The Over-Break System

’Every hit has to count; here comes one,’ Cynrik thought as he slid under a swiping attack from a creature and jumped up. Channeling around a thousand Fire and Umbra Mana into his Right Nodachi before stabbing it directly through the bottom jaw of a Chimera. The Nodachi slid easily into its head, allowing the Umbra Mana to separate from the blade.

The attack flooded the creature’s head with corrosive Mana, and a second later, the Chimera collapsed to the ground Dead. However, when Cynrik retrieved his weapon from the creature’s head, there was a loud CLINK sound followed by a dispersal of particles, indicating that one of the hidden blades had been destroyed.

”One,” Cynrik spoke in a calm and unhurried tone as he moved back in time to spot a new Chimera filling in the gap caused by the one he had just killed.

Beside him, Brance was having a slightly more difficult time. Unlike Cynrik’s tumultuous and often flashy sword style, his revolved around brute-force attacks, which, although easy to see, were hard to defend against due to the high amounts of force they carried.

Still, it only took him half a minute to put down his second creature.

Unfortunately for the brothers, things were changing too rapidly for them to adapt, as instead of dealing with two new Chimera, four filed through the Gate, causing them to fall back and readjust their plan of attack.

[Fuck, why is it that the pattern shifts so drastically on Wave Nineteen.] Jumping around like a cricket, Cynrik continuously avoided one attack after another.

[Cyn, we can’t keep this up; they are flooding out of the Gate before we can even kill the ones we are dealing with.] Holding up his greatsword while bracing it with his shoulder, Brance fended off a Chimera trying to crush him.

[No shit, sherlock, keep falling back until there are around 50-75 meters between us and the Egress.] Jumping up and unleashing a spinning heel kick filled with Fire Mana, Cynrik rocked the head of a Chimera to the left before flipping his left Nodachi and stabbing the same creature through its eye. CLINK

[That’s number six, Brancie; I have only 12 hits left.] When Cynrik fell to the ground in a roll, he didn’t hesitate to get up and take off in the opposite direction.

BOOOMMMM

When Cynrik turned around, instead of seeing Brance hot on his heels, he saw his brother flung through the air by a Chimera’s heavy hit.

[Oi, Brancie, you don’t have your wings on; why are you trying to fly right now?] Cynrik teased after making sure Brance was ok with a quick peek at his Resource stat Bars.

[Fuck you, asshole; you aren’t the one getting bashed and battered around like a fucking cat toy.] Righting his body, Brance extended his free hand toward the ground and pulled toward his body, summoning a stone pillar before landing atop the object.

Wiping a trail of blood from his lips, Brance took a deep breath, gathered himself, walked off the pillar, and spun around to slash at it, cutting off the top part before grabbing it and throwing it like a massive, oversized baseball at the Chimera who had injured him.

”That hurt; TAKE THIS!” He shouted aloud while hurling a bolder three times his size and smashing the Chimera into a bloody pancake.

[PFFT HAHAHAHA, But I’m the one using cringy lines; that hurt. Take This, hahahaha] Fighting back the urge to clutch his stomach from laughter, Cynrik teased, earning him a heated glare from Brance, who landed on the back of another Chimera and smashed its spine into oblivion.

[I hope you trip and fall, asshole,] Brance snorted before repeatedly smashing the creature’s back until it collapsed dead. Still standing on its back, Brance whipped his head around and glared at Cynrik, causing the older Jetlensr Brother to hold his hands up cautiously.

[Sheesh, chillax, man, I was only kidding. There’s no need to take it out on the poor unsuspecting Birddogs.] Unsuccessfully holding back snickers, Cynrik twirled his Nodachi, sidestepped another attack, and came face to face with an open beak trying to eat him.

”Tch, do better,” Cynrik complained as he punched out with his right hand and sent a high-heat icy blue fireball down the creature’s throat, causing smoke and blood to gush out the Chimera’s ears as it was cooked from the inside out.

---

”Tch, do better,” Cynrik’s words played through the speakers in the commentary studio, causing Cesar to gasp softly.

Roni: ” It has been a remarkable turnaround for the VSFA Tier-3 team, who have not only secured their victory and bonus points in their first event but are also pushing ahead. This all comes despite running low on resource stats and using severely damaged equipment.”

As Roni spoke, her pale hands gripped the microphone so tightly that fingerprints were left on the device.

Cesar: ”And that’s number 12 for Cynrik, who continues to use his swords, although each hit he lands appears to be breaking something. His kills also appear to correlate with the damage done, so my assumption is, with each hit, one of those smaller blades is what causes that mechanical breaking sound along with the particle shower.”

Roni: ”I believe that is the case, Cesar; if you notice, after each particle shower, the length of his weapons gets shorter; it won’t be long until they fall back to their original form.”

Cesar: ”AND THAT’S ANOTHER HEADSMASH OUT OF YOUNG BRANCE JETLESNR! Folks watching at home, I hope you are keeping up the count; the number of heads popped by the young man has broken a record of its own.

---

As the clock ticked by, the speed at which Cynrik and Brance killed their opponents dwindled considerably until it took 5-6 minutes per kill. Fatigue, both mental and physical, were beginning to set in.

CLING CLANK

”Fuck, that’s one Kodachi gone; HEADS UP BRANCE!” Kicking off the ground and throwing the hilt of his shattered right kodachi through the air, Cynrik saved Brance from an untimely demise. The younger Jetlensr got caught in a pincer attack from multiple Chimera and was having difficulty fending off the swarm of attacks raining down on him.

BOOOM!

With all the force of a howitzer, the hilt of Cynrik’s right kodachi slammed into the creature, the impact of which generated a large boom followed by a shock wave that stunned the creature and knocked it off its feet.

Then, doing a quick headcount and noticing only 6 Chimera still breathing, four of which had Brance surrounded, Cynrik sheathed his remaining sword on his hip. Taking a deep breath, he broke into a sprint, jumped up, and flying kicked a second creature in the ribcage, sending it skittering away with a whimper.

[Five more kills, and we can rest.] Cynrik stated as he delivered a flurry of kicks into the head of another creature.

[Your Kodachi?] Brance asked while dishing out a savage uppercut with his greatsword, causing a Chimera to execute a backflip before landing on the ground with its legs in the air.

[Saving it for the boss. There are only two hits till it breaks; I ended up saving one thanks to burning a little extra Mana.] Catching Brance by the back of his armor and pulling his brother back, Cynrik aided him in avoiding an unseen tail attack from the creature Brance had thought to be knocked out.

[Keep on your toes, little brother, I know you are getting battered out here, but we are on the home stretch.] Giving Brance some rare encouragement, Cynrik planted his hand on his brother’s shoulder and used him as a baseboard to jump and kick another Chimera.

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