Hollow Twilight - A LitRPG Novel

Chapter 37

Reid spotted Maple the moment she popped out from between two buildings. She waved towards one set of buildings, then turned and repeated, slowly moving down the street. She wouldn't be able to see Reid through the windows so she was just giving the signal wherever she could in the hopes he saw it.

There was a small chuckle from Gilphorus in the back of Reid's head but the being was otherwise quiet since getting told off. It felt more like he was content to watch this play out.

Paragon flew by overhead, rising up even higher and scouring the tops of the buildings. He was as calm and imposing as always, the epitome of cool that Reid had always envisioned. That was the guy up there, literally glowing like the sun. And it felt good to be taking him down a peg.

Reid placed his hand against the glass, watching the shadow spread across the pane. Cracks began to form before the entire thing shattered at once. Reid rolled to the side as a sword of light shot through the opening a second later. There was no time to take it in as Reid started to sprint across the floor, a barrage of weapons crashing through.

Then they stopped. Unexpectedly. Reid stopped himself, feeling his hot breath in his throat, chest heaving. He spun around to see what had happened. The plan hadn't involved acting that quickly, unless someone somehow had a perfect shot at Paragon's heart. A flash of jealousy shot through Reid's heart, startling him but he brushed it away. That monster was still alive.

The windows on the opposite wall were all decimated, along with large chunks of the floor. And Paragon hovered at the opening, touching down gently on the crushed glass, an array of blades fanning out behind him.

"Everyone thinks they're the one who figured it out." Paragon pointed towards Reid and one of the swords swiveled to match, tip aimed directly at Reid's chest. "He'll use range so somebody is the distraction. What if I get close to the distraction?" The weapon fired instantly.

A dark tendril shot out from beneath Reid's feet, deflecting the attack and sending it careening through one of the pillars behind him, sending chunks of concrete flying.

"Oh?" Paragon titled his head. His confident smile didn't budge even as his eyes narrowed on Reid. "That's new. Shouldn't you just run away?"

Reid coughed up the breath he had been holding. He looked down at his own hands and the wisps of shadow that encircled them. Running had been the original plan but apparently new options had opened up.

"I guess I'm better than that," Reid replied. He hadn't figured out a counterattack to this situation yet, nor a way to get things back on track for the original plan. He could at least parry some of Paragon's hits, though he had no idea for how long or to what extent. That was one sword of many so he had no idea what the rest of the attacks could look like.

"Don't get cocky over a little skill." Paragon's expression flatlined for a split second before snapping back. But he didn't attack. He just watched Reid and neither moved.

"You were so relentless before," Reid remarked, holding still and feeling his chest tighten in anticipation. "One little bump and you lose it?"

"Taunts don't mean anything from the weak," Paragon said. The lyricism of his voice blunted the condescension he always had. It was hard to hate something so alluring and yet so repulsive at the same time.

"If I'm weak then kill me."

Another sword shot out and was knocked aside by Reid. For a moment he had seized, second guessing this was real and in his head still waiting for the attack. That had been closer than he wanted. He needed to relax, familiar with these kinds of moments from his many hours playing other videogames. His life just wasn't on the line in those ones. This was why he didn't play contact sports.