272 GET OUT OF THE WAY
Just before Liorea slipped into deep sleep, she did one last thing- Twenty autocannons were released into the air from her space.
Kail understood instantly.
He seized control over the machines.
The cannons roared, unleashing a storm of fire into the Syndic formation. The firepower was equivalent to the defenses of a fortress of army… it would be enough for the Syndics.
Explosions rippled across the layered force fields….
…. but instead of breaking, the defenses adapted, growing denser, stronger, more complex.
"Damn it," Kail snarled. "The autocannons can't breach this force field formation!"
Then the air shifted.
Something unseen spread across the battlefield—an invisible pressure, cold and wrong.
"What… is this?" Kail asked.
The answer came immediately.
The bullets that he had fired reversed.
Every round he fired snapped back through space, slamming into his own autocannons…. Their metal shattered and barrels warped.
The autocannon assault was stopped.
"Damn it!" Kail shouted. "What kind of power field sends my bullets back at me?!"
From the Syndic ranks, a figure floated forward. It was Thornrose.
His body was wrapped in long, draping belts studded with metal thorns—each one gleaming like a promise of pain. Kail understood at once.
"Thorns return harm."
Thornrose didn't just defend—he reflected. Every attack was answered in kind with a reversal.
Thornrose smiled. His objective was achieved- Kail's autocannons were ruined and destroyed by the counter fire. In his current condition, he was no match for the army of the Syndic.
"Surrender now," Thornrose called out coldly. "Your bullets cannot touch us. Every shot you take only wounds yourself."
The shield formation parted.
One by one, the Syndic members stepped forward from behind their layered defenses. Power flared in their hands—crackling energy, warped gravity, seething elemental force.
"It's payback time," they vowed as one.
The battlefield has shifted once again.
The Syndic of Fracture advanced.
Kail clenched his fists.
"Am I… going to lose again?" he whispered.
This was only his second real battle.And once more, the odds were crushing him.
Suddenly, the machine supporting Liorea shuddered.
Warning lights flared.
The flow of sedatives and stabilizers cut off mid-cycle. New compounds surged through the lines—rejuvenation agents, neural restoratives, emergency stimulants flooded her body.
Liorea's body jerked.
Then her eyes snapped open.
"Damn," she groaned, flexing her fingers. "That nightmare was a pain in the ass."
"Sis—?!" Kail spun toward her. "How did you wake yourself up from the nightmare machine?"
Liorea grinned.
"I programmed the system to revive me once the psychic pressure disappeared," she said. "The psychics thought I was done and pulled back. The moment the attack stopped, the machine revived me."
Kail let out a shaky breath.
"Sis… you came back just in time," he said quietly. "I really thought I was going to lose this one. Again."
Liorea laughed, sharp and confident.
"Don't be stupid," she said. "We're not done yet."
She looked toward the battlefield, her eyes gleaming.
"We still have a trump card."
Kail's eyes widened.
Then he smiled.
"…Right," he said.
------
Damen watched with quiet interest as the Priest wielded the Death Note against him.
First it drained his armor.
Then his meta powers.
Earlier, it had even tried to suppress his psychic abilities….
"Blockher psychic defenses." Briefly appeared above the altar.
However, Damen had sensed something off about that command. That message hadn't been meant for him.
It was meant for Liorea.
He glanced toward her side of the battlefield. Steel Valkyrie was still locked in brutal combat, even as the glowing words Unlock all Psychic Defenses hovered ominously above the altar.
"Well, Liorea doesn't seem to be affected by it", he murmured with relief.
By now though, Damen's Command Stat was nearly depleted.
"Do you have any power left to fight?" the Priest sneered.
Damen smirked."Eat this."
He flicked his hand.
A wind blade tore through the air—denser, sharper, more violent than any before it. The mirror image reacted instantly, launching a counter-blade of its own.
But it was weaker.
The two attacks collided—and Damen's blade tore through the other, slamming straight into the altar. The altar stone exploded and the structure cracked apart.
"Damn it!" the Priest shouted, scrambling forward.
He grabbed the Death Note just as the mirror image interposed itself, shielding him from the debris.
The Priest stared at Damen, disbelief etched across his face.
"How are you still using your powers? Your meta energy should be completely drained by now!"
Damen's smile widened."My power isn't fueled by meta energy," he said calmly. "It's powered by the essence of my blood."
The Priest froze.
"Blood…?" he murmured.
Then realization hit him.
"Genesis Machines."
There were machines or artifacts that bypassed meta systems entirely powered instead of blood or bloodstones, draining lives in return for power.
"Blood sacrifices!!! You are one of those evil cultists?"
"See who is talking… look at yourself first, cult priest", Damen retorted.
The Priest laughed sharply."You're a fool to tell me that."
He opened the Death Note again and scribbled furiously.
The words ignited in the air.
"Block all Blood Essence and Powers."
The effect was instant.
Damen's vision flickered. His body went cold.He watched his stats update in real time.
Blood Stat: Decreasing…
The Death Note wasn't disabling it.
It was draining it.
"Ah…" Damen whispered, watching the numbers fall. "This is perfect."
Moments later—
Blood Stat: 0
His blue blood was completely drained empty.
Damen threw his head back and laughed.
"Of all the methods I tried to purge this cursed blood," he said, breathlessly, "none of them worked as good…"
He looked up at the Priest, his eyes clear.
"But you," Damen said softly, "you finally cleansed it for me."
Something changed.
His mind felt lighter and clearer. The oppressive whisper of the blue blood—the alien influence over him—was gone.
Gone for good.
"Now," the Priest sneered, "let's see if you have any power left to fight me."
Damen opened his mouth—then stopped.
The Priest was right.
With no blue blood and no meta energy…. It equates to no super powers.
"Tell me," The Priest mocked, "how does it feel to lose everything that made you powerful?"
Damen clenched his fists.
He's right, Damen thought. What am I supposed to do now… without my powers?
The wind howled softly around them.
And Damen stood there—powerless, but still smiling nonetheless.
Suddenly, Damen received a call.
"Hey boss, how are you holding up over there?" It was Liorea.
"I'll survive," Damen replied calmly. "What about you?"
"It's time to finish this", Liorea said.
"Alright," Damen answered. "What do you need me to do?"
"See the stone slab beneath the altar", she said, then added,"We need it broken open. But it's guarded—by the Priest and your lookalike."
Damen's gaze locked onto them.
"Fine," he said. "I'll deal with them. You break the altar ground."
Aye aye, sir, Liorea replied.
Damen surged forward.
"I may not have my powers," he shouted as he closed the distance, "but I still have my strength!"
In a single thought, he shut down every non-essential cores. Only one remained active.
"Core of the Mind."
The effect was immediate.
His body became lighter, sharper and faster.
Faster than his mirror image.
Damen slipped inside its guard and drove a punch straight into its center mass. The impact detonated like a cannon shot, hurling the copy backward in a spray of fractured light.
The Priest stumbled back, clutching the Death Note to his chest. Ahead of him, the remaining Syndic members were already regrouping, forming up to reengage.
Damen took a step forward.
"Go," he said coldly. "Run back to them."
The Priest didn't hesitate… he ran back to regroup, while the mirror image quickly followed him.
"Good… now that you are out of the way."
------