[Oliver’s PoV]

  The moment the other three heirs moved, Oliver reacted.

  He swung his Energy Pistol up, firing in rapid succession. Each shot exploded with a sharp crack, tearing through the roots that lunged toward him. The ground erupted in bursts of dirt and ash.

  For a heartbeat, he thought he had a handle on their assault, until Scipio vanished.

  Not moved. Not sprinted. Vanished.

  Oliver’s reflexes were too sharp, his senses too attuned to miss something like that. There had been none. The Heir had simply ceased to exist where he stood.

  Then he heard it, a sound like a whisper of displaced air.

  A faint pop, the soft crackle of matter being reassembled.

  He turned in time to see Scipio standing beside Adrian.

  Blink, Oliver recognized the boon.

  The small, hollow boom echoed again as Scipio disappeared, reappearing a dozen meters away beside the other heirs.

  It’s like the Command teleportation system, Oliver realized, his mind racing. But short-range. Instantaneous.

  Adrian was gone, dragged toward the soldiers. Scipio was trying to hand Adrian over to the soldiers, hoping to pull him out of the battlefield and even teleport him to somewhere safe.

  Oliver’s pulse spiked.

  I can’t lose him.

  The [Prometheus] flared to life. The golden flames burned along his legs.

  The next moment, he was gone.

  To the soldiers, it was as if the air itself had split apart. One moment empty, the next filled with a blur of red light and kinetic force.

  Oliver hit the line like a thunderbolt.

  The first soldier had no time to shout before Oliver’s shoulder smashed into him, sending him sprawling. Rifles clattered to the ground, Energy shields flickering as the shockwave of his movement knocked three more off balance.

  The air filled with shouts.

  “Who the hell is that?!”

  “He’s just a Red Ranger, right?!”

  “Didn’t you hear the transmission? He fought the Ork Empress!”

  “That guy?! No way, he had bronze armor! This one’s just another red!”

  “You sure?”

  “I think it’s someone else!”

  Confusion rippled through the ranks. Even the Rangers among them hesitated.

  Oliver didn’t give them time to decide.

  Oliver closed the distance between himself, Scipio, and Adrian faster than most eyes could follow.

  Yet, his opponents weren’t idle.

  Before Oliver could reach them, the heirs reacted.

  Demi activated her Bronze Armor. Triz Arcantus followed, her Blue Armor igniting in a brilliant azure flash. Zip Echo’s Red Armor came alive next.

  Then there was Damian Nemo, the last of the group.

  He didn’t move.

  He took a few steps back, crossing his arms over his chest, his face unreadable. He watched the chaos unfold before him as though it were a play he’d already seen a hundred times.

  Oliver darted forward, his focus shifting to Damian.

  He was nearly catching Scipio's blinks when a beam of light cut across his path.

  It struck the ground inches from his feet, detonating in a blinding flash that hurled him backward. The shockwave tore through the dirt, scattering debris and smoke.

  Oliver hit the ground, rolling to his feet.

  He looked up and saw Triz standing at a distance, her arm extended. A faint spark of blue-white light danced at the tip of her finger.

  “Arcantus,” Oliver muttered under his breath, his jaw tightening. “Of course.”

  The same Boon as Wiz.

  The same ability that could bend light into a weapon.

  He didn’t have time to think.

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  He pushed his body and armor harder.

  He lunged again, faster this time, closing the distance toward Damian.

  But the ground turned against him.

  Roots burst from the soil, twisting through the air like serpents. Demi’s Boon.

  Oliver leapt aside, his pistol already firing. The bolts struck the roots mid-motion, cutting through them, but more erupted to replace them.

  He ducked under one, vaulted over another.

  Then came the sound.

  A pulse.

  A vibration that rattled his teeth and made the air shimmer.

  He turned to see what was happening. Zip slammed her fist into the ground. The shockwave rippled outward in concentric circles, invisible but deadly. A moment later, the air itself exploded, the blast hurling shards of rock and Energy in every direction.

  Oliver twisted midair, bracing against the impact. The explosion caught him on the side, tearing through his armor and sending him tumbling across the field.

  “Sound Explosion…” he hissed, landing hard and sliding backward through the dirt

  He barely had time to recover before another wave of attacks came.

  Triz fired another beam; Oliver dodged. Demi’s roots lashed out again, and he blasted them apart. Zip stomped, sending another shockwave. He jumped clear, the explosion chasing him midair.

  It was chaos.

  Every movement was a waste, every dodge spent another second. The three Rangers had him boxed in, their attacks overlapping in the right rhythm.

  However, Oliver didn’t want to fight them. His only goal was to retrieve Adrian and get out—fast. He was already tired and needed to conserve what strength he had left.

  Every second he kept Scipio moving, every shot he fired, every counterstrike forced the heir to stay on the defensive, and that meant Adrian couldn’t be sent away.

  Scipio couldn’t be apart from Adrian while Oliver was still this close.

  That was the only advantage he had left.

  “Keep wearing him down!” Scipio’s voice cut through the chaos. “He’s been fighting nonstop. He’s near his limit!”

  Oliver could feel the pressure closing in.

  This won’t work, he realized. I need to take them out.

  But that was easier said than done.

  He couldn’t afford to stop his pressure on Scipio.

  It was a deadly game of cat and mouse, and both of them knew it.

  He has to tire eventually, Oliver thought, his breath heavy in his helmet. That kind of Boon can’t be easy to maintain.

  He watched, studying the rhythm of Scipio’s movements. The teleportation bursts—those quick, hollow pops of displaced air—were slowing. The gaps between them were growing longer.

  After a few more minutes, he saw it.

  A hesitation.

  A delay.

  “Now!”

  Oliver kicked off the ground. Dust and debris exploded beneath his feet as he launched himself forward. Scipio braced, expecting the attack, his body already shimmering with the telltale distortion of a blink.

  But Oliver didn’t go for him.

  He feinted—and kept going.

  His trajectory shifted midair as he veered toward Zip instead.

  Her eyes widened behind her visor.

  “What—?!”

  She raised her arms as she unleashed a wave of sonic Energy. The air vibrated violently, the shockwave distorting space and sound alike.

  Oliver clenched his teeth. Cracks spread across his chestplate, the sound of stressed metal echoing in his ears.

  But he didn’t stop.

  He charged straight through the storm.

  The shockwaves tore at him, but he was stronger.

  In a blink, he was on her.

  His fist connected with her forearm, the impact detonating like a thunderclap. The strike shattered the Red Ranger’s armor, sending shards of crimson plating flying through the air. The force of the blow hurled her backward, her body crashing into the dirt.

  For a heartbeat, the battlefield went still before Oliver moved again.

  His next leap carried him toward Scipio.

  But something was different.

  The attacks that had been harassing him—Demi’s roots, Triz’s lasers—were no longer blocking his path. The two remaining heirs had moved, closing in to intercept his path. Scipio stood behind them.

  “Take him!” he shouted, gesturing toward Adrian, who was still bound and struggling. “Get him out of here!”

  The order was immediate.

  Soldiers surged forward, grabbing Adrian by the arms and dragging him toward the crowd of retreating troops.

  “No!”

  Oliver’s eyes widened, his stomach twisting with frustration.

  Damn it.

  Oliver moved toward the two girls, this time fully prepared to attack.

  He dodged Triz’s strike by dropping low, then immediately twisted his body, drawing back a punch aimed at Demi.

  He expected to see the heiress sent flying. Instead, his fist was caught mid-swing.

  Demi Demeter stood before him. The ground beneath her feet cracked and splintered as she strained to hold him back.

  Her voice came through the comms, strained and breathless. “I can’t hold him!”

  Even from behind the helmet, he could hear it. She was worried.

  Even though she was able to hold him back, the gap in experience and power between them was obvious. Oliver was wearing a Red Ranger. Demi, a Bronze Ranger. A Unique Crystal, and even so, she could do nothing more than restrain him.

  “What kind of monster is he?” Triz Arcantus shouted from somewhere behind Oliver.

  Around them, soldiers and Rangers repositioned, weapons locking onto Oliver.

  “He’s apart from the hostage!” Triz barked. “Fire! All of you, take him down!”

  Oliver clenched his teeth, the golden flames of [Prometheus] beginning to gather in his arms. His plan was simple—fire into the ground, release a pulse blast, knock them all back long enough to regain control.

  But he never got the chance.

  The ground in front of him erupted.

  A missile struck, detonating with a thunderous crack that drowned out everything else. The shockwave hurled him backward.

  He barely had time to recover before another explosion hit, then another, and another.

  Missiles rained down in a relentless barrage. The Rangers and soldiers scrambled for cover, their formation breaking apart under the bombardment.

  Through the chaos, a voice rose behind him.

  “Handle the Rangers and soldiers.”

  Oliver froze for half a heartbeat. He knew that voice.

  He turned.

  Descending through the smoke and fire were six mechs, their armor black as obsidian. The ground trembled when they landed.

  Their black plating gleamed under the firelight, each one marked with the insignia of Enceladus.

  Two of the mechs opened their cockpits, the armor panels sliding apart with a hiss of pressurized air.

  From one stepped Alan.

  From the other, Mordred.

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