novelraw Chapter 50: The Unseen Path
Chapter 50: The Unseen Path
As narrated by the event keeper
Cipher now understood that brute force was the only way to stop the great beast, Skepto. To stand a chance, he needed to expand his mind’s horizons and rally allies with unwavering strength. The tournament’s first fight ended in a blur of fists and fury, but Cipher’s focus lay elsewhere. He slipped through the crowd, his gaze locking onto Victor, and pulled him aside when no eyes followed.
“What do you want?” Victor snapped, his voice sharp with suspicion. He could read the reckless glint in Cipher’s eyes like a warning flare.
“I’ve found a way to defeat Skepto,” Cipher said, his words quick and urgent.
“You’ve got to be kidding.” Victor scoffed, his face twisting with disbelief. “This is why you dragged me here?”
“Hear me out,” Cipher pressed, desperation seeping into his tone. “We take him to the Arctic—fight him where the cold saps his energy. If his power thrives on absorption, we’ll have the edge. And—”
“Stop it,” Victor interrupted, his voice cutting through like a blade.
Their history was a tangled web, knotted by their shared connection to Alessandra, but Cipher refused to back down.
“Just listen!” he shouted, his voice cracking with intensity. “Hira 125 will help. With the captain’s energy-storing ability, she’ll power him up. Then we fight together—you, me, Commander Grey, Hira, Squadron-X. All at once. We’d have a chance!”
Victor stepped forward, his shadow looming. “The only chance you’d have is dying together like a bunch of fools.” He leaned in, his words a low growl. “No one can beat him. And... I’m not against what he’s doing. I only fought him to show everyone his strength. They drugged me, kept me unconscious—he freed me. He’s the only one with the guts to do what’s necessary.”
“You can’t be serious,” Cipher whispered, disbelief choking him.
Victor’s gaze hardened. “I’ll pretend this never happened.” He turned on his heel and strode away, leaving Cipher alone in the corridor’s dim light.
Another failure—but Victor’s words sparked a flicker of hope. The drug. Cipher’s mind raced as he recalled the neuroleptic that had subdued Victor. He sprinted to the Planetary Defense Force’s research facility, rifling through digital archives until he found it: a potent neuroleptic crafted by Steven Hush and Number One, administered in continuous, near-lethal doses.
He tested it on himself, injecting a vial into his arm. Disappointment surged—no effect. Skeptical, he realized it had only worked on Victor because he’d been unconscious when they started the drip. Cipher’s back was against the wall, but he refused to discard the idea entirely. He realized that he needed a multi-pronged approach, a plan without cracks.
Seated among the crowd, Cipher’s eyes flickered between the tournament’s brutal matches and Skepto’s throne-like seat, flanked by his three elites. That’s when a revelation struck him: to fell a beast, start with its legs.
The first day ended with six more fights, each a clash of first-level Neogens—some wielding the volatile Power Blast technique.
As the sun dipped low, Cipher seized his chance, slipping away to meet an old ally.
Diego Castro froze when he saw Cipher waiting at a café near his apartment. His eyes darted nervously. “What are you doing here?”
Cipher leaned forward, voice steady. “I need your help.”
“I already quit,” Diego said, sliding into the seat opposite. “I told you—I’m done with the Planetary Defense Force.”
“I know why you left,” Cipher said, his tone softening. “You think you’re too weak to fight, to save anyone. But you’re wrong. This war’s more than fists and fire. You’re the smartest person I know. We need your mind to save the world. Strength can be broken, but will? Will can’t be touched.”
Diego’s gaze wavered, a spark of resolve igniting. Fear lingered, but purpose overpowered it. “What do you need?”
Cipher exhaled, relief washing over him. He laid out his plan.
That night, they infiltrated Fort Vanguard, where General Flick still held command. Diego’s fingers flew across the keyboards, hacking into the base’s secure files. Profiles flashed on the screen: Skepto, Guardian, Laura Zenith.
“Sean Windfall?” Diego murmured, curiosity piqued. “He was a janitor at CosCap. But...” He trailed off, frowning.
“Nothing we can use,” Cipher said, frustration edging his voice.
Diego nodded. “No criminal record, no leverage. And no traceable family.”
Cipher slumped back, mind churning. “Alright. We’ll take the second route. What about the other two?”
Diego pulled up another file. “Frank Gard—Guardian. Former security guard at CosCap. Married to Gertrude Gard, living in London with their son, Justin, a Cambridge student.”
“And Zenith?” Cipher pressed.
“Elena Hopkins, IT specialist at CosCap. Engaged to Kevin Fisher. Parents in New Jersey.”
Cipher rubbed his chin. “Can we use this?”
Diego’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Frank’s too direct—he’d retaliate physically. Elena’s our best bet.”
Cipher agreed. “Let’s start with Kevin Fisher.”
By dawn, they stood outside Kevin’s home. The doorbell echoed unanswered. Cipher pushed the door open—it creaked on rusted hinges. The house was a husk, abandoned and silent.
Cipher’s plan was taking shape, but the path ahead was shrouded in uncertainty. He knew one thing: to stop Skepto, he’d have to dismantle his power piece by piece. And that meant starting with his elites.
And so the two of them tore through the city in a frantic hunt for Kevin Fisher, their questions ricocheting off neighbors and former coworkers like desperate sonar pings. The trail led them to a stark revelation: Kevin had quit his job two months prior, vanishing into the underbelly of the football stadium now repurposed as Skepto’s fighting arena. He was a janitor there, a shadow among the chaos.
The discovery sharpened their focus, a spark of intrigue igniting their resolve.
At 8 a.m., before the day’s first bout, Cipher spotted Kevin threading through the stadium’s dim corridors. He shadowed him, silent as a predator, until Kevin reached a secluded corner. There, Elena waited. Their reunion was a collision of passion—kisses fierce and fleeting—before they slipped into a nearby room, the door clicking shut behind them.
Thirty minutes later, Kevin emerged, his cheeks flushed with a private glow. Cipher seized the opening. He strode to the door and knocked with purpose. It swung open, revealing Elena, her eyes narrowing at the sight of him.
“You... what are you doing here?” she asked, her voice edged with suspicion.
“May I come in?” Cipher replied, calm but firm.
“You can talk right here. What do you want?”
Her tension crackled in the air, her body coiled as if sensing a trap beneath his steady demeanor. Cipher stepped closer, his voice dropping. “I want you to help me bring down Skepto.”
Elena leaned back, arms crossing, her surprise morphing into a cold, mocking smile. “What a ballsy kid you are,” she said, venom lacing her words. “You come to my room, knowing who I am, and ask me to betray my master.”
“I heard him talk about making you his queen,” Cipher pressed, unflinching. “I wonder what he’d say if he knew about Kevin Fisher.”
“There it is!” she snapped, her eyes blazing. “Are you threatening me?”
“I’m not asking you to fight Skepto,” he said, his tone softening yet resolute. “Just help me take down Guardian.”
“Wait, you want to take down Guardian?” Her brows shot up, disbelief etched into her features.
“Yes, listen to my proposal—”
“I don’t need to hear anything!” She surged forward, her face inches from his, her voice a low growl. “You underestimated me. I vowed to stand by Skepto, and that’s what I’ll do. If anything happens to Kevin, Skepto will be the least of your problems. I’ll tear you and your little friends apart—piece by piece.”
She slammed the door shut, the bang echoing like a gavel’s fall.
The rejection seared through Cipher, a white-hot fury surging in his veins. His fists clenched, the air around him humming with the temptation to unleash his power and shatter the world that defied him. But he shut his eyes, dragging in a jagged breath, and chained the darkness back. A monster to kill a monster. The thought crystallized, cold and unyielding.
He turned and set his course for the Arctic.
Minutes later, he landed in the frozen expanse, the wind howling like a living thing. To his shock, a sturdy house stood defiant against the ice, its warmth a beacon in the blizzard. Maxwell Cole—once Hira 125—was outside, tending a fire where fish hissed over the flames.
“Hira!” Cipher called, his voice slicing through the gale.
Maxwell turned, recognition flickering in his eyes as he faced the young man who had nearly destroyed him. He rose from his stool, his form towering yet human, the scales of his past life faded. “I told you my name is Maxwell Cole,” he said, his tone guarded. “Here to finish the job?”
“No.” Cipher shook his head, marveling at Maxwell’s transformation. “I came to talk. Can we sit?”
Maxwell eyed him, then nodded, ushering Cipher into the house. He poured hot tea, the steam curling between them as they sat across a weathered table.
“This is quite something you’ve built here,” Cipher said, glancing at the cozy interior.
“You’d be amazed what you can find if you look,” Maxwell replied, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “What’d you come all this way to talk about?”
Cipher set his cup down, his face hardening. “There’s a monster out there—. He’s tearing everything apart.”
“Monster,” Maxwell echoed, a wry edge to his voice. “You sure love that word.”
“It’s not—” Cipher started, but Maxwell cut him off.
“I know about Skepto. Overheard some scientists talking.”
“You know about him!” Cipher leaned forward, urgency sharpening his words. “Maxwell, please—you have to help us stop him before he destroys everything.”
Maxwell’s gaze tightened, assessing. “You’re desperate to come here. But you said it yourself—my powers are unstable and dangerous. I don’t have full control, and it’s not certain I can beat him.”
“You’re stronger than you think,” Cipher countered. “If we hadn’t trapped you here, none of us could’ve stopped you.”
Maxwell leaned in, his voice dropping to a grave murmur. “You’re a good kid, Cipher, and I don’t doubt you’ve thought this through. I’m not against saving the world—hell, I almost died for it once. But what about the aftermath? If I fight him, it’ll take everything I’ve got and more. I leveled an island. Radiation, destruction—cities will sink! If this is the only way, I am ready to fight anytime, but are you ready for what comes after?”
Cipher froze, the question piercing him like ice. Silence stretched between them, heavy with the weight of a choice he couldn’t unmake.
Every option had been scoured, every path weighed.
Was this the only way?
To trade one devastation for another, to sell his soul to stop Skepto?