Krax steadied himself, crimson energy spilling wildly from his armor like an untamed blaze.
Arthur floated before him, and he flexed his hand, feeling the power flowing inside him like a volcano about to erupt. He smirked and said through the comms.
"Cat got your tongue?" he asked simply.
Krax roared, the spear in his hand vibrated intensely as he lunged at Arthur. A crimson trail left behind from the sheer force of his acceleration. Arthur didn't flinch, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished, reappearing behind Krax with his sword already raised.
CLANG!
The Element-M sword, glowing with golden lightning and wrapped in crimson veins, carved across Krax's back. Sparks and violet blood scattered into the space. Krax staggered forward, his regeneration kicking in immediately, but Arthur was already there again, pressing the assault.
Every swing of Arthur's sword forced Krax further onto the defensive. Krax's thrusts with the spear, which Arthur once felt overwhelming, now looked weak in front of his newfound strength. Each strike Arthur parried threw intense vibrations through Krax's arms, rattling him down to his bones.
Krax snarled, spinning his spear in a wide arc. A wave of crimson fire burst outward, swallowing the space between them. Arthur only raised his palm, as crimson and gold energy swirled together, and blasted straight through it. The wave of crimson fire dispersed harmlessly into the void.
Krax's eyes hardened seeing his every attack being countered by Arthur.
Lightning exploded from Arthur's frame, golden arcs chaining around Krax's limbs and slowing his movement. Krax flinched, trying to break free, but Arthur shot forward, his sword cleaving across Krax's chest in a diagonal slash. Krax roared as the cut ripped through his armor and seared his flesh.
Then Arthur followed with a roundhouse kick that sent Krax tumbling back a few hundreds of meters.
Both the human and the chimerian fleets went silent. Soldiers and officers stared at the display, disbelief and awe reflected in their eyes.
Out in the void, Krax's fury mounted. He roared and thrust his spear, the crimson energy forming into a colossal beam that surged toward Arthur like a tidal wave, but Arthur didn't move from his position.
Instead, he raised his sword high, as golden and crimson energy spiraled together, condensing into the blade until it started vibrating in his palm, then he slashed down.
The resulting arc tore through Krax's attack, splitting it in half. The remnants detonated harmlessly in the space behind him, but his own attack sped forward instantly towards Krax and created a huge gash from his shoulder to his waist.
"Arrrggggg!!" Arthur heard Krax's agonizing scream through his comm.
Arthur sped towards Krax and raised his sword. "Your God's gift doesn't seem to be powerful now."
The Element-M sword crashed against Krax's spear. Krax tried to block it, his arms trembling violently, but Arthur's multiplied strength overwhelmed him. The spear was driven downward, sparks bursting where their weapons met. And Arthur's sword dug deep inside Krax's shoulder.
"No!" Krax bellowed. His crimson aura flared violently as he tried to shove Arthur back, but Arthur leaned in, golden lightning crawling across Krax's body stunning him.
He headbutted Krax square in the helmet. The impact left a visible dent. Krax reeled back, and before he could recover, Arthur slammed his fist into Krax's gut, the blow sending a shockwave that rattled his organs.
Krax gagged, blood spraying into his helmet as the air left his lungs.
Arthur didn't let up. He spun, and drove his sword through Krax's shoulder. Sparks of golden lightning coursed into the wound, forcing Krax's regeneration to slow down.
Krax howled, his voice warping between rage and desperation. "I am a Champion of our God! You are mistaken if you think he will let you live if you kill me…"
Arthur cut him off, his voice turned cold. "Then I will kill your God too."
…
Krax was breathing heavily as his body twitched, his regeneration failing to heal him fully due to the lightning still coursing through his body.
Arthur's grip tightened around his sword, as golden Chi and the crimson energy fused together, crawling up the blade in jagged veins. He funneled everything he had left, Chi, mana, even the unknown crimson energy he'd stolen, into the weapon. The sword started vibrating due the immense amount of energy being injected in it.
"This ends now," Arthur muttered as he moved in a flash.
In a single burst, Arthur blurred past Krax at his top to not allow Krax to defend himself. His blade flashed once, in a clean and precise manner. When he stopped, Arthur was already several meters behind Krax, his sword raised to his side.
Behind him, Krax's aura flickered erratically. The Champion's body stiffened, his arms jerking up as though trying to grasp at his neck. For a second, silence hung over the battlefield.
Then… A thin red line across Krax's neck. His helmet split, and with it, his head drifted free in space. Arthur's sword had split his head from his body as smoothly as a hot blade cutting through butter.
Krax's body was floating in the void, the crimson energy sputtering out like a dying flame.
Krax was finally dead.
Arthur exhaled, lowering his sword slowly. The golden-crimson glow faded from the blade as he kept it back inside his dimensional storage. He turned his gaze at the lifeless corpse drifting away into the darkness.
He pivoted toward the Chimerian fleet. Dozens of ships lingered in formation, every eye…human and Chimerian alike, locked on him. The death of their Champion sent ripples of disbelief through their ranks.
Arthur's aura still burned faintly around him, though he was also at his last leg as he had emptied out his energy reserves. He gripped his sword again, prepared to move against the fleet.
But before he could take a step forward, the Chimerian formation shuddered. One by one, the massive warships powered up their warp drives. Bright flashes of light rippled across the fleet as the ships vanished into the void.
The battlefield was silent again, and the only debris left was Krax's corpse floating uselessly in space.
Arthur's shoulders sank. He let out a long breath, relief and exhaustion weighing down on him, though it was mainly mental exhaustion rather than physical.
He turned, facing the human fleet. The comms crackled alive with cheers, disbelief, and frantic voices.
Arthur ignored them all and flew toward the Vanguard, after taking Krax's corpse with him. His armor was mostly repaired by the time he reached there, the docking bay doors opened wide for him.
As soon as his boots hit the bay floor, the crew started cheering for him, though there were many who were too afraid or too awestruck to speak. Finally, Elena broke the quiet, her voice trembling a bit.
"You… you really killed him?"
Arthur looked at her, his face unreadable behind his visor and gave a small nod. "Yeah… I did."
Leo stepped forward, his fists clenched tight. His tone was grim, not celebratory. "Will there be more Chimerians like this one?"
Arthur glanced at Krax's blood still staining his knuckles, then back at his friends. His jaw tightened, and he let out another sigh.
"I won't lie to you…I am sure there are more like him." He paused for a moment then continued, "We need to prepare before they send more like him on the battlefield."
Samir and Leo nodded but didn't say anything, as saying anything wouldn't change what was inevitable. They just need to be prepared in that case, because they can't expect Arthur to swoop in and save the day every time they face a life and death situation.
…
The silence after Krax's death didn't last long. Once the fleets gathered themselves, the humans wasted no time in continuing their mission. With the Chimerians gone, the operation moved quickly to reclaim the planet below.
Dropships and squads deployed with little resistance. The once-occupied outposts were barren, their systems powered down, and their supply depots half-emptied. The enemy had abandoned the planet entirely.
"They were already pulling out," Leo muttered as reports flowed into the Vanguard's bridge.
Elena nodded, "It's like they knew Krax was their anchor… and without him, there was no point in staying."
"Or," Samir added, as he crossed his arms tightly, "they're regrouping somewhere else. I don't believe they would surrender the planets this easily."
Arthur said nothing. He just stood with his arms folded, watching the planet below on the holo-display. The reclaimed territories meant little to him at the moment. His thoughts were still replaying Krax's final words, he needed to get stronger to face the so-called God of the Chimerians.
Though he thought he could use the Spear of Heaven in case this 'God' appeared now. He had tried to find the location of the entity before from the memories of the commanders, but they didn't know where it was. He felt he might finally get the location of the entity from Krax's memories, then he can just take the Spear of Heaven and blast it with its weapons.
Hours later, with the battle officially declared over, Arthur and his team were ordered to return back to the Dreadnought.
Arthur and the others returned to the Dreadnought as the battle was finally over, but a thought circulated in everyone's mind, the battle might have ended but the war is far from over.
The massive station felt like home now as they walked through its corridors. Crewmembers saluted Arthur more openly than before, though most did it with a mix of fear and awe.
"That's him…"
"He killed that Chimerian…"
"…How can one have strength to do something like that?"
Elena shot glares at the soldiers spreading rumors, but even she couldn't deny the change in atmosphere. Arthur was no longer just the strongest in their unit, he had become a subject of admiration and fear, whether he liked it or not.
Arthur finally reached his quarters, he then removed his armor and used a quick Clean spell before falling onto the soft bed, and let the mattress swallow his weight. For the first time since the battle began, he allowed himself to close his eyes.
But his mind couldn't rest, so he got up.
"Status," he muttered under his breath.
A familiar panel flickered into view within his vision. Numbers, stats, and abilities filled the interface. Arthur was amazed at the changes as he skimmed through the details.
//--------------------//
[STATUS]
Name: Arthur Sully
Designation: ECHO Commander
Mage Rank: 4th Circle
Martial Arts Rank: Master
Age: 27
Height: 6'3"
Mana: 746,650 Units
Chi: 4.86 M Units
#?#: 109,789 Units
Strength: 973.8 Kilotons
Speed: Mach 17.80 (6107.2 m/s)
Durability: 1647.5 GPa
[ABILITIES]
[Reactive Evolution] [Superior Regeneration] [Toxin Immunity] [Gene Lock] [Mana Manipulation (Lv4)] [Pain Tolerance] [Lightning Manipulation (Lv5)] [Chi Manipulation (Lv5)]
[Technopathy (Lv4)]: The power to psychically interact, communicate and manipulate technology with the power of the mind within a 100 km radius of the host. Able to understand the inner workings of any technology host interacts with.
[Energy Absorption (Lv5)]: Currently able to consciously absorb various kinds of energy (Eg. Mana, Dark Energy, Heat, Electricity) with immense capacity to hold said energy. Now the host is also able to absorb small amounts of kinetic energy and store them for use.
[SPELLS]
[Mana Bullet] [Mana Shield] [Telekinesis] [Mana Bomb] [Telepathy] [Silent Step] [Judgment]
[TECHNIQUES]
[Chi Concealment] [Heaven's Breath] [Astral Flow Technique] [Chi Manifestation]
//--------------------//
His strength, speed, and Chi reserves, everything had skyrocketed, there was also a section for the new type of energy he absorbed from Krax. Arthur stared at the interface for a long moment. The words escaped him in a quiet whisper.
"…This… is insane."
What surprised him even more was that, now he was also able to absorb kinetic energy, this would reduce the amount of damage he can take. Though he thought it could become an obstacle in his growth, so he tested the power. He slapped on his arm and noticed it was controllable. It means he can toggle it on or off, which made him sigh in relief.
His technopathy, lightning manipulation and Chi manipulation have also improved.
Arthur closed the panel with a thought and sank deeper into the bed. His body might not need rest, but he was mentally exhausted after the long battle, so he slowly drifted into sleep.
***
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