Dark chi erupted from Arthur's body. Not shadows. Not lightning. Not metal. Something else entirely, something Lucy hadn't seen him use yet. The energy was red with faint white streaks running through it like veins, and it felt wrong, made her instincts scream warnings as it spread outward from Arthur's position.

Lucy tried to retreat but the dark chi moved faster. It wrapped around her legs, her torso, her arms, solidifying into chains that pulled tight and yanked her off her feet.

Arthur rose. His broken arm straightened with audible cracking as bones reset themselves. The burns across his skin healed rapidly, new tissue growing at visible speed. Blood stopped flowing from his wounds and began reversing, being pulled back inside as his body reconstructed itself.

He stood fully upright, dark chi swirling around him like a storm, and looked up at KROME standing at the crater's edge.

"Did you think," Arthur said, his voice carrying clearly despite the distance, "that I was using everything I had?"

His hand made a grasping motion. The energy shot upward, wrapped around KROME's legs, yanked hard. The several ton mech tipped forward, fell into the crater with a crash that shook the ground.

Kelvin tried to fire the thrusters, get airborne again. The systems responded but the chains held KROME in place, solidified power stronger than steel cables. The mech thrashed, servos screaming, but couldn't break free.

Arthur walked toward KROME casually, the energy intensifying around him. Lucy struggled against her own restraints, channeling electricity through her body, trying to burn through the chains. They absorbed her lightning, grew stronger from it, fed on her power.

"Interesting element, electricity," Arthur said, not looking at Lucy as he approached the struggling mech. "So versatile. So powerful. But ultimately predictable."

He reached KROME, placed one hand on the mech's chest plating. Then he pulled back and punched.

The impact created a crater in reinforced steel. Metal shrieked, buckling inward from force amplified beyond human limits. Arthur hit the same spot again. Then again. Each strike drove deeper, created larger deformations, sent cracks spider webbing outward through armor plating designed to withstand anti-tank rounds.

Kelvin's screens flickered as sensors detected the structural damage spreading. His eyes flashed green, prosthetic hands flying across controls. Technopathy activated, his consciousness diving into KROME's systems, rerouting power to damaged sections, reinforcing weakened points with electromagnetic fields, doing everything his genius mind could conceive to hold the mech together.

The mech's frame began glowing green, Kelvin's power flooding through every circuit and servo. Structural supports reinforced themselves. Armor plating that had been buckling straightened, molecular bonds tightening under technopathic influence. KROME's right arm suddenly responded, came up swinging at Arthur's head.

Arthur caught the metal fist, held it in place with one hand. His fingers dug into the steel, creating indentations where his grip compressed reinforced alloys. He pulled.

Metal groaned. Servos screamed in protest. The entire arm tore free at the shoulder joint, hydraulic fluid spraying in pressurized arcs. Sparks erupted from severed power connections.

Arthur held the detached limb for a moment, examining it with clinical interest, then dropped it carelessly.

"You're strong," Arthur acknowledged, looking up at KROME's viewport where Kelvin's face was visible through the green glow. "For a human. Your technopathy rivals some of the greatest I've encountered. But—"

He moved. One moment standing still, the next appearing at KROME's side, moving faster than the mech's targeting systems could track. His fist drove into the hip joint, amplified strength shattering reinforced construction in a single blow.

The joint exploded. KROME's leg buckled, the mech tilting sideways as its support structure failed. Kelvin compensated immediately, firing thrusters to keep balance, redirecting weight distribution through technopathic commands.

Arthur was already moving again. He appeared behind KROME, both hands grabbing the mech's remaining arm. He twisted, pulling in opposite directions with force that bent steel support beams like they were made of aluminum foil.

The arm came free with a shriek of tearing metal. Arthur threw it aside, the limb crashing into the crater wall thirty feet away.

Kelvin's hands moved desperately across failing controls. KROME had no arms now, one leg barely functional, systems failing faster than he could repair them. But the fusion reactor still worked, still generated power. The shoulder cannons could still fire.

Both weapons swiveled, locked onto Arthur's position at point blank range, and unleashed everything. Plasma beams lanced out, brilliant blue-white, temperatures hot enough to vaporize steel.

Arthur's shadows erupted upward, forming barriers that the plasma burned through but not fast enough. He dove aside, the beams missing him by inches, striking the crater wall behind him and melting stone to slag.

Kelvin kept firing, swiveling the cannons to track Arthur's movement. Plasma beams carved through empty air, chasing Arthur as he moved in unpredictable patterns around the crater floor. One beam clipped his shoulder, burned through his metal coating, seared flesh beneath.

Arthur snarled. His hand shot forward, lightning erupting from his palm in response. The bolt struck KROME's left cannon dead center, overloaded its power system, made it explode in a shower of sparks and molten metal.

The right cannon swiveled desperately, trying to acquire target lock. Arthur crossed the distance before it could fire again, appeared directly in front of KROME's chest cavity where armor plating had already been damaged.

He drove both fists into the weakened section. Once. Twice. Three times. Metal shrieked, giving way under the assault. Arthur's hands punched completely through, reached inside the mech's internal workings.

Kelvin felt the intrusion through his technopathic connection, felt Arthur's hands closing around critical systems. He tried to electrify the internal components, shock Arthur into letting go. Arthur's body spasmed from the voltage but his grip didn't loosen.

Arthur found what he was looking for. The fusion reactor's containment chamber, housing dragon fusion energy compressed into a space smaller than a basketball. His fingers wrapped around the reinforced casing. He squeezed.

Metal crumpled. The containment chamber deformed under pressure no material was designed to withstand. Cracks appeared in the casing, glowing blue-white as dragon fusion energy began leaking through structural failures.

Kelvin felt it through his connection, felt the containment failing, the dragon fusion energy becoming unstable. He tried to reroute power, tried to activate emergency protocols, tried everything his genius mind could conceive in the two seconds he had.

Arthur pulled his hands free and stepped back.

The reactor detonated.

The explosion was contained mostly within KROME's frame, shaped charges directing the blast upward and outward rather than toward Kelvin's cockpit. But the force was still enormous, lifting the entire mech off the ground, sending it tumbling through the air trailing smoke and flames.

KROME crashed at the crater's far edge, smoking and sparking, its frame twisted beyond recognition. The cockpit hatch blew off from internal pressure, and Kelvin emerged coughing, his prosthetic arms sparking but still functional.

He hit the ground hard, rolled, came up with both hands extended. Green energy poured from his palms, technopathy reaching out desperately for any systems he could control, any machines he could use as weapons.

Kelvin tried to rise. Got his hands under him. Pushed up six inches before his strength failed and he collapsed, blood running from his mouth.

Arthur turned his attention back to Lucy. She was still struggling against the chains, electricity sparking uselessly around her body as the energy absorbed everything she could generate.

"Your Soul Form is impressive," Arthur said, walking toward her slowly. "But it has a weakness. All that power flowing through you, burning through your body faster than you can sustain it. And when your reserves run dry..."

He grabbed one of the chains binding Lucy's arms, used it as a handle to lift her off the ground. Her feet dangled in empty air, the chains holding her suspended.

Lucy's eyes blazed brighter, electricity surging through her body one more time. She channeled everything she had left, every amp of power her Soul Form could generate, forcing it through the contact point where Arthur held the chain.

The discharge was massive, brilliant, enough voltage to power a city. It traveled up Arthur's arm, through his body, should have stopped his heart, should have fried his nervous system, should have killed him.

Arthur's body spasmed from the current. His grip loosened slightly. Lucy saw her chance, converted her body to electrical energy again, tried to phase through the chains—

Arthur's other hand shot out, grabbed her by the throat mid-transformation. The energy from his body forced Lucy's electrical form to solidify involuntarily, pulled back into physical matter against her will.

"Nice try," Arthur said.

He swung her overhead in an arc and drove her into the ground with catastrophic force. Lucy's back hit first, impact transferring through her spine, vertebrae cracking from pressure her body was never designed to handle.

"ARGHHHH!!!"

Her scream tore from her throat, raw and primal. The electrical glow around her body flickered, dimmed, then died completely as her Soul Form collapsed. The circuit patterns across her skin faded to nothing.

Lucy lay in the dirt, unable to move, blue eyes staring at nothing while tears ran down her face. Her breathing was shallow, irregular. Blood ran from her nose and mouth.

Arthur released her, stepped back, brushed dust off what little was left of his clothes. The energy dissipated around him, fading back into whatever internal reserve he drew from. His injuries had healed completely during the exchange. No burns. No broken bones. Completely restored.

He looked around the battlefield. Lucy broken at his feet. Kelvin unconscious twenty yards away. KROME destroyed. Smoke rising from multiple impact sites. Grey soldiers scattered, disorganized, many of them injured or dead from the collateral damage.

Grey forces were already moving, rushing toward where their princess had fallen. Medical personnel sprinted across churned earth, trauma kits in hand. Commander Hight shouted orders, trying to reorganize her scattered troops while keeping one eye on Arthur.

Arthur let them come. Didn't interfere as they reached Lucy, began emergency treatment for her spinal injuries. He just stood there, looking almost bored despite the devastation he'd just inflicted.

His gaze swept across the settlement, taking in the destroyed buildings, the scattered civilians, the numbered children hiding in doorways and watching with wide eyes.

"Lila Rowe isn't here anymore," Arthur said, his voice carrying across the battlefield despite not being raised. "Interesting. Where would she be? Probably somewhere in the settlement, yes?"

He paused, let that sink in.

"I notice Sophie Reign is also absent. How curious. The daughters of my most trusted operatives, both missing at the same time." His smile returned, cold and knowing. "They wouldn't be searching for something they shouldn't find, would they?"

A figure staggered from behind collapsed rubble at the crater's edge. Seraleth, nose bloodied, one eye swollen shut, but still standing. Her gauntlets crackled with energy, and she settled into a fighting stance despite visible injuries.

Arthur turned his attention to her, expression shifting to mild interest. "The alien. I wondered when you'd rejoin the fight."

Noah was twenty feet behind Seraleth, breathing hard. Wounds covered his body, most of them healing but slowly. His clothes were torn, bloodied, scorched from Arthur's lightning.

He patched into Kelvin's comms. Static. Tried Lucy's channel. No response.

'We're losing. Badly.'

Grey soldiers continued their desperate efforts to provide support, ravager blasters firing at Arthur from maximum range. Their shots were absorbed by shadows that Arthur manifested without seeming to think about it, his attention focused entirely on Noah and Seraleth.

Noah dismissed Excaliburn with a thought. The void blade dissolved, purple energy dissipating into nothing. Void energy swirled around his body as Knight's Grace materialized, the form-fitting armor plating across his torso, gauntlets snapping onto his forearms, greaves forming around his legs. The Void Shell activated immediately, a faint shimmer of protective energy surrounding him. Void Striders manifested around his feet, black energy wisping from the soles.

Arthur's eyebrows rose slightly. "Finally taking me seriously?"

"Should have from the start," Noah admitted, settling into a fighting stance.

"Won't matter," Arthur replied.

Seraleth moved first. She crossed the distance with that impossible grace her species possessed, gauntlet-covered fist aimed at Arthur's ribs. He blocked casually, metal coating his forearm, but Seraleth's reverb activated and the secondary shockwave traveled through his defense anyway.

Arthur grunted, adjusted his stance, came back with a strike that Seraleth barely dodged. Noah was already moving, Void Striders activating, propelling him forward at speeds that left afterimages. He appeared at Arthur's opposite side, fist aimed at his kidney.

Noah's strike connected. His fist drove into Arthur's side. Arthur's body shifted from impact, but he was already spinning, elbow coming around toward Noah's head.

Noah ducked under the strike, came up with an uppercut aimed at Arthur's jaw. Arthur leaned back, let the punch pass inches from his face, countered with a knee that Noah blocked with his forearm.

The impact sent shockwaves through Noah's arm despite the armor. Arthur was stronger, hitting harder than anyone Noah had fought. But he kept pressing anyway because stopping meant dying.

Seraleth attacked again, her fist driving toward Arthur's head from the side. Arthur caught her wrist without looking, used it as leverage to flip her overhead. Seraleth twisted mid-air, converted the throw into a spinning kick that caught Arthur across the jaw.

His head snapped sideways. First clean hit Seraleth had landed. She followed up immediately, gauntlets blazing with energy, delivering a rapid combination of strikes that Arthur had to actually defend against.

Noah saw his opening. While Arthur was blocking Seraleth's assault, Noah moved in close, hand pulling back, void energy gathering around his knuckles.

'Got you.'

Null Strike activated.

Purple-black energy erupted around Noah's fist. He drove it forward, aimed at Arthur's exposed side, the erasure technique that could unmake flesh and bone on contact.

Arthur's eyes flicked toward Noah mid-block. His free hand shot out, grabbed Noah's wrist, arrested the strike inches from his ribs. Shadows wrapped around Noah's arm, solidified, held the Null Strike in place while Arthur kicked Seraleth away.

Noah tried to blink but Arthur's shadows started spreading around him and strangely, they prevented the void displacement from activating properly. Noah was locked in place, void energy still crackling around his fist but unable to reach its target.

"Close," Arthur said. "But not close enough."

He twisted Noah's arm, forced him off-balance, then released his grip and delivered a palm strike to Noah's chest.

The Void Shell absorbed thirty percent of the impact. The remaining force still drove all air from Noah's lungs, cracked ribs beneath the armor plating. Arthur's follow-up strike came too fast to dodge—a straight punch that slammed into Noah's solar plexus.

The energy coating Arthur's fist bypassed the armor entirely. It flooded directly into Noah's body, burning through his insides like someone had poured acid into his veins. His organs seized, muscles spasmed involuntarily, nerves screaming from damage they couldn't process.

[HP: 2,890/3,520]

Noah flew backward, hit the dirt hard, rolled three times before momentum finally stopped. He pushed himself up on trembling arms, spat blood, looked at Arthur who stood twenty feet away looking completely fresh.

Seraleth attacked again. Her gauntlets blazed with power as she delivered a strike aimed at Arthur's head. He caught her fist, absorbed the reverb through his metal coating, yanked her forward off-balance.

His knee came up, met her descending face. Seraleth's nose shattered again, fresh blood spraying. Arthur didn't let go, just adjusted his grip and kneed her again. Same spot. Same devastating force.

Seraleth's chi flared desperately, white energy flooding through her meridians, reinforcing her skull before the third strike could crack it open. Arthur released her fist, grabbed her head with both hands, and simply drove it into his rising knee one final time.

The impact was sickening. Seraleth's eyes rolled back, consciousness fleeing from trauma too severe to process. She went limp immediately, body becoming dead weight.

Arthur let her fall, watching as seven feet of unconscious alien warrior collapsed to the ground.

Then he turned his full attention to Noah.

"Just you now," Arthur said. "Your dragons aren't here. Your team is broken. Your allies are dying. So what will you do, Noah Eclipse?"

Noah stood slowly, breathing hard, void energy crackling around his hands. Every logical part of his mind said this was unwinnable.

He activated the Void Striders fully, felt the boots respond, energy building around his feet. He shot forward at Mach speeds, the world blurring around him as he closed distance in a fraction of a second.

His fist drove toward Arthur's face. Arthur's hand came up, caught Noah's wrist mid-strike despite the impossible speed. His grip was like iron, fingers digging into the Knight's Grace gauntlet hard enough to crack the void-infused material.

Noah twisted, brought his other fist around in a hook aimed at Arthur's ribs. Arthur blocked with his forearm, metal coating absorbing the impact, then countered with a headbutt that caught Noah square in the face.

Stars exploded across Noah's vision. Blood sprayed from his nose. Arthur didn't give him time to recover, just grabbed Noah by the throat and drove him into the ground.

The impact cratered the earth. Noah's armor absorbed most of it but the the dark chi was flooding through Arthur's hand again, bypassing the Void Shell, burning directly into Noah's neck and chest. It felt like fire spreading through his blood vessels, like every cell in his body was being cooked from the inside.

[HP: 2,340/3,520]

Noah grabbed Arthur's wrist with both hands, channeled entropy touch through the contact. The decay spread across Arthur's skin, making flesh wither and crack. Arthur's grip loosened slightly from the damage.

Noah blinked. Void displacement activated, tearing him free from Arthur's grasp, repositioning him fifteen feet away. He came up in a crouch, one hand pressed against his throat where Arthur had grabbed him. The skin was burned, blistered, but already beginning to heal.

Arthur examined his wrist where Noah's entropy touch had landed. The flesh was gray, dead, falling away in chunks. That same dark chi flared around the injury and forced regeneration, new tissue growing to replace what had been destroyed.

"Better," Arthur acknowledged. "You're actually making me work a little."

He moved again. Not as fast as Noah's Mach speed but fast enough that Noah barely had time to activate Phase Step. The Dimensional Shift triggered, pulling Noah briefly out of sync with reality as Arthur's fist passed through where he'd been standing.

Noah rematerialized behind Arthur, both hands coming up, void energy gathering between his palms. Void Barrage activated, dozens of small void projectiles erupting outward in a shotgun blast pattern.

Arthur spun, shadows forming a defensive wall. Most of the void spheres hit the barrier, dissipated harmlessly. Three made it through, struck Arthur's torso, burned through his metal coating.

Arthur looked down at the holes, then back at Noah. His expression shifted slightly. Not concern exactly, but acknowledgment that Noah could actually hurt him if given enough opportunities.

"Nyx," Noah started—

"Not again," Arthur interrupted. His shadows erupted outward from his position, spreading across the ground in multiple directions. They converged on Noah from all sides, wrapping around his legs, his torso, pulling tight.

Noah tried to blink away. The shadows held him in place, prevented void displacement. He channeled entropy touch through the contact points. The shadows absorbed the decay, grew stronger from consuming it.

The darkness rose around him, climbing higher, blocking out sunlight. Noah's world became shadow, became purple-black nothingness that looked disturbingly similar to his own void energy but felt completely different.

'This isn't—'

The shadows collapsed inward.

Reality twisted. The settlement disappeared. Grey soldiers vanished. The sky, the ground, everything ceased to exist.

When visibility returned, Noah stood in a space that looked like someone had mixed void energy with shadows and created an entirely new dimension from the combination. Purple mixed with black, colors bleeding into each other, creating patterns that hurt to look at directly.

Arthur stood thirty feet away, completely at ease, shadows swirling around him like obedient servants.

"Welcome to my domain," Arthur said. "Or something close to it. A space where I control everything, where your tricks won't work."

---

Seraleth's fingers twitched against dirt that was soaked with her own blood. Her luminous eyes opened, vision blurry, head throbbing from repeated impacts that should have killed her.

She pushed herself up on trembling arms, looked around at the crater, at the destroyed settlement, at Grey soldiers rushing past her toward other casualties.

Noah was gone.

Arthur was gone.

Just empty ground where they'd been standing seconds ago.

"No..." The word came out weak, barely audible. Seraleth tried again, louder. "No... no..."

Her arms gave out. She collapsed back to the dirt, consciousness fading again despite her desperate attempts to stay aware.

The last thing she saw before darkness took her was smoke rising from Kelvin's destroyed mech and the scattered forms of Grey soldiers trying desperately to save their princess.

Then nothing.

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