Lucy didn't waste the opening.

She sprinted forward, closing the distance in a blur, her glaive humming as she activated its cutting edge. The moment the Ravager staggered back onto its feet, she vaulted onto its back, using the plating of its exoskeleton as a foothold.

The beast thrashed violently, trying to shake her off, but Lucy kept her balance, shifting her weight fluidly. With a brutal downward stab, she drove her glaive straight into the base of its skull, twisting the weapon with a flick of her wrist.

The Ravager let out a choked snarl, its body shuddering before collapsing in a heap beneath her.

Lucy vaulted off, landing in a smooth roll, already scanning for the next threat.

Meanwhile, Ethel was in the thick of the chaos, her energy gauntlets crackling with power as she dealt with a new wave of Skulkers.

Three of them darted toward her, their razor-edged limbs flashing in the dim light.

Ethel knew dodging wasn't an option—they were too fast.

Instead, she planted her feet and threw both arms outward, sending a wide-range kinetic shockwave in all directions.

The Skulkers were blasted off their feet, their bodies flung back like ragdolls. One smashed into a broken turret, its spindly limbs twitching as it struggled to rise. Another was sent crashing into a pile of debris, impaled on a jagged metal beam.

The third, however, was still moving.

It landed in a tight roll, rebounding off the ground instantly, its razor limbs slicing toward Ethel's throat.

She reacted without hesitation—ducking low, pivoting just enough to avoid decapitation, and slamming her fist upward into its torso.

The impact pulsed with raw kinetic energy—the Skulker's entire midsection imploded inward, its chitinous armor caving under the sheer force before it was launched skyward like a broken doll.

Lucy, watching from a few meters away, saw an opening.

Still gripping her glaive, she spun sharply, hurling the weapon in a precise, spinning arc.

The glaive tore through the air, severing the Skulker cleanly in half mid-flight before boomeranging back toward her hand.

Lucy caught it effortlessly, her eyes already scanning for the next threat.

Another Howler screeched overhead, its talons gleaming as it swooped down toward Ethel.

Lucy moved before the creature even got close.

With a burst of speed, she launched herself into the air, twisting mid-leap, and brought her glaive down in a vicious arc.

The blade cleaved straight through the Howler's extended wing, severing it in a spray of black ichor.

The beast plummeted toward the ground, screeching in agony—right at Ethel's feet.

Ethel didn't even flinch.

She raised her boot and brought it down with a devastating, force-enhanced stomp.

CRACK.

The Howler's neck snapped like brittle wood, its body jerking once before going still.

Lucy landed smoothly beside her, glaive in hand. They exchanged a quick glance—no words needed.

More enemies were coming.

The Leviathan loomed in the distance, and the horde was nowhere near finished.

But neither were they.

The fight was far from over.

The colossal creature loomed, its six powerful legs bracing against the battlefield, its obsidian-like armor shifting and flowing like molten rock, adapting to incoming attacks.

Lucy pushed herself up from the wreckage, her ribs aching from the impact, but she had no time to dwell on the pain.

Ethel was still in the fight.

She sprinted across the field, weaving between Skulkers and Ravagers as she charged up another precision energy blast, aiming for the Leviathan's right knee joint this time.

But the beast was learning.

Before she could fire, one of its massive front legs lifted and slammed downward.

Ethel rolled at the last second, the shockwave rippling outward, sending debris and bodies flying in all directions. She landed in a crouch, immediately countering with a powerful concussive burst toward the exposed joint.

The blast connected, sending a visible ripple through the beast's form—but its armor thickened on impact, dispersing the force before it could do any real damage.

"Damn it, it's adapting!" she hissed.

Lucy was already back in motion.

She reengaged her thruster boots, pushing them to their absolute limit. Instead of a direct attack, she zigzagged in unpredictable bursts, avoiding the Leviathan's whipping tail and massive stomping limbs.

She needed to find a weak spot.

Then—she saw it.

Near the base of its skull, just beneath the thickest plating, its armor seemed thinner—the segments didn't shift as fluidly there.

Lucy gritted her teeth. That was her target.

She flipped mid-air, adjusting her angle before hurling her glaive like a spear, the weapon's energy output spiking to its most lethal setting.

The glaive spun through the air, leaving a trail of crackling blue energy as it slammed into the weak point.

The Leviathan screeched, a sound so deep it rattled the very air, its body jerking violently.

It was hurt.

But it wasn't finished.

The moment of Lucy's success was short-lived.

The Leviathan's body shifted, and suddenly, its back plates split apart, revealing a seething core of crackling, volcanic energy.

A warning flashed in Ethel's HUD—heat signatures spiking.

"Lucy, MOVE!" she shouted.

The Leviathan reared back, then unleashed a massive energy pulse—a scorching wave of molten plasma, arcing outward like a dying star flaring to life.

Lucy threw up her arms, activating her emergency shield—but the force still sent her spiraling backward, her systems overheating from the sheer intensity.

Ethel had no choice—she had to act now.

Ethel threw both arms forward, summoning every ounce of energy in her gauntlets.

A gravitic field exploded outward, catching Lucy mid-flight, slowing her descent just enough for her to recover and land in a controlled roll.

But Ethel wasn't done.

She focused the energy, forming it into a compressed sphere—a singularity, pulsing with immense force—and hurled it toward the Leviathan's exposed core.

The orb detonated on impact, sending ripples through the beast's structure—its plated armor distorting, flickering, struggling to reform.

Lucy, now back on her feet, saw the opening.

She gripped her glaive, eyes burning with determination.

"We end this."

And together, they charged.

The battle was far from over.

The explosion rippled across the battlefield, sending a shockwave of heat and force outward. The Leviathan staggered, its obsidian-like plating shifting, struggling to seal over the searing wound carved by Ethel's attack. Molten residue dripped from the exposed gap, sizzling as it touched the ground.

For a brief moment, it seemed like the tide might turn.

But then—the horde surged forward with terrifying ferocity.

The momentary pause in combat vanished, replaced by an even more coordinated, relentless assault. The creatures sensed an opportunity—the perfect moment to crush their opposition.

Skulkers erupted from the smoke, their semi-translucent bodies flickering in and out of visibility, distorting the air as they moved. Their serrated limbs scraped against steel, producing a horrific screeching sound as they clawed their way forward.

They moved in perfect synchronization, their spindly forms zigzagging unpredictably.

One Skulker lunged at a defending soldier, its scythe-like forelimbs slicing downward. The soldier barely had time to react, raising his rifle just in time to block, but the creature's strength was overwhelming. Its blades sheared through his weapon, cleaving into his arm with a sickening crunch.

Before the Skulker could finish the kill, a plasma bolt from the side incinerated its head, sending it collapsing in a smoldering heap.

But there were dozens more.

They darted through the defensive lines, exploiting gaps in formation, their razor-sharp appendages cutting down anything in their way.

The sky erupted in chaos.

Howlers shrieked, their sonic waves rippling through the air, warping light itself as the frequency bent reality around them. Their glowing eyes locked onto their targets, swooping down like bladed specters of death.

The first wave of Howlers unleashed their disorienting screams, causing soldiers' visors to crack and neural implants to spark from overload.

One defender fell to his knees, clutching his head, his mouth open in a silent scream as his eardrums ruptured. A Howler descended like a specter, talons extended, ready to rip him apart—

—but a plasma blade ignited in mid-air, slashing upward in a blinding arc.

Lucy.

She launched herself into the air, thruster boots propelling her straight at the attacking Howler. Her glaive whistled as she swung, severing the creature's wing at the joint. The Howler spiraled out of control, shrieking in agony before crashing into a cluster of advancing Skulkers below.

Lucy twisted mid-air, firing her boots again, using the force to flip backward onto higher ground, giving herself a better vantage point.

"Ethel, the sonic attacks are destabilizing our defenses!" she called out over comms.

Ethel, still engaged in brutal close combat below, narrowed her eyes.

She raised her gauntlets, her mind calculating in milliseconds. She needed to disable the Howlers fast—or their forces wouldn't last much longer.

Ethel ducked under a sweeping Ravager claw, rolling sideways as another tried to snap at her with its venom-dripping maw. Her energy gauntlets hummed, charging up a pulse blast.

She slammed her fists together, triggering a dual pulse explosion outward. The shockwave sent the Ravagers reeling, giving her just enough time to turn her attention to the Howlers.

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