turn to smile.
A toothy grin spread across her face, and for one beautiful moment, Xudes's expression wavered.
"In this fight," Beatris said, "I'm a support, dumbass."
She wheeled around and grabbed the ripcord on Aiden's shoulder in her teeth.
Then she yanked.
The Pact of Shared Umbrellas activated.
A system screen appeared beside her, filled with a wall of text.
You have targeted party member Aiden with pact effect "Oath of Partnership."
Party member Aiden's oath partner has been set to party member Selene.
Both members will be strengthened while fighting for the sake of each other.
Skill Blood Sacrifice has magnified the effect of the pact by x4.
Party member Aiden's status: Poisoned has been lifted due to party member Selene being below 50% HP.
Party member Aiden has activated the Revolution Core.
The Revolution Core V2 is online.
Party member Aiden has used Engine Exo Armor (C) to jump-shift Revolution Core V2 to High Gear.
Party member Aiden has activated Clockwork Coil (E).
Party member Aiden's senses and body are pushed faster than normal.
But Beatris was not looking at the screen.
Like most of the people in the stands, she was staring at the trench Aiden had made by using Xudes's face to carve a path through stone.
The once-regal man was now bloody, his antlers snapped off.
And most definitely dead.
Flames licked from Aiden's eyes and mouth.
His glasses lay shattered beside Beatris's feet.
Where he had been sitting now held sizzling, shattered rock where the force of his takeoff had carved two craters.
Flames roared around him as he let out a guttural cry of rage.
Even from where Beatris stood, she could feel the murderous intent pouring from him like a broken dam.
Before this, Beatris had never understood Aiden saying the sound of the Revolution Core was like the sound of power to his ears.
But seeing the heat, flames, and force now pouring out of him, the engine roaring like a lion as fire surged from his mouth like jets—
She could hear it too.