Chapter 191 Trapped.
Atropos feigned retreat, drawing the attention of the large cylindrical drones that hovered menacingly, their metallic forms poised to crush her effortlessly. B3, keenly aware of the trap her opponent was trying to lure her into, continued to direct her drones' pursuit. Her arms crossed, she watched intently as the Olympian girl, whose face eerily mirrored that of her dear friend, darted away.
With a swift command, B3 sent one of her crimson drones hurtling down from above prompting Atropos to leap back to avoid its strike. But the moment she evaded the first drone, two more appeared from the left and right closing in on her with such precision it looked as if their master had predicted the exact spot she would be in at that moment.
Caught between the drones in a pincer attack, Atropos's eyes widened briefly only only for her lips to curl up ever so slightly. In a blink, she vanished from sight causing the two drones to collide violently, their collision creating a shower of sparks that danced in the air.
Before the fading sparks could settle, Atropos reappeared right in front of the Valkyrie adorned in red armor. Her crimson sword, resembling the sharp blades of a pair of scissors, was already a blur heading for B3's neck.
CLANG!
The crimson blade bounced back with a deafening sound. There were no barriers and B3 didn't move an inch, but despite that the attack was blocked causing Atropos to freeze.
Behind the Valkyrie in red armor was another one of the cylindrical drones. It was much smaller than the rest, but what made it truly different from the rest was its uniform color which made it seem as if it was carved out of the same material.
"..."
Atropos' eyes narrowed, a sharp glint in her crimson irises. Seeing that her opponent had only used three drones so far she let her guard down, however her surprise only started.
A strange mechanical object jutted out of the ground, its appearance indicating that it was created from the same process as the fourth drone.
In an instant, its top snapped open and a thick cord shot out wrapping itself around Atropos' foot. By the time she noticed several more sprang out from underneath the soil and after one long second the Olympian had all of her limbs bound. The cords morphed forming bulky cuffs for each limb
"Oh my…"
[I… can't believe you actually allowed yourself to be caught…] B3 said, sounding a bit confused.
"You say that, but…" Atropos spoke, a thin smile returning to her lips. "Were you not the one who led me into this trap?"
[Still…] Something felt very off. B3 understood that the Olympian was confident in her ability to easily break free from her restraints, however she didn't get why she allowed herself to get caught in the first place. [I was hoping to keep you around until Doctor comes back, but…] two more drones flickered into existence, their tops hatching open to reveal the glowing light of lasers ready to fire.
"Your use of the 23rd dimension sure is creative." Atropos said. "Very few can make something so complex, even if they manage to obtain the halo." She glanced up at the intricate design above B3 head and her smile seemed to fade a little. "That said, isn't it a waste of mental power to keep it up?"
[Whatever…]
The lasers hummed, drawing red lines on their way to the Olympian's body. It should've been expected, but it was still a surprise when they failed to penetrate her skin, which was suddenly enveloped in the light blue glow of the force field.
"You aren't the only ones with tricks up your sleeves." Atropos said with a smirk.
The Olympian had a halo above her head, although one that was less complex than what B3 had. Halos are created by manipulating the force field into a series of runes; being able to create one meant having access to the absolute protection provided by the force field.
Of course, everything has its limits. While impenetrable, keeping the force field active to its maximum output required way too much energy so it would eventually give in. If a Valkyrie's heart is incapable of generating enough energy to support it she would lose the ability leaving her defenseless.
And that's where the problem with Olympians starts. They were biological life forms. Although different from humans, they still didn't have anything that would substitute the hearts Valkyries use to generate force fields, which means they shouldn't be able to use halos as well.
Sam and Elena made every scan they could of Antia -the Olympian they captured- but were unable to learn how she could create her halo. Maybe dissecting her would've helped, but after learning nothing from the other captive they decided to leave her whole for now.
[Well, it doesn't matter.] Light particles flickered and more drones formed around B3, creating one new drone after the other. A few seconds later she had a whole arsenal floating behind her ready to fire at a single point. Force fields are impenetrable, but everything has a limit. All she had to d was exhaust whatever the Olympian used to fuel her powers and eventually she would be able to break through her defenses.
Atropos' crimson eyes moved from one blaster to the other as if counting the number of lasers that would soon reach her body. After a moment of silence she let out a sigh, her brows slightly furrowed.
"Sorry but I don't think I can take that much."
Two white discs appeared from behind her. B3 recognized them instantly and fired the lasers only for them to be blocked by the Olympian's force field. New blaster drones were forming at the same time but the discs were faster, each one splitting into four parts, blue threads linking them as they surrounded Atropos.
Suddenly, the space between the threads filled up forming six translucent panels. In an instant the cords restraining the Olympian snapped apart, cut by the neon blue panels as if they were nothing but wool threads.