Chapter 99: In the Zone

While other assassins continued to fight, Arthur and his remaining enemies were simply observing each other. Force was out and so if Arthur wished for it, he could immediately kill Specter or One. But doing so would leave Arthur incapacitated after the clash as his muscles and bones would break.

As for the Assassins, Specter and Force could not abandon their position for Arthur could dash and kill any of the other assassins. A silent agreement was made between the three. The only way to win would depend on who wins on the respective battles of their teammates.

Force had long been rescued by the surrounding soldiers. But the other soldiers dared not interfere with the battle of the Dragon's Fang. Instead, many were rushing towards the gate as the explosions and gunshots were slowly rising in intensity. Soldiers equipped with Pseudo-Skeletons could be seen as they started rushing towards the gate.

Alean and Lander's battleground started to look more and more like hell as Alean's flaming attacks would leave trails of fire.

Some of her bullets were not hard and compact. Some would shoot out and break like a flammable liquid that would give off a minor explosion but with an exaggerated amount of flames. This was, of course, another one of America's Miscellaneous technology.

This was one of the rare technology which was banned by the World Governing Powers to be used during the war. If the Americas developed more weapons based on this or improved the existing study, then the other countries would be allowed to use weapons of mass destruction in the territories under the Americas. Such was the wickedness and cruelty of the Hellfire Technology.

The assassins would not recklessly charge towards Alean. Who knew if her Hellfire Technology could roast them alive even with their armor.

Twister faced Alean and attacked with his strange windmills that gave off a strange vibrating movement. The windmills would flicker with strange lights that made it look like it was either further or nearer than its actual location. The strange vibration, flashing lights and how the windmill could detach and reattach its blades made the attacks almost impossible to predict.

Yet for some strange reason, Alean was able to shoot down or evade the attacks effortlessly.

The nearby clash between Blur and Strike was clear on its intentions. The two assassins did their best to drag Lander further and further away from Alean.

Strike revealed his special weapons. He used nanometal particles which would move according to his will. It looked as if he controlled a swarm of flies. This swarm could merge together and compress itself to form weapons. The nanometals also continued to whirl around Strike like a whirlwind. The nanometals, however, could only move freely five meters from where Strike is.

The nanometals would often merge and form a weapon that Strike would use to attack. Hidden in the swarm, various kinds of dangerous attacks would emerge. A sword's slash, a spears thrust, and even a whips lash would strike out from this swarm.

Strike chased and attacked Lander by allowing the entire swarm to cover him and use it as a way to fly and charge towards Lander.

Lander had already tried shooting at Strike but found it impossible to penetrate through the swarm. As such, Lander could only retreat from Strike and Blur who would circle from a distance and charge right in at a key moment.

It felt strange fighting 'bare' as no Exoskeleton protected him. Yet instead of the uncomfortable feeling of fighting in a state that you were not used too, the battle instinct of genuine hero began to show. What he felt, as he dove and dealt with Strike's swarm and Blur's incredible speed, was euphoria.

The sensation of battling it out as he would evade by the skin of his teeth was so daring and dangerous that it allowed him to enjoy the battle thoroughly.

Of course, facing the two assassins was not an easy task. Lander would have died over ten times in this battle. But Alean who could shoot towards Lander's direction whenever she gets the chance.

For some strange reason, Alean's attack was always on point. Soon, Lander's performance and the intensity of his attacks started getting more effective. Lander was now able to completely utilize his small size and nimble flexibility. Certain moves and maneuvers which was impossible to perform while riding an Exoskeleton were now being performed. What began as a constant dance which allowed Lander to evade by the skin of his teeth started to become more and more rhythmic.

Soon, even with Blur and Strike attacking together in a pincer formation, Lander's momentum was already built and he was now starting to effortlessly evade them with his strange spins.

The booster they used was taken from the Miscellaneous technology of the Americas. It was the best of all booster systems the world currently has. It allowed amazing maneuvers that even outmatched the acrobatic prowess of the East Asian Alliance. The wearer is basically granted the ability to "fly" for as long as eight seconds.

The three assassins were slowly getting more and more furious as the attacks kept missing. They were at the peak of the world in terms of strength and cunning. They were patient when it comes to fighting and always maintained a calm aura, but fighting the pair caused them to slowly lose their patience as their strikes and collaborative plans seemed to have always 'messed up.'

Finally, Twister stopped attacking as he angrily glared at Alean. He knew something was wrong with the way he was fighting and it was all because of this girl.

"Blur, Strike, let's give it all we got!" Twister shouted as he revealed more windmills. The windmills he was throwing out returned to him and suddenly, it divided into several pieces. At the core, was the ring that held the blades. The blades had detached itself but continued to spin around the core. Five windmills were hovering before Twister.

Blur and Strike paused and nodded.

Blur's boots glowed with a similar bluish glow as he charged at faster speeds to hinder Lander.

The nanometal particles around Strike suddenly started to envelop him once more. Suddenly the entire swarm gave of a blueish glow.

Twister immediately moved. He rode on one of the windmill's core and suddenly he flew up high. At a wave of his hands, the windmills attacked. The strange lights and the whirling object made it look like the attack was aimed at Alean but only a few portions of the blades flew while the rest of the windmills including the one he was riding on zoomed towards Lander.

The bluish swarm that covered Strike also moved at incredible speed. The nanometals suddenly utilized Rail Technology to attack. But instead of attacking Lander, Strike's charge was aimed to kill Alean.

The bursting charge of Strike exceeded Blur's movements. The two assassins suddenly changed their targets and unleashed an extremely fast attack which could even kill a Dragon's Fang. Even an Unbecoming would have died from this sudden change of targets. This was what made the Dragon's Fang the elites in this world.

Yet this ingenious sneak attack was doomed to fail because of one reason. The faster one aimed for Alean.

Alean Cipril was baptized in the fires of the Underworld at such a young age. Her younger self encountered various disgusting men who lusted after her young body. Though Harker would never ever sell her own daughter, his standing in the Underworld wasn't always as strong as where he was now.

And so, Alean had to face her own storms as escaping from the various kidnappers who were hired to target her. Her beautiful face and body only drew more predators which even Harker couldn't see.

As her life was bound to end terribly if she made a simple mistake in whatever decisions she would face, she realized, she couldn't afford any. Not even the smallest errors on her life could be made. From her experiences of running away from the predators who lusted after her, to the organizational decisions that would have placed the men under her to meet perilous situations, she grew up with the firm belief that "I should not make the wrong choice."

This, however, soon changed to "I make the right choice." So in every decision that Alean would decide on, she would follow it until the bitter end because she believed it to be the right path. Every time she killed or made 'friends' with members of the Underworld, or when she would be tasked by her father to handle certain government or militarily related concerns which secretly worked in synch with their Underworld operations, she would always have this motto in her mind.

As she fought these three assassins, a phenomenon started occurring.

It is the same phenomenon that people witness all the time. Whenever two competing teams in any sporting event happen, Momentum or Rhythm was valued. No one could properly explain this phenomenon. Some say it had to do with morale as the successive or consecutive scoring of points by a team would lead them to push harder and harder. The team who didn't have the momentum or rhythm on their side would end up suffering or struggle even in scoring a point. Perhaps the absence of morale affects their psychological and mental fortitude which eventually even affects the physical.

This phenomenon also appears not in teams but on individuals. Some call it being "in the zone" while others prefer calling it being "on fire." When this phenomenon happens, the individual falls into a state that somehow surpasses its peak point. They become smarter, see clearer, develop a strange sense of expertise and confidence.

For the sports players, be it a physical sport, mental or even on e-sports, this state makes them touch a godly state where everything they do becomes successful. Their choices, their calls, their drive, attacks, defenses, instinct, basically everything in their being turns into a master.

For intellectuals and artist, they fall into a state of sudden enlighten where they understand and grasps the essence of whatever they are studying or doing. This allows them to create masterpieces in art and literature or complete scientific works.

This strange phenomenon occurred as Alean fought. Her intelligence and wit could not compare with Arthur or Lowengren, but for some strange reason, she knew what to do. The momentum she built as she fought not only helped Lander reach the zone but also caused her enemies to always underperform or miss the proper timing or opportunity.

Alean's decision-making skills evolved as she continued to keep making the right decision in her attacks and on how she evaded.

It was as if the flow of the battle arranged itself to make Alean win.

Alean had easily dodged the blades that Twister sent out. Twister aimed thinking Alean would evade to the right as she always did, so Alean simply stood still and aimed at the bluish swarm.

Strike's charging attack almost was so fast, but Alean somehow knew the assassins would use this method of attack and thus a gun had long been aimed at Strike.

BOOM!

A fiery explosion engulfed the bluish figure. The nanometals guarded the flames like living sand and suddenly, it shot out a pair of large pikes. However, despite the capability of Strike to attack and defend at the same time, it missed by a large margin as Alean use the cover of the explosion to readjust her position.

Alean had already pulled the trigger of her other gun. But she didn't shoot at Strike.

BOOM!

A fiery explosion rocked one of Twister's core sending the attack into chaos. Twister lost control of several orbs as the unexpected disruption made the blades scatter.

Lander managed to escape by the attack once more as he dodged the blades of the windmill. If Alean had not shot that orb, he would have been finished. He used his guns to block Blur's speedy attack.

SMACK!

Using the powerful impact brought by Blur's slash, Lander adopted an odd twisting position which allowed him to be easily thrown off from the center of Twister's remaining windmills. But the impact had nonetheless disoriented Lander as he flew out towards the mansion's entrance.

Blur immediately took action as it charged forward to finish the job.

"Wrong move." A voice was heard at the back.

The ground that Blur was standing on, was the same area where Lowengren first used a Lightning Rod grenade.

An interesting fact about Lightning Rod technology; as long as the "lightning rods" are not totally destroyed, it can attract another lightning strike. For someone as malicious as Lowengren, he decided to activate this secondary effect if it detects someone pass by it.

And so, with the rushing sprint of Blur running over the lightning rods that remained on the ground, the result could only be concluded with one single word.

...

BOOM!