Gacha Kingdom Building-Chapter 312: Packet Loss (05)

--This Chapter is written using Ellie’s POV--

A flame appeared at the end of the corridor.

As expected of an otherworlder, Alexis was the first to react to the mana, Ceres turned a second later thanks to the cameras installed on every screen.

As quickly as it lit up, the flame faded. Bea only wanted to divert the three executives’ attention, the same way Ceres had done before to us.

With their attention elsewhere and the darkness that engulfed the floor, I shot in rapid succession at Alexis.

Even though she was distracted, my arrows weren’t connecting thanks to her bugs shredding them.

But that didn’t matter. I kept firing, as fast as I could.

I could feel that I was slowly outpacing her bugs; my arrows were getting closer to their target.

Almost as if to make a mockery of my effort, the spots surrounding my arrows multiplied.

The mana surrounding them became a green mist that swallowed everything I threw its way, leaving only a mounting pile of arrowheads in the ground.

Just like Bea had predicted, we had yet to see the depths of Alexis’ powers.

However, she wasn’t invincible.

I noticed that the mana coating her body had become less dense. The number of spots she had around her body decreased so much that there were obvious holes in certain places.

Anna also noticed it and rushed forward, believing it to be the best chance she’d get to strike Alexis down.

Unfortunately, Ceres intervened, launching static-filled TVs from her left and right.

It was hard for Anna to dodge; her injuries made her stiff. She could still block and destroy the screens, but every time she did, they would shock her with Ceres’ [Lightning Magic].

We couldn’t even call it a standstill. Ceres was slowly chipping away at Anna, and I had no hope of breaking through Alexis’ defense.

Thankfully, we had Bea on our side.

She slammed her staff on the ground and quickly changed its orb.

Ice shards began to fire autonomously from it, and Ceres didn’t think twice about abandoning Alexis to defend herself.

We were just a couple of steps away from getting her.

But one person remained who had not yet moved.

Seeing that we had pushed Alexis and Ceres back, George dashed from his position towards Bea.

I thought that speed was strange, but then I realized he wasn’t running. He was using his Gift to propel his steps, giving them so much strength that he almost flew forward.

Bea thought she could use this in her favor and erected a glistening crystal pillar from the ground to impale him, but surprisingly...

George stopped his own body by extending his arm forward, and then jumped above the pillar. His movement was so perfect that it made me think he had already been in this scenario more than once.

I didn’t have the time to dwell on this thought, though.

Even if we could have gotten Alexis, I couldn’t leave Bea to fend for herself against him.

With the injury in her ankle and her current mana, she had no hopes of defeating George.

It was terrifying, but I was the only one who could stop him.

Anna wouldn’t last another blow, and while I wouldn’t last the first...

I could keep him busy and out of reach. Hopefully, I could even help the others while at it.

My body resisted at first. It knew, instinctively, that I was jumping into certain death.

I had to find courage I didn’t know I had to shoot and approach him.

And when I had finally drawn his attention, I had to keep staring the beast in the eye, making sure not to stay too close, while at the same time, not giving it enough distance to target someone else.

George: "You got a terrifying aim there..."

I dodged his first strike, putting just enough distance between me and his fist to draw my bow and scrape his face with an arrow targeting Ceres.

However, I didn’t escape unscathed.

The moment I had pulled the bow, I felt an explosive impact on my arm that pushed it against my chest and forced my body a few feet away from him.

I pushed through the pain to shoot, but I couldn’t have imagined that his Gift, [Idle And Dynamic], was this powerful.

Just standing in the way of the follow-through air pressure was enough to crack my bones...

Ellie: "Hnm... You use your Gift well..."

It was a simple Gift at its core.

Every action a person takes in their life costs some energy.

George was the same; however, his Gift stored that energy and allowed him to use it as he pleased.

Though his control wasn’t the best, seeing as sometimes the screens covering the walls would crack or bend as he screamed at Ceres, he could choose how much he wanted to spend when using it consciously.

In a way, his Gift reminded me of Liz’s. Just instead of mana, he had infinite energy and...

He wasn’t limited by something like mana output.

If he wanted to, George could use all the energy he had collected through his life in a single strike.

It made sense that Alpha Team was told not to engage him without numerical advantage.

He had, at all times, a sure kill attack.

George: "So you already know about it... That’s annoying."

I couldn’t tell exactly how much energy he had put into his previous punch; however, now that he got angry, every time he missed me, he left a hole in the ground.

He noticed I was jumping back at an angle, slipping past the follow-up air pressure, and began swinging his fists downwards and sideways.

He should lose some strength because of the awkward motion, but unfortunately, he could always compensate with more energy.

It was harder and harder to predict the air pressure of his attacks.

I found myself putting even more distance between us.

And even then, I couldn’t avoid cuts in my arms and chest.

Ellie: "A-Ah... Well, I knew about you before reading your files, though... If that helps..."

I once caught Miwen watching a batball match before this war started.

It seemed interesting, so I asked him everything from the rules to the players.

Ellie: "I thought batball was interesting, so I watched a few more matches..."

George briefly raised his eyebrows.

His eyes were still fierce as ever, but there was a tinge of warmth in them that wasn’t there before.

George: "You mean baseball?"

He said with the slightest, most imperceptible smile on his face.

Ellie: "...Y-Yeah. S-Sorry, I always get the name wrong..."

I had a little trouble remembering the names of all the sports Miwen showed me.

He said I should keep in mind the distinct equipment they all used, and while it helped with things like basketball, he enjoys watching me struggle with the names too much to correct me when I’m wrong.

George: "Do you have a team?"

It seemed like just mentioning baseball was enough to make him calmer as the air pressure of his attacks decreased.

Ellie: "I, uh... Yes. I like the Lakewood Sharks..."

George: "Oh, nice one! Hilton was on a streak before the war."

Since we were in Isabella’s world, I hadn’t watched many games before the war started, so I couldn’t really tell.

But, uh...

Ellie: "W-Well... It’s silly but... I picked them because of their uniforms..."

Miwen thought it was strange since it wasn’t green, but I really loved the blue tone they wore.

George: "You’re right. That’s silly."

I thought I had made him angry, and that a big attack was about to come.

Instead, his punch barely had any pressure behind it.

George: "But there’s no wrong reason to become a fan. Besides, they really outdid the uniforms this season. Though I’m more of a fan of the Eagles’...."

I started avoiding shooting George directly.

Instead, I focused on the other two behind him.

I wanted to help Bea and Anna, but because of the burn on my shoulder, I couldn’t fire fast enough to pierce Alexis’ defense.

She even placed bugs on George, seeing as he had lost steam. While I wasn’t aiming at him, my arrows flew pretty close to his face, and the bugs always jumped at them, throwing them off target.

George: "...I guess I got too into it, huh? Ceres was right."

Maybe it was because I hated Ceres, but I didn’t like hearing him say that.

Ellie: "...I can’t speak for everyone, but... I like your enthusiasm. I can feel how much you care about it..."

Passionate people had always been a favorite of mine; no matter what they cared about, they were always so happy to speak about their interests, and I was happy to hear and learn about them.

Thinking about it, maybe that’s why I started liking Miwen so much... Earth was so different from any other world, and he always spoke about it with patience and loving care.

Though I guess I always felt comfortable around him, too...

George: "Hah. You’re the second person to tell me that."

His eyes briefly landed on Alexis before locking on me again.

He never used the same voice with me as he did with her. Not even when he talked about the things he liked the most.

Suddenly, the way he treated her earlier made a lot more sense.

Ellie: "Were you the one who invited her to the AOTG?"

George: "More like she invited herself..."

While we fought, George told me a little about himself.

He told me that most sports had to create two different leagues because of Gifts, one where only level ones were allowed, and the use of Gifts was banned, and another where Gifts were allowed and there was no level ceiling.

Even then, it took years to figure out how to enforce rules on Gifts.

Most sports lost a lot of popularity in both leagues, but surprisingly, baseball wasn’t one of them. The sport required too many different skills, and since players had to perform in different roles throughout the match, no single Gift could carry an entire match.

George had a brief career in an amateur Gifted League.

His Gift was strong for the sport, but it wasn’t exactly a cheat like some others.

Still, he was happy to play.

George: "We spent more time raiding dungeons than training properly. The guys and I earned more as adventurers, so somewhere along the way, that became my main job..."

After Catherine brought down the barriers that isolated us from other worlds, George met Alexis.

He said he didn’t have much luck with women, that his ex-girlfriends always ended things complaining he was boring and only cared about baseball.

But Alexis was different. She always seemed interested in learning more.

George: "When I told her I wouldn’t show up for a while because of Erik’s plans, she forced me to bring her to Earth. I was just a bridge, really."

I couldn’t help but chuckle a little, seeing the exasperated look on his face.

Beyond the meekness she showed, Alexis had glimpses of stubbornness and cheekiness that made me wish I could see them interacting more.

Even though he spoke a lot about her, it felt like there was so much more to their relationship that he wasn’t telling me.

George: "You know what? You’re kinda fun. I’ll make your case so that Erik doesn’t kill you. Ah, but you’ll have to live in house arrest until the war is over. Don’t worry, though. I have plenty of games we can watch-"

Monitors fell from the ceiling towards me.

Suddenly, Ceres appeared behind me.

I knew it was not her, but even then, I shot the screen.

Ceres: "What are you doing? Finish her off."

I had focused mostly on Alexis since her Gift was the most dangerous, but after Ceres reminded me of how annoying she was, I shot a couple of arrows her way.

George: "Don’t worry. Her days are numbered."

I wasn’t the only one displeased.

The next step George took shook the ground around him, almost making me lose my balance.

George: "But she’s right. I’ll finish this now. Sorry about this."

He pulled a baseball from his pocket, rolling it once between his fingers before throwing it forward in a smooth motion.

His own arm bent back with the recoil.

The ball blurred. I had no time to react.

No distance could keep me safe.

It hit my stomach. Instantly, all the air left my lungs.

I felt something break inside me.

Lots of somethings.

The bow fell from my hand.

I tried to reach it, but my fingers wouldn’t move.

The ground quickly approached my face, and the impact on my head forced my eyes to close.

I thought I had opened them. But I could tell that the fifth floor wasn’t this dark.

My vision was pitch black.

And slowly, it was filling with white.