To the northwest, the Elven fortress had fallen—its walls shattered by Veskar’s frontal assault. The humanoid insect hovered low over the rubble, his eyes wild, his body still twitching with the aftershock of the mind control magic gripping his consciousness. Chaos raged below as Elven soldiers scattered, trapped between panic and confusion.
Veskar no longer resembled a knight. Now, he was a beast unchained. Though his mutated form held tremendous power, the opening strike that tore through the fortress had drained an immense amount of energy. For five brutal and eerily quiet minutes, he hovered there, catching his breath, recovering the unrestrained power coiled within him.
Just as he began to move again, a sharp whine tore through the sky. Four missiles descended from the east at blistering speed, locking onto Veskar like harbingers of death.
The explosion ripped through the air, shaking the battlefield and sending thunderclaps across the sky. Fire and smoke filled the heavens in an instant, yet the soldiers on the ground barely looked up—so engrossed in the chaos of war below.
From within the still-lingering cloud of smoke, a silhouette emerged—a gleaming green armor lined with silver, catching the early light. A mechanical hum echoed faintly as Ren descended with eerie calm, like a knight from legend made real in the skies.
His eyes narrowed behind the helmet as the interface radar began locking onto the target ahead. Veskar growled—not in any human tongue, but a raw, bestial shriek filled with fury. Wild. Uncontrolled. A monster turned loose.
"Woah... What the hell happened to him?" Ren muttered, disbelief edging into his voice. Veskar’s movements were erratic, yet carried a deadly weight—as though something far darker than his own intent was forcing his body to move.
『Master, energy readings from Veskar show unstable fluctuation. High probability he’s under extreme mind control magic. Recommendation: avoid direct engagement until further analysis.』
Ren clenched his teeth slightly. (So... he’s rampaging, but still under control. Someone’s pulling his strings from afar.)
Veskar’s crimson eyes locked onto Ren. Without warning, he let out a guttural roar that rippled the air around him. His chitinous wings vibrated like a storm of blades, and his spear snapped forward with violent precision.
"Well, he’s pissed," Ren remarked coolly, though his fingers tightened around the jet controls on his arm.
『Master! Incoming at high speed!』
"I see it!" Ren barked, spinning midair to evade the spear thrust that tore upward from his lower right. The wind from the strike sent leaves spiraling below—an indication of the sheer physical force Veskar unleashed.
Ren widened the gap within seconds, his thrusters blasting backward to slow the enemy’s approach. He glared at Veskar, now hovering, panting, yet no less dangerous.
He dropped his body lower, keeping his center of gravity stable, shifting into a defensive stance. His eyes, hidden behind the helmet, locked onto Veskar with cold, calculating intensity.
『Master... target preparing another strike.』
"I know!" Ren replied instantly, just as he rolled hard to the left, barely dodging an impossible jab. His winged boosters flared, and in a fluid twist, he returned fire with a barrage of lasers and missiles from his shoulder and arm-mounted launchers.
The sky became their battlefield. Explosions bloomed like deadly fireworks, the crack of bullets and bursts of repulsor fire echoed across the clouds. But none of it could break through Veskar’s natural defenses—his chitin was too strong, his reflexes too sharp.
Ren gritted his teeth. "Damn it..." The pressure was rising by the second. Veskar, moving with the speed of wind and inhuman agility, hurled his spear like a guided missile—sharp, precise, lethal.
It struck Ren’s shoulder armor with a screech, carving a long gash into the mithril plating. The impact rang through his helmet like a bell, and his HUD blinked red for a moment. The blow sent Ren spinning back, the internal shock almost enough to make him vomit.
The Arc Reactor on his chest glowed brighter, its pulse quickening. Warning signals flared inside the HUD as Ultro’s voice chimed in again.
『Alert: Minor damage to shoulder plating. System integrity remains stable.』
Ren took a sharp breath and spoke coldly, "Alright then... Congratulations. You just made me mad."
He dropped his hand to his side, then slowly curled it into a fist.
"Ultro, activate Accel Mode."
『Command acknowledged. Activating Accel Mode. Estimated stable duration: one minute. Mithril cooling channels optimal.』
In an instant, the outer layer of his armor brightened slightly—the blue light of the Arc Reactor surged through the suit like living current. A hiss of released pressure followed, and the surrounding air vibrated as energy condensed within the armor’s core.
Veskar hissed back, reacting to the glow with a primal scream.
Ren smiled faintly beneath the helmet. "Let’s go fast."
As Accel Mode engaged, a shockwave blasted out from Ren’s body—the mithril-green armor once solid now shimmered with glowing lines like neon blue veins, pulsing from the Arc Reactor outward to every joint. Servo motors shrieked. Micro pistons fired in sync. The internal stabilizers recalibrated in microseconds, creating the illusion that Ren no longer obeyed gravity.
With a single burst from his back-mounted boosters, Ren vanished—literally disappearing from sight, leaving only the echo of a sonic boom. He shot toward Veskar in a perfect line, his body carving a pressure wave through the air, splitting clouds in a blazing blue trail.
Veskar, still snarling with bloodlust, only sensed Ren’s approach when the natural sensors on his antennae picked up the distortion in air pressure. He turned—just in time to receive a flying kick to the jaw. The impact rang out like metal on stone, cracking one side of his facial carapace and sending glowing fractures down his yellow-and-black helm.
『Accelerated Strike successful. Impact angle: 73 degrees. Energy force: 4,380 newtons.』
Without pause, Ren spun in midair—a full circular motion centered on his Arc Reactor, generating extra momentum—and launched a follow-up strike with his right arm, now morphed into a Compressed Pulse Gauntlet. The punch, powered by momentum dampers storing kinetic energy from the previous dash, released it all in one pinpoint blow to Veskar’s chest—sounding like a thermal grenade detonating in a vacuum.
Veskar’s body was launched like a missile, tearing through clouds and splitting the daylight sky into two layers of broken vapor. As he struggled to stabilize himself midair, wings twitching and twitching, Ren was already there—above him—with the Skybreaker Fang drawn. A crescent-shaped energy blade extended from Ren’s right wrist, forged in real-time through high-pressure compression and transmutation of liquid mithril particles.
They fought like gods waging war in the heavens—Ren, sharp and tactical like a machine of precision; Veskar, a primal force of instinct and mutant ferocity that defied logic. Every clash shattered the air into pressure blasts, thundercracks of their own making, shaking the fortress far below.
『Thirty seconds remaining in Accel Mode. Warning: overheating detected in right leg sector.』
"Channel all power to the shoulder conduits—I’m ending this with Breakline Ripper!" Ren growled, as energy surged into the Ark Reactor on his chest, glowing with white-blue plasma light. His shoulder plates split open, revealing twin mini-launchers now charging pressure.
But then he saw something off—Veskar, his already-cracked exoskeleton hovering eerily still. The insectoid eyes that usually glowed amber now flickered an angry red, and his body trembled violently... until a sickening biological crack echoed from his back.
Two new appendages burst forth—crimson crystal wings, along with jagged layers of fresh chitin wrapping around his arms, forming a secondary, reinforced armor shell.
『Major alert! Unnatural increase in target biomass. Detecting Phase Two transformation...』
"...Don’t tell me he’s evolving."
Veskar opened his mouth, and for the first time, a deep voice—almost human but laced with venomous rage—slipped through.
"This body... craves more battle..."
Ren instinctively pulled back midair, cold sweat running down his temple despite the armor’s active cooling system.
『Accel Mode ending in 5... 4... 3...』
"We’re not done yet..." he muttered, re-locking onto Veskar and activating all offensive subsystems.
They moved at once—two blurs of light, one emerald green and the other dark crimson, colliding in midair. The sky itself ruptured as if a star had fallen to earth.
And the heavens... split once more.
The resulting shockwave hurled Ren like a lifeless steel doll hundreds of meters across the sky.
He slammed through the air and then—BRAKK!!—crashed into the ground amidst shattered stone and broken walls. The impact left deep fractures in the earth.
Before he could stabilize, his body bounced—KRRAAKK!!—smashing into the trunk of a towering tree.
The trunk shuddered violently, brittle branches snapping and scattering, leaves falling like a war-rain around his crumpled armor.
"Aah... that freaking hurt..." Ren’s voice was ragged, choked between uneven breaths.
Slowly, his left hand rose and pressed against the side of his helmet. KLIK. The front of the helmet opened, revealing Ren’s face—marked with shallow cuts, sweat trailing down his temple.
His breathing was heavy. His chest rose and fell rapidly, as if his lungs were still trying to catch up with the chaos.
『Severe damage to jet system, Master. Primary wings unresponsive.』
"Yeah, I figured..." he sighed, frustrated but steady.
Ren tried to stand—but his knees buckled. ZRRRT...—his left leg servo whined with a rough, metallic grind, as if the joints were screaming from lack of oil.
Then he saw movement ahead.
Figures. Five. Maybe seven. Their footsteps were rushed—but their weapons were raised. The morning light caught the glint of their polished plate armor, their eyes sharp—full of murderous intent.
"Tch... They were waiting for me to fall," Ren growled.
They advanced without words. No war cries. No hesitation. Just pure, surgical intent—to finish the job while the opportunity was open.
Ren lifted his right hand, fingers trembling inside the gauntlet, barely able to muster strength. He knew—at this range, in this state—close combat would be the end of him.
"If you think I’m done..." Ren hissed, his lips curling into a tired, pained smirk.
Suddenly, a shrill whine pierced the air. One, two... five stealth drones, shaped like spinning shuriken wings, dove down from the clouds and rubble, streaking toward the ground like predators.
"WHZZZZTT!!"—the sound of slicing rotors tearing through the air."KRAK! KRAK! PRRRT!!"—plasma projectors fired from each drone, erupting into tight, violent bursts, slamming into the earth around the human soldiers.
The formation broke instantly—some staggered back in panic, others thrown by shock blasts.
"Ooh... the drones did their job," Ren whispered as he leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to catch his breath.
Thin smoke curled up from scorched earth, mixed with the scent of hot metal, burnt soil, and the bio-fluid from ruptured bodies. The ground around him had become a miniature warzone, with motionless corpses scattered and the drones still hovering above—awaiting further orders.
『Enemy unit neutralized. Support drones standing by for next command, Master.』
Ren opened his eyes. They still burned with resolve.
"Maintain the perimeter... I’m gonna need a minute..."
Fsssshhh... A soft wind stirred the ruins, carrying the faint smell of blood and magical ozone. In the distance, Veskar’s roar echoed again—lower now, deeper, like thunder rumbling from a hell that had not yet claimed enough blood.
Ren clenched his jaw. The battle... was far from over.