The Knights shifted into high alert, tightening their formation. Each group paired off in twos, ready for the inevitable strike.
Except Askel, who stood alone, defiant, unshaken, his gauntlets crashing together like rolling thunder.
"Come on! You said you wanted to play!" His voice echoed across the courtyard, raw with adrenaline. "Then play with me!"
The air tensed, then fractured.
The Stygian materialized behind him, moving with unnatural speed. Its blade-like fingers drove into his midsection, delivering multiple vicious strikes in rapid succession.
But Askel didn't dodge,
He absorbed the hits, his body bracing under the pain, as his armor cracked or holes formed in other areas with blood splashing from his mountain of a form. While his gauntlets charged with kinetic force, energy coiling into his massive palms.
Then, he swung.
His strike connected, the impact detonating with raw power, sending the Stygian hurtling across the battlefield, its frame crashing violently into a wall, debris crumbling around it.
Gilbert descended from above in an instant, thrusters blazing, his assault rifle roaring to life as his swords ignited for the next strike.
Meanwhile, Aisling adjusted her grip, twisting her tonfas with precision. She pulled the triggers, transforming them into pulse pistols, each shot streaking toward the enemy, a relentless barrage of energy.
The Stygian's core pulsed violently, energy surging as its mechanical orbs reformed, snapping back into position to block their attacks with razor-sharp precision.
Then, it drew a weapon.
Its fingers wrapped around a six-inch mechanical cylinder, energy crackling along its surface as the device expanded, transforming into a long, wickedly curved energy sword. The orbs detached from their hovering positions, clicking into metallic backplates, flaring to life with renewed energy output.
In an instant, it disappeared again.
Gilbert barely had time to react.
Then, agony.
The Stygian's blade pierced through him, driving deep into his side. His helmet's vents struggled to clear the blood as he vomited into his mask, his body shuddering under the force of the blow. But he refused to fall.
His hands latched onto the Stygian, locking his grip even as pain seared through him. His shoulder-mounted assault rifle fired point-blank, rounds tearing into the enemy's frame, forcing the creature to recoil.
"Tsk. Annoying," it muttered. "Let me get rid of this for you."
The Stygian hissed, its fingers flexing before it ripped the rifle from Gilbert's armor, tearing the weapon free with terrifying force.
The act sent another wave of pain through Gilbert, but he held firm.
Then, with every ounce of strength left, he wrapped his arms around the Stygian, locking it in a crushing bear hug as his flight unit roared to maximum output.
The squad barely had time to register what was happening before Gilbert used himself as a torpedo to deliver the creature to Askel.
Askel did not hesitate.
With a furious roar, he caught the Stygian mid-fall, driving him straight into the ground with a devastating impact, the force cracking the earth beneath them.
Before the Stygian could recover, Kean and William surged forward, their weapons driving deep into its body, pinning it down—
Then, the rest of the squads unleashed hell.
Bullets. Plasma rounds. Relentless energy fire.
The battlefield erupted in a storm of destruction, every shot aimed at ripping the Stygian apart before it could disappear again.
This was their only chance. They held their breaths waiting for the dust to settle. Askel, William, Aisling, and Kean stood firm, their weapons still drawn, forming a tight perimeter around the area where the Stygian had fallen.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the courtyard, Vivian, Adam, and Gilbert were being tended to by Anastasia and Chen Mei, their movements quick and practiced, working to reinforce armor, fix weapons, and stabilize wounds.
The battlefield turned deathly silent.
Gilbert joined the perimeter, his breath steady but his grip tightening around his swords. The squad watched, bodies tense, weapons still raised.
As the dust had fully cleared, the Stygian stood completely unharmed.
Its armor, previously concealed, sheared away in segments, dropping to the ground with the weight of discarded excess. Beneath the plating, its frame was sleeker, reinforced, pulsing subtly with charged energy.
The sword in its grip hummed with resonance, its edges sharp enough to carve through reinforced steel.
"I guess we aren't going to be that lucky," Kean said in an upbeat tone.
"Kruger, how long until those reinforcements?" Aisling asked as she lightly spun her tonfas.
"I would tell you, but you won't like the answer," Gilbert replied as he tried to shake off the ringing in his ears.
"What are you guys worried about? Just punch and shoot until it falls or until we do," Askel said, his voice loud and booming.
A low, almost mocking escaped its lips as its core hummed.
"Interesting. You guys are exquisite toys, but all good things must come to an end." The Stygian said
Then the battlefield turned into a slaughter.
The Stygian moved with precision, its attacks calculated, its strength fully unleashed.
The first blow came swiftly and mercilessly; it vanished, reappearing behind William, its blade cleaving into his armor plating, slicing deep into his side. William stumbled, blood spilling from his wound as he barely managed to twist away, his grip faltering. He tried to counterattack with his spear, but a kinetic blast sent him flying.
Aisling retaliated, her tonfas igniting, sending pulses of energy toward the creature. But the Stygian anticipated her, raising its hand, redirecting her blasts mid-air, sending them hurtling back toward her. She barely avoided them, rolling away as her left arm took a searing hit, the smell of burnt flesh filling the air.
Kean and Askel lunged together, their combined force a desperate attempt to pin it down, but the Stygian was already countering.
It grabbed Kean by the throat, lifting him off the ground, his body convulsing as an electric charge surged through his suit, disrupting his systems. With terrifying efficiency, the Stygian spun, using Kean's body as a human shield against Askel's incoming strike. Askel's fist landed on Kean, curving his body into a shrimp. Then, using the chance, the Stygian threw him into Askel.
The impact slammed Kean into Askel, sending them both crashing into the courtyard rubble, disoriented and barely moving. As they lay there, it threw its energy sword at them, impaling them. The blade then dissipated as it recalled the mechanical tube, the blade reforming once more.
Meanwhile, Vivian, Adam, and Chen Mei fought to keep the wounded stable, but they were exposed, their position vulnerable. Adam, with his helmet off, tried his best to fire with his only eye, many of his shots veering off target.
The Stygian turned toward them next. Gilbert then arrived between them, with slow, deliberate movements, and he took the Asura weapons stance taught to him by General Beckett.
Just as it moved to finish them off, the comms crackled—
"Knight 141, hold position—reinforcements incoming!"
Gilbert looked up to see a twinkle in the sky, then a thunderous impact.
A squad of Elite Knights descended from above, their thrusters roaring, their weapons blazing, streaks of energy slamming into the Stygian, forcing it back.
For the first time, the creature hesitated.
"Knight 141, you and the others retreat. We will take care of the rest," said Knight 3A1 as his rifle glowed with energy.
Knight 3A1's rifle blazed, unleashing a storm of bullets, the sheer force pressuring the enemy's defenses, forcing the Stygian to constantly maneuver.
Then, his squadmate, a towering warrior wielding a massive warhammer, charged in, each thunderous strike clashing against the Stygian's energy shield, making the creature struggle to maintain its barrier.
The Stygian's core flared again, flickering violently before it vanished, reappearing behind the hammer-wielding Knight in an attempt to strike.
But the Knight was faster than expected.
His movements were brutally and raw, before Gilbert and the retreating squad could even react, he turned sharply, his hammer colliding with the Stygian's shield once more, delivering an impact so forceful that the creature was sent hurtling across the battlefield.
It flew straight toward Edward, who was already locked onto it.
Releasing stronger, concentrated energy beams, the blasts rip through the enemy, sending it crashing to the ground.
The Stygian's shield fractured, then shattered.
Before it could recover, another Elite Knight appeared, daggers launching forward in a flash of movement, each blade piercing into the creature's frame with tactical precision.
For the first time, the Servant-class Stygian had no defenses left.
The Servant-class Stygian staggered, its defenses obliterated, its once-flawless movements now marred by severe injuries.
The daggers embedded in its frame pulsed, energy crackling across the core in his chest, as it twitched violently, struggling to recalibrate with blood dripping from its wounds.
'So that thing does bleed blood,' Gilbert thought as he leaned against a wall with Anastasia fixing his assault rifle back to his shoulder.
Then, it snarled, its synthetic voice now lined with unconcealed rage, its movements erratic yet still lethal.
It lunged, forcing past the damage, its long sword whipping through the air, catching Knight 3A1 in the shoulder, the blade shearing through armor, leaving a deep gash that sent blood splattering across the ruins.
High Knight Edward didn't falter.
Edward moved with ruthless precision, his rifle charging again, a red-hot blast tearing into the Stygian's left arm—
The limb snapped backward unnaturally, the plating shattered, exposing the raw mechanics and flesh beneath his skin.
The hammer-wielding Knight took the moment of vulnerability and swung, his weapon colliding with the weakened structure of the Stygian's leg, the force cracking the limb apart at the joint.
The creature dropped to one knee, sparks pouring from the destroyed mechanisms, but it still fought, its sword carving through the air, forcing back two attackers.
The creature tried its best not to fall.
Another Knight, wielding metallic claws twisted behind it, her claws slamming into the creature's spine, sending surges of energy deep into its exposed framework, disrupting its neural pathways.
The Stygian gasped sharply, its lungs straining, the flickering remnants of its mechanical core sputtering under the relentless assault.
Edward raised his rifle and fired directly into its remaining shoulder joint, forcing the arm to detach violently as nerves and synthetic tendons ripped apart.
The Stygian's blade clattered to the ground. As its body started falling, Edward approached, emptying his rifles into the chest.
The creature with its last visages of energy whispered into their minds once more, its synthetic voice sounding weak even through the magic translation.
"Thanks for the fun, Knights, but you all are too late." He said in a triumphant tone.
As they saw the creature fall, all the Knights slumped onto the floor, their bodies relaxing.