As I finally arrived with Sheng Yue by my side, Shin Hayato suddenly slammed his fist on the warhammer, making that anonymous man lose his balance as the Electric Shield appear to push it off.
I quickly told Sheng Yue,
"You help Cassandra and Skov! I'll go help Shin Hayato and Varelius !"
Sheng Yue shook her head,
"No. You stay with Zarina and Arlo. Take care of them !"
Before I could object, she sprinted toward Shin Hayato and Varelius.
As much as I wanted to help them, I know what Sheng Yue said was right. I have Varelius' Replica Shard with me and I must protect those two.
As I slipped across the battlefield, a sudden kick struck my back, sending me crashing to the ground.
As I turned my body, a persona of Sheng Yue appeared in front of my eyes. As she was about to raise her foot to kick my head, I dodged to the side.
I quickly took out the Replica Shard from my pocket and strike the persona's head, making it fade away in a glitching motion.
I sighed in relief and turned my back to head to Arlo and Zarina.
Before I could get further, Arlo shouted,
"Aléssio ! Your back !"
I turned and a foot was suddenly in front of my face, making me stumbled to the ground as it hits my nose.
As I tried to stand, another kick struck my jaw, snapping my head to the left before I slammed against the ground once more.
Before I could regain my sense, my shoulder was continuously stomped by one of them.
The wound Narin inflicted during the vent escape suddenly kicked in. It felt as though someone had poured salt directly to an open wound.
My vision slowly started to blur out. Adrenaline kicked in as I grabbed Varelius' Replica Shard and stabbed the persona's foot.
The persona gradually distorted away. But it isn't over as more personas lunged to attack me all at the same time.
I continuously became a punching bag for Sheng Yue's persona.
My nose was bleeding heavily.
My stomach was punched multiple times, making me cough some blood out.
Every time I tried to stand, they showed no mercy and continued their assault.
As I tried to use the Replica Shard, one of them kicked it far away and landed in front Arlo's foot.
Hopeless, I tried my best to fight back. Until bunch of golden filaments surged toward the persona, circling their neck.
And with a sound of snap, they instantly disappeared. Some of them glitched, some of them distorted.
I stood up, my body is yet unbalanced. I stumbled on my foot and fell to the ground again.
Arlo rushed towards me and crouched,
"I'm sorry, me and Zarina couldn't help you in time. I tried to tell her to follow my instructions but she has doubts."
I nodded and gave him a thumbs up.
Zarina came over and dragged me to the corner. As I sat on the wall, she handed me the Replica Shard and wrapped her golden filaments around my face.
I wanted to take off the filaments cause it felt so uncomfortable. It felt like my face was wrapped by bandages continuously.
Zarina lowered my hand so I couldn't touch it,
"No need to worry, it'll slowly ease the pain. But for more treatment, I suggest Arlo to help you instead."
I nodded and looked around. It seems that Sheng Yue's personas weren't a lot and all of them had vanished because of Zarina's filaments.
I looked to Cassandra alongside Skov who were fighting Htet Naing. Htet Naing panted heavily before he turned to my direction.
He grinned and lunged towards where I am.
Skov quickly turned his weapon to the Energy Bow and fired it,
"Coward ! Picking on the weak, aren't you !?"
Cassandra widened her eyes and yelled at Skov,
"You handle Htet Naing ! I'll handle this personas of yours and mine !"
Skov nodded. As the energy arrow hits Htet Naing's leg, Skov quickly rushed and changed his weapon to Dual Energy-Blade.
Sensing the danger, Htet Naing quickly parried using his Bio-organic Dagger. Sparks flew and they gritted their teeth before both of them were knock backed.
Skov quickly regained his composure as he slide through the floor. He smiled before lunging at Htet Naing, not giving him a chance to even fight back.
I whispered to Zarina,
"Are you sure you like this man ? He looks like a lunatic and acts like one. Also wasn't he using his Energy Bow ?"
Zarina just smiled and chuckled softly while covering her mouth with her hand.
Arlo overheard it and explained,
"He was. But he switched it so he could have a better fight with Htet Naing. You can't fight a sword with an arrow."
Abruptly, Skov laughed like a maniac and screamed at Htet Naing,
"You bastard ! A soldier's son !? More like a coward !"
I became silent and looked at Zarina again while tilting my head.
Zarina just smiled and said,
"Even if he acts like a lunatic, at least he takes good care of me and is always there for me."
Arlo tilted his head,
"But aren't you both different religions ?"
Zarina's face showed a sign of sadness,
"Yes..."
I looked up to see the fight between the anonymous person with Sheng Yue, Varelius, and Shin Hayato.
Cassandra has executed all the personas, making us in a winning situation. Skov continued to fight Htet Naing while also driving him further away from us.
As Sheng Yue thrust a feather-like blade into that anonymous person's leg, he instinctively growled and dropped down to a knee.
Varelius seized the chance to kick him in the stomach, followed by Shin Hayato's fist on the side of his face.
Tired, he was slammed to the wall as he was sent backwards by Shin Hayato's Electric Shield.
Sheng Yue shouted and jumped around while looking at my direction,
"Hey Blondie ! Look ! I'm able to defeat someone that is maybe twice my size !"
I smiled at her and gave an applause,
"Congratulations, I guess !"
As she continued to jump around, celebrating for a moment, the anonymous person moved. He quickly stood up and raised his warhammer high.
I stopped clapping my hands and rushed to Sheng Yue,
"Sheng Yue, watch out !"
As the warhammer was about to hit, I tackled her, avoiding it just in time before it could hit my leg. But nothing was without a cost, bunch of robots appeared.
With no other choice, we are told to fight again. Htet Naing seized the chance to break free from his fight with Skov and ran to Zarina.
Despite his attempts to hurt her, his attack missed and only ended up slicing Zarina's headscarf.
The headscarf fell and Skov quickly chased Htet Naing down. Arlo who noticed Zarina covering her head with both of her hands decided to cover her with his medical crate.
Htet Naing ran as fast as he could, while shouting,
"Oh won't you look at that ! Such a disgrace for revealing yoursel—"
Varelius punched Htet Naing by the face, sending him falling and thudding to the ground. Skov stepped closer to him, standing tall and firm with anger in his eyes.
Skov immediately stomped on Htet Naing's shoulder, making him shout in pain. Htet Naing continued to resist and planted his Bio-organic Dagger to one of Skov's foot.
Despite that, Skov continued to stomp and didn't dare to spare him a chance. Varelius looked at me and extended his hand. Noticing it, I quickly threw the Replica Shard at him.
But before that could happen, the anonymous person snatched it and sliced his palm. Clones of him appeared, smiling and chuckling.
I yelled at Cassandra,
"Cassandra, try to defeat the ones that are near you—"
Cassandra yelled back as she tried,
"You don't have the rights to command me !"
I became silent.
Right, of course I have no rights especially if I did make her life worse.
Sheng Yue stood up and grabbed some feather-like blades,
"Have some. I need you to help me defeat the main one."
I nodded and grabbed it,
"But how are you so sure ?"
She just smiled and rushed to the real anonymous person. Shin Hayato was facing one of the clones while Varelius and Skov still continued to harass Htet Naing.
Zarina and Arlo are still further away from the battlefield, making them safe for a moment.
But as I was about to move, I heard the faint sound of boots. Looking behind me, I noticed someone hiding in the corner.
I wanted to ambush that person instead but Sheng Yue was fighting with the real one, telling me to ambush and hurt him from the back.
Torn between decisions, I decided to try and aim the blade as the person's back was facing to me.
After a quick calculation, I threw one of the blades and it landed right on the person's neck.
I flinched and closed my eyes slightly due to guiltiness. But even so, the Replica Shard he was holding dropped and Sheng Yue snatched it before sliding it to Varelius.
As I decided to find that other person, I bumped into someone. I slowly turned, only to meet one of the clones.
On the bright side, I can finally see his name on the Holotag that was written [Lev Krivov]. But on the other hand, he raised his warhammer high.
With a little time to react, I quickly duck under and escaped through the gap between his legs, making it just in time.
He opened his mouth but couldn't produce any sounds. I took note of that in mind as I ran. A new knowledge to differentiate which is real and which isn't.
But for now, my mind is preoccupied with that other person. As I continued to dodge the incoming attacks from the clone, I twist and dropped a shelf, sparing some time.
But as I looked around, I finally realized.
No one was here.
I kept searching around, hoping to find that person. I could only remember a view of his appearance. He was wearing a mask that covered his mouth and nose.
I searched further and further, seemingly losing the clone of Lev. But when I finally thought of something, I quickly rushed back, hoping I was not too late.
I ran as fast as I could, panting and sweating. No. It must not happen again.
As I finally arrived back, I sighed in relief. Everything was normal. They were still fighting the clones and robots that were shooting.
But despite that, I couldn't help feel something was off. To ensure my feelings were right, I looked at Sheng Yue whom is now fighting... no one ?
I looked to Skov and Varelius, it is indeed weird as they were just stomping on Htet Naing but they're now stomping on the ground as if he is still there.
Cold sweat broke through my forehead as it dropped to my neck. What other tricks did their teammates have that I didn't know about ?
A voice came from my back,
"Thank you for being the last resort, Mr. Mechanic. I'll ensure that you will have a nice hallucination and forget that my teammates and I have escaped."
I quickly turned back,
"Wha—"
The person threw a bomb shaped object and it exploded right as it landed on the ground.
A thick mist erupted from the device, carrying an unnatural chill. The scent was horrible for my taste, copperish metal. My vision became hazy as I stumbled on my foot.
My back hit the wall before that person closes my view with a blindfold. Slowly, my eyes fluttered shut as darkness consumed everything.