The Scumbag's Guide To Heroism novel Chapter 267

Chapter 267: 267 | A Draw Was Never an Option

Silence for three seconds. Then her voice came through the crystalline wall, smooth and controlled and utterly certain. "Belmont. I watched your fight with Camille through the building’s security feed. Impressive improvisation, though I noticed your technique lacks any formal training structure."

"I work with what I have."

"What you have is insufficient for this engagement. My barriers are rated for impacts exceeding four hundred pounds per square inch. Your telekinetic constructs, based on your registered profile, cannot generate that level of force. You should withdraw and accept the timer victory for our team."

She was right about everything except the registered profile.

"Counter-offer." I let my constructs spread out across the wall, probing for weak points in the crystalline structure. "You let Percy go and give me the hostage. We call it a draw."

"Why would I accept a draw when I’ve already won?"

"Because I’m about to do something stupid."

"Stupidity is not a tactical advantage."

"Depends on how stupid."

I gathered all four constructs into a single point directly in front of the crystalline barrier. The amber light intensified as I fed more power into the formation, pushing past the comfortable threshold that my fake Aspect profile suggested as my upper limit. The constructs began to glow brighter, then brighter still, until the amber luminescence cast shadows on the hallway walls.

Petra’s voice carried a note of interest beneath the condescension. "Your output is exceeding your registered specifications."

"Yeah. That happens sometimes."

I punched through the barrier.

The crystalline wall shattered in a spray of emerald fragments that scattered across the hallway like glittering rain. The impact sent shockwaves through my constructs and the feedback lanced through my skull like someone had driven a railroad spike through my temporal lobe, but I was through the barrier and into room 2C before Petra could react.

The room was exactly as Percy had described. Sparse furniture. Single entrance. Reinforced window with the seal partially peeled back from where my constructs had been working earlier. Percy lay against the far wall with capture tape binding his wrists, his expression a mixture of frustration and relief at seeing me arrive.

The hostage dummy sat in the center of the room, trauma sensors glowing a calm green.

Petra stood between me and both objectives.

She looked exactly like she had in the observation deck, except now she was ready for combat. Her emerald and white costume hugged her figure with the kind of precision that suggested molecular engineering, and her black hair fell in perfect waves around her shoulders despite the fact that she’d just generated enough crystalline mass to seal an entire doorway. Her emerald eyes met mine with an expression that communicated absolute confidence in her own superiority.

"You’re stronger than your file suggests."

"I get that a lot."

"It doesn’t matter. Strength without technique is wasted potential." She raised one hand and crystalline constructs began forming around her fingers, each one shaped with the particular elegance that her Aesthetic Perfection trait guaranteed. "I’ve studied three years of Halloran combat footage. I know every approach vector, every tactical formation, every standard Channeler limitation. You cannot surprise me the way you surprised Camille."

"Probably not."

She tilted her head slightly. "Then why are you smiling?"

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