"Are you steady?"
"Yes."
"Do you see the target?"
"I do."
"Alright, fire."
Shrouded in darkness were two figures each one wearing compact armor that covered their entire body.
One of them was holding a pair of binoculars while the other had a scopeless rifle in their hands. The rifle itself was beginning to emit a pulsing energy that could only be felt rather then heard or seen.
The energy came to a climax, and a streak of purple zipped through the air before coming to a stop nearly five hundred feet away. Then, a distant shriek sounded.
"We got em." Milo celebrated silently.
"Of course we did... and I just got the notification for the kill." Olivia replied. The rifle in her hands was illuminated by the smoking hot orange barrel. She quickly dismissed the weapon, the rifle disappearing into sparks.
"What rank?" Milo asked.
"An Awakened Devil."
"We just killed a Awakened Devil with one shot? Isn't that fantastic."
"You said it was one of a kind."
"That I did." Milo had done it, created a plasma sniper rifle... well technically it was an all in one adjustable level plasma rifle that could shoot bursts or one powerful projectile. The volatile nature of plasma made it seem impossible normally. Plasma was a burst of energy that didn't last long when exposed to the outside environment... normally at least.
Memories weren't normal and by proxy Awakened were not normal. A basic sword couldn't kill an Awakened Beast but a Dormant one could. Memories had something in them that allowed them to simply bypass the natural laws of the world and thus overpower the laws of another being. Thus, Milo applied this concept to the plasma shot out from the weapons.
Simply put, with enough willpower, the Memory could simply deny the notion that plasma would stop working when outside of the environment it was sustained in. However, the Memory suffered greatly from it, resulting in intermediate bursts that took seconds to use. Unless you wanted to destroy the Memory from overheating... which wasn't an option because this rifle took a lot of precious resources to make.
The mode that Olivia had used was what Milo liked to call the sniper rifle mode. It was the mode that you could only use once before the Memory had to be left in one's Soul Sea to recover for about five minutes.
However, in turn, it packed one hell of a punch. For reference, the plasma pistols Milo was currently mass producing for the slums of the Dark City could only leave a deep wound on Awakened Beasts after firing at the same spot nearly five times. Tested by Milo shooting at a Carapace Scavengers chitin shell until the plasma went through entirely. The plasma pistols overheated after twenty shots of consecutive firing, needing about thirty seconds to cooldown before being able to shoot twenty times again.
"Well, I think this is a job well done. What say you Milo?"
"I agree, lets go retrieve what we can before some other Nightmare Creature smells the burning flesh."
***
Two months had passed since the expedition to retrieve the Dawn Shard had began, and a lot had changed. Mostly, Sunny had successfully unlocked his first reward for the Shadow Dance. Serpent now officially belonged to him. Meaning he had a small amount of essence control that put him way ahead of the curve. Physically he could even out strength Nephis who likely had two cores at this point.
This had to be the biggest boon that Eva could unlock. Originally, Sunny unlocks it in his fight with Nephis in the Crimson Spire in a moment of desperation... in turn, Eva forced him into that desperate situation... multiple times over.
One such battle was the one against the Spire Messenger. A rather brutal one that one was, fortunately Eva had managed to charge her healing Memory before hand so she came out of the battle relatively unscathed.
Sunny also kill stole like a beast and received the Moonlight Shard... Eva was stunned by the amount of times Sunny had tried to kill her with that weapon. It was like one moment he was friendly the next the Moonlight Shard was poised for her throat.
Just like now, as Sunny's hand trembled because his willpower to break the authority the Shadow Bond had over him was just that severe.
"Drop it, Sunny." Eva commanded, and Sunny let out whispered grumbles as the Moonlight Shard disappeared.
Despite it all, Eva smiled. She was smoothly progressing, even having being given the most powerful weapon any Sleeper could hope for.
"Escaping should be no problem now."
Eva still wasn't amiss to the glare given to her by Nephis. This woman was truly terrifying anytime she noticed Sunny in extreme discomfort.
'Ah, what can I do about?'
There were much bigger things to worry about, like the impending month of battle still remaining, that would keep her occupied... enough at least. Enough to distract her from her rotting brain.
***
Milo prepared for the reunion of a lifetime. The cohort had officially returned, and with that so had Eva and Sunny...
Frankly, Milo knew attacking her there and then might've been the best bet he had. An off-guard attack was not one that even Eva might be able to defend against, especially if it was one from the plasma sniper rifle.
So, Milo planned to do just that...
'Please work.'
Milo could only repeat that like a mantra as he approached the cohort, armor on. He felt vulnerable being in anything less when meeting Eva.
The cohort themselves looked absolutely beaten and battered, ran through hell and back. The labyrinth wasn't far off from hell.
'Is this for the better or worse.'
As Milo approached, Effie moved in to greet him.
"Hey man, you cook up any new inventions for us."
Milo smiled under his helmet. At the very least, Effie was very friendly. "I did, plasma pistols, relatively mass producible. Made ten so far. You guys didn't do so bad yourself. Thirty eight claws from a Spire Messenger? Got any soul shards to make those into proper memories?"
"That we do Milo, that we do."
Meanwhile, Eva had sounded from behind her. "Woah, cool armor dude, Milo make that for you?"
Milo froze, then quickly put his glove over Effie's mouth before she could correct Eva. His left side was blocked off by Effie, preventing her from seeing the prosthetic.
Sunny interjected, his voice just low enough for Eva to hear, fortunately Milo's armor was able to pick it up and transmit it to his ears as well.
"What makes you think that isn't Milo? That armor seems way to fancy to simply be a hand off."
"Milo probably can't bring himself to face me, not after what I did."
'So she knows she did wrong!'
Milo had to keep his cool. That was easy enough to do right? He had done it countless times before... no, that was with the help of his Innate Ability. In fact, his temperament had declined because he had forgotten how to keep his emotions under control thanks to that ability doing it for him.
So, Milo's prosthetic moved up, and clenched a fist.
For a few seconds, nothing happened.
"What you doing there, Milo? Is this some sort of new celebration the outer settlement came up with?"
Eva heard what Effie said, and quickly tried to move.
ZWIP
Sunny had moved faster. He moved so fast Milo almost found himself comparing Sunny with Caster. His own mind didn't seem to register what was happening.
Sunny pushed Eva out the way with his body, and Sunny himself kept his upper half tucked low.
A streak of purple came into contact with Sunny's shoulder burning seamlessly through the leather armor there.
The next few moments moved like a blur. Milo ducked past Effie, the pauldron on his shoulder began to shift into a mounted cannon. Meanwhile, his prosthetic shot out into a thin sharp needle. His right hand began to summon a plasma pistol, this one, however, had none of the concerns of energy conversion. His Aspect Ability just allowed the damn thing to work just as powerful as the material could handle.
Eva had immediately summoned the entirety of her cobalt armor. The scaly blue steel and helmet resembling the head of a serpent gleamed under the red sun.
The other cohort members had began to move just as quickly. Caster became a blur, his green jian moving to just cleave Milo in two. Some pretty boy had readied a bow and summoned an arrow memory. Nephis, Cassia, and Effie were the only ones hesitant to take some action. Milo had no idea why Nephis and Cassia didn't move. Effie he was somewhat close friends with so that made sense.
However, at the end of the day, Effie was apart of Nephis' cohort, so she summoned her spear and shield.
Not so long after, Olivia had arrived, wielding the rifle in its burst form.
"Stop!" The shout came from Cassia. Milo didn't lower his pistol, Kai didn't lower his bow, and Effie didn't lower her spear. Caster was mere inches from cutting through Milo.
Milo was glad they were away from any fanfare. The last thing he needed was the entire outer settlement jumping to kill Milo.
Milo glanced at Eva, Caster, and Effie...
'Who cares. I have my ultimate weapon here.'
Milo pulled the trigger. This time Eva was the one to be hit in the shoulder as she barely moved her head. The plasma burnt her cobalt armor but didn't go through it.
Milo already knew Caster would come for him, so he retracted his prosthetic and caught the jian blade, much to the legacy's surprise.
He then promptly dodged a thrust from Effie's spear. His shoulder mounted cannon blasted away the arrow coming towards him.
"Stand down. You three." Nephis ordered. Caster lowered his Jian, Kai lowered his bow, and Effie lowered her spear.
Olivia had pointed her gun at Eva, the gun wasn't as effective, meaning it could be dodged easier.
"Why shouldn't I kill Eva right now?" Milo asked.
"You'll regret making an enemy out of all of us, Milo. Stop while I'm still offering mercy... dispute your problems after we leave the Dream Realm."
***
Eva felt so delighted, was Nephis really standing up for her? Maybe she had managed to find some space in her burning passion to destroy the Nightmare Spell and the Dream Realm! Unfortunately, Milo didn't seem keen on taking that deal.
"I promise you this Milo. I'll let you get your revenge once we escape the Dream Realm."
Eva was lying right out of her teeth. She knew that, she was going to get back home no matter what.
Milo didn't move, that person beside him didn't move. Both of them were menacing, seriously. That armor looked like no joke. The dark grey metal alloy and digital blue accent made them look like some futuristic special task force.
'So, Sunny decided to withhold the fact that Milo gained a partner from me huh.'
Then, a sigh reverberated from the armor.
"Alright, but we won't be participating in the upcoming battle for the throne. I've already distributed the weapons I've made among your supporters. The rest it up to you."
Milo and his partner walked away, Eva felt like screaming. Milo was an absolute powerhouse, he could've shortened the time of the war just like that! Why had Carmen even left info like that in the [Proof of Cooperation Lite]?
'Damnit!'
Eva withheld her complaints... they still had to prepare for the war. This was manageable.
***
"Why'd we walk away?" Olivia asked. She had no personal quarrel with Eva, so she wasn't as effected as Milo currently was.
"We wouldn't have been able to win, not without risking our lives."
"I wouldn't mind that-"
"I can't lose you." Milo confessed... it was unreasonable... no, no it wasn't.
Out of everyone Milo had met in this place, he felt like he really only clicked with Olivia. He had no one back home, outside of relatives he hadn't seen in nearly a year. The first person he was considering contacting when he got back was Callum.
That was it. His immediate family was dead, and he had no real friends outside of Callum. Perhaps that was why he felt this overwhelming need to keep Olivia out of danger. She was one of the only things he had left, the only thing keeping him from being alone in the Forgotten Shores. He'd be damned if he let her die here for his revenge. Revenge was something for him to get, not for her.
She was just helping a friend in her eyes, she had no personal grudge against Eva. She had no reason to give up her life, and frankly Milo didn't want her to.
If he didn't die pursuing his revenge against Eva, then he would still have a reason to live in Olivia. To help her just as she helped him.
"Revenge is something for me to get... I don't want you to lose your life over my grudge."
Olivia shook her head. "I care about you, and Eva hurt you. That's more then enough for me to give up my life."
Milo didn't know how to respond, and so he didn't. The two walked their way to the hut.
Both their ultimate weapons had been revealed, Milo's was Olivia and the plasma rifle that nearly domed Eva if it wasn't for Eva's ultimate weapon. Sunny was Eva's ultimate weapon
It was apparent that something had been leveraged against him. Something that Eva took advantage of to the point where his body was responding before he himself could register what the threat was. So, in the end, there was only one solution
'I have to kill Sunny.'