"Shit," Nox cursed as he looked around.
They were currently completely surrounded by Eclipsed and for some reason, he was getting bad feeling.
A feeling which was confirmed by the watch he currently wore,
[Warning: Safety parameters have been removed, multiple tier 3 Eclipsed has been generated.]
Nox's eyes went blank as he read the message, he blinked multiple times to ensure his eyes weren't tricking him as he reread the message.
Ayla, by his side, didn't seem to have any reaction to it...though that just seemed to be her 'normal' reaction to everything.
"We're surrounded," she stated, helpfully.
"I can see that," Nox answered with a frown, before turning to her, "any ideas?"
She seemed to think about it for a second or two before replying, "we kill them?"
"That's your plan?" He asked, as if that wasn't obvious enough.
"Yes, is it not correct?" She asked innocently
"No, I mean, YES, but..." He let out a loud sigh, still keeping an eye on the Eclipsed that hadn't made a move yet, "forget it, what does your solar tech do?"
"Solar tech?" She asked a bit confused.
Nox looked at her in surprise before explaining, "…Yes? Your gear? The thing you've been using to take down the Eclipsed."
Well, she looked as confused as ever now. It seemed as if she had no idea what he was talking about... Until a while later, when realization dawned on her .
"Ah, right. My… Solar tech." She nodded mechanically.
Nox raised a brow but he didn't question her reaction, "okay… and what does yours do?"
"I...I can control shadows?" It sounded more like a question than a reply.
That was strange, most solar tech he had heard of were light based but a shadow one? Maybe some kind of new model?
"Good, you'll handle those —"
Before his words could be completed, one of the Eclipsed let out a loud roar which seemed to be a signal for the rest to attack and they soon lunged at them.
Guided by instincts, he teleported away from his previous spot as one of the Eclipsed crashed there.
He looked back to make sure Ayla was okay, only to see that she had also teleported away and in her place was an Eclipsed kebab.
Most of the Eclipsed that attack her were now pinned to the ground by a black spike.
But he didn't get the chance to say anything before he suddenly jumped out of the way to avoid the claw of a primal.
The ground suffered the full force of the attack as a crater the shape of the claws were created.
Before he could catch his breath, another primal lunged at him, but before it could reach him, a black rope like object rose from the ground and coiled around its neck.
Nox could see in slow motion as the black rope firmly tightened around it before pulling it towards the floor with full force.
Boom!
The ground shook and the Eclipsed slammed into it, creating a crater.
"You okay?" Ayla asked flatly as she appeared by his side.
He stared at the bisected Eclipsed behind her… then at the flattened one beside him… then at her empty hands.
"Yeah, I'm good." He answered.
"Good," she nodded, already turning as another pair of Eclipsed launched themselves towards her.
The poor creatures didn't even get to register what hit them before spikes rose from the ground and went cleanly through their skulls.
Though Nox didn't get the chance to admire her display of power as he quickly sucked to save his neck.
"Fuck," He rolled back, narrowly avoiding the follow-up strike.
This Eclipsed looked like a wolf type, which reminded him of the one that attacked the slums...the one that almost killed him.
The Eclipsed crouched low and launched itself towards him, but unlike the slums, he wasn't powerless against this one.
Nox teleported upward, reappearing above the creature mid-air.
"Not this time."
His gauntleted fist swung down with all the Solar Energy his body would let him channel into the gauntlets.
BOOM!
The impact cratered the wolf-type Eclipsed's skull into the dirt and the shockwave kicked up leaves and dust around him as he landed in a crouch.
He barely had time to breathe before two more lunged at him from opposite sides.
"Shit—!"
Golden light covered him as he teleported out of their way, causing them to collide with each other instead.
Not giving them a chance to recover, he swung his gauntleted fist towards the two and with a boom, they were launched towards a tree.
The watch confirmed that they were both dead and it issued him his points but he didn't let down his guard just yet, not until he looked around the battle field to see that all the Eclipsed were either in craters or were skewered.
He let out a small huff as he crashed into the forest floor before looking down at the Gauntlets.
They seemed to have been overworked again and this time, it'd be a lot harder for him to fix.
"You did good," he muttered to them before taking it off and sending it into his inventory.
He then took out the daggers and looked at them, "guess it's your turn now."
Ayla approached while he sat down and said, "I'm done."
"Hmm," he nodded, "let's rest a little."
Fighting multiple Eclipsed had taken quite the stamina, but luckily, thank every star, none of the ones surrounding them were tier threes.
Well, it seemed his thoughts just successfully jinxed them because the next second, Ayla just turned towards a certain direction, her emotionless eyes focusing on that direction.
Before he had the chance to ask, Ayla spoke up.
"One is coming," she said simply.
Nox immediately felt his stomach drop.
"One Tier 3?" he asked cautiously.
Ayla shook her head.
"Not one," she corrected, "three."
Nox's jaw dropped.
"Three?! Right now?!"
Before panic could swallow him, Ayla looked at him with that same emotionless expression and said:
"Do you want to run?"
Running sounded great, no it sounded incredible, it also sounded like the only way to not die in the next few seconds.
"…Yes," he answered with a nod.
But Ayla thought about his answer for a while before she answered,
"I don't think that's possible anymore."
With her words, the ground suddenly started shaking due to the vibration caused by heavy, but hurried steps.
The sound of trees falling could be heard and soon enough, the Eclipsed were revealed.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!"