For a moment, it was as if nothing happened. Then the world began to move. Derrin's sword lanced out, cleaving a gearborn's arm off. At the same moment, the robots moved to surround him and prevent him from escaping. All of this happened in a few seconds, but to Red it seemed to take minutes.
"Am I thinking faster?" He wondered aloud.
His body echoed with a strength and power that felt unfamiliar. Clearly, his thoughts were also moving faster, even if not as fast as they had been in the time stop. He forced himself to focus on the battle in front of him.
He needed to act, and fast. What had Guardian said to him? Summon his mistblade. Red wasn't sure how that would help, but he didn't wait to consider. His concentration went to forming the sword. He didn't care if it came out red anymore. He just needed it to fight.
With a woosh, a glowing blade manifested in his hand. Red was forced to do a double take for a moment. The weapon glowed with the same golden light that wrapped around him. He didn't even bother to test the weapon. Some instinct told him it would work like a regular blade.
Shaking his head, Red tightened his grip on the glowing sword in his hand. The power emanating from the weapon felt tangible. It wanted to be used. So he was going to oblige.
Red rushed the horde of enemies that was bearing down on Derrin. If his friend had one thing going for him, it was that he had positioned himself in a way that prevented the robots from easily surrounding him. That wasn't going to be enough, though. Already he could tell that Derrin was being pushed to his absolute limit to just survive. There were simply too many robots.
Taking two quick strides, Red closed the distance between him and the enemy almost instantly. Even the power behind his steps left cracks in the floor. Without waiting for the robots to acknowledge his presence, he struck like a battering ram.
His sword fell in a downward arc that passed from the head to the toe of the nearest robot. His gun came out in his other hand as he dove past the robot and fired a shot into another gearborn.
For a moment, it seemed as if nothing happened. His blade had seemingly passed straight through the gearborn without any resistance, and therefore Red wasn't even sure that it had done its job. Then, the robot collapsed in two halves. Oil and wiring sprayed apart as the gearborn's metal halves slammed into the floor.
Despite the clang of metal, the sound still echoed through the chamber. A few of the robots turned to face him. Red met them with a grin. He swung his sword downwards just as Derrin had taught him. It passed through the injured robot, and he kicked another in the chest.
The gearborn began to slowly turn on him when they realized that their boss hadn't eliminated him. Blows began to fall towards him, but he moved like a serpent. Each of his strikes was followed by him dashing away or a shot to the nearest enemy.
While Red had certainly been given a massive boost to his power level, that didn't immediately make him that much more skilled. He was still the same kid that he was before, just with a stronger body. He didn't know a lot of sword fighting and knew that he couldn't risk being injured.
As for his shockblaster, that was another problem he was quickly noticing with the fast-paced fighting style. The weapon recharged too slowly. He was moving at speeds that required him to act over and over again. His shockblaster took time to recharge, making it practically useless in the engagement.
A blow fell towards his head, and he was forced to leap backward. Another strike came from a different angle, and he barely managed to catch it on the flat of his blade. The robot staggered slightly as Red spun and drove his fist into the side of the tin can's head.
The gearborn staggered slightly from the massive dent that now blocked out half its vision. Without giving it time to recover, Red cleaved the creature's arm off and then its head.
Red panted slightly. Even with the enhanced abilities, he wasn't used to this much direct combat. Each strike was using far more power than he needed, but he wasn't trained enough to risk decreasing the strength.
In the distance, he could still make out the sounds of battle as Derrin clashed with the enemy. Red's attack had taken most of the horde off Derrin as they turned on the new threat. Derrin may have been more skilled, but the sheer power that Red currently possessed was enough to give even the gearborn pause.
He wasn't sure how he would match up against other powerful combatants. Chances were that even with the boost, he would still be no match for Zara or the Pirate King. Much of their power came from skill and not just raw strength.
He guessed that he was about the power level of Silas. That, of course, didn't account for the man's skill or his powers. However, in terms of strength and speed, they were at least comparable.
Red dove back into the horde of enemies while thinking about that. Was Silas alright? The Pirate King still hadn't shown his face, so perhaps they had managed to defeat him. Red didn't think it was possible even with all their setup, but he could always hope.
He lashed out at another robot trying to clear his way to Derrin. However, a blade turned his strike back as Gearborn pushed out from its allies and faced him. Red knew instinctively that this robot was stronger than the others. He also knew that he didn't have time to get into a prolonged fight. He needed to get to Derrin before his friend was killed.
However, before he could act on anything, he sensed something far more pressing. Red tensed slightly as his mind touched the edges of power surrounding him. They were still just as strong and potent as before. Only now, they didn't seem to be as thorough.
For a moment, Red didn't understand what it meant. When he did, though…
"Damn it!" He cursed.
The boost given to him by Guardian, the Guardian's Blessing, was fading.
Red didn't know how much time he had left before the effect fell away, but it wasn't long. If he had to guess, it was about a minute. That wasn't a lot of time in the grand scheme of things. No, it wasn't much time at all.
But he needed it to be enough. Guardian had given them a chance to win, no matter how unlikely, and he was going to use it if it was the last thing he did.
So, with a new enemy before him, Red lunged forward.
"Out of my way," he snarled.