Chapter Five: A Chorus of Useless Gifts

Their scraping reached him half a second late, so he closed his eyes and trusted the dust. Slick Surface erased his footing, and brief Windspine pulses drove him like a low-flying game piece between the cables' real positions. Han changed targets. Every cable stabbed toward Su Mi. The dynasties had identified Class Zero's mind. Lin had no time to switch. He applied Slick Surface to a speeding cable and delayed its collision sound. Han's metal feedback arrived half a second late. Believing he had struck Su Mi, he paused. Tao's hardened paper shield survived three seconds. Lin slid along the frictionless cable and pressed his bitter-wet glove to Han's wrist.