Chapter 34
Gate To The Stars
Part 4
Day Six
Date: 06
Location: Zone 6
Destination: To the City Gate
Mission Length: Day 6
Remaining Time: 12 Hours
To: Reach the City Gate
Parties Involved/Subjects in the Case:
Subject Names: Thomas,
Indigenous: Khorcha (
Former Success Rate: 85%
Expected Success Rate: 70%
Failed Subjects: 250
Successful Subjects: 10
Success Percentage: 4%
Results: Experiment Outcome – 96%
Experiment Outcome: Termination
Next Stage: Initiated
Published: August
Stage Duration: 30 Days
Days Count-Down:
The Devourer Titan didn't fall. Not yet.
Yes, it staggered, but the way its enormous body twisted and lugged itself upright made a shiver run straight through my spine. Pieces of the destroyed street adhered to its flesh, and they slid off as the beast moved, the hard plates lining its body shifting in a moist, scraping way. Whatever agony we had dealt had only driven it into a worse state.
Desperation, and desperate beings did not think. They destroyed.
I planted my feet, forcing my trembling legs to stand. My lungs seared, my arms weighed heavy as lead, and every nerve in my body protested that I had long since overextended myself. Turned out, I was still far from finished.
Certainly not with Samira kneeling behind me. Certainly not with Amanda barely on her feet. Certainly not with Khorcha observing the thing as a hunter might measure the last rush of a dying animal.
The Titan lowered its head.
The ridges on its neck flared wildly, no longer steady, no longer under its control. Every flash vibrated the soil beneath it, as if it was rending its own flesh.
And that's how it hit me. It wasn't stabilizing. It was breaking.
"Analyze," I rasped, hoping to extract better information, but a sudden ache pierced my eyes as the System burst forward with a strength never felt before.
For an instant, my eyes blurred, layers of information overlapping reality too quickly for me to keep my eyes from crossing.Then my vision became clear thanks to a lock-in by the System.
{ANALYZE - EVOLUTION
{Skill Upgrade in Progress…}
The Devourer didn't wait for me to follow and came forward, its massive body jerking towards me, its tail digging furrows into the destroyed street. Each movement the creature made was unbalanced, erratic. Its equilibrium had failed.
The System filled my vision once again this time with much clearer and sharper images accompanied with a voice providing narration for the information.
{ANALYZE - ADAPTIVE BIOLOGICAL
New Parameters Unlocked
• Muscular Degradation: Acceler
• Neural Signal Delay: Present
• Scar Plate Integrity: Failure
• Regenerative Response: Overloaded
• Health Reduced 65%
• Stamina Reduced 70%
Conclusion
Prolonged combat cannot be supported by Subject. Internal collapse probability: HIGH
I took a sharp breath, It wasn't invincible, It was becoming weak. But it was going to do its best to take us with it.
The Titan growled even shorter this time, and then smashed its Tail into the pavement once again. The pavement cracked out in a broad radius, chunks erupting into the air. My face protected, my jaws clenched.
And then the system chimed again.
{NEW SKILL UNLOCK
{Skill Name: Combat Instinct: Breach State}
{Classification: Passive / High-Risk
{Description
When confronted with a BIOLOGICAL COLLAPSE enemy, the gains in perception are increased.}
{Improves the effectiveness of damage when striking areas of instability.}
\{Warning: Dire physical repercussions possible.}
I laughed once, breathless and sharp.
"So that's it," I whispered. "You're betting on me,"
My hands shook as I squeezed my fists. I could feel the heat rising inside me. It was not like Qadab's explosion. It was contained. It was dense.
The Titan charged. Not fast, like before, but heaver than before. His head crashed into the earth where I'd been standing just an instant before.
The System called attention to it briefly, a point where injured muscle was intersecting with laidbare nerves in the lower region of the neck, where Samira and Amanda had struck before. Plates were no longer protecting that area.
They had been preserving the damage.
"Thomas!" Samira cried out loud. "It's
"I know!" I yelled back. "It's tearing itself apart!"
The Titan stood up again, collecting what little coordination it still had. Its body spasmed wildly, glowing veins pulsating erratically like a heartbeat on the verge of failure.
Well, this was finally it if it charged again, someone wouldn't get up. I stepped forward.
"Let's wait." Every instinct urged me. Let Samira plan. Let Khorcha strike. This is where I came in.
But Breach State tore through me yelling one truth above all else:
Start creating the introduction.
I breathed slowly.
"Qadab…."
"The heat surged, but I held it back."
Not yet.
I sprinted forward, making sure to stomp the ground hard enough to get its attention. The Titan's head turned to me in an instant, with bright cracks erupting across its face.
"Come on," I grumbled. "You want me? Then look at me."
It charged.
The ground trembled violently as the enormous body charged ahead, mouth agape, the grinding sound in the throat like stone on stone.
"I did not duck."
At the very last second, I hopped, planting my foot on a fallen wall, turning my body sideways as the head of the Titan blasted by me.
The wind alone nearly ripped me in two.
I fell heavily, rolling, my vision spinning, but I was already on my feet.
The System screamed through my headphones with alerts I disregarded.
The weakest point was glowing in my eyes, Now, "Qadab," I growled."Breach." The world contracted.
My fist detonated, but not explosively, rather densely, the energy compacting inward like a black hole. A stinging jolt shot through my arm, my bones screaming in protest.
I punched my fist into the point of convergence.
BOOO
The force caused a shockwave to ripple through the body of Titan. Not outward. But Inside.
The Devourer screamed—not in anger, but in agony. Its body thrashed wildly, falling over on its side as internal tears welled beneath its battered skin.
I was literally thrown backwards by the backlash, slamming into the ground hard enough that the air was knocked from my lungs.
Stars exploded in my eyes jowever, I smiled because it worked.
The Titan was no longer charging.
I was exhausted and looked at Samira without saying a word, and she knew I needed assistance. Just as my Qadab strike connected, the Devourer Titan transformed.
"Not in strength, not in size, but in behavior."
Its movements lost rhythm. The deliberate manner in which it dragged itself across the destroyed street became irregular, almost awkward, as if a huge bulk was no longer getting proper signals from its own nervous system. Strips of flesh broke free with each movement, glowing veins flashing erratically through layers of protective tissue that could no longer shield what was within.
I struggled to stand, despite the agony lancing through my arm and shoulder. Each inhalation felt like sandpaper on my lungs, but my gaze stayed fixed on the Titan.
And neither did Samira's, "She wasn't looking at it like prey." It looks like she was viewing it as a problem that had to be solved.
Her scanner was buzzing incessantly in her hand, the screen flashing with jagged information. Sweat trickled down her face, mingling with dust and blood, but her eyes remained sharp-focused, sharp-edged as a knife.
"Thomas," she said, her voice strained but steady. "It's collapsing asymmetrically."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, trying to upright myself.
"So what?" she said. "It means that its instincts are strong and not its ability to coordinate. It is acting and not thinking."
The Devourer roared once more, though this time its noise shattered half-way through, concluding with a jagged, uneven tone. Its head crashed into the street, completely bypassing us, knocking rubble loose from the surrounding rubble rubble.
"Samira didn't flinch but instead, a constant tone was emitted by her scanner.
Beeeeee
Her eyes widened slightly, "I see it," she whispered.
The System responded instantly.
{ANALYSIS SUPPORT LINK: ACTIVE
{Secondary User Identified : Samira Ali}
I felt it right away. It was a kind of strange sensation, as if information was pouring through me that I wasn't thinking myself. My awareness increased, until I had a better sense of angles and distances, could predict enemy motion.
"Samira took a slow breath."
"Okay," she said quietly. "I need everyone to hear me."
The Titan raised its head again, its scarred neck torturingly twisted as it attempted to readjust its own anomaly. One side had fallen lower than the other due to the internal injuries.
Samira took a step forward, not close enough to provoke it. Just close enough to be heard.
"The plates are not protecting it anymore," she said. "They're constricting it. Every time it tries to move, it's ripping itself apart again."
Amanda caught a glimpse of her, panting heavily. "What do we do, then?"
Samira raised her scanner a little.
"We don't react anymore," she continued saying. "And then we make it move wherever we want."
The scanner flared.
"The System chimed again."
{NEW SKILL ACQUIRED}
{Skill Name: Tactical Sequencing}
{Classification: Active, Strategic
{Description}
{User can analyze battle flow and dispatch optimal action sequences to allies.}
{Improves coordination, timing, and target prioritizing.}
{Effectiveness varies according to the synchronization level and the combat time.}
I grinned while grinding with a smile that was a strategy skill, and Samira didn't even bat an eye.
"Tactical Sequencing," she said firmly. "Eng
I finally grasped what she was seeing—movement trajectories, attack schedules, where each of us had to be without her having to spell out every minute detail.
"She pointed, sharp and precise," said Mont
"Amanda, left flank. Keep it turning, don't commit."
Amanda nodded her agreement instantly, clutching her crystal club in her hand.
"Khorcha," Samira answered, "you strike only when it exposes its lower neck. No earlier."
Khorcha tilted his head once, spear poised.
"Thomas," she said, finally looking at me. "You don't hit the cows. You herd them."
I blinked. "Herd it?"
"Yes," she said. "You're the loudest thing in the room. Now make it chase you."
That would have scared me an hour ago, but now it seemed irrepressibly obvious. I nodded.
The Devourer attacked again, this time more slowly, its momentum being hindered by its own body. I darted to the right, deliberately stomping my foot down hard enough that the vibrations traveled through the ground.
The Titan responded promptly, turning on me, its jaws snapping shut just behind wherever I happened to be.
"Good," whispered Samira. "
Amanda struck its flank, not fully, but enough to get its notice. Then the Titan turned painfully, ripping a new area of damaged flesh from its side, It roared, staggering.
Khorcha struck, moving quickly, accurately, as his spear flashed into the vulnerable spot and then withdrew.
It swung wildly, but it was nowhere near him. It was losing control.
Samira's scanner was flashing.
"Perfect," she said. "It's pan
The Titan lurched upwards, attempting to muster enough strength for another crushing slam, but its body trembled in mid-action. The scar plates running down its spine creaked and split as it was flooded by bright, glowing fluid. Samira raised her scanner once more.
"Thomas," she said. "Now you don't chase it." She breathed sharply. "It's a choice you make."
Then she fired a quick burst of Energy Pulse, not at the Titan but at the ground behind it. A blast caused a wave of tremors to emerge.
The Titan was frozen for a split second.
Confused then it turned, its wounded form twisting to face the stronger signal.
"Straight into the position that Samira had planned," he says.
"Khorcha," she said quietly. " he didn't hesitate, he launched, his spear thrusting deeply into the open underside of the Titan's neck, not with strength, but accuracy. The Titan screamed and stumbled to the side, utterly off balance.
Amanda charged in on the other side with her crystal club glowing faintly as she struck once again.
The Devourer fell partially, its immense size crashing onto the street hard enough to break the pavement all around. It attempted to rise but failed.
"Oh no," Samira breathed, easing her scanner downward
"It's done," she said softly. "Thomas, finish it."
I moved forward, still feeling Breach State raging through me.
"I really need your help, Agnes," she said firmly, glancing briefly at
"We built this moment," she said. "End it."
And for the first time since the fight had started, I knew, absolutely, that she was right.
"The Devourer Titan was no longer charging." It was no longer hunting.
It was struggling.
Its huge body was half fallen against the destroyed street, its torn plates pushed open, its shining veins spasmodically pulsing with exposed flesh. Every breath it took made the earth tremble, but there was no rhythm to these breaths anymore. No rhythm, no control, just pain, fury, and instinct warring with a body that had had enough.
I cautiously moved towards it, my eyes still attuned from the heightened awareness that Samira had induced in us. Every action of the Titan became predictable at this point, not from a lack of strength but from a lack of options.
Samira pressed against me, leaning only slightly, the scanner gripping both of her hands, her own breathing shallow but steady. Amanda leaned hard on the crystal club, blood oozing from her arm, fixed on the beast with whose neck Khorcha focused. Khorcha moved last, silently and deliberately, the spear low in his hand, his eyes fixed on the Titan's throat.
The Devourer raised its head once more.
Its mouth widened in a wide, glowing maw, screaming. Not in triumph but in refusal.
This sound shattered in the wreckage like a dying siren, shaking loose debris and sending a shudder through my chest. My gut told me to attack, but I was held back.
Khorcha moved forward.
"Wait," he said softly.
I looked back at him. "What are you doing?"
"This beast," Khorcha went on, his voice steady, almost solemn, "is no longer fighting to live. It is deciding how it will die."
The Titan smashed its head onto the ground, attempting to get back up, failing once more. Its body twitched, ripping its open wounds wider as the glowing fluid oozed down the broken street like liquid veins.
Samira took a sharp breath. "Thomas, its internal configuration is failing. If it discharge the remaining energy at the same time, the blast area might get us."
"Then we don't give it time," added Amanda, spitting blood on the grass. khorcha nodded.
He stuck the spear into the ground and closed his eyes for a quick second. When he opened them again, he knew that everything had changed. He could feel the weight of the environment around him, as if the ruins recognized his being there.
"I will bind it," he said.
Before I could ask how, Khorcha moved forward and struck the butt of his spear on the ground.The effect radiated outward, but not in the form of sound, but in the form of pressure
The Titan froze.The body spasmed wildly, muscles locking as though something inside it grappled for control. The glowing veins visible beneath the skin pulsed more slowly, as though held back.
"That technique, that's not from the System," stared Samira.
"No," Khorcha answered calmly. "It is older."
Again, the Devourer roared, trying to break free, its body jerking, claws scoring ineffectually against the rocks.
Khorcha turned his head slightly. "Now. Together."
The System responded immediately.
{TEAM INTERFACE: MAXIMUM SYNCH}
{Common Intent Confirmed: TERMINATION}
{Combat Efficiency Increased
Passive}
As for me, it was as if it passed through me. Not strength alone, but clarity.
Samira lifted her scanner, her hands shaking with trembling fingers. "Target is stable for twelve seconds," she said. "No more."
Amanda stood up, despite the pain, the crystal club buzzing softly with the link. "That's plenty," Amanda said.
"I took a step forward, my fists clinching, a surge of energy building just beneath my skin."
There was no deliberation this time. I am certain that I didn't rush I walked.
Devourer's head spasmicked, its jaw snapping futilely, but it could do nothing but that. Its central mass pulsed feebly through its ripped flesh, a result of Samira's strategy, Amanda's strength, and Khorcha's control.
"Samira," I said softly, she nodded. "Marking final strike point." Her scanner flared.
{Analysis Update}
{Critical Failure Node Detected}
{Recommended Action: Concentrated Impact}
Amanda played first, she swung her crystal club with what energy she had left, but with purpose, not wildly. The blow struck firmly against the Titan's injured side, causing a ripple effect throughout its body and its head to bow.
Khorcha followed close behind, spear flashing as he plunged it deep into the visible tissue beneath the Titan's jaw, securing it in place.
The scream of Devourer split the air, and it convulsed with agony, fissures flashing across its scarred hide like lightning bolts.
Samira lifted her scanner one last time, "Energy Pulse," she whispered.
The beam hit the very exposed core region in a non-violent but very accurate way, blasting apart the last shred of cohesion that was keeping the Titan standing.
"That was my moment."
I stepped in, my heart pounding, my vision tunneling down to a point.
"Qadab," I whispered. "Final release."
The energy was building in my arm, channeled and controlled, no longer random and wild. My fist struck out into the open core.
The blast traveled outwards.
Light burst across the street, emerald and white, in a blinding torrent that engulfed us. The Devourer Titan spasmed, twisted, and buckled, falling in upon itself as the power dissipated.
The ground shook violently.
Then ceased silence ensued.
Not the silence of waiting or longing, but the silence that comes after the end.
The Titan's body was frozen in place, with its glow rapidly dissipating until only burned tissue and broken scar plates were left.
The System chimed.
{MISSION COMPLETE}
{Devourer Titan Destroyed}
{Rewards Granted:}
Experience Points: +1,
Points Awards: +500 Shared
{New Skill Acquired:}
THOMAS
Skill Name: Breach State
{Description:}
{Temporarily boosts Perception, Force Control, and Impact Precision during critical phases of battle.}
{New Skill Acquired}
SAMIRA ALI
{Skill Name: Tactical}
{Sequencing Description}
{It unlocks the control of the battlefield via analysis and coordination.}
I dropped to a knee, gasping for air as sweat rolled down my face. Amanda flopped backward, laughing weakly. "We did it," she said. "We actually did it." Samira slipped down beside me, exhausted at last. "You followed the plan," she said quietly. "All of you." Khorcha was alone, looking down the destroyed street into the distance.
"The Gate," he said softly. "It sensed this." I followed his look. Far in the distance, beyond the shattered ruins, something changed. A gargantuan structure hardly visible through the mire, ancient and towering, throbbed softly with a gentle light. "The Gate." Observing Waiting. And for the very first time since my arrival on this planet, I realized something with a chilling clarity. We were no longer mere survivors. We were being noticed.
A/N
Hello everyone, this was a long chapter, so I apologize in advanve if I can't meet the same in the future. I don't have an editor so please point out for me any mistake or inconsistenty so I can correct it.
I don't have an editor so please advise me if there's any inconsistency or mistakes I do appreciate your comments