A pack of Skulkers skittered toward her from the left, their claws raised to tear her apart. Without hesitation, she stomped her foot down, activating her kinetic boots, and sent out a shockwave, the sheer force of it cracking the ground beneath her. The Skulkers were blasted backward, their frail bodies tumbling through the air before slamming into wreckage.

One dodged the blast, darting toward her with unnatural speed. Ethel barely had time to pivot before it lunged, its serrated limbs aimed for her throat—but she was faster.

She angled her gauntlet, channeling energy into her fist. When the creature was inches away, she twisted her hips, adding torque to her swing, and drove her fist into its skull with a resounding boom. The impact sent a visible shockwave through its body, and the Skulker exploded outward, chunks of burning flesh scattering across the battlefield.

Before she could turn, a Howler swooped down from above, its wretched screech building up to a disorienting crescendo.

Ethel smirked.

With a flick of her wrist, her gauntlet's sonic dampeners activated, nullifying the soundwave before it could affect her. Then, she snapped her arm forward, sending a concentrated lance of energy streaking through the air.

The Howler's chest burst open, and its body collapsed mid-flight, its momentum sending it spiraling into a Ravager below.

The battle was relentless, but Lucy and Ethel were in perfect sync.

A Ravager charged at Lucy, its tail whipping toward her midsection at speeds too fast for a human eye to track. **She had no time to dodge—**but Ethel was already moving.

Ethel thrust her palm outward, sending a concussive blast that redirected the Ravager's momentum just enough for Lucy to sidestep at the last second.

Lucy took advantage of the moment—she pivoted sharply, using her glaive's hooked end to catch the Ravager's leg and pull, causing the massive beast to stumble. She then sprang upward, flipping onto its back before driving her glaive down into its spine, severing its control over its lower body.

At the same time, Lucy saw a Howler preparing to ambush Ethel from above.

Without hesitation, Lucy flipped her glaive into a reverse grip and hurled it. The whirling weapon cut through the air, its energy core pulsing, before piercing straight through the Howler's wing.

The beast screeched in agony as it spiraled downward, crashing at Ethel's feet.

Ethel didn't waste the opportunity—she stomped down with a force-enhanced kick, her boot snapping its neck with a sickening crunch.

But then—the Leviathan moved.

The sheer weight of its body sent tremors through the ground, forcing both women to brace themselves. Its obsidian-like exoskeleton absorbed plasma rounds, rendering long-range attacks useless.

"We take the legs out first," Ethel called, eyes already scanning for weaknesses.

Lucy nodded, gripping her glaive tighter. "I'll go high, you go low."

Ethel sprinted forward, dodging a swinging limb that nearly flattened her, and unleashed a focused energy blast at the Leviathan's left knee joint. The attack hit, sending a shockwave rippling through the behemoth's body, but its armor shifted, dispersing the force.

Lucy rocketed into the air using her thruster boots, flipping over the Leviathan's head, her glaive crackling with built-up kinetic energy.

But the Leviathan anticipated her move.

Its tail lashed out with bone-crushing force, catching Lucy mid-flight. The impact sent her hurtling through the air, her body crashing through twisted wreckage.

"Lucy!" Ethel shouted, but she had no time to check on her friend.

The horde was still coming.

The Leviathan was still standing.

And the battle was far from over.

Ethel exhaled sharply, her stance shifting fluidly as the battlefield twisted around her. The horde wasn't letting up, and neither was she.

The moment the collapsed Howler's broken body hit the ground, the battlefield shifted again—a Ravager barreled toward her, its venomous maw wide open, mandibles twitching as they prepared to snap shut around her entire body.

Ethel had only seconds to react.

She didn't move backward—instead, she charged forward.

At the last second, she dropped low, her knee grazing the metallic ground as she skidded beneath the beast's massive body. As she passed under its bulk, she planted both hands on the ground, using her energy gauntlets to generate a concussive burst. The impact propelled her forward like a missile, flipping her upright just as the beast's claws slammed down where she had been moments before.

She landed in a low crouch—her body already twisting—before she snapped her right fist backward. The energy-charged gauntlet detonated on impact against the Ravager's exposed underbelly.

Boom!

The force sent the creature reeling, its armored hide cracking from the inside out.

But there was no time to celebrate.

Ethel spun sharply, her senses scanning the chaos around her. The battlefield wasn't just a fight—it was a puzzle, and she was piecing it together in real time.

Lucy was pushing the frontlines, cutting through waves of enemies with precision and speed—but the flanks were collapsing. Skulkers were swarming the left, breaking through the outer barricades. If they weren't stopped, they'd tear through the base's inner defenses.

She had to cut them off.

Ethel took off at a sprint, dodging between the debris of fallen Ravagers and twisted metal wreckage. Two Howlers dove toward her, talons gleaming as they closed in from both sides.

She stopped abruptly, pivoting at the last possible second. With an instinctual flick of her wrist, she slammed her gauntlets together, discharging a pulse of raw energy outward.

The concussive shockwave exploded in all directions.

The Howlers were caught mid-flight, their bodies whipped backward as if yanked by an invisible force. One slammed into the side of a collapsed turret, its bones shattering on impact, while the other spiraled out of control, crashing into a pack of advancing Skulkers.

But Ethel was already moving again.

She skidded into position near the breach, planting her feet firmly, her gauntlets humming with power. The Skulkers were moving in perfect formation, their razor-limbs clicking, closing the distance fast.

She extended her arms, her palms crackling with gravitational energy—then thrust them forward, summoning a gravitic vortex directly in the center of the swarm.

The effect was instantaneous.

The Skulkers were yanked off their feet, their bodies colliding mid-air, limbs snapping and twisting from the sheer force. Some were crushed under their own collapsing mass, their exoskeletons cracking apart like fragile shells.

But a few survived—and they came at her with lethal intent.

One lunged from her right, its blade-like limbs aiming for her throat.

Ethel tilted her head just enough to avoid the slice, then angled her gauntlet upward, catching its underbelly in a devastating uppercut. The impact sent the creature flipping backward, its body smashing through wreckage before going still.

Another pounced from the left, but Ethel side-stepped with a precise spin, her left hand snaking forward to catch the creature mid-air—then, with a vicious pulse of energy, she launched it into the sky, its body disintegrating from the sheer pressure.

The third Skulker tried to strike from behind, but Ethel felt the shift in the air. She planted her left foot, twisted her body in a sharp pivot, and drove her knee upward.

Crack!

Her knee connected with the creature's jaw, its skull snapping on impact before it collapsed into a heap at her feet.

Ethel took a deep breath, eyes locked onto the ever-growing swarm. The ground trembled as the Leviathan's massive form loomed closer, its obsidian armor absorbing all damage, its mandibles twitching hungrily.

She turned her gaze toward Lucy, who had just finished cutting through another pack of enemies.

Their eyes met.

Time for the next phase.

Ethel tightened her gauntlets, the energy surging through her hands. The battle wasn't over. Not even close.

The battlefield churned with chaos, but Lucy and Ethel moved as one, their reflexes honed to perfection.

Lucy barely had time to reclaim her glaive before another Ravager lunged, its monstrous maw gaping, jagged mandibles bursting shut with bone-crushing power.

Ethel was already tracking it.

She swung her palm outward, gathering a gravitational pulse in the span of a heartbeat, and released it just as the Ravager leapt. The force shifted the creature's trajectory, sending it hurtling past Lucy instead of landing on her, its massive bulk crashing into a pile of wreckage with a deafening impact.

Lucy didn't waste the opening.

She sprinted forward, closing the distance in a blur, her glaive humming as she activated its cutting edge. The moment the Ravager staggered back onto its feet, she vaulted onto its back, using the plating of its exoskeleton as a foothold.

The beast thrashed violently, trying to shake her off, but Lucy kept her balance, shifting her weight fluidly. With a brutal downward stab, she drove her glaive straight into the base of its skull, twisting the weapon with a flick of her wrist.

The Ravager let out a choked snarl, its body shuddering before collapsing in a heap beneath her.

Lucy vaulted off, landing in a smooth roll, already scanning for the next threat.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.