Chapter 263: Time to Fly

The first line of the second formation was marching, unaware of the situation at the far front. They marched, waiting for enemy contact that seemed to be far away from them.

Sheeeeen~

Until a sound came, like a sword getting sharpened, but it wasn’t a sword, and it wasn’t being sharpened.

Liquid Mountain slashed through the neck of one soldier at the end of the formation’s first row, making a friction sound against the base of his helmet in the process.

They were suddenly faced by a bloodied man who wasn’t tall and had mismatched armour and helmet.

At that moment, the first formation’s flank broke apart, moving to surround Moon, who finally lost the advantage of having the troops pressured from the front.

Moon was relying on two personal aspects other than the chaos of the battlefield to achieve what he was doing without a partner to watch his back.

First, not all of the soldiers were ascenders; they were just like anyone on the first floor with a little Echo to use.

Their stats were lower than Moon’s.

Second, it was Moon himself, or what he had discovered one day. The day his Echo was unsealed after the tainted Death Echo was sealed.

The day the lump came out of his chest, discovering his Echo was something not usable.

It was also the day Moon discovered that, until then, he hadn’t, or couldn’t, sense the world properly.

The ambient Echo in the air, the activation of personal Echo every time a soldier attacked.

Moon was navigating the battlefield thanks to both his stat advantage and his sense of the surrounding Echo.

"ATTACK!" A soldier in the first line of the second formation screamed at the top of his lungs.

Losing his advantage, Moon found the soldiers abandoning their structure and surrounding him from every direction.

Under his helmet, Moon pursed his lips. "Playtime is over, I guess," he said before a certain lump of Echo appeared at his feet.

Moon jumped on it. "Time to flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy." His voice trailed as he soared above the enemies.

"What was that?" Yutian asked, turning to Ed, hoping for an answer.

Ed rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. "Old Yutian, you see... that kid’s Echo is a little... special," he said slowly.

"His Echo is crippled," Lucen corrected. "It is a lump and some leftovers; he’s crippled when it comes to Combat Arts."

Yutian blinked in surprise.

"You can’t say that; once he ascends again he’ll get more Echo from the Tower, and his problem will be fixed." Ed retorted the claim, rejecting the idea that Moon was permanently crippled.

Every time an ascender goes a floor higher, they get the upper limit of their bodies loosened; thus, their stats increase.

Not only that, the Tower shares a little of its own Echo with them to the limit of the capacity their bodies allow.

Moon’s current body was like an empty clay jar, not a single drop of Echo flowing through; thus, he was in a perfect state for taking the most Echo he could from the Tower.

In case he fulfilled the ascension quest and went higher, of course.

His Death Echo, which took the majority of his capacity, was sealed perfectly in his left palm, while the rest of his Echo was residing in his chest.

Not to mention the Spark Echo that came from the Symbiotic Spark and returned to it, exclusively being stored within the crystal.

Yet, ignoring every advantage and anticipation Ed had, Lucen shook his head, not looking too optimistic about the claim.

They watched as Moon landed in the middle of the formation, killing a few startled soldiers before jumping off again.

Hugh stood, gritting his teeth. His anger was completely justified...

He was standing and watching the troops he had built over a lifetime getting slaughtered thanks to a decision that could only be called stupid.

Since the beginning, Uon hadn’t uttered a single word. He was watching intently, like a warrior watching a fellow warrior.

"Is that why he was prohibited from using weapons?" He asked, hinting at the rules of the Skirmish Ring rounds.

Ed smiled but didn’t answer.

Uon asked another question. "What’s he aiming for? His kills aren’t significant to the numbers."

"Chaos and fear," Ed answered. "If a marching soldier that had enemies ahead by far found someone falling from the sky killing a few of those around him before going off somewhere—"

Ed paused for a second, studying the screen. "Would they keep marching regardless, or search around trying to find the enemy, or find themselves frozen in fear, unable to decide?"

Uon’s eyes returned to the screen, nodding in understanding.

"Are these tactics something of the first floor?" Everly asked, curious. "Do Ashspawns use them too?" she asked.

She was aware of the Ashspawn present in the Assault Faction, Korr. He was also on her watchlist.

Yet, from what she was witnessing, he wasn’t participating in the battle. Thus, her curiosity sparked.

Daniel, knowing that no one would answer her, shook his head. "Ashspawns are murderous; throughout my long life, I never met one who uses his head," he answered instead.

"This child must have developed these skills organically to survive long enough to ascend living among them." He added with a hint of admiration.

Ed smiled. "Being suppressed without Echo, now... He’s letting his imagination run wild, doing things we never attempted."

Meanwhile, on the castle walls.

Talia watched Moon breaking through the enemy lines one after another, bringing them into disarray.

She watched for a while. She could understand his actions at the beginning.

Not only that, once she saw it, she thought it was indeed necessary if someone was capable enough and excited to pull it through.

The troops and ascenders alike needed that to pull themselves together, more than they needed a speech.

Even Raiju’s and Markala’s actions, she could guess they were his orders and arrangement.

But now the army was in a state of chaos.

"What are you aiming for now?" She whispered.

The king of the Assault Faction, Lorian, was absent. She was aware of Moon’s tactics and role on the first floor, as he had mentioned them during their first meeting back in the facility.

There wasn’t a king to kill, and the war was a default win for them at the current pace.

She didn’t know if he was aiming for Enzo, which was an insane thing to do.

It was meaningless to fight him, and had he killed him, an entire political powerhouse of the Tower would relentlessly hunt him.

Enzo’s strength was also still a mystery to them; no one had seen him fight.

There were also ascenders at the rear, a large group too big for a single man to fight.

Or was he aiming for something else?

While the battle was raging, the troops started integrating into the ascenders and came close to the front lines, scoring kills.

Yet, there was a certain one who seemed to be more into the battle than others; he was completely lost in the battle frenzy.

That didn’t make him special; many ascenders were in a similar state, but what happened next...

That made him special.

SHUUUUUUUUUN~

Like the sound of a sword splitting the air, something fell onto his head.

A red indicator, looking like an arrow.

A sign every one of the ascenders was familiar with.

"PROTECT HIM!"