Akhil's black eyes shifted from the fallen Titan to Langdon, who stood frozen atop his massive mechanical creation. For a moment, neither moved. The crowd held its breath, sensing that the true battle was about to begin.

Then Akhil stepped forward.

The blood array moved with him, flowing across the scorched ground like a living shadow. The tendrils writhed and twisted, leaving trails of crimson light in their wake. Each step he took seemed to drain the very air from the battlefield, the suffocating pressure intensifying with every movement.

Langdon's eyes widened. His fingers flew across the control panel inside the bot's cockpit, mechanisms whirring to life.

"Stay back!" Langdon's voice cracked through the speakers, the confidence from earlier completely shattered. "Stay the hell back!"

The cannon ports along the bot's arms snapped open with mechanical precision. Energy began to build, the familiar hum rising to a deafening pitch. Blue light gathered at the barrels, crackling with deadly power.

Akhil didn't stop. Didn't slow. His white form glided forward with eerie grace, wings spread wide behind him, antennae twitching slightly.

"I said STAY BACK!"

The cannons fired.

Multiple beams of concentrated energy erupted simultaneously, each one powerful enough to obliterate stone, to vaporize steel, to reduce flesh to ash. The air screamed as the attacks converged on Akhil's advancing form.

The crowd flinched, some covering their eyes.

But the beams never reached him.

The moment they entered the array's domain, they began to disintegrate. The blood tendrils rose like a crimson wave, intercepting each blast with hungry efficiency. The energy dissolved, breaking apart into harmless particles that were absorbed into the pulsing array beneath Akhil's feet.

He took another step forward. Then another.

"No... no, no, NO!" Langdon slammed his fist against the controls, sweat beading on his forehead. His fingers danced frantically across the interface, redirecting power from the bot's core systems.

More cannons emerged from hidden compartments along the bot's shoulders, chest, and legs. The massive machine bristled with weaponry, every barrel now trained on the approaching figure.

"FIRE! FIRE EVERYTHING!"

The world exploded with light and sound.

A devastating barrage erupted from the titanic bot—dozens of energy beams, plasma bolts, and explosive projectiles launched in a continuous, overwhelming assault. The intensity was staggering, far beyond anything Langdon had used before. The very ground trembled under the onslaught.

But it wasn't enough.

The array consumed it all. Every blast, every shot, every desperate attempt—all of it vanished into the crimson hunger of Akhil's power. The tendrils moved faster now, weaving an impenetrable shield that devoured everything that came near.

"Impossible..." someone whispered from the crowd. "He's walking through it like it's nothing..."

Langdon's hands shook as he pulled open a compartment within the cockpit. Inside, crystalline cores pulsed with captured energy—beast cores, harvested from creatures he'd killed over the years. Each one represented tremendous power.

He grabbed them frantically, shoving them into auxiliary ports along the control panel.

"More power! I need MORE POWER!"

The bot's frame groaned as energy flooded through its systems. The cannons glowed brighter, their output increasing exponentially. Warning indicators flashed red across every screen, but Langdon ignored them all.

He fired again.

The blast was so intense it turned night into day. The heat was palpable even from the crowd's distance, forcing people to shield their faces. The beam was easily three times larger than before, a pillar of destruction that promised total annihilation.

It struck the array—and vanished.

The tendrils swallowed it whole, though they moved more sluggishly now, as if even they were reaching their limit.

Akhil stumbled slightly but kept walking.

"WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!" Langdon's voice was raw with desperation and rage. He slammed more beast cores into the ports, not caring that the bot's systems were already overloading. Sparks flew from damaged circuits. Metal groaned in protest.

Another barrage. Then another. The cannons fired non-stop, a continuous stream of devastating power that would have leveled a small city.

All of it dissolved into the hungry maw of the blood array.

Akhil was fifty feet away now. Then forty.

Inside the cockpit, Langdon's face had gone pale. His hands trembled so badly he could barely work the controls. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to be untouchable, unstoppable. He had the power of titans, the might of advanced technology, the strength of countless beast cores.

And none of it mattered.

"No... I won't... I WON'T LOSE TO YOU."

He fed the last of his beast cores into the system. Every remaining ounce of power the bot possessed channeled into a single, final attack. The main cannon—the one that had killed so many adventurers—opened its port fully. Energy gathered, building to a critical mass that made the air itself crack and splinter.

The bot's frame began to buckle under the strain. Warning klaxons blared. The metal glowed red-hot in places.

Langdon didn't care. His finger hovered over the firing mechanism, eyes wild with manic determination.

"JUST DIE ALREADY!"

He fired.

The blast was apocalyptic. A beam of pure destruction that tore through the air with the force of a falling star. The shockwave alone knocked several spectators off their feet. The heat scorched the earth, leaving molten glass in its wake.

It struck the array head-on.

For a single, terrible moment, it seemed like it might break through. The tendrils writhed and twisted, struggling against the overwhelming force. The array flickered, its light dimming dangerously.

But Akhil didn't stop walking.

His vision blurred. The world swayed around him, darkness creeping in at the edges. His body felt like it was made of lead, every movement requiring monumental effort. The exhaustion was crushing, suffocating, demanding that he surrender to unconsciousness.

He felt the heat from the blast burning against his skin and the exhaustion biting at him.

'Not yet. Just... a little... further.'

The array held. Barely. The tendrils continued their work, consuming the blast inch by agonizing inch. But they were slower now, weakened, struggling.

Just like him.

Akhil's legs trembled. His eyes, those pitch-black, emotionless eyes… they began to flutter. He forced them open, forced himself to keep moving. One step. Then another. Each one felt like climbing a mountain.

'Just reach him. Just get close enough.'

Thirty feet. Twenty-five.

The blast finally dissipated, the last of its energy drained away. Smoke and steam rose from the scorched battlefield. The bot's cannons fell silent, empty, powerless. Every beast core spent, every weapon exhausted.

Langdon stared through the viewing screen, breathing hard, as Akhil continued his inexorable advance.

Twenty feet. Fifteen.

Akhil's vision went dark for a moment. He stumbled, catching himself before he fell. His breathing was ragged, his body screaming for him to stop, to rest, to let go.

But he couldn't. Not yet.

'The arrays... if I lose control...'

He thought of the demon he'd seen lurking in the shadows of his power. Of what might happen if he lost consciousness with the arrays still active. Of the destruction that would be unleashed on everyone—friend and foe alike.

'I have to end this. Now.'

Ten feet. Five.

Akhil stood at the base of the massive bot now, his small white form dwarfed by the towering machine. His head tilted back, black eyes locking onto the cockpit where Langdon sat frozen in terror.

The crowd was utterly silent, barely daring to breathe.

Slowly, deliberately, Akhil raised one hand toward the bot.

The blood array pulsed beneath him, tendrils rising like serpents preparing to strike. The suffocating pressure intensified one final time, so overwhelming that several people in the crowd collapsed to their knees.

Langdon's face went white as bone. His hands scrabbled uselessly at the controls, but there was nothing left. No power. No weapons. No escape.

He stared at Akhil frustration buried in his eyes, "Killing me won't change anything.... The game continues, I'm just another trial out of the many to come" he said letting out a hysterical laugh.

Akhil's lips moved, forming words barely audible over the ringing silence:

"Shut up."

The tendrils lunged forward—

And Akhil's eyes rolled back. His legs gave out. The world spun violently as unconsciousness finally claimed him, dragging him down into darkness.

The last thing he saw before everything went black was the monarchs face, smiling at him from within the shadows.

"You've left me hungry for a while."

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