Chapter 243 Rematch With The Sentinel (Part 1)
Erin didn't resort to her ice walls and barriers to create a protective shield for her team and instead used her wind ability to blast away the projectiles.
Instead of the regular turrets, there were also dart traps, spikes coming from the wall, and crossbow turrets among others. The area was much more complex with several twists, turns, and dead ends.
All of this prevented Mako from using the move he used previously that elevated him off the ground so that he could memorize the maze.
However, one beneficial thing about this run was that there were puddles of water all over the area which meant that both Iris and Erin could fight to their full potential, something they couldn't do in the previous run as the only water available then was at the center.
As Erin used a combination of Wind and Water to block incoming projectiles, Mako and Iris were trying to come up with a strategy such that they could finally get them some breathing room so they can recuperate and proceed forward carefully.
Mako counted all the different turrets that were actively firing at them in their current position which turned out to be 10.
After he had memorized their location, Mako turned towards Iris and told her to blast him with a strong water blast.
Iris was confused by what he was trying to do but didn't question it at all as she quickly manipulated the puddle of water close to them and directed it towards Mako to create a strong water blast.
Mako responded by lighting himself on fire and using his own fire elemental control to create a strong yet equal blast of fire.
The two attacks collided with each other, canceling each other out, and creating a huge cloud of steam.
The steam quickly spread throughout the entire area where they were currently standing and reduced the visibility of everything down to almost zero as nobody could see 2 feet ahead of them.
"Alright Erin, the turrets won't shoot at you right now, start forming your Ice Bullets and I will tell you where to shoot!" Mako instructed Erin.
Erin quickly understood what Mako was trying to do and followed his lead as she used the steam in the air and condensed them back into water and then ice and formed ten bullets and loaded them alongside her arm.
"I'm ready!" She shouted back.
"Alright! Take three steps forward and then shoot towards your left!" Mako instructed.
Erin moved exactly as Mako told her to and shot the first ice bullet into the mist. Almost immediately the bullet had hit something and the sound of the turret shutting down could be heard.
"Woo Hoo! I hit it!" Erin celebrated as she successfully took down one of the turrets that were blindly searching for opponents in the mist.
"Very nice! Ok, the next one is..." Mako said as he started instructing Erin where to move and shoot down the remaining 9 turrets.
Within a few minutes, Erin had taken down all of the turrets and then used her wind ability to blow away the mist and regain visibility.
The area they were in was now free of obstacles and now Team A can devise a plan on how to move forward because it was certain that brute forcing their way through like last time wouldn't help, there were just so many turrets aiming at them from many different directions that it would be impossible to maneuver without getting injured or critically hurt.
Erin had sustained a couple of injuries as she was the one that was actively defending both Mako and Iris who came up while they came up with a mist strategy.
Iris proceeded to heal Erin so she was in perfect condition to continue fighting while Mako raised himself up with an earth pillar just like last time to observe the layout of the area and find the correct path toward the center.
However, as Mako reached a suitable height, he was stunned by what he saw.
Although it looked like there wasn't a roof above them from the inside there was a holographic roof displayed over the entire area so that the arena couldn't be viewed from above.
The commander and the senior officer were viewing the area through a special lens that was fitted into the glass window, allowing them to see without any problem.
Normally, Mako would just give up after discovering something like this and quickly jump on another idea completely, but he was a different person now. He took a deep breath and thought about all the possible options he had before returning back down.
If he couldn't view the maze then it would be quite difficult for them to navigate through efficiently and reach the center which would reduce their chances of winning by a lot.
There was no other way of finding out the layout so he just had to think of a way to see past the holographic roof.
He tried using Analyze but that didn't do much except to just give a description of the holographic roof which didn't help at all.
After taking a deep breath and thinking some more, Mako still had no idea what to do. He was too high to attack the holographic projectors and if he lowered himself the other turrets in the vicinity would start attacking.
His ocular skill didn't work as it could see through the screen since it was basically made of energy and light...
"Energy!" Mako shouted as he finally made a breakthrough.
[Energy Sensing has been activated]
A huge smile appeared on Mako's face as the center of his eyes glowed ever so slightly green and his vision turned grey.
He could see all the different types of energies around him. He observed all the different turrets that were connected to purple-colored power supply while all the walls were highlighted in yellow. The roof was highlighted in blue and all the different traps such as the spike and dart traps were highlighted in red.
Mako didn't even think about using the Energy Sensing skill as it was basically another Analyze that couldn't give descriptions, but Mako had overlooked something, and that was Energy Sensing wasn't limited by any objects as it could observe all the different energies flowing around him within a small radius.
Mako didn't prefer to use Energy Sensing much as it cost a lot more energy but now he knew that it had its own place to be used. With this, he would practically have an aimbot as he could see through the walls and know where all the turrets and traps are.
With a plan set in his mind, Mako dropped back down quickly so that the turrets won't target him and explained the plan to Erin and Iris who were just as shocked but excited to finally have a solid plan that might lead them to victory.
Erin had fully recovered and the three of them quickly rushed forward through the maze with Mako in the lead shouting out instructions to both Erin and Iris who would attack and destroy turrets before they even had the chance to look on to them, while maneuvered them around the traps and dead ends.
Team A was finally catching speed and impressed Commander Sable and the superior officer as they quickly made their way through the maze.
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On the other side of the maze, things weren't looking so hot for Team B as Nathan was the only one who was advancing through the maze at a decent pace his Advanced Perception allowed him to dodge all the slow incoming projectiles and the dart traps.
Since he had made a deal with Bill, he didn't just run ahead and would have to stop and wait for his teammates who were slowly making their way through.
Leon and Bill struggled a lot more with this new course as there were just so many traps and turrets that they just couldn't break through.
Leon still had the option of just rushing through with Nathan as he had the hardening ability and could survive all the little attacks, but that would leave Bill behind and he couldn't have that as he was an essential strong member of this team.
They slowly caught up to Nathan once again who was just waiting for his slow teammates to catch up so he could move again. He was getting a bit ticked off having to practically babysit his teammates, but he was a man of his word and wouldn't turn back down on his word.
After they had caught up with Nathan again, Bill grabbed his arm before he rush off ahead again while he gasped for air.
Nathan was disgusted by Bill grabbing his arm and swiping him away so that he would let go, but he got his message that he wanted to say something.
"What's up?" Leon asked Bill.
"This isn't working... We will definitely lose if we keep up this pace." Bill stated.
"Ah, finally! You realized it! Congratulations professor!" Nathan was taunted by clapping as he heard Bill state the obvious.
Leon shot an angry look at Nathan which didn't affect him at all, but before things could escalate, Bill continued.
"Leon, go ahead with Nathan. You two can work together to quickly cross this maze and reach the center. We need at least the two of you to reach there so that you can intercept Mako and his team if they have already defeated the Water Sentinel!" Bill said to Leon.
"What! No! I am not leaving you behind. We can do this together." Leon retaliated, but Bill cut him saying that there was no point in arguing as they both knew he was right.
"Don't worry, I'll think of something and catch up with you guys as quickly as I can, but right now we need you two to go ahead and make sure Mako doesn't win!" Bill said.
Leon wanted to argue more but knew it was useless and so he told Bill good luck and quickly activated his hardening and started following Nathan.
Nathan transformed himself into his Blood Wolf Form and quickly led the way as both Nathan and Leon brushed through the maze at record speed shocking the senior officers.
Both teams were moving fast toward the center, ready for a showdown, but what they didn't know was that a surprise was waiting for them.
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