SL: Chapter 709 – Day Unknown – Last Gasp

“Winning?” Clarissa asked me as we gathered back togeather. Both the sphere and our team seemed to agree to take a brief pause before continuing.

“Hard to say really. Too low on energy. I hit it with quite a bit,” I replied.

“We are out as well,” she replied, and I nodded at this while keeping an eye on the sphere and the surroundings. “That last bomb was it, unless I start touching things that shouldn’t be touched.” I shook my helmeted head at this.

“No. Let’s not risk that. Store me,” I said and she held out the portable store rod. I grabbed it and made my purchase. A Magnite pick. Grabbing it with my bloody and damaged right hand, I headed back towards the sphere.

I would beat it to death if I had to. I was not coming back for a round four after all of this. “AH!” I swung and struck it. The point bounced off its shiny surface. I swung over and over. The sphere didn’t respond to my attacks and appeared to be struggling as it slowly became dimmer.

Whatever reserve of energy it was drawing on, had run out as well. I was slowly winning this fight through pure stubbornness.

“Die!”

“Break!”

“Ahhh!”

I shouted mindless things as I swung. The pain and exhaustion I was feeling were hitting me quite hard, as I rained down blow after blow. I wasn’t about to let this stupid glowing chunk of whatever it was win.

“PULSE.”

I slammed the pick into a crack on the surface of the sphere, wedging the tip of the pick in. I then spun and grabbed a stack of Magnite plates nearby that Clarissa and her team had moved into position, bringing them between myself and the sphere.

A wave of white energy pushed from the sphere, erasing quite a bit. “Pick me!” I held out my bloody hand and a another pick came flying into it, without me having to look. I didn’t take my gaze off the sphere. The first pick had been vaporized.

Clarissa got to work on setting up more defenses as I went back to swinging. “You think. You can win? With the same tricks?” I said in between each swing. This sphere had an intelligence. If I couldn’t kill it by hitting it, I would enrage it to death. It was specialty after all.

I slammed the pick down once more and it bent. I tossed it to the side. “Wedge and hammer!” Clarissa shouted out. I grabbed the items. I was glad someone was thinking about what to do. I slammed the wedge into a crack on the sphere. I then brought back the large hammer back and swung it down. It was like hitting solid steel, there was no give.

But I knew that the sphere was struggling. There was no proof, but I knew it. You didn’t let something hit you over and over if you were doing well. This stupid thing was going down no matter what. I swung the hammer again and again.

I was running less on energy and more on spite at this point, but I didn’t stop. The sphere was finally out of tricks, out of energy, and I wasn’t going to give it one last chance to recover. Once an enemy was on the ropes, you had to finish them off, no mercy.

Clarissa’s two goons had come out with some weird drill contraption. They slammed it into another small crack and began turning it around and around.

“NO. THE END AND THE BEGINNING. THE THOUSAND THOUSAND ACROSS THE FIRMAMENT. YOU SHALL BE DRAGGED TO YOUR DEATHS. NO SURRENDUR. NO DEFEAT. RECONFIGURE!”

“Back!” I shouted. I quickly got distance, but Clarissa’s two soldiers weren’t as quick. Conner and Gregor were hit by a wave of energy and shrapnel as the outer portion of the sphere exploded outwards leaving a head size, much smaller glowing white sphere behind. I got behind several Magnite plates in time.

Their bodies slowly disintegrated as they screamed. Clarssia was nearby and gave me a tired look through her helmet. I was feeling the same way. Did there really have to be a final phase? Couldn’t it just die peacefully instead of whipping out some final trump card?

“Container,” I said. Clarissa hesitated for a single moment before making the purchase, understanding what I planned to do. The sphere’s energy in the surrounding environment was increasing. That was a bad sign. Whatever it was trying to reconfigure couldn’t be allowed to happen.

I flew back towards the sphere with the large container open. I had no doubt it was confused about what was going to happen. I snapped the container closed around the sphere. The high grade material blocking off most of its energy. I turned and Clarissa was already passing me another slightly container. I snapped it shut around the smaller container.

A total of three containers were placed around the sphere, the sphere’s energy in the surrounding environment had been completely cut off. “We won?” Clarissa asked me nervously, while poking her head around a stack of Magnite plates.

I pushed the containers, they didn’t budge and felt hot. “No, and I think the sphere is quite mad. But it is burning off more energy trying to escape. Whatever it had planned, I think it was interrupted at least,” I replied.

No final boss phases here. The sphere had clearly condensed all its power to a smaller form in preparation for a big move. Well size had an advantage when you were immobile, to prevent being trapped.

“Now what?” Clarissa asked, which was a very good question that I didn’t have an answer for. We were back to a stalemate with the sphere. I noticed her looking where her two soldiers died. A shame they hadn’t made it. I liked their bravery, but they just weren’t strong enough and gave it their all.

“I am recovering energy slowly, since the sphere has been cut off. More boxes,” I said and Clarissa nodded. If I had energy I could finish this battle. We began to purchase more and more containers, enclosing the sphere in layer of layer of the Magnite material from the store.

The more energy I was able to recover safely, the better it would me. Already I could feel my body on the edge of everything it had been put through. After this fight, I was going to take a long rest before grinding again.

After the tenth container, Clarissa had us pause while she switched out the crystals powering the helmets. That was good thinking, since they were almost out and if a fight started up again, there wouldn’t be time to mess with the helmets.

“What do you think this place is?” Clarissa finally asked after we just kept waiting in silence for a while.

“I am too tired to try and figure it out. Rainbow dimension is good enough for me. You should get ready with the exit portal. Once I destroy the sphere, I suspect there might be a massive explosion or something else that isn’t good,” I replied.

“I will set up over there,” she said and pointed at the edge of the chamber we were in near one of the holes that the sphere had made with its beam attacks. She planned to seal the opening off and set up there. I nodded at this.

“Shout when you are done. I am going to keep watch,” I replied. Clarissa had no objections and got to work.

Note to self, do not get trapped in a box mid-battle. It is a highly embarrassing way to lose. I couldn’t help but think this while looking at the layers of boxes we had put around the sphere. I reached out and touched the outer most one. It was warm and getting warmer. The sphere was struggling to break out. The extra layers were a good idea.

Just like it made us waste energy to reach it, we would make the sphere waste energy to break free. Turn about was fair play after all. If it didn’t want to be a mindless alien and treated like one, it should have had a conversation with us. Whatever nonsense it went on about with the thousand thousand, there was only one sphere in the Systemic Lands or this rainbow dimension.

I wasn’t about to worry about its friends. If we beat one, we could beat another one. This fight had taught me enough about this type of enemy that I wasn’t overly worried about a round two. It would be difficult, but knowing a fight was winnable was half the battle.

“You should have made peace, not war you stupid sphere,” I said quietly. There was no response. I didn’t expect one. It was clearly had alien thoughts. That made me think about the Almighty System. I swore that if I didn’t get a meta point for saving the Systemic Lands I was going to demand a refund of all my efforts. Sure I was saving myself, but I should get some credit, like a firefighter. I was a sphere fighter and sphere fighters should get paid in meta points.

Giving another boost to my stats would be huge and make me untouchable. The first meta point had been incredibly useful for putting me above everyone else. No need to over think things. I would go with what worked rather than trying to pick something else.

Why couldn’t things or people talk out their differences? At a certain level of strength, fighting was just exhausting and painful. The energy contamination from this adventure would take a while to clear up. The injuries I had suffered were partially cursed, those beam attacks from the golems were quite heavy.

I had earned a nice rest after this nightmare. I would find some place quiet, and relax. The biggest question after this battle was the portable store. I wanted one badly. While I respected Clarissa, such an item was critical for both of us. She had revealed it to draw me into this battle, but there would be consequences afterwards.

If I let it out of my sight I would never see that portable store of hers ever again. It was strategic freedom from the paradigm of the cities and their pillars. Being able to stay out in the zones and constantly exchange crystals for points was a ridiculous advantage. While it didn’t provide regeneration, everything else allowed a person to effectively operate independent of any city or government.

Would this be the end of my relationship with Clarissa? Maybe, it was hard to say what her thoughts were. While I knew her very well, she was one of the few people willing to stand up to me and not back down. If it wound up in a fight, she was the only person who might have a chance at beating me, especially when I was worn down.

I noted she didn’t use much energy in the battle with the golems or the sphere. I didn’t expect her to, but it was noticeable and concerning. The real danger was her trying to escape this rainbow dimension without me, leaving me here to choke to death when my air ran out. That would be the easiest and quickest way to kill me.

So while I kept an eye on the containers, I was also watching Clarissa in the distance for any signs of betrayal as well.