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Chapter 216: Shock and Awe
🕑 Added 2024-11-28 23:12:37 +0000 UTCChapter 216: Shock and Awe
Emma backed away from the ledge immediately after dropping the payload, making sure to put some solid ground between them. Even so, the explosion was shockingly loud, making her teeth rattle and leaving a distinct ringing noise in her ears.
[It’s a good thing this body is temporary, because you’ve got tinnitus.]
True enough, while the light was gone in a flash and the floaters in her vision soon followed, the persistent buzzing in her ears remained, clinging stubbornly to the edge of her hearing. It was quiet enough that Emma was able to tune it out by refocusing on the action, peering back over the ledge to check on the state of the remaining girl.
“Is she dead?” Emma blinked, seeing her prone form sprawled along the floor, her head down in a slowly expanding pool of blood. “That was a flashbang, right?”
[They’re supposed to be less lethal, but at the end of the day, they’re still compact explosive devices, even if there’s no shrapnel by design. Taking that shockwave point blank to the head will kill.]
“Guess I timed it just right then,” Emma shrugged.
She’d anticipated an easy kill anyway, dropping down on a stunned opponent, so this only saved her a a bit of time, rather than changing the course of the battle in any way. Emma still did her due diligence, searching the three bodies left behind, but there was little of note to be found. The flintlock was irreparably damaged, the barrel bent ninety degrees, while neither of the machetes boasted any special property nor came with a sheath, making them somewhat of a liability. Emma was contemplating bringing one regardless, perhaps by fashioning a makeshift belt to attach it to, when the sky lit up in flares of red. Ten wooden crates descended, falling slowly to the ground with the aid of parachutes, spread roughly equally across the remaining battlefield.
“A supply drop,” Emma murmured, keeping an eye on the closest crate as it drifted towards her. “We’re really hitting all the battle royale tropes tonight.”
Emma wasn’t sure if the distribution was rigged, or she was simply very lucky, because the crate she’d been watching landed just a few feet away, barely needing her to move to collect it, and she’d just cleared out the nearby opponents, leaving no competition for the goods. That wasn’t the case everywhere, of course, and there were still more than ten combatants remaining, leading to a fresh exchange of shouts, screams and gunshots in the periphery. The loot thus far had been pretty sparse, so nobody was going to pass up the chance to get something better for the final rounds.
[There can’t be more than twenty people remaining, and that number will be close to ten by the time the final crate is emptied.]
“All of the casuals trying to fight without magic for the first time should be gone by now,” Emma agreed. “Anyone who’s lasted this long will have fought multiple times by now, unless they’re really good at hiding. Either way, they’ll be some of the toughest to enter the competition. Now, let’s see what we’ve got here.”
Unlike the previous crates, these ones didn’t spawn open, instead necessitating a bit of fiddling with half a dozen metal switches fastened along the sides. It proved well worth the effort however, as Emma’s eyes lit up immediately upon lifting the cover.
[Refuge in Audacity: You are invisible while standing still.]
The bulky black cloak didn’t quite grant total invisibility, but it was still a potent tool of concealment and the first magical item Emma had found in the contest, not counting Dione’s bag of cheats. She wasted no time putting it on, the effect taking hold shortly after to leave her looking translucent; not entirely invisible to herself, but different enough from the everyday to let her know it was active. As soon as she began to move, her body returned to normal, the transition entirely seamless. Having received such a boon, Emma naturally decided that she’d play the camper for the time being; it was clearly what fate wanted from her. Accordingly, she stood stock still at the highest point around, looking into the distance as the occasional flash of light could be seen.
“Just ten contestants remain!” Felix’s voice declared just minutes later, a testament to the fierce competition for the remaining crates. “For the final stage of the festivities, all remaining participants will be teleported directly into the final arena. Please stand by.”
“Saves me the trouble of having to move,” Emma grinned, sitting to minimise her target profile and waiting calmly to be transferred.
—
“Please, surely we can make a deal,” Dione pleaded, tears in his eyes as he begged his captor for mercy.
He was back in his original body, for all the good that did him. He’d woken up on his back, stripped of nearly all his belongings; left with his boxers and heavy cuffs affixed to his wrists and ankles. The latter featured paired enchantments, one that tripled the effect of gravity on his body, and another that sealed off his access to mana; between them, Dione was left entirely helpless.
“We could, but I just don’t feel like it,” Felix taunted him, the taller man by virtue of being the only one standing upright. “I was having a great time, testing out the portable virtual arena for the first time with actual people rather than my captive audience, and you just had to ruin it with your contraband goods. Parading you around for the amusement of the honourable contestants is only fair, wouldn’t you agree?”
Dione did not in fact agree, but Felix was already tired of his complaints, so with a wave of his hand, the unfortunate cheater received a final piece of clothing: a simple cloth gag to keep him quiet. Satisfied that there would be no further interruption from that quarter, Felix turned back to the main screen, as the final ten contenders came into view.
