143 1 VS 3
Thrynn and Orya halted mid-step. "What did you find, Nymeris?" Thrynn called out.
From a distance, Nymeris' voice echoed across the field. "I've found the assassins who killed Garius and Acyros."
They walked toward the two fallen figures—the Rewind Sisters—their bodies twisted and pale.
Damen exhaled softly, relief washing over him from his hiding place. "Geez, those women became my scapegoat.."
"These bodies…" Orya knelt beside them, her mirrored armor catching the faint light. "They're the same as Garius and Acyros…completely drained of life."
Thrynn's eyes narrowed. "Then it wasn't these assassins who killed them. There's another meta out here…someone powerful enough to kill all of them."
"Damn.. these superheroes are not as stupid as they look", Damen complained.
They scanned the ruined battlefield but only silence and smoke greeted them.
"Whoever it was, they're probably long gone," Nymeris concluded, her visor dimming.
Orya sighed. "How do we explain this to Exoren Atheris? He sent us to support Acyros, not collect her corpse."
Nymeris crossed her arms. "Acyros's Anti-Meta field was formidable—nearly invincible when paired with Umbros. His shadow powers were the only known power not restricted by her suppression field. But alone…"
"She's vulnerable," Thrynn finished. "If we got paired with her, we couldn't even use our abilities."
Orya frowned. "Still, a Rank B meta like Acyros shouldn't have fallen so easily. What kind of monster are we dealing with?"
Before anyone could answer, a soldier's voice rang out: "We've detected a signature—someone's hiding near the bushes!"
Instantly, the three Atheris heroes launched into the air, their armor flaring with energy.
"Damn it… they've found me at last," Damen cursed under his breath. Hiding was no longer an option.
But before they could reach his position, the ground split with a surge of darkness. A figure rose from the shadows—his dark blue form wreathed in black energy streaked with silver veins.
Thrynn steadied his stance. "What the hell is that?"
Orya's voice trembled slightly. "Who is he?"
Nymeris's visor flashed as she pulled up archived data. "I've read the reports…" she said grimly.
"They call him—Black Halo."
-----
Thrynn's segmented armor shimmered beneath the sunlight, each plate overlapping like the scales of a chrome reptilian. His helmet's visor narrowed into slit-like pupils that glowed a venomous green as his systems came online.
The "A" insignia on his chestplate wasn't painted—it was carved deep, an emblem that pulsed faintly with power.
His nervous system was wired with a Core of the Mind, enhancing perception and reaction speed beyond human limits.
To Damen's eyes, Thrynn's movements blurred…each dash a flicker of motion, each strike an illusion.
"Damnit, this metal knight is much faster than me….and he can even teleport", Damen complained.
Damen wasn't ready for such precision. Thrynn's first punch landed before he could even brace.
The blow hit like a hammer, forcing Damen back several steps, but his alien armor absorbed most of the impact. The shock rolled across his body, but he held firm.
Then Orya entered the field.
She was tall, regal, her mirror-lined armor bending the sunlight around her until her silhouette wavered like a mirage. A crown of metallic tendrils flared from her helm, each strand catching the light as though alive.
From the radiance around them, Orya summoned serpents woven from solid light. They hissed forward, striking in arcs of brilliance.
Damen twisted aside, his combat instincts locked in.
"Damnit, a medusa?" he almost cried out.
Thrynn's super perception and bursts of speed left little room to maneuver, but Orya's attacks were slower and predictable. His autonomous combat helped him dodge each hard-light serpent as they shattered into shards of fading luminescence.
Then a streak of blue lightning cracked through the air.
A whip made of pure electricity lashed down from above, exploding into an electric storm at its tip.
Nymeris hovered overhead, her armor outfitted with turbine-like wings that burned with electrical coils. She wielded the lightning like a living weapon, each motion carving serpentine trails of energy through the air.
Damen barely managed to dodge as the air near him erupted in a storm of crackling power.
Damen was troubled.
Dealing with Thrynn alone was already a nightmare. The man was faster, sharper, and more responsive in every way.
Damen couldn't match his combat prowess — and worse, Orya and Nymeris were both launching ranged attacks, waiting for him to make a single mistake and their strikes were deadly if they struck.
"So, this is how a real battle with Rank Bs looks like?" Damen thought grimly.
He finally understood …. at higher ranks, heroes didn't rely solely on their individual strength. They fought in perfect synergy, combining their abilities to amplify each other's power.
"If only I could face them one by one," he thought.
But that was impossible now.
Thrynn lunged again, his chrome-scaled fist blurring toward Damen's chest just as a lightning whip crackled in from the side.
Thrynn's speed was overwhelming, his reaction time superhuman. Damen barely had time to think …. and then a reckless idea struck him.
This time, he didn't dodge.
He took Thrynn's punch head-on.
Thrynn's eyes widened in shock. "What—!?"
Damen seized his arm, locking it tight. Thrynn might be faster, but up close, there was no space even for him to evade.
Nymeris' lightning whip arced toward them.
Damen gritted his teeth and charged straight into it, dragging Thrynn with him.
"What are you doing!?" Nymeris shouted.
This was her strongest attack. Her electricity could paralyze even a Rank B—but Damen didn't flinch.
The lightning struck.
Black Halo.
Thrynn.
"Zzz—!"
"Are you insan…!?" Thrynn roared—then his body convulsed violently.
At that exact moment, Damen triggered his meta-skill.
Electrocution.
Thrynn's body was already weakened by Nymeris' whip, the compounded surge from electrocution tore through him unchecked.
"AAARGH!" Thrynn screamed, his body jerking uncontrollably under the voltage.
"You were supposed to attack Black Halo, not Thrynn!" Orca yelled.
Nymeris staggered back, horror flooding her face. "They didn't give me a choice… they were bound together…"
But something was wrong.
Her electricity wasn't this strong. It couldn't do this.
"My lightning couldn't even stun Thrynn," Nymeris whispered.
Then her eyes snapped to Damen. "How… how is Black Halo not affected at all?"
The realization hit her harder than the lightning ever could.
Beneath the crackling arcs, Damen's Annunakin Armor absorbed most of the energy. After assimilating the Core of Electricity, he was partly immune to it.
Furthermore with his extremely high body armor Nymeris' lightning whip channeled the current harmlessly through his body, leaving only faint scorch marks.
Thrynn, however, wasn't so lucky.
"I know how to deal with them now", Damen thought.
He would make use of their weaknesses.