Having hung-up the call with Enzo, I could no longer gauge what he planned to do based on his vocal commands such as 'rush' or 'blitz.' This was a pure testament to my senses' capabilities to detect what was going on in the battlefield. With Flow State Magnified constantly active, this wouldn't be a problem. It would all be worth it, considering the new advantage just deployed to the field.
"Approaching position," Soho said.
Even if Enzo could see everything as it happened from his overlord view, I doubted he would expect what we had in store using Coefficient of Friction.
"Static and Kinetic, how large is your range on them?"
"I've just recently learned how to scale overlapping surfaces."
Soho's new development came with being able to use Static or Kinetic over not just a singular surface, but numerous as long as they were considered to 'overlap.'
"If they're distinguishly segmented, it wouldn't work. But if the surfaces are connected in a way where my Fractal considers it all a single surface, it can work."
The revelation sparked newfound ideas in my mind. I considered the positions of my proxies, and the positions of Enzo's Angels. While he had 13 on the ground right now, 61 more were stationary atop numerous buildings across downtown Melysia.
"Buildings… Would your Fractal consider a building a single surface?"
"Hmm… A building and the ground it is attached to are considered two separate surfaces. But do you mean just the building itself?"
"Yes. Can a building, with all five of its sides, including the roof, be considered a single surface altogether?"
Soho had pondered that thought for a moment before confirming.
"It would work. I can activate Static or Kinetic on the entirety of a building, even if I only apply to a single side. It would all count as one surface."
My new plan was to stop playing into Enzo's hands. Until now, I only entertained the Angels he deployed to the ground while he kept the rest at bay atop the roofs. But this wasn't a tag-team or anything.
Who said I couldn't shift my focus onto his inactive Angels?
"Enzo has his Angels scattered atop the roofs of buildings across downtown Melysia. If you were to activate Kinetic on one of these buildings, could it cause the Angels atop to slip and potentially fall off?"
"It could. But I can only do it to one building at a time, and you said these Angels were scattered across the city."
"What if I gathered all of them atop a single roof?"
"Then you'd be onto something."
The plan was set-forth. I began the movement of my proxies.
"Second Colony, diverge. Third Colony, diverge four ways."
I'd segregated my proxies into six separate groups of 15.
"Spread throughout. Lead them all to the position."
That position was exactly where Soho was situated—one of tallest and thinnest skyscrapers in the city, right at its base. But we chose this building for a very particular reason.
Its roof was slanted.
"Ready whenever you are, Klyson."
Her Fractal was on standby, ready to be applied to the building interpreted as a single surface.
"I'll make the call."
Before being able to use Coefficient of Friction as intended, I had to get all of Enzo's Angels atop that single roof first.
Flow State, Magnified.
All of my proxies moved swiftly throughout the city. I had to chase down the separate Angels and drive them to the intended position, but that was assuming that they'd run. With Absolute Adrenaline State active by Enzo, there was a chance that they would just counter on the spot. But to Enzo's mistake, none of his Angels were grouped in numbers larger than five. Even if they were individually stronger, my higher group numbers would pressure them enough to evade.
Then, the first encounter occurred.
Jolt—!
15 of my proxies had come across five of Enzo's angels on a rooftop, and their reaction was immediate—an instant explosion of movement towards my proxies.
Enzo isn't the type to defend. He defends by attacking first.
I knew that fact by now, which is why I chose specifically 15 proxies. 10 to defend against his Angels' attacks, and a remaining five to push them back with our own offense. In the engagement, our units did exactly that.
Thud—!
My proxies blocked their attacks, confining the Angels' movements for a staggering moment, in which the remnant proxies pushed forwards to pressure them back. The idea worked, and the under-numbered Angels would fall back off the parry. I began to sense this same event occurring across downtown Melysia as my other proxy groups encountered the other Angels. As they all fell back off the offense, I made sure my proxies applied more pressure in pursuit. This instigated a chase set by my proxies on the Angels, as they ran and hopped from roof-to-roof.
"Group A, direct northwest. Group B, direct northeast. Group C, direct west. Group D, direct southwest. Group E, direct north. Group F, direct east."
Like a circle that began to close-in on a single point, all my separate proxy groups chased the segregated Angels towards a central landmark at which Soho was located. What I assumed to be Enzo's preference to keep these Angels atop the buildings to maintain a height advantage worked exactly in my favor. Because, if they could all get on top of the roof of the intended building, Soho and I could set the finale to our plan in motion.
"Progress status?" Soho asked. "I can hear a rumble overhead getting closer to my building."
"Those are the proxies and Angels. I'm leading all of them to your position right now."
In that moment, as Soho looked up, the silhouettes of dozens flew overhead from all directions, landing on the rooftop of her designated building. She had a shaking moment of hesitation, waiting for my call.
"All the Angels are on the roof! Do it, Soho!!"
She planted her foot against the building wall.
"Kinetic, 100%!!"
All friction was lost across all surfaces of the building, including the slanted rooftop where 61 of Enzo's Angels stood. With Coefficient of Friction tradition, their feet lost grip of the surface as they all began to slip down the direction of the roof's slant. Soon, they would all fly off the roof of the building with no control over their direction.
This is checkmate.