"IACULUM FRIGIDUM!!"
"Not fast enough?" Antonio was stunned; the attack was too swift, despite his foresight. One soldier was instantly cut down, their Dinoera crystal shattered. The remaining five immediately activated their Karma but couldn't see the enemy.
"What was that? Sojkear… he's dead?" The soldiers looked at each other, bewildered.
Before anyone could fully process the shock, another slash came, this time Antonio managed to block it fully.
"Dasader!!!??"
A Dasader insignia appeared before him, firmly attached to his enemy's sleeve.
"Fall back!!"
CRACKLE
The soldiers supported Antonio in battle; a volley of rocket arrows flew, embedding themselves in both Antonio and the Dasader operative. Struck by the projectiles, Dasader retreated, using teleportation to distance himself.
"We're pulling back first, we need to preserve Kobis's information…" As they spoke, the five men coordinated, using their pre-prepared teleportation.
"Understood!"
SWISH
Dasader lunged, slashing directly at Antonio, probing his strength. The recent skirmish with the minor soldiers had already depleted Antonio's Dinoera by nearly half. Even a basic enemy slash now posed a challenge.
"Did this guy eat an entire Odergard sapling?" he wondered.
Dasader's cut had shattered a portion of Antonio's Karma.
"Kids like you should just stay home… too pathetic…"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Dasader dodged to the right, delivering another slash. Antonio's Karshia put him at a significant disadvantage in close-quarters combat like this. His opponent's movements were too fast; before Antonio could even finish his thought, he was hit again. This time, it was at his neck.
SWISH
His neck was slashed. Though he had quickly armored it with Karma, the cut still went deep and clean. Struck by the blow, Antonio staggered, unable to stand firm. Using Dinoera for recovery left him with less than a third of his total energy.
"You hide your Dinoera well… pull it out quickly, I'll make it hurt less…"
"Securi Tenebrarum!!" He unleashed a vertical strike aimed at Antonio's entire body, intending to easily locate his Dinoera crystal.
"GLOBUS GLACIEI!!!"
Using a bit of Dinoera, Antonio created an ice sphere to block the attack. Dasader attempted a follow-up slash but was a step too slow. His sword was knocked away by Antonio's Karshia. Disarmed, he resorted to punching. His Kartocus, even without a weapon, generated immense force from its Karma-infused strike.
THWUMP
He punched Antonio directly in the stomach, sending him flying backward.
"What?! This guy didn't cover his stomach with Karma?" He wondered in surprise after Antonio absorbed the full force of his punch.
But he didn't dwell on it, sharply turning to pick up his sword.
"Idiot!"
"Myrias Glacialis!!!" A barrage of arrows launched by Antonio, splitting his Dinoera for multiple projectiles. Dasader, having just picked up his sword, struggled desperately to deflect the relentless incoming arrows.
"Damn it, was he pretending to get punched to create distance?"
His Dinoera was rapidly depleting, the arrows' speed remained constant, and his arm was growing tired.
"This bastard is siphoning my Dinoera. Run! Run now!"
He twisted his body, using his remaining Dinoera to escape. But Antonio didn't let him. He delivered a final thrust from his Karshia within the last volley of arrows. The thrust plunged directly into Dasader's chest but missed the crystal; it grazed past, chipping it slightly. This inadvertently hindered Dinoera recovery within Dasader.
"ANTONIO!!!!" Meuner arrived to support him, having just received the news from the reconnaissance unit.
"RIVUS IGNIFER!!!!!!!" Meuner used his Karma, a Kartocus of magma. He closed in, subduing Dasader with Ulter stalactites—a substance with significant Karma-restraining power.
Antonio's Dinoera reached critical levels, and he passed out, while Dasader committed suicide.
After the battle, Antonio was brought to a dilapidated civilian house on the edge of the village to recover. A medic was tending to the wound on his neck, murmuring something to the homeowner—a thin old man with cloudy, age-worn eyes.
Antonio was arranged to rest on the second floor, along with the other two. The remaining soldiers—mostly reconnaissance and logistics—rested on the first floor. Outside, the village was guarded by newly arrived officers who divided the task of securing every corner; all vital positions were now manned.
While the sounds of cursing mingled with the cleaning of weapons still echoed from downstairs, Meuner—his face grimmer than usual—turned to the reconnaissance group.
"Can you decipher this?"
"Huh? What is it?" A young soldier turned, looking bewildered.
Meuner slowly reached into his inner jacket pocket. He pulled out a cylindrical tube, about a handspan long, made of a special black stone—Ulter. The light from the lamp reflected off the tube's surface, revealing a distinct purplish-black hue.
"Don't tell me… a Karma crystal collector?" A scout squinted, surprised. "Where did you get this?"
"From his body. Any more questions?"
"But… you weren't tasked with bringing this back. You were supposed to just protect us…"
"Who said we couldn't bring it?" Meuner snarled, his gaze making the soldier swallow the rest of his sentence.
Another man took the stone tube, turning it over and over before grimacing. "It really is Ulter. We don't have the capability to open it. This type can't be opened in the usual way. Can you help?"
"Yes. Once it's open, put it in that processor, right?"
"That's right. Place it in this slot."
Pop
The tube's cap sprang open. Instantly, a brilliant black light flared from within the tube. Small, bead-like Karma crystals, glowing intensely, shot out into the air.
Whoosh—ooooo!
They flew wildly around the room, a few piercing the roof, leaving circular burnt holes. Meuner frowned, instinctively raising a hand to shield himself.
"You took too many…" A soldier exclaimed, his heart pounding as he watched the crystal fragments fall to the floor.
"Leave it to me." Meuner stepped forward, raising his hand to draw all remaining crystals back into the tube, then placed it into the processor.
A voice spoke from behind. "Why are you deciphering that?" It was Irvich—the officer assigned to the same mission as him and Antonio.
Meuner didn't turn around. "To see if there's anything useful. Each crystal stores a part of a memory. It could be images, information."
"But what do you intend to do with it?" Irvich pressed.
"If there's important news, we'll know what they're targeting. If not, at least we'll know who's dying for whom."
A moment later, the processor emitted a beeping sound, and then a blurry screen displayed a string of characters.
"Casia… Lomentuk… Ayaloro…" Meuner mumbled each name as it appeared.
"Sounds like people's names," Irvich leaned closer.
"Right…" the person next to him nodded, "Casia is a mechanical engineer from Delta squadron… And Meyosaka…" he paused, "…is an operations engineer from my group. He was just killed by Dasader."
"That Sojkear guy, you mean?"
"Yes..."
Suddenly, a heavy silence fell over the room. Wind whistled through the punctured roof tiles, blowing the scorched curtain askew.
Irvich turned to look at Meuner. "All of them… are engineers?"
"Potentially," Meuner nodded, his eyes fixed on the scrolling names. "And if so… then this isn't just a regular attack. They're trying to wipe out our research."
"Perhaps they want to disable our reconnaissance and intelligence forces," Irvich said.
"Meyosaka is dead, but we need to observe Floravon's air force movements tomorrow. Some operations engineers are still in Ostervich."
"How far is that?" Meuner asked.
"About forty miles."
"I'll go. I didn't help much today anyway…"
"I know the way; it'll be faster," Irvich added.
No one objected. Meuner said nothing either, he bid farewell to everyone and set off. The Kobis station was still being built by another squad and would be active overnight.