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Careful. Had to be careful. A single Mk. V could certainly help out in a big way, right now, but that would be risky, and there were too few Roberts left to be gambling with them.

For the moment, at least.

Needed to wait for his opening. The information the Roberts were relaying back to him was arguably even more valuable than their combat assistance. There were too many threatening opponents to worry about now. Being able to track all of their movements like this was exactly what he needed.

For now, he could just keep sprinting through the labyrinth. Might be a problem, though, if he forgot that path to Karugetti’s workshop.

Yeah. Better play it safe, then. Partition that information off. Give it some extra mental security from the mind flayer.

He felt another bolt arrive. A surge of electric pain through the skull.

A distraction. Nothing more. Easy enough to ignore. Pain wasn’t a problem. The tricks were. The subtle attacks. Those were what he had to pay attention to. The pain was meant to help those sleights of hand elude his notice.

Yes. There you were, Germal. Silent as a shadow, rifling through memories that didn’t belong to you.

OUT!

The cavern trembled with the force of Morgunov’s psychic purge. Rock and dust drizzled from the ceiling, threatening a cave-in, but he just kept going. It was the first time he’d caught even a glimpse of the Liar in there. He couldn’t let the opportunity go to waste.

The trembling grew into a full earthquake, and then the cave-in was no longer just a threat. Truck-sized boulders crashed down all around him--even on top of him.

And still, he ignored them. It didn’t matter if he ended up buried. He could dig his way out later.

Germal was all that mattered now. Morgunov had grip of a thread. A psychic line leading back to the slippery bugger. Just a few seconds more.

Ah, but now was precisely when the protector would--

Yes. The wolf’s jaws came through the boulders with drilling force, and Morgunov had to stop and catch them with both hands, invoking the Grip’s strength again. Thankfully, he had a glove for each hand.

Yet even still, it was barely enough power to keep that black maw from closing down on him. Morgunov was struggling. And he knew that he didn’t have time for a stalemate here. A stalemate was as good as a loss when so many others were gunning for him.