BOOM.
The sky cracked open as a plasma blast tore through the skeleton of a fallen skyscraper. Concrete vaporized. Steel groaned. Kael twisted away, barely escaping the blast radius, debris grazing his coat.
To the left, Sira danced through chaos—her twin blades flashing. Four Red Soldiers fell in rapid succession, blood hissing as it touched superheated ground. She didn't stop. Didn't blink.
Behind the scorched husk of a broken truck, Jay crouched low, flanked by two surviving soldiers and four trembling volunteers. Fear thickened the air. The ground trembled with every impact.
Neil landed beside them, face streaked with ash. His voice was calm, but urgent.
"Get out of here. Now. This isn't your fight anymore."
Before they could argue, another blast screamed toward them.
BOOM.
Neil spun away, the plasma blast streaking past his shoulder. He hit the ground and rolled—just in time. The explosion behind him turned a crater into fire.
Kael appeared in the smoke, blades flashing. Two Red Soldiers collapsed, headless.
Across the battlefield, above the ruin and fire—
Rilveer watched.
Tall. Unmoving. A monstrous smile curling his lips.
In his mind, a voice echoed. Not spoken. Thought.
"Bugs. That's all they are. Skittering in the dust before the storm."
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Three plasma blasts slammed into the ground in rapid succession—each closer than the last.
BOOM. BOOM.
Two more struck behind Sira as she sprinted across scorched terrain, her movements a blur of muscle and instinct. Heat shimmered around her, the air alive with death.
BOOM.
The sixth blast hit just behind her heel. The shockwave lifted her off the ground—still, she twisted midair, landing in a forward roll and rising without missing a step.
Kael carved through another wave of Red Soldiers—three more gone in seconds. His blade arced like a comet, leaving a trail of scorched crimson.
Sira charged, a cry of fury on her lips—
FWOMP.
A sudden plasma bolt screamed down from above. Too fast.
CRACK.
It struck her square on the left shoulder.
Her armor flared—absorbing what it could—but the force was too much.
She was thrown sideways.
Her body crashed into the shattered remains of a support beam. Dust exploded outward as she hit the ground hard, skidding across rubble and smoke.
She didn't rise.
Neil's head snapped toward her. His chest tightened.
"Sira!"
The battlefield seemed to pause for a breath.
High above, Rilveer's smile widened.
"Crack the blade. Break their rhythm. Let them feel fear again."
Sira groaned, propping herself on one elbow, pain flaring in her shoulder. The blast had cracked her armor—smoke still curled from the impact point.
Kael dropped beside her, breathing hard. His eyes scanned the horizon—too many red visors glowing through the dust. More were coming.
"They're too many," Sira muttered, struggling to stand.
Kael caught her arm, steadying her. "Then we thin the herd."
She shook her head. "No. They're not breaking formation. This isn't a brawl—it's execution."
Kael's jaw tightened. "We survive this, or we die teaching them why that's a mistake."
Sira tried to smile. "You always did love dramatic odds."
Kael glanced toward the hilltop. "They're aiming at you."
Sira blinked. "What?"
From his distant vantage, Neil watched—heart pounding.
Eight. No—nine Red Soldiers leveled their weapons directly at Sira's fallen form. Plasma cores whined.
Kael's eyes widened. "No—"
He ran.
Boots thundered over rubble. Time slowed. His mind screamed.
Move. Move. Faster!
Plasma blasts charged—
They fired. All at once.
Nine streams of death screamed through the sky, converging toward Sira.
Kael's breath caught. He wouldn't make it in time.
For the first time in years, he felt powerless.
The blasts streaked toward her—
BOOOOOOM.
A massive explosion lit the battlefield in white fire.
Dust roared outward in a ring.
Silence.
And then—a shape emerged through the cloud.
Neil stood at the center of the blast zone.
Arms raised. Knees shaking. A glowing energy shield flared in front of him, shimmering like molten glass. His hands were outstretched, covering his face—pure reflex.
But the plasma? Gone.
Vaporized on impact.
Neil's eyes opened slowly. "What… what did I just do?" he whispered. His gaze swept across the scorched ground.
Sira lay unconscious behind him—untouched.
Kael stumbled to a halt, stunned.
The Red Soldiers stopped. All weapons lowered.
For a second, the battlefield held its breath.
High above, perched on the crumbling bones of a tower, Rilveer's smile vanished.
His thoughts thundered like ancient drums.
"That wasn't in the design. That... wasn't human."
He stood. Drew his blade.
And jumped.
The tower groaned beneath him as he leapt—a green-skinned blur, descending like judgment itself.
Kael's head snapped up. "He's coming."
Neil turned slowly, the shield flickering. His hand trembled. "Where are the plasma shots? What just happened?"
He saw Sira. Still breathing.
The Red Soldiers still unmoving.
Then—
CRACK.
A furious strike smashed into Neil's shield. The sound was like a mountain breaking.
Neil staggered. His feet slid across the ground.
Jay, watching from a distant ridge, felt the shockwave hit like a physical slap.
"Neil…" he whispered.
The shield held—but barely.
And before Neil, Rilveer stood, blade crackling, eyes burning with cold fury.
"You stopped the fire," he said. "Let's see if you can stop the storm."
CRASH.
Rilveer's second strike slammed into Neil's shield—sparks burst, a wave of kinetic force rippling outward. But Neil didn't flinch.
This time, he felt no fear.
He looked into Rilveer's eyes—deep crimson, with swirling black pupils like collapsing stars. There was fury there, yes. But also something else.
Recognition.
A flicker of ancient memory, as if Rilveer had seen Neil before—in another life, or another war.
Neil didn't look away.
In the flickering haze of his shield, faint words began to burn, etched in glowing alien script that morphed into English:
> NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED
> ENERGY SHIELD: ACTIVE
> ENERGY SWORD: READY
Neil blinked. "Sword?"
He glanced down at the knife in his hand—bloodstained, cracked.
And then, he did something he didn't fully understand.
He focused.
Not on strength. Not on fear.
But on the strange energy coiled inside him—a pulse that started in his gut and climbed through his veins like fire. His breath slowed. The world faded.
He poured that current into the hilt of the knife.
The blade began to glow—first dimly, then with rising intensity.
The steel melted, reshaped, expanded.
The hilt pulsed once—twice—then the entire weapon exploded in light.
In Neil's hand, the knife became a sword—crackling with translucent energy, humming like a tuning fork of war. Etched with unknown glyphs. Alive.
Kael's eyes widened. "By the Box… he forged it."
Neil's own stare dropped to the weapon, disbelief rising in his chest.
"What did I just do…? What am I becoming?"
But no time for answers.
Rilveer saw the transformation—and responded with a roar. He lunged forward, blade high.
CLANG.
The two weapons met—Neil's newly-forged Energy Sword locking with Rilveer's alien steel. Sparks rained. The ground split beneath them.
And Neil—no longer dodging—pushed back.
Rilveer's feet slid.
Kael stared in stunned silence. Sira, unconscious behind the shield, still breathed, unaware that the tide had just turned.
Neil exhaled through gritted teeth. "Let's see what this sword can really do."
Rilveer stepped back, expression unreadable, then rolled his shoulders and stood tall—almost casually. His blade lowered, but his voice carried command.
"Eliminate them. All of them."
The Red Soldiers surged forward, weapons raised. Plasma rifles whined with energy, charging for the next volley.
Neil and Kael stood alone. Sira lay still behind them—unconscious, armor scorched.
From behind cover, Jay watched, then made his move. Sprinting low, he dodged the fire zone and reached Sira. "Hang in there," he muttered, slipping her arm over his shoulder. Her body was heavy, limp, but breathing. He began dragging her back toward the half-destroyed truck, the last cover they had.
WHHRRMMM—
A volley of plasma blasts screamed toward them.
Neil saw it. Without thinking, he sprinted ahead—his Energy Shield flaring bright like a curved wall of light.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Six plasma bolts hit.
The ground shook. Smoke burst outward in violent rings.
But Neil held.
The shield crackled, dimmed slightly, then stabilized. He gritted his teeth, holding the barrier between Jay and the blasts.
"Keep moving!" Neil shouted, voice raw.
Jay nodded, dragging Sira behind the cover of the truck.
Kael, meanwhile, charged the incoming Red Soldiers. His blades became a blur—slashing, deflecting, cutting through armor. He danced like lightning in a storm, but for every soldier he dropped, two more emerged.
Rilveer's smile was gone.
With a roar, he rushed Neil—his fury unleashed.
Steel met energy.
CLANG!
CRASH!
Neil staggered back. Rilveer's blows were fast and brutal—each one powerful enough to shatter rock. Neil's Energy Sword met every strike, barely holding.
He fought not with technique—but with instinct. Parry. Dodge. Block. Push back.
Every time Rilveer struck, Neil's Shield shimmered, absorbing the residual shock. It was the only reason he was still standing.
But Neil was slowing. His breathing labored.
Kael saw it. He was fast, deadly—but surrounded. Blades clashed in every direction. Sparks flew. His armor was scorched, his arm bleeding—but his eyes never left Neil.
And Rilveer?
He was only getting faster.
Neil stumbled back, gritting his teeth as Rilveer's blade slashed across his back. The energy shield flickered, unable to fully absorb the hit. Pain surged. He gasped.
He wasn't a warrior.
He had no training.
No tactics.
Just instinct—and a new, raw power he barely understood.
"I can't match his speed… I'm not like Kael… not yet…" Neil thought, blocking another strike just in time.
Across the field, Kael spun mid-fight, cutting down another Red Soldier with a blur of steel. But behind him—
WHAM!
A plasma blast hit the ground, shattering stone, sending a chunk of debris crashing into Kael's shoulder.
He was thrown off balance—crashing hard.
He rolled, rising with a grunt. One Red Soldier charged, plasma blade humming, but Kael—injured—still reacted fast enough to slice the attacker cleanly in two.
But—
Two more plasma rifles charged from opposite ends, aimed at him.
Kael saw it.
"I can't block both. My sword's only on one side… not fast enough."
But he didn't hesitate.
He blocked one—
FLASH!
—and the second blast slammed into his back, sending him flying.
BOOM!
Kael hit the wall—hard. His face bloodied, his back armor burned through. Smoke rose from the tear in his plating. He didn't move.
Neil watched it happen.
His breath caught.
The Red Soldiers didn't wait. They raised their rifles—aiming at the broken warrior.
Then—
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Five golden arrows tore through the air—each glowing, fast as light.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Three Red Soldiers exploded, fire and metal erupting into the sky.
Neil's eyes widened. Where the hell did those come from?
But—
CLASH!
Rilveer's blade slammed down again, relentless. Neil barely raised his sword in time. Sparks flew. Rilveer didn't pause, didn't blink—just attacked, merciless.
The Red Soldiers around them began scanning the skies—unease creeping into their ranks.
Then again—
THWIP. THWIP. THWIP.
Three more golden arrows from above—deadly, precise.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Three more Red Soldiers gone in bursts of light.
29 remained.
Rilveer paused, blade mid-swing, his eyes scanning the haze. His smile faded.
"Where?" he thought.
His eyes searched the shattered skyline, the clouds, the burning ruins.
"Who's interfering?"
Neil, breathing hard, looked skyward too. His mind raced.
But there was no time to wonder.
Rilveer turned back to him.
Rilveer's boot slammed into Neil's abdomen.
CRACK.
A brutal kick—right into his solar plexus.
Neil's breath vanished. His body lifted off the ground.
SMASH!
He crashed into the side of a burnt-out car, the metal groaning under the impact. Glass shattered. Blood streaked down his cheek. His ribs screamed.
Something inside felt broken.
Neil gasped, choked—collapsed.
The shield flickered, unstable. His hands trembled. The energy sword dimmed, then reignited faintly.
His vision blurred.
"I… can't move my left arm. Shoulder's dislocated… ribs cracked… maybe punctured. Breathing hurts. Damn… I'm not ready for this…"
But then—
SWAMP! SWAMP! SWAMP!
More golden arrows tore through the battlefield, slamming into the Red Soldiers with surgical precision.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two more fell.
And then—the archer was spotted.
A lone silhouette, half-hidden behind a shattered column of a fallen building. Cloaked in dust, armor dark, hood drawn. A long, gleaming bow—drawn and steady.
All remaining Red Soldiers turned.
Plasma rifles raised.
BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!
A storm of plasma fire lit the sky, smashing into the ruined column. Concrete exploded. The archer vanished in a storm of dust and debris.
Neil groaned, pushing himself up, one elbow at a time.
Rilveer marched forward, his sword dragging sparks from the ground. Each step heavy, deliberate.
Neil rose, unsteady. His legs barely obeyed.
Blood dripped from his lips. His back was bruised and torn. His armor cracked open. His breathing shallow and sharp.
"I can't run. Can't dodge. But I have to stand. I have to hold…"
His energy shield flickered again—unstable, half-glowing.
And yet, he raised it.
Facing Rilveer.
Broken, but unyielding.