The beam tore through the ranks, cutting through the lieutenants. Its energy was unstoppable, pushing deep into the lower-ranked squads.
For a brief second, Gilbert's HUD was filled with nothing but white, before the impact hit.
He was blasted backward, thrown alongside his squad, their bodies hurled through the air by the sheer force of the attack.
With only a few moments to do anything, he tightened his grip around Lorelai, shielding her with everything he had, twisting his body to absorb the brunt of the crash.
They slammed into the ground, dust and debris exploding around them, the battlefield fracturing beneath the force of the blast. Gilbert's head rang, his limbs aching as he held onto Lorelai, his grip never wavering.
Gilbert groaned as the dust settled around him. He struggled to his feet with Lorelai still held firmly in his grip. His squad struggled to their feet around him. Kean coughed sharply as he scanned their surroundings. Adam steadied himself, his blindfold slightly askew.
Chen Mei was already moving, checking injuries, and ensuring no one sustained critical wounds. Vivian winced but waved her hand dismissively, signaling she was still able to fight.
The battlefield still burned, with Styx pressing in relentlessly. But then the sky cracked open as the clouds parted. A thunderous pulse drowning out everything else.
Major Cade moved like a force of nature. The horns on his helmet pulsed once more, glowing with a raw radions as he forced the Senechal's retreat.
He strode forward, his presence overwhelming the battlefield, lifting his gauntlet-covered hands toward the enemy lines.
"Break!"
The single word, echoed across the battlefield, in the next instant, energy surged outward as a brutal shock wave tore through the Styx ranks, crushing their advance, forcing them to scatter in all directions, buying his company time to gather itself.
But the Senechal wasn't done. Its cannon swiveled, charging up another blast, this aimed directly at Major Cade.
Cade stood his ground, his horns pulsing, a rhythmic charge of energy flowing through him. As the Senechal's cannon fire roared toward him, his gauntlets shifted, absorbing the energy and channeling it.
An energy field erupted from his palms, redirecting some of the blast while simultaneously siphoning its power.
Then, Cade unleashed his own devastation.
A pure beam of destruction erupted from his horns, colliding violently with the incoming attack, the clash of energy so immense that the sky itself seemed to fracture.
The explosion tore through the battlefield, sending shockwaves rippling outward, the earth shuddering beneath the force, debris launching into the air, and styx scattering from the aftermath.
Gilbert and the others braced themselves, holding steady against the tremors.
The Senechal reared back, its movements agile, as more orbs flew from underneath its clothing, twisting mid-air, expanding and snapping together, forming twin cannons that locked onto its arms.
Without hesitation, it unleashed a relentless barrage, beams of energy tearing toward Major Cade, each pulse shaking the battlefield, sending waves of heat and force across the war-torn ground.
Cade pushed forward, his stance unshaken. The ground cracked beneath his steps, his momentum unstoppable force as he closed the distance, dodging blasts with inhuman precision.
After many dodges, Cade closed the gap, the battlefield trembling beneath his charge. As he reached striking range, his stance shifted, weight rolling onto the balls of his feet.
Then he struck, boosters on his boots activated as a lightning-fast low kick crashed into the Senechal's legs, forcing it to adjust its balance. Before it could counter, Cade twisted sharply, boosters in his gauntlet activating, launching a devastating right hook, his fist shattering a metal plating that was expanding over its torso. The Senechal staggered, but Cade wasn't done. He followed through immediately, kneeing upward its palms failing to stop the strike, then he spun into a brutal spinning back kick, the hell of his boot crushing into its side, breaking all the orbs that tried to block while also breaking its bones in the process.
The enemy lurched, failing to quickly readjust himself. Cade upped the pressure, driving his fist in rapid succession, alternating hook after hook, the sheer force of his strikes overwhelming the Senechal's defenses, keeping it from retaliating.
Finally, Cade saw his opening. He grabbed the creature's head, twisting his body into a brutal slam, leveraging the additional boost from his suit's boosters, both momentum and raw strength to send the Senechal crashing into the ground, its cannons misfiring wildly.
As the enemy struggled, Cade pinned it to the floor using his armored boot, his horn's pulsed one final time, gathering more energy than before, then he unleashed it directly onto the Senechal, point-blank range.
A burst of pure devastation erupted, the battlefield quaking under the impact, the force consuming the enemy in a blazing explosion.
The battlefield hushed, the defending explosions fading into eerie quiet. As the dust finally began to settle, the silhouette of Cade emerged, his horns dimming, their glow fading as his energy receded.
He stood tall, resolute, his breathing steady, his stance firm. Beneath him, the Senechal's mangled form lay motionless, its cannons shattered, its body twisted beyond recognition.
The White Horns stared at their Major for several seconds before erupting into a cacophony of cheers, shot ringing throughout the battlefield.
With heightened morale, they attacked the styx with renewed fervor; they threw themselves back into the fight, tearing through the remaining styx with relentless aggression.
Above them, the Stygian craft intensified its attempt to escape, boosters flaring, its maneuvers growing desperate as it struggled to break free.
Major Cade then moved, stepping into the center of the gathering point, his presence enhanced by its hard-fought victory. His voice cut across the battlefield comm line with clarity.
"Attention!"
A ripple spread across the ranks as those not in battle turned towards their major.
"That Stygian ship in the air is the last in the area. They have spread an enhanced version of the black mind across the town. Our fleet is working overtime to force them to land or take it down; either way, they are not leaving with that cargo. In the meantime, they have dropped sealed canisters around the town containing toxikon to contain the threat."
Silence hung in the air for a brief moment as even those who still fighting tightened their frame in tension.
"We are to hold our positions for 30 minutes until the Advocates arrive. They will judge whether we can go through with the cleaning before they take over securing the town."
An alarm blared, reverberating through the town, cutting through the heavy silence that had settled after Cade's command.
Gilbert looked up, his HUD scanning through the surging clouds, watching as more Stygina ships tore through the sky, breaking past the atmospheric defenses, their sleek hulls ominous.
Then, the bombs dropped from their bays. Explosions erupted across the town, buildings collapsing, debris launching into the air, and the battlefield being thrown into chaos once more.
Before Gilbert could process the destruction, he caught sight of falling pods, tear-like, metallic structures plummeting from the skies. Their forms spiraling through the air, before slamming into the ground, their pointed bases burrowing deep, sending clouds of dust and shattered earth into the already suffocating battlefield haze.
The pods hissed, opening with a mechanical shriek, and then, the true nightmare emerged.
Beast-like Styx figures stepped onto the battlefield, their forms all metals coalesced into various parts of their forms. Behind them, the servants followed a humanoid with metallic extremities wearing mechanical orb-like accessories.
The battlefield roared with chaos, the dust and smoke choking the air as the newly arrived Stygian forces pressed forward.
Gilbert's squad tightened formation, shifting into a combat wedge, ensuring defensive coverage while maintaining clear lanes for firing.
"Kean, find vantage points!" Gilbert barked.
Kean pivoted instantly, identifying collapsed rooftops and wreckage stacks that could serve as temporary sniper nests, sending the information to Adams' HUD, who then moved quickly into position himself for long-range support.
"William, Vivian, and I will engage melee suppress!"
William's spear flared, pulsing with energy as he rushed into close quarters, his strikes breaking enemy formations, forcing them into predictable movements.
Adam from atop a pile of wreckage fired precise shots, taking out any styx that threatened to break his squad's formation.
Vivian used her flames to funnel the herd into manageable groups for the squads.
Meanwhile, Gilbert took point, positioning himself between his squad and the overwhelming enemies, his dual swords carving through Stygian, keeping their charges disrupted.
The battle raged on as the servants were taken care of by the High Knights, preventing them from devastating the lower ranks.
Major Cade, observing the field from his elevated position, raised his gauntlet fist, his voice booming across comms
"All units, fortify positions! Hold the line! No retreat! Fight! I say fight!"
The battlefield became brutal, teetering on the edge of collapse. The White Horns fought fiercely, but desperation was in every Knight's movement. Knights and Stygians fell alike, the battlefield consuming them without mercy. The High Knights kept the servants at bay, preventing them from wreaking havoc among the lower ranks.
Above, ships fired beams and missiles, the air shrieking with each detonation, buildings collapsing under the unrelenting assault.
At the heart of the chaos, Major Cade's horns glowed brightly as he was pinned down by three Senechals. They pressured him with their combined attacks, forcing him into a relentless defense as he struggled to keep up.
Meanwhile, Gilbert had stopped giving instructions entirely. He swung his dual swords, his body moving on pure instinct, carving through enemy ranks, nothing on his mind but survival and protecting the small child under his care. His pistols were holstered, their chambers long empty. His shoulder-mounted assault rifle lay powered down on his back, his body's reserves of radion running dangerously low, rationed so that he could keep fighting.
As the fight continued, the White Horns eventually started to edge on failure, a swarm of missiles arrived, destroying one of the Stygian ships, a ball of fire brightening the sky.
The air then split open, the sky rippling unnaturally, a fleet emerged, the lead vessel, a towering construct of impossible design, the insignia of the second magistrate on its white panels.
From the lead vessel, six figures in white armor with black engravings exited, wrapped in white cloaks, moving through the air with unnatural grace