Now that I was in a hidden place, uncontested, I could finally focus on controlling all of my proxies without interruption. It were as if I was back in the hive mind control room, connected to all those Angels with an overview of the battlefield. But this time, I had no view through their perspectives, nor a view of the battleground itself.
I could only count on the senses of my proxies.
Commanding a large number of units in a war-like setting is nothing new to me.
Although I was at a disadvantage from a general standpoint, to me, it was like revisiting the old days. I had my experience in the Invidan War to count-on—all of my mistakes to learn from. Except this time, I had no other commanders to assist me with their Fractals. This was a head-to-head duel between two Fractless.
Shuck—!!!
In a single instant, I suddenly felt the disconnection of 12 of my proxies all at once. Their lives withered away as every single one of their heads rolled along the floor.
"Your units lack combat prowess. Was that seriously all that they could do?"
Enzo's words were condescending like usual. But what shocked me the most was how he'd synchronized all their executions at once.
"What did you do?"
"I delayed no further." He laughed up a storm. "You wanted them to contest me, right? So you could get away to your current hiding spot, on the third underground level in that building."
How does he know that?
"Come on, Klyson. Before you, there was me. I know all of Soho's tendencies—her spots, her Fractal's uses. I was only entertaining what you wanted to do in order to level the playing field. It doesn't take away from the fact that I could end you in this exact moment."
Rage swelled from within me. "Then try!"
"No. I'll play the game first. I'll eradicate every single one of your proxies before getting to you so that you know they never would have made a difference in the outcome. You'll have nothing left to hide behind once I'm done with your colonies.."
"What are you even trying to get at?"
"I'm trying to make a point, Klyson. Whether it's just you alone, or you and an entire army, it won't make much of a difference against me. I could have killed you in the instance of that very first assault, but I let you get away so that you could have a chance at countering. Where's the fun in this game if I killed you right off the bat?" I could sense the sinister smile forming on his face. "I'll step on you like the ant you've become."
My heart rate shot up in an instant. It felt like I was talking to a demon.
He's doing all of this just to enjoy himself.
Malicious, malevolent, despicable being of overbearing pride. Enzo was the worst of the worst, only doing things in a way that would fuel his everlasting ego.
I wanted to shut him down so badly.
First Colony, diverge.
With my commands now mental, so that Enzo wouldn't hear what I was doing, I split the remnants of my first proxy group—originally 60, but now 48—into an equal divide of 24 and 24. My focus right now was to set a counter on Enzo's first ambush group, the only 13 Angels currently on ground floor.
The remaining 87 of his Angels are stationary atop numerous building roofs across downtown Melysia. They must all currently be on standby.
With that in mind, I sent the first 24 proxies right down the middle in open sight to engage with his Angels, while the other 24 flanked out-of-sight in a parallel street.
Just like I'd practiced all the time in the simulations.
I was executing my ace-in-the-sleeve plan that took advantage of misdirection.
Engage and distract with the open frontline, while an extra unit flanks undetected for an unpredictable attack.
"Ambitious of you," Enzo said. His Angels immediately turned their attention towards my incoming proxy division. Now that I had my full undivided attention on Enzo's numbers, I could finally get a sense of how his strength worked. Since the moment in New Zina where his 20 Angels alone took out their entire frontline, until the most recent instance where he'd eradicated my 12 proxies in a single moment, I'd never stopped to fully observe how he executed those attacks so effectively.
Now was the time for me to discover his strength upfront.
"Rush."
Enzo's single word immediately initiated motion in all 12 Angels. With instant velocity, they all burst forwards with incredible speed towards my line of proxies.
His defensive measure is immediate offense—?!
I'd recognized by now that Enzo's Angels were not just numbers, but they were individually strong. A single Angel of his versus a single proxy of mine would be a one-sided matchup. Enzo's Angels had matched my proxies' formation—a single-layered horizontal line, like a wall of units that all moved forwards together. If our units engaged like this, his Angels could easily overthrow my proxies even if they outnumbered them. I had to condense the arrangement to create a higher density of defense for their assault.
Merge.
The proxies followed suit of my command, falling behind one another, forming a rounded formation that moved altogether. Now, even if Enzo's Angels wiped-out the first layer of proxies in my arrangement, there were numerous backlines more to counter.
Enzo scoffed.
"Blitz."
His line of Angels instantaneously converged towards the forefront of my proxies, like a spear drilling directly into flesh. As they engaged, Enzo's Angels exploded with aggressive power, moving erratically to avoid my proxies' attacks and striking as they weaved. Through what I could sense in my proxies, every strike one of Enzo's Angels landed was fatal, with every single one targeting a pivotal point in the body. One after the other, I could feel my proxies dropping as blood spread about, having their bones snapped, muscles punctured, and limbs ripped apart.
What's happening—!?!
It was a rush of attacks I would have never predicted. As if they were all feral animals on the verge of turning rabid, Enzo's Angels tore through my proxies with absolute brutality. No matter what my proxies did to attack, or try to defend, the Angels were simply faster—executing their moves before my proxies could even react.
"Seriously?" Enzo cackled in my ear. "I thought you awakened? Where the hell is your Fractless ability?"
All 24 of my frontline proxies were dead. Standing over their bodies were bloodstained Angels, dripping with the glory of a psychopath.
"Surely you've just forgotten about it since you're using a Fractal, right? Because that was absolutely hideous. If I'm going to show you my Fractless power, then it's only fair you show me yours in return."
It were as if a bulb had lit-up in my head. I'd been so overstimulated by the use of Control, I'd forgotten entirely about my roots.
I was a Fractless at heart.
Can I transfer the use of Flow State to my proxies…?
"The awakened, initialized, and aroused state of a Fractless. You've discovered it, haven't you? It's the only way I can justify the idea of you being a 'serial killer.' Or should I say, HP Fractal executioner?"
"The ability to counter HP Fractals. I have it," I replied.
"So do I. But I wonder if our abilities work similarly, or not?"
I furrowed my eyebrows. "You expect me to fill you in on my trump card?"
Enzo laughed. "You're so sensitive, Klyson. I'm just curious, as one Fractless to another. We're like brothers, aren't we? I'll even tell you how mine works."
So cocky as always.
"I've even come up with a name for it. The Adrenaline State. When my potential activates, I think and move faster than the world itself. Reality around me can't keep up. My energy and strength becomes so rampant, I'm bursting with motion that can't contain itself."
The 'Adrenaline State'? It sounds like the exact opposite to Flow State.
As Enzo had described, his Fractless potential ability caused his instincts to move faster than the rate that the world moved. For me, it was the opposite. Flow State made the world slow down to match the rate of my instincts instead.
We are the opposite sides of the same coin. He's heads, and I'm tails.
Both of our Fractless 'states' were just our bodies' interpretations of adjusting to how fast reality moved. Enzo had adapted by moving faster, while I'd adapted by having the world move slower. If a gun were fired at Enzo, he'd move quicker to avoid it than the time it would take for the bullet to reach him. If a gun were fired at me, I'd perceive the bullet to move slow enough so I could avoid it with my own speed.
But whose Fractless 'state' was stronger?
"I don't need to know how yours works," Enzo said. "All I know is you haven't used it yet."
"I haven't."
"Then use it." He was suddenly stern. "You're offending me by not putting your all into this duel. I'm the strongest individual you've ever faced, so you better put everything you have on the line."
So arrogant. So prideful. So egotistic and full of yourself.
"Show me the monster that you've become, Klyson. Otherwise, you're just going to end up as an ant like the rest of Melysia. Do you want to be squashed?"
I was done listening to Enzo's continued torment. If he wanted my full potential to come out, then I was going to give it to him.
Eradicate.
My flanking colony had just appeared right behind Enzo's Angels.