Damon's Ascension

Damon brushed his arms and was about to use his Probability Manipulation to find his teammates when he sensed a link forming in his mind.

Recognizing the familiar mental communication link of Nicholas, Damon raised an eyebrow.

"Nicholas? How are you able to reach me from where you are? I thought your Mental Manipulation had a limit in terms of distance?"

There was a period of mental static before Nicholas' voice tuned itself properly and could be heard.

"Sorry about that. And to answer your question, yes Damon, I was also under the false impression that my ability was limited by distance, so I delayed reinstating our connection till now. For that, I humbly apologize." Nicholas said in a apologetic tone.

"Oh? Is there something different from what we expected?" Damon asked with interest, leaping to the top of a nearby tree to gain an elevated point of view.

"Yes. I originally thought my ability would be hard limited by distance, but it is rather limited by skill and consumption cost. The farther we are, the more strenuous is it to connect us and the more energy it costs to maintain it, but its still doable, like now." Nicholas explained.

Felicia suddenly interjected, having familiarized herself with the connection. "Then the same should hold true for Kyle and Levi, which is interesting to note. Also, hello everyone, how are you all doing right now?"

Kyle chuckled and responded first. "Posing atop the corpse of one of these enemy team fighters. The guy tried to get the jump on me but I sensed the vibration of his heart from like a kilometer away."

Bane sounded calm. "Likewise, I sensed an ambush with my beast sense and beat my opponent to death."

Levi Thane grunted. "I also sensed the blood of an enemy and caused them to rupture before they could get the jump on me."

Felicia's voice, bright and full of energy, chimed in. "As for me, I didn't encounter any direct enemies, but Quantum Analysis detected one approaching. I… dealt with him."

There was a subtle boastfulness in her tone, like a youngster seeking praise from their peers that made even Damon raise an eyebrow with amusement.

Nicholas's tone was steady. "I haven't encountered any threats either on my side since I spent most of the time focusing on re-establishing the link. It took a lot of energy, but it was worth it to keep us connected."

Henry's mental voice carried an air of relief. "Same here. No enemies, but I've been on guard since the start. I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Protizen's voice was a calm monotone. "No encounters yet. I've been focusing on scanning for hidden threats, but nothing's shown up."

Connor's voice crackled like dry leaves, his tone almost bored. "Just me and my shadows. No threats. Honestly, this silence is starting to get on my nerves."

The group paused, sharing the mental space and digesting the situation.

Damon let out a quiet, cold laugh, the kind that made the others shiver. "Well then, let me put the pieces together for you all."

His tone was that of cold amusement. "The Chaos Casino, in its infinite generosity, dropped us onto this battlefield in random positions. But if you've noticed, every one of you that encountered an enemy was placed in a location disadvantageous to you."

He continued, voice smooth but dangerous. "Bane, Kyle, Levi—all of you were in zones that made the enemy's approach easy. Felicia had an enemy homing in on her before she even got a chance to analyze the terrain. Meanwhile, the rest of you—Xela, Nicholas, Henry, Protizen, Connor—were scattered in areas with fewer threats or none at all, but strategically distanced from the main group."

"I myself just fought five of them head on. The Chaos Casino is trying hard to eliminate me since it knows I am the only one whose ability can influence outcomes."

Felicia's mental tone was sharp. "So, the casino's deployment was not random at all… it was rigged!"

Damon's mental voice was a blade of cold logic. "Exactly. The casino's system gave their team favorable starting points to ambush or suppress us, and it worked, almost. However, they didn't account for our abilities, for the fact that even the Chaos Casino cannot know what our abilities are unless we voluntarily share them or use them."

Kyle's voice was slightly enraged. "They wanted to split us up and pick us off one by one!"

Levi's tone was low, menacing. "A classic hunter's tactic."

Henry's mental voice was full of dissatisfaction. "Bastards!! They wanted to bleed us dry and force us into desperate fights!"

Nicholas's tone was calm but intense. "It was an elegant setup, though. Credit where it's due."

Bane's voice was a growl of grim satisfaction. "But they failed, miserably."

Damon's mental voice carried finality. "Exactly. And now that we're aware of their tactics, we're going to turn this around."

Marshal suddenly spoke up. "For that, I can help. I used my ability to track their locations from the start and there is only one dot left on the map that is marked red."

Suddenly, Damon felt his mental space update with an image of a map of a rainforest area in which there were 11 active blue dots and 1 red dot. There were also 10 red crosses, with five of them around Damon right now, likely marking the enemies who had fallen.

The red dot was incidentally creeping up on Connor, who immediately seemed amused.

"Assassin versus Assassin, huh? This should be interesting." Connor muttered before entering a shadow portal nearby and traveling rapidly towards his foe.

A low chuckle rolled through the mental link at Connor's dry comment, a ripple of amusement passing among the Vanguard Team.

Kyle's voice sounded, full of cruel schadenfreude. "Poor bastard, picking a fight with Connor of all people? Might as well jump into a blender, hehe."

Bane's tone was low and sardonic. "They thought they'd sneak up on him? Shows just how clueless these Pre-Chaos creatures really are."

Levi's voice was soft and quiet. "If they had any sense, they'd run the other way."

Felicia shook her head, feeling amused.

"Connor's always been the quiet type, but when he moves…" She trailed off with a soft laugh that carried a dangerous undertone.

Nicholas's voice was calm and analytical. "His shadows are one of the most versatile offensive skills we have. They won't even see it coming."

Henry's mental voice was dry and laced with humor. "I almost feel sorry for them. Almost."

Protizen's tone was a cold monotone, but the faintest glimmer of amusement colored his words. "At least he'll make it quick."

Connor himself let out a soft laugh as he slipped into the shadow realm, his form dissolving into tendrils of darkness. His eyes glowed with a faint crimson light as he traversed the hidden world, feeling every vibration, every shift in light.

In an instant, he emerged from another shadow not ten meters behind his foe which was a thin insectoid figure with segmented armor and a wickedly curved blade that dripped with venom. The enemy was scanning the terrain carefully looking for him, oblivious to the predator lurking just out of phase with reality itself.

Connor's lips curved into a thin smile as he materialized silently behind the creature. His hand flicked, and a dagger of pure shadow slid from his palm. He paused, studying the creature's posture, the way it shifted its weight, the slight tremor in its legs.

A thousand calculations raced through his mind about geometric angles, pressure points, momentum, all thanks to his Mentality stat that allowed him to process it all in an instant. While he was no Felicia, he was not an average bloke by the roadside either.

In the next moment, when the calculations were made, the fellow struck.

The shadow dagger arced through the air, slicing into the insectoid's shoulder.

The creature whirled around, mandibles snapping in pain and fury, but Connor was already gone, sliding back into the shadows with ease.

The enemy's compound eyes darted left and right, its movements quick but not quick enough. Another flicker of shadow, another dagger sliced its leg, sending it stumbling.

Connor reappeared a meter away, his body half-formed, a silhouette of darkness and light.

His voice was a whisper of death. "You chose the wrong target."

The insectoid lunged, its blade swinging in a vicious arc as Connor flowed backward like liquid, his body dissolving into a pool of shadow that pooled beneath his feet.

The blade passed through empty air.

Connor rose again, shadow coiling around him like a living cloak. With a single gesture, a portal of darkness yawned open behind the creature.

He reached out with his free hand, and the portal expanded, drawing the insectoid in like a black hole.

There was a brief and terrified shriek, then silence. The portal closed with a light zapping sound, leaving nothing behind but a faint shimmer of residual darkness.

Connor exhaled slowly, his smile cold and satisfied. "Problem solved."