"Now, how do we stab it a second time?"
Felicia's question hung in the air, thick with dust and the smell of ozone, as heavy as the wrecked tank beside them. Elijah was about to open his mouth to admit he had no idea when another voice cut him off.
"Elijah!"
He turned to see two figures running toward them from the building where they'd taken shelter. Evelyn and Crowe. His mother's helmet was retracted as she ran, revealing a worried expression. She didn't stop until she was directly in front of Elijah, her hands immediately on her son's shoulders, checking him for injuries.
"Thank God you're okay," she breathed, before her eyes shifted to the figure standing slightly behind Elijah. "That girl… how did she get here with you?"
Elijah could only shake his head. "I don't know either, Mom. She just suddenly appeared."
Feeling Evelyn's sharp gaze, the white-haired girl looked nervous. With a small movement, she shuffled behind Elijah, as if using his armored body as a shield. Faced with two major problems at once—the now more-enraged octopus monster and the perplexing existence of this mysterious girl—Elijah's head began to throb. He took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind.
He turned, gently placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay, they're my friends," he whispered, trying to reassure her. "For now, can you wait over there with Crowe? I have to finish this."
He led the girl over to Crowe, who had just arrived, panting. Crowe, seeing the nervousness in the girl's eyes, tried for a friendly smile.
"Easy now, sweetcheeks," he said in a forced, joking tone. "Don't you worry, my bark is worse than my bite."
The girl looked at Crowe's tired but kind face, and after a moment's hesitation, she gave a small nod, her anxiety easing slightly.
Feeling the situation behind him was a little more under control, Elijah turned back to Felicia. His mother was already standing beside him, now with a soldier's gaze.
"She's the one who told me its weak spot," Elijah quickly explained, recounting the girl's sudden appearance and the information she provided. "The protective membrane is thinnest in that gap between its tentacles. But now that it's been wounded, it's definitely going to protect it."
Evelyn crossed her arms, her sharp eyes scanning the battlefield. The octopus monster was now moving erratically, destroying anything around it in frustration. "It's angry and in pain. A creature like that usually loses its tactical thinking and focuses on only two things: destroying the source of its pain, or protecting itself."
The three of them thought hard, observing the pattern of destruction the monster was creating. Then, Evelyn's eyes landed on a twenty-story apartment building standing firm not far away, one of the few structures still intact in the area. An idea began to form in her mind.
"I have a plan," she said, her voice steady. "I'll be the bait."
"Bait? How?" Felicia asked.
"I'll make it angry, make it focus solely on me," Evelyn continued. "I'll fight on the retreat, leading it slowly toward that apartment building. When it's in the right position, I'll get clear. At that moment, I want your two remaining tanks to fire on the building's side foundations. Bring the building down on top of it."
Felicia and Elijah stared at her, trying to process the incredibly audacious plan.
"As the building starts to fall," Evelyn elaborated, "its instincts will take over. It'll use its tentacles to shield itself, especially to protect its weak point. At that moment, its entire defense will be focused upward. And that's when you, Elijah..." She looked at her son, "...you go in and pierce its heart one last time."
"No," Elijah cut in instantly, his voice sharper than he intended. "That plan's too risky. It's a gamble, Mom! What if it doesn't take the bait? What if it ignores you? Or worse, what if it just lets the building hit it, knowing it's strong enough to withstand it? I don't want to..." his voice trembled slightly, "...I don't want to lose the last family I have left."
There was a moment of silence. Evelyn looked at her son, who now towered over her, and saw the genuine fear behind his faceplate. Then, with a quick motion, she flicked her finger against his helmet.
Tink!
"Foolish boy," she said softly, a faint smile on her lips. "You think I didn't consider all of that?" She pointed at the monster. "Look at it. It's not a thinking creature. It's an embodiment of rage and instinct. You said it went into a frenzy the moment its weak point was attacked. That means it's extremely protective of that spot. When something as big as a building is about to fall right on top of that weak point, its instinct to protect will be stronger than its instinct to flee."
She placed a hand on his armored shoulder. "I trust my instincts, son. And my instincts say this will work."
When his mother spoke like that, with such calm conviction and an unwavering gaze, Elijah remembered something. "In war, a soldier's instinct is sometimes worth more than a thousand plans on paper." Those were words his father had once said while teaching him simulation chess.
Elijah took a long breath, pushing his doubts away. He looked at his mother, then nodded. "Alright. Do it."
The plan was set in motion.
Evelyn's silver helmet clicked shut with a soft hiss. Without hesitation, she shot forward, her armor gleaming under the dim sky. She didn't attack the octopus's main body, but instead slashed one of its idle tentacles with her energy knives—a blatant provocation.
It worked. The monster roared, its dozens of eyes instantly locking onto the silver figure who dared to annoy it. As if forgetting the soldiers and tanks around it, the octopus now focused its entire rage on Evelyn. A gigantic tentacle whipped toward her.
Evelyn didn't dodge. Instead, she faced it, her two energy knives flaring to life, parrying the blow with a burst of blue energy. The force of the impact pushed her back several meters—exactly as she intended. She began to backpedal slowly toward the apartment building, making it look like she was being overwhelmed.
The show began. Evelyn danced on the edge of death. She let the tentacles rain down on her, parrying each strike with stunning precision. She sliced the tip of a tentacle here, deflected a whip there, every move an invitation for the monster to press forward. The octopus, blinded by rage, continued its advance, getting closer and closer to the building destined to be its tombstone.
"She's almost in position!" Felicia yelled over the comms. "Tanks, on standby!"
Elijah gripped his sword tightly, his heart pounding. He watched his mother continue to parry the attacks, her silver armor starting to show deep scratches. Every second felt like an hour.
Finally, Evelyn was at the designated spot. With one last powerful parry, she screamed as loud as she could—a clear signal.
"NOW!"
She immediately dashed to the side at full speed, getting out of the building's collapse zone. Felicia wasted no time.
"FIRE!"
Two tank cannons roared in unison. High-explosive shells slammed into the lower floors of the apartment building from the side. A deafening explosion echoed, tearing through steel and concrete. The massive building groaned, its support structure shattered. Slowly, like a tired giant, it began to tilt, ready to fall directly onto the octopus monster.
The monster panicked. It realized the danger, realized the building's path was aimed directly at its wounded weak spot. It tried to flee, but its massive body was too slow. In a split second, instinct took over. The creature decided to brace for impact.
Dozens of its tentacles shot upward, forming a thick, layered dome of defense over its body, trying to withstand the thousands of tons that were about to crash down on it.
And in that moment, its entire lower body, including the crevice where its heart lay, was left wide open.
"ELIJAH!" Evelyn screamed.
Time seemed to slow for Elijah. He saw the opening, a wide-open invitation. Activating the plasma thrusters on his back and feet, he shot forward like a red meteor. The world around him became a blur, leaving only a single point of focus: his target.
He arrived under the monster just as the building's shadow began to swallow them. He fused his two swords, concentrating all his remaining energy until the blade shone a blinding white.
With a scream torn from the depths of his soul, he plunged the sword into the same wound for a second time.
This time, there was no resistance. The sword went all the way in.
The octopus monster let out a final, deafening shriek, a roar of agony that vibrated through the entire city. Its body, which had been tensed to brace against the building, went limp instantly. Elijah felt the tremor of death travel up his sword. He immediately pulled his weapon free and blasted away as fast as he could.
GRUUUUAAAAKKK!
The apartment building finally collapsed completely, burying the giant creature's corpse under a mountain of concrete and steel. A thick cloud of dust billowed into the air, blanketing the entire area.
For several moments, the only sound was the settling of the remaining rubble. Then, silence.
"It worked..." one of the soldiers whispered, his voice filled with awe.
They waited a few minutes, making sure there was no more movement. As the dust began to thin, they slowly approached the concrete tomb. They thought it was all over.
But then, suddenly, from a gap in the rubble, right where the monster's weak point had been, a purple light began to pulse.
BZZZZT!
A small but sharp burst of energy erupted from that point, sending shards of concrete flying in all directions.
Without orders, without a second thought, everyone reacted. With lightning speed, the soldiers and Felicia activated their personal energy shields. Evelyn dashed in front of Crowe. And Elijah, in the blink of an eye, was already standing in front of the mysterious girl, the back of his red armor forming a solid shield to protect her from the blast.
The blast lasted only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. A wave of purple energy washed over them, hissing as it struck the activated shields. Elijah felt a powerful vibration run through his entire armor, but he stood firm, his body an unshakable fortress for the girl behind him.
After the final surge of energy subsided, leaving only an electric sizzle in the air, silence returned. No one moved. Everyone kept their shields up, wary of a follow-up blast. Felicia's soldiers formed a semicircle, their rifles aimed at the pile of rubble, ready to fire at anything that might emerge.
Slowly, with the caution of predators, they began to move forward. Their steps were synchronized, the clank of armored boots on cracked asphalt the only sound. After confirming there was no further immediate threat, one by one the energy shields were deactivated with satisfying clicks.
In the center of the crater of ruins, from where the monster's heart should have been, a strange light emanated. It wasn't red like the crystals they usually found. This light was a deep purple, pulsing slowly like a dying heart.
Felicia was the first to reach the edge of the rubble. Using the barrel of her rifle to push aside a piece of concrete, she revealed the source of the light. Embedded in the monster's charred flesh, a crystal the size of an adult's fist glowed with a light that was both terrifying and mesmerizing. Its shape was irregular, and on its dark purple surface were black striations that looked like veins, pulsing with an energy that felt raw and wild.
Felicia walked over to Elijah, her green eyes still fixed on the crystal. "Don't be too impressed by its size," she said, her voice calm and analytical. "That's a Class-C Crystal."
Elijah looked over, his faceplate retracting. "Grade-C? What does that mean?" He had never heard the term before. To him, a crystal was a crystal, a source of power they needed to survive.
Felicia saw the confusion on his face. "The world has changed, Elijah. The mutants we're facing now have tiers. The higher the tier, the purer and more condensed the energy of the crystal it produces." She paused, as if gauging Elijah's understanding. "I'll explain the details on our way to the bunker. It's a long discussion."
She then leaped onto the rubble, her armored hand reaching for the crystal without hesitation. The crystal hissed as it made contact with the metal of her gauntlet, but Felicia was unfazed. She held it up, observing it for a moment under the gray light of the sky, then without warning, she tossed it to Elijah.
With well-honed reflexes, Elijah caught the heavy object. The crystal felt warm in his palm, pulsing with a power far greater than all the crystals he had ever absorbed combined.
"Consider it a thank you for saving my squad," Felicia said. "And… a welcome gift for accepting my offer."
Without waiting for a reply, she turned and went back to her soldiers, her sharp voice immediately ringing out, giving orders to secure the area and prepare to move.
Elijah stared at the crystal in his hand, his mind racing. Grade-C. If this was the lowest tier, how powerful were the crystals in the higher classes?
He shook his head and walked over to his team. "Mom, are you okay?" he asked, inspecting her silver armor, which now bore several new scratches.
"Of course," Evelyn replied with a small, proud smile. "My plans always work, don't they?"
Crowe dusted off his uniform. "A plan that nearly made this old heart stop beating," he grumbled, though there was a look of relief in his eyes.
Elijah's gaze then shifted to the last member of their group. The girl no longer looked frightened. She now stood tall, her blue eyes watching Elijah with an unreadable expression—a mix of gratitude, awe, and a deep curiosity.
"Thank you for your help earlier," Elijah said sincerely. "I didn't get a chance to ask, what's your name?"
The girl blinked, as if the question were a complex riddle. She looked down, her brow furrowed in concentration. "My name..." she whispered, "...I... I don't remember."
She looked frustrated with herself, her eyes beginning to well up.
"But..." she continued quickly, as if catching a fragile piece of memory, "there was... a name. Someone used to call me... Ky." She looked up at Elijah again, as if seeking confirmation. "That's all I remember. Ky."
Elijah looked at her for a moment, seeing the honesty and confusion in her eyes. He wouldn't push her. "Alright, Ky," he said with a gentle smile. "It's nice to meet you."