CHAPTER 40: ETHAN’S GAMBIT

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[Improvisation Draw Complete!]

[Improvised Gear: Bastion Shield – F Rank]

Manifest a temporary barrier field capable of intercepting and inverting hostile projectiles.

Duration: 30 seconds. Radius: 10 meters.

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As soon as Ethan saw the description of the improvised gear, the gears in his head whirled and instantly, he knew what to do with it.

BZZZ!

The shield bloomed to life like a miracle.

One moment the air was bullets and resonance fire, death screaming down from every angle. The next, a dome of shimmering force erupted around Ethan and the others, translucent but unyielding.

Bullets sparked off it like stones hitting glass. Grenades burst against its curve and dissolved into harmless smoke.

Inside the Bastion Shield, silence fell.

All that was left was their own ragged breathing echoing in the hush, eyes wide as they realized they weren’t dead.

Holt blinked, his Rifle lowering a fraction. "That’s... new". He looked at Ethan.

Mira brushed grit from her cheek, her lips trembling into something like awe. "It’s holding, it’s really holding".

The bullets couldn’t penetrate.

Outside, the cohort reacted with fury and shock.

"Keep firing!" Pike barked from the rooftop, his voice sharp enough to cut. "Shields break. Everything breaks, don’t you dare let up!"

The kill box roared louder, bullets hammering into the barrier in a relentless storm as sparks of resonance crawled across its surface, webbing like cracks in glass.

Ethan clenched his jaw, sweat beading at his temple. The Wheel’s weight pressed into his skull, reminding him that he had just thirty seconds to act. That was all the Bastion Shield bought them.

"Thirty seconds," he muttered. "That’s all we’ve got."

Kara’s spear spun in her hand. "Then we need an opening, who’s making it?" Protected from the hail of bullets now, her eyes were clearer, cold and calculating.

An opening... that was also what Ethan was feverishly thinking about.

Holt looked at Jonas who was weak and leaning on Travis. Travis himself? He was barely conscious. Reid was pale as ash, struggling just to stand.

"Not them," Holt gritted his teeth.

"No," Ethan said, and his voice was steady and certain. "Me."

The Wheel pulsed again, dragging his gaze inward.

After thinking feverishly, only one thing remained in his mind to fall on... his remaining IP.

Options glimmered, but one burned brighter than the rest, a shadowed outline waiting for him to claim it.

[Improvisation Points: 11]

Ethan didn’t hesitate as he made his option out of the myriad improvisations that he already did since getting his special ability.

DING!

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[Permanent Acquisition Available!]

[Confirm: Shadowstep Dash?]

Cost: 10 IP.

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"Yes," he whispered.

The Wheel flared, consuming the points.

~----~

[Permanent Acquisition Confirmed: Shadowstep Dash!]

[Active Effect:]

Activate to phase into a semi-shadow state for 5 seconds. Steps become silent, and movement speed is doubled. Light bends, distorting enemy visibility.

[Cooldown: 10 seconds]

...

[Passive Effect:]

Agility +3.

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Bzzz!

A shiver ran through him as the ability anchored itself, not a fleeting trick but a permanent part of him now. His limbs felt lighter, his heartbeat faster, and the edges of his vision sharpened.

He could almost taste the distance between bullets now.

Kara’s eyes narrowed, reading him. "You’re about to do something insane," her eyes were full of worry thinking of Jonas.

Ethan calmly met her gaze. "Insane’s our only shot out of here".

He exhaled once, then he triggered it.

BUZZ!

The world dimmed.

His body slipped into a haze, edges blurring into half-shadow as sound dulled to a muffled hum. Every step became weightless, silent.

The air bent around him, distorting light so that even the enemy Rifles tracking the shield faltered, muzzles hesitating.

Ethan moved.

WHOOSH!

In a heartbeat, he was outside the Bastion Shield, phasing through its curve without resistance. The storm of bullets howled but he was already past them, slipping like smoke through the lanes of fire.

A rooftop gunner blinked in confusion, his scope catching only a flicker where Ethan should have been. "What the...!"

Mid-motion, the Exo-Spike Gauntlet materialized with a snarl of black spines. Ethan clenched his fist, activating Rugged Overload. Power flooded his arm, muscle surging with brutal force.

Then, he hit the first enemy like a thunderclap.

BOOM!

The gauntlet punched through the man’s chest plate, spikes tearing through bone and lung. Blood sprayed the wall as the body crumpled like squeezed paper. Before the others could react, Ethan was already gone, a blur of shadow.

The second gunner turned, but too slow.

Ethan’s gauntlet carved across his throat, spikes shearing through flesh. The man gurgled, dropped his rifle, and collapsed soundlessly.

Two enemies down in a heartbeat!

Jonas hurt, but didn’t kill. Ethan? With his Gauntlet and Shadowstep Dash, he went for the kill.

The cohort faltered.

Discipline cracked under the shock of it; two men dead, slain so fast the others barely saw the killer move. Their fire stuttered, some rifles jerking off target.

"Re-form!" Pike’s voice cracked like a whip. "It’s just one man! Kill him and finish the rest!"

But it was enough, the opening already appeared.

Inside the shield, Kara saw the gap open on the east flank. Instantly, she yanked Reid upright with one arm. "Move!"

Holt grabbed Travis by the collar, Jonas leaning heavily on him, Mira pressing her wind against the shield’s failing curve. Together, they surged toward the breach Ethan had carved open.

Bullets screamed, but the Bastion Shield still held, intercepting most of the fire as they charged towards safety. The survivors crashed through debris, stumbling over broken glass and concrete.

They escaped the kill box.

Above, Ethan flickered back into sight, Shadowstep’s timer running out.

His chest heaved, sweat dripping, but his eyes burned cold. He had done what they needed; he had created chaos and carved open a path.

On the rooftop, Pike lowered his rangefinder, his face carved into a scowl. His kill box had been broken. His men, his disciplined, trained men had been cut down like cattle by a single Awakener.

"You," he murmured, eyes locking on Ethan as if the distance meant nothing. "You’re mine!" He snarled.

His voice carried across the ruins, cold and final.

The Bastion Shield flickered, cracks spider webbing across its surface. Bullets hammered harder, the thirty seconds nearly gone.

The team stumbled toward freedom, but Pike raised his hand, signaling his men to shift. Their rifles realigned, muzzles tracking Ethan now.

Ethan’s Wheel pulsed once more, faint and hungry, reminding him that he had just 1 Improvisation Point left.

The shield shuddered, Ethan standing tall in its glow as Pike’s eyes burned into him from the rooftop.

The fate of the group hung on a thread.