Deon felt something pulling at his waist, like an invisible hand that grabbed around him and held tight. His body jerked sideways so violently that the breath was quite literally ripped straight out of his lungs.

Everything in his vision, from the black water, ruined pier, and floating debris on the lake’s surface—all of it blurred into a nauseating streak.

Deon crashed shoulder-first against the edge of the pier and rolled hard across the wet wood.

"Ggghk—!"

Pain burst through his body as his back slammed into a broken post, stopping him before he could skid any farther. But after the pain, his other senses started to catch up. Specifically, the smell of burned leather and cooked skin hit his nose a second later.

For a second, he couldn’t move, right hand trembling uselessly against the ground. The sleeve from his elbow down had been burned almost completely away, revealing an ugly red blister where he had been grabbing onto pretty much molten metal without protection.

"Fuck..." Deon muttered in between breaths. "Surprised I still have an arm right now. Levels really are superhuman..."

"Deon!"

Hana’s voice came from behind. She reached him first, dropping to her knees, face going pale as she saw the burn. "Your arm—!"

"I know," Deon forced out through clenched teeth. "It’s fine, I can still—"

"No, you can’t!" she snapped, panic breaking her voice as she pulled out the green-bordered Card with shaking hands. "Basic Heal!"

A small light started flowing towards him, causing a bit of his skin to pull together, but it died just immediately after. Hana’s eyes widened as she stared at her Card which had now gone blank from overuse.

Her expression crumbled. "No..."

Deon sighed and pushed himself up with his good arm. The movement sent pain crawling up his body but he swallowed it down before she could notice.

"Doesn’t matter."

He looked past her, finally finding the person standing a few steps behind them.

Mina.

The girl in the ruined jacket stood near the broken edge of the pier, the Card in her hand blank as well. Strands of hair stuck to her cheek from the lake mist, and her torn jacket fluttered behind her in the wind.

"...You pulled me?"

Mina swallowed once and nodded quickly. "Y-Yeah."

Deon pushed himself to one knee, leaning on Hana slightly as she helped him up. "Why are you here?"

"You were supposed to be with the Flag."

Mina hesitated for a moment, finally replying. "Vivian told me to come."

What? Why would she do that? Even if Mina can’t help much, [Pull] should be a valuable power and Vivian should know that...

Is she trying to make us lose?

But the thought barely lasted, because this was Vivian Queen he was talking about.

No...if she wanted us to lose she wouldn’t have made it so obvious and stupid. I would question it immediately if she did so.

That only meant one other thing...she’s confident enough to solo defend both the Flag and the injured Nami.

"Tch..." Deon clicked his tongue.

He didn’t know whether he was glad about this or not. On one hand, having Mina here was invaluable, but on the other...Vivian kept proving his previous assumptions wrong.

But before he could linger on the thought, the Brute Crawler started hauling itself toward Ryker and Zone M-4.

Three of the armor-spikes across its back were gone now, the corresponding sections of its bone-like armor gone with it. Yet, one still remained, glowing and ever present.

The air around the Brute’s mouth started to distort as energy gathered, coalescing into the attack they’d all seen before.

Mina took a step back on instinct. "It’s charging again..."

Deon forced himself upright before pulling out [Blade] and drawing another katana from within. He could barely unsheathe it, biting down on the scabbard with his teeth and ripping the blade out before throwing the former to the side.

Hana’s eyes widened, trying to hold him back. "Deon, no! It’s too dangerous!"

But he didn’t care, eyes flicking over to his right to read the comments.

[ChairGoblin_22: heal cooldown at the worst timing possible]

[RandomToastEnjoyer: one spike left. ONE.]

[LovesAGoodBargain: The final armor section is still active. As long as it remains, the beam will continue.]

Deon let out a breath through his teeth. "Yeah, I can see that."

His gaze then moved past the Brute Crawler and toward the final Zone. Ryker was still there, yet the man’s body looked like it should’ve fallen apart minutes ago.

His shoulder sagged and his head hung low, both hands locked around his axe as if his fingers had forgotten how to let go.

But even then, he stood. Because Ryker had decided that he would hold that Zone. He knew that if Zone M-4 fell, the others would be in danger. He knew that someone had to stay there.

Damn it...I’m so much weaker than him...

Deon gripped his sword tightly before lowering his stance, ignoring the burning pain in his arm.

If Ryker, who wasn’t even on the Leaderboard, was willing to put in that much effort...

What right did I have to do anything less?

"Mina."

"Y-Yeah?"

"Do you have [Push] on you?"

"Oh, y–yeah, Nami let me borrow it," the girl replied softly, digging into her pocket before pulling out the common Card.

"When I jump, use it on me."

"Deon, what are you—?" Hana asked from his side, clearly worried as she held onto the blank [Basic Heal] Card for dear life. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The Brute Crawler let out a horrendous shriek, light gathering between its jagged teeth as it aimed straight toward the Zone.

"Only I can damage the boss, Hana," he muttered, taking a step forward and bending his knees. "So it’s my responsibility to kill it."

Before she could say anything back, he broke into a sprint and finally...jumped.

"Push!"

An invisible force collided onto his back, shooting his body higher than he could ever jump on his own. Wind tore against his back and his right arm burned like hell, but Deon didn’t care.

The last spike was already in his vision, the glowing bright orange embedded onto bone. He twisted midair, raising his blade over his shoulder before bringing it down with everything he had.

"Break—!"

The katana struck the crystal.

Clang!

The impact rang out like metal hitting a wall. For one impossible second, Deon didn’t understand what had happened. It didn’t go in like he expected, instead bouncing off so violently that it broke his balance midair.

His eyes widened.

What?

[Claim Progress: 92%]

[Zone M-4 has not yet been claimed.]

[Damage Invalid.]

"You’ve gotta be kidding me..."