Dante was static for a single moment, allowing himself to enjoy the impact from the solid shoulder slam he had just performed. The blade in his hands had met some resistance, but it broke through, piercing the cloaked hero. With a mental command, he willed the blade in his hands to extend. Feeling the moment it exited from the other side, he gave another command then let go of the blade just as the second hero in black lunged at him.
Shrouded in the Mist Veil, Dante jumped away from his first victim and held out a hand, activation another ability. A small bubble appeared from his palm, expanding all the way to the ceiling before shrinking to the size of a football. When he let go of it, the bubble flew toward his target who attempted to evade it, but that was a big mistake.
Aqua Mines exploded upon impact, true, but there was a remote detonator as well. The second hero, likely the leader, reacted fast enough to shield his head from the explosion. The mine wasn’t lethal, but it contained enough force to send him flying, giving Dante the opening he needed to retreat back into the mist, commanding it to fill the cleared gap.
’One down, two to go.’
As that thought crossed his mind, he noticed the red figure of the third hero running in his direction. Aware that Aqua Prison wouldn’t be able to trap someone who can phase through walls, Dante didn’t pay him too much mind and retreated farther.
Soon after Volcan changed his Armor, Dante activated Rift Creation and placed the portal’s exit behind a corner a dozen or so meters down the corridor the three heroes were hiding in. With the entrance right behind him, he jumped back and fell through a hole in the floor, landing soundlessly.
Having realized that swiftly switching between armors was the best way to make use of VOLCAN, Dante no longer planed his moves around a single suit, unless doing so was the best choice, of course. Right now, he needed abilities that upped his mobility and increased his stealth, that’s why he chose Type 8-3 and Type 2-3 for the job.
Baseline Retention: Intermediate (90%)
Computing Power: 7 (+40)
Neural Interface Module (C)
Optic Augmentation Module (C)
Kinetic Absorption Protective Sub-Layer Generation 16 (C)
Type 2 was dedicated to aquatic battles. That showed in most of its abilities being related to water, of course, but it was more apparent in the design of its armors. Type 2-3, for example, had a blue color scheme and looked much thinner than the other Level 3 armors despite having the same amount of solid plating, with most of it being sleek with soft round edged.
The arms had long spikes extending from the elbow. Those were in fact long fins which can be retracted when not in use. The feet had flippers, but those were retractable, too, preventing the whole thing from looking ridiculous outside water. The helmet followed the same design principles, too, having a smooth shape with two small fins on the side and a larger one on top.
When he first saw it, Dante’s first impression was that someone had designed it after a dolphin. It even had a dorsal fin on the back. He had considered giving it a test run in the waters beyond the eastern border wall, but now seemed more appropriate.
Watching the two unharmed heroes scramble to their comrade, all three painted red on his OAM. Holding his hand up, he activated Aqua Mine once again, Forming a bubble on his palm before letting it float away. This time, he didn’t limit its power so the explosion was bound to be no different from a tank shell. Since it was thicker and full of more compressed air, it floated close to the ground when he let go of it. Producing a few more, he used Hydrokinesis to nudge them in the direction of the three cloaked heroes.
After observing them for a while, Dante got a grasp on how their abilities worked. Or at least he learned to distinguish between the three, learning who had which ability.
The one walking at the center could phase through solid matter, and he could extend that ability to the others. Dante had a feeling that he would be the most difficult to take down so he left him for last and instead focused on the second guy, the one who tracked him from a few floors below.
Dante had no idea how he was being tracked. Of course, there were no tracking devices on him, and since he was in Ghost Mode the entire time, it would have been difficult to locate him through his NIM. It confused him for a while until he decided to test the extent of the hero’s ability. Which is why he had deployed the fog inside the sealed twenty eighth floor.
Mist Veil was originally a Level 1 ability, but through the boost granted to it by Type 2-3, as well as the water from the fire sprinklers, he was able to turn a thin layer of mist into a thick fog straight out of a horror movie.
Once the fog was prepared, he removed one of the decorative plants near the floor gate and hid in the small opening in the wall. The entire time he was expecting the trio to find him as soon as they reached the floor, if they hadn’t done so beforehand, but to his surprise they all passed right in front of him and didn’t notice. They even looked in his direction and didn’t see anything.
Of course, he would have been as blind as they were if not for Volcan’s incredible sensors, which allowed him to locate his enemies and distinguish between them.
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