CHAPTER 31: THE GREAT ESCAPE, PART TWO

As he sprinted towards the guards that flooded into the chamber, their yells became worried as the plasma didn’t stop him. He felt it, sure enough, but the pain alone didn’t halt him as he drove himself through the numbers.

All he could see was the cerulean steel, spinning himself around to sweep his leg through two soldiers at once.

"Guh!"

"Wah!"

It was simply a difference biologically; he transcended their strength.

"Hfff..." Seven exhaled, looking around at the piles of groaning guards before glancing towards the engineer. "You done over there yet?!"

Bob was frantically typing away on his wrist, staying at the edge of the platform, "Almost...! Just a bit more!"

"Well, I’ve got this handled, no problem—"

Just as he turned his gaze forward, the bottom of a boot greeted him eagerly. Only by the saving grace of his evolved reflexes did he manage to lean back like performing at the world champion of limbo.

’Woah...Close,’ he thought.

Staring up at the extended leg, he watched the front kick quickly turn into a stomp. He spun himself to the right, allowing himself to drop to the floor and bounce right back up as the boot slammed against the floor.

As he caught himself, he looked towards the one who attempted to crush him like an ant. The figure was dressed in sleek armor like the others, though of an obsidian material.

[Lifeform registered.] ["Exiltus"]

[Classification: High Superhuman, Stage One | Threat Level: Disaster Magnitude 6.2]

With scarlet laces dangling from the metallic shoulders, a cape of the same fabric descended on the armored one’s back. In both hands of the enigmatic alien, blades born of silver plasma extended from humming hilts.

"S-seven! Watch out!" Bob shouted from the platform. "Those swords, that armor...That’s General Krevog, the Annihilator!"

"Annihilator?" Seven repeated.

While he processed the less-than-kind name, he immediately found the obsidian-armored figure closing the distance. He stepped back, having to lean away as one of the energy swords passed right in front of his neck.

"That is correct," a deep, female voice exuded from the mantis-headed helmet, followed by a hiss of steam. "I am General Krevog, representing the Exiltus."

"Exiltus?"

[INFORMATION ON SPECIES [EXILTUS]: A warrior race that culls their children, raising only the genetically gifted. This process leads to each generation of the Exiltus being stronger than the last—evolutionaries of strength.]

’Thanks for the history lesson, but I didn’t ask for that right now...!’ He thought.

Staying light on his feet, he bobbed-and-weaved as the humming blades of energy passed by.

"I will de-limb you and bring you to the Council, human," the General threatened with a calm, yet malevolent tone.

"That’s not very nice—" He responded, immediately ducking beneath a swipe aimed for his head.

As he backed up, he bumped into the row of consoles behind him, forcing him to slip himself over the computers. Just as he landed on his feet, the monitors were bisected by the bright, burning blade.

’She’s really trying to take my head—can’t lose focus,’ he thought.

Even in full armor, the General moved like a spider, dashing from spot-to-spot, wall-to-wall, from all angles.

[Higher reflexes necessary / Incurring spontaneous, temporary augmentation to spinal cord. Medulla Oblonganta developed to a higher level. Directing power to the cerebellum.]

In accordance with the system’s evolutions, he could feel a shift in his spine, along with a level of focus unfelt. It was like his brain had properly engaged itself for the first time; a vast, open field without restraint.

He constantly darted his eyes to keep up, not wanting to test the energy swords against his body.

"Evade all you like. Soon enough, you’ll be a trophy on my wall," the General quietly promised, flipping around as she slashed both blades downward.

He slipped back, watching the blinding sharpness pass in front of him, "—Yeah, not happening."

"Seven!" Bob’s voice shouted from behind.

It was the signal to go; he didn’t need to hear anymore. Simply running across the chamber wouldn’t help, not with the General hot on his tail. He ducked beneath a lethal swing while slapping his hands against his chest, building kinetic energy while on the move.

—One.

—Two.

—Three.

He counted each time he was a hair away from death. Not a moment passed without keeping his eyes locked onto the paths of those swords born of red-hot energy.

As he took a quick step back, he witnessed the General spin around him like a ballerina from hell. He immediately tilted his body to the side, feeling the heat of the blade pass by his side.

In the same motion he avoided being bisected, he pointed his palm at the armored woman’s abdomen—

Sparks manifested at his fingertips, converging at a single point and firing off directly against the General’s stomach.

"Hrk!—" The combatant let out a grunt as she was thrown back by the thunderous impact.

The flight of the General was timely, crashing into the reinforcements that just entered the room. Seven stood there a second, once more grateful for the evolution he obtained before bolting in the opposite direction.

"C’mon...!" Bob hurriedly said, standing on the platform.

With the assurance of more and more guards coming, the lonesome human jumped on as the cylinders began to hum. The air itself vibrated, giving way to the lights that fluttered on the ceiling.

"Is it about to go?—" Seven asked.

Bob reached his hand out, "Yeah! Here! Take this!"

As he placed himself beside the small, green helper, he confusedly held his hand out, watching a tiny device be placed on his palm.

"What’s this?" He asked.

The vibrations in the air intensified as the blinding lights rained down, empowered by technology millennia past humanity.

From his side, the alien looked up at him, "It contains information—information that will help your world!"

"It’ll help?" He asked, perplexed by the strange, square-shaped, silver object on his hand.

"It won’t solve everything, but—it’ll set humanity forward a hundred, no—two hundred years forward!" Bob frantically said, nodding his head.

While he had many questions for his unlikely ally, the humming intensified as the light became blinding. He could feel his very essence beginning to be pulled into the universe-traversing phenomena.

"Hey! What about you?! Where are you going?!" Seven asked, having to shout as the air rumbled.

"We’ll—again!" The words of the verdant friend were overwhelmed by the ear-filling hum.

All at once, as the forces of Celestius poured into the chamber, he ascended into the light. Through a stream piercing through the folds of the cosmos, he was carried, feeling as though he was being carried by a riptide.

["...I’m sure, even across the universe, our paths will cross again. Someday, beneath a cosmos free from their reign of terror..."]

Through the flickering instability of his own consciousness, he blinked once and—

"Aaahhh—!?"

To his surprise, he wasn’t simply brought to the surface of the Earth—instead, he found himself falling from the sky.

’Seriously—?! Did that guy rush the coordinates or something?!’ He thought.

The wind scraped against his body as his limbs flailed, attempting to find some security in the open air. Far below him, he could see the surface of the ocean quickly approaching, neighboring the coastline that was still slick with ice.

[Lethal velocity registered. Readying body for collision with surface.]

"Hey! Can’t you adapt some wings or something?!" He shouted as the wind howled against his ears.

There was no response from his system, only the rapidly approaching, inevitable meeting with the ocean as he braced himself. With the cool air brushing across his body, he watched the water come closer and closer before–SPLASH.

The impact immediately brought him to clench his eyes, feeling his body drive right through the surface and into the depths of the ocean. While it certainly felt like he’d been struck with rubber bands across every inch of his body, it didn’t seem anything was broken.

[Breathing restricted. Engaging genetic adaptation: "Water-Breathing Gills."]

As his lungs once more worked properly, he found himself taking in a calming moment even as he drifted beneath the surface. A school of orange-and-white fish passed as he floated near the sea floor, brushing his hands against the coral while looking towards the sunlight that bled above.

After everything that had just happened, he took a moment to process it all, feeling just the state his body was left in–covered in wounds, bruised, and fractured, yet–

["I’m alive."]