Chapter 287: Hold The Line And Lose
The golden curtain stretched across the service-stair entrance, with Martin holding the center of the defensive field.
Raze advanced with both Just Die guards behind him. One raised his axe while the wounded man began circling the broken measuring table.
"Neither of you touches him," Raze said.
Both guards obeyed. Raze held Deadmaw and Gravefang low as he studied the light surrounding Martin.
"Anything you throw at him inside that field feeds that armor. Start swinging, and you’ll build his defenses for him."
Martin had expected Raze to know about Hold the Line. Anyone could watch the Cascade Valley recordings and see what the field did for his allies. Raze’s caution around Worldshell was more telling. He must have studied the Sea Dragon battle closely enough to see how the armor strengthened under sustained attacks.
"I’ll handle him," Raze continued. "He doesn’t have a fleet feeding that armor this time."
The guards moved to opposite sides of the laboratory, leaving Raze a clear path to the stairs.
Martin tightened his grip on Robert’s Crystal Warhammer and backed into the entrance. The Worldshell plate nearly scraped one side of the stone frame, while the crystal head covered the other. Nobody would reach the first step without moving either him or his weapon.
Raze opened with Deadmaw, but Martin refused to meet the greatsword away from the walls. He angled the hammer into the blow and let the blade slide toward the stone, splitting the force between the crystal head and the stair frame. The impact cracked the frame’s edge and drove the Worldshell plate into his ribs, but his feet stayed beneath him.
When Gravefang came in low, Martin dropped the hammer’s shaft into its path, caught the hooked edge, and shoved it into the opposite wall. Gold light flared across the crystal as Raze tried to wrench the weapon from his hands.
Martin leaned his full weight into the shaft. He was no longer trading HP for a chance to kill Raze. With the wall bracing him and Worldshell’s weight behind the hammer, he only had to buy Rias a few more seconds.
A message appeared at the edge of his vision.
[Flash Fang: I passed the upper shelf. The brace slipped behind me.]
She had made it through just before the shelf sealed the route behind her.
Raze yanked Gravefang free and stepped away before Martin could drive the hammer into his chest. He changed angles and brought Deadmaw down from above, forcing Martin to raise the crystal head. That opened enough room for Gravefang to slip around it and tear into the wound on his forearm again.
As Martin’s grip weakened, he shifted more of the strain to his other hand and turned his armored chest toward Deadmaw’s next strike. The Worldshell plate caught the flat of the blade with a violent clang.
Worldshell tightened around his torso as it recorded the damage he had taken while protecting Rias. No new plate formed over his exposed arms, leaving him with nothing else to work with.
Raze drew back both swords without calling either guard in.
"Your guards are getting restless," Martin said. "Let them come in if you’re sure the field won’t save me."
One guard took an angry step forward, but Raze lifted Gravefang across his path without looking away from Martin.
"I know what you’re trying to make them do," Raze said. "All I have to do is wait out the thirty seconds. You’re burning your best defensive skill to block one staircase, so I can afford to be careful."
Deadmaw struck the hammer head, and Gravefang hit the shaft a fraction of a second later. The two impacts twisted Martin’s hands in opposite directions and nearly tore the weapon from his numb fingers. He trapped the handle beneath his arm, pressed one shoulder against the wall, and kept the warhammer across the entrance.
Gravefang cut into his exposed thigh while he recovered. With Mangled slowing his footwork, his leg began to shake beneath Worldshell’s weight. The armor’s growing weight and the stair frame braced him against the force of Raze’s blows, but neither could make up for the strength draining from his limbs.
Before the next strike came, Rias sent another update.
[Flash Fang: I’m on the public floor. Central licensing desk is ahead.]
Raze caught the shift in Martin’s attention and drove forward with his full weight behind Deadmaw, crushing the warhammer against Martin’s chest. The stair wall stopped Martin from giving ground, and the lower rim of Worldshell bit into his stomach.
Martin shoved back, turning the hammer so its crystal head struck Deadmaw’s guard and knocked the greatsword across Raze’s body. Raze did not chase the counterattack. He pulled away before Martin could trap either blade against the wall.
Bright fragments began peeling from the golden curtain as Hold the Line neared its end.
Raze saw it too. "The second that field drops, both guards are coming through with me."
Martin saved his breath, tightened both damaged hands around the hammer, and planted his good foot more firmly against the floor. As long as Rias kept moving, Raze’s threat did not matter.
The next exchange drove Martin to one knee. Deadmaw pinned the crystal head against the wall while Gravefang carved through the outside of his good arm. Bracing himself on the hammer, Martin forced his body upright before either guard could enter the gap.
Raze had to pick apart Martin’s defense one opening at a time, and each attack bought Rias another step through the public quarter. By the time her next message appeared, Martin was barely standing.
[Flash Fang: Licensing desk reached. Opening the protected evidence claim now.]
Martin’s grip eased for half a second, and Raze attacked before he could tighten it again.
Instead of trying to break through the warhammer, Deadmaw knocked it aside. Gravefang hooked Martin’s injured ankle and ripped his foot out from under him. When he hit the floor, Deadmaw came down across the hammer’s shaft and pinned it beyond his reach.
Martin tried to rise without the weapon. Raze stepped inside his reach, drove one knee into the upper edge of Worldshell, and slammed the back of his head against the stone. Before Martin could recover, Gravefang cut across his exposed throat.
His remaining HP vanished.
[You have died.]
—
Red light rebuilt Martin at Mountain Risen’s visitor point.
Martin respawned with Gravefang’s edge still burning across his throat. He nearly swore, but checking the party panel came first.
Rias’s name was still lit. She had survived the basement, but until she confirmed that security had accepted the claim, Martin could not trust Just Die to leave her alone.
From the party panel, he opened their private channel.
[Emperoar: You still safe?]
[Flash Fang: Yes. Come to the desk.]
Martin crossed the visitor plaza at a run and entered the alchemy quarter through its central arch. Crucible Concord security had gathered around the licensing hall, where several gray-aproned officials were questioning staff from the tasting circuit. Once Rias added his name to the evidence claim, none of them tried to stop him.
Rias had unequipped the Shadow Nimbus Set and was waiting at the main desk in her ordinary coat. The sealed blood vial and recording crystal remained visible inside an open inventory window, while her remaining blue crystal rested in a separate inspection pouch untouched by the claim.
She looked up from the evidence window as he approached, her gaze running over his restored equipment.
"I saw your status disappear from the party panel," she said. "Did you lose anything?"
"No. Everything came back with me." Martin stopped across from her and glanced toward the evidence window. "How much did they lock down?"
Rias waited for a gray-aproned official to move out of earshot before opening her notes.
"Enough that closing the stores won’t erase what happened. The recording, the blood vial, the formula fragment, and the sponsor entry are all attached to the incident record."
She brought up the final entry and turned it toward him.
[Original Project Sponsor: Victoria]