[Oliver’s PoV]

  “Now,” she said, her voice dripping with savage delight, “let’s fight for real.”

  For a moment, the battlefield went silent.

  Oliver and Stewart stood frozen, their weapons raised, but their minds struggling to process what they witnessed.

  They weren't supposed to be capable of this.

  Her molten-orange armor still had the same terrible intensity. Yet now, layered over it, was a second set of silver plating.

  She had two Unique Armors at once.

  Oliver’s instincts screamed at him, but he forced himself to stay calm, his spear held firm in his grip. He shifted his stance, lowering his center of gravity, his eyes tracking every flicker of movement.

  He didn’t dare make the first move. However, before he could even think about reacting, she moved.

  For a heartbeat, his eyes couldn’t keep up. Then the shockwave hit.

  The impact was deafening.

  The Empress reappeared behind Stewart, her fist buried in his chestplate. The blow landed with such force it sent the White Ranger flying like a ragdoll. He crashed through the remains of a skyscraper, vanishing in a cloud of smoke and debris.

  Oliver’s breath caught.

  That speed…!

  He was struggling to follow her movements. His eyes darted across the battlefield, searching for her, but she was already gone from where she’d been a fraction of a second ago.

  He felt his pulse quicken, adrenaline flooding his veins. He poured every ounce of his Energy into his legs and brain, forcing his neural systems to accelerate.

  The world slowed slightly, his perception expanding, his mind syncing with the rhythm of his armor.

  Even then, it was barely enough.

  The Empress turned toward him, her eyes blazing with feral glee.

  It wasn’t just that her strength had increased—it was how controlled it was.

  The silver armor wasn’t destabilizing her; it was enhancing her in ways Oliver couldn’t comprehend.

  She’s not twice as strong, he realized, if before she had the power of forty Rangers, now it was closer to sixty

  The ground trembled as the Empress took a step forward. Oliver could feel the Energy radiating from her.

  Oliver tightened his grip on the spear. He couldn’t afford hesitation.

  Not now.

  The Empress tilted her head, her grin widening. “You’re fast, human. But let’s see if you can keep up now.”

  Then she was gone again.

  The world blurred.

  Oliver had no time to react before the shockwave hit him, the air cracking as she passed by him at impossible speed.

  Her voice came from behind him, low and mocking. “Too slow.”

  He pivoted, bringing the spear up just in time to block a strike. The impact sent a burst of Energy through his body, the ground beneath him fracturing from the force. The clash rang out like thunder, the shockwave flattening the debris around them.

  She was smiling.

  Enjoying it.

  Oliver gritted his teeth, his armor straining to compensate for the impact.

  She’s more powerful than John, he realized, his mind racing. Maybe even than the Emperor.

  The Empress continued to move like a cannon shot. The air screamed as she closed the distance, her speed blurring the space between them.

  Oliver once more had almost no time to react.

  His only saving grace was neural overclock from [Prometheus]. The Energy running through his neural pathways accelerated his perception, stretching milliseconds into seconds. Every flicker of movement, every tremor in the ground, every shift in the Empress’s stance unfolded before him.

  Even with that, it wasn’t enough.

  Each dodge was harder than the last. Every swing of her sword came faster, heavier, sharper.

  Her attacks were far more savage than before. Yet, in her fury, she left herself open, if only for the briefest of moments.

  If Oliver could surpass her speed, even by a fraction, he might find the openings he needed.

  “Damn you, human!” she roared. “You make this difficult!”

  Oliver didn’t respond. He couldn’t afford to. She was trying to bait him, to break his focus.

  “But your fate is sealed,” she snarled. “You’ll make a fine trophy for my hall.”

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  Her blade cleaved through the air, missing him by inches.

  Oliver darted backward, his boots grinding against the pavement.

  [Gaia’s Trap]

  Oliver’s eyes snapped toward the sound.

  Stewart had recovered, barely.

  With a grunt, Stewart swung the massive spiked orb, then slammed it into the ground with all his remaining strength.

  The result was instantaneous.

  The earth beneath the Empress exploded.

  A shockwave tore through the plaza, the ground splitting open as jagged spikes of stone and metal erupted upward like the fangs of some beast. The attack was eerily similar to the one Adrian had used before, but amplified and refined.

  The Empress let out a guttural snarl as the first spike struck her shoulder. Another spike grazed her side, another struck her leg.

  But even then, she didn’t fall.

  Her armor absorbed most of the impact, dispersing the kinetic force like ripples across water.

  The attack slowed her, yes—but it didn’t stop her.

  Oliver’s mind was burning at full capacity.

  One part of him was focused on survival, predicting the next strike, calculating angles, estimating timing down to the millisecond. The other part was frantically searching for a strategy, running through every possibility, every weapon, every Boon he had left.

  But one option kept hammering at the back of his mind.

  [Insight]

  It's dangerous. Too dangerous.

  The ability didn’t kill, not anymore, but the backlash could leave him broken, vulnerable, and in a fight like this, that was as good as death.

  Still… the temptation gnawed at him.

  He wanted to know.

  He needed to understand how the Empress had done it, how she had fused two Unique Crystals without tearing herself apart.

  This might be his only chance to find out.

  I need to get close.

  Oliver glanced at Stewart, who had recovered enough to rejoin the fight. The two of them exchanged a silent nod.

  They moved.

  Stewart’s chain weapon spun in a wide arc, its spiked orb glowing white-hot as it cut through the air. Oliver followed, his spear igniting with white flames.

  They attacked in perfect synchrony—one from the left, one from the right.

  The Empress blocked them effortlessly.

  Her blade met Stewart’s weapon mid-swing, sending a shockwave that shattered the ground between them. At the same time, she twisted her body, her free hand catching Oliver’s spear mid-thrust. The impact cracked the earth, the Energy discharge throwing sparks into the air.

  Oliver gritted his teeth, trying to push through, but she didn’t even flinch.

  He needed her still. Just for a second.

  She needs to stop moving.

  He pressed harder, feinting a strike toward her chest before sweeping low for her leg. Stewart mirrored him, his chain wrapping around her sword arm. For a brief moment, Oliver thought they had her.

  Then he saw her smile.

  It was the only warning he got.

  Her fist slammed into his stomach.

  The world went black for an instant as the air was blasted from his lungs. Pain erupted through his body. He flew backward, crashing through the ground, rolling and skidding for dozens of meters before finally stopping.

  He gasped for breath, his chest burning, his ribs aching. But the Empress wasn’t done.

  “I won’t underestimate you again,” she said.

  Her silhouette loomed through the smoke.

  “Now it’s time for you to die.”

  She was on him before he could react. Her sword came down like a meteor, the impact splitting the ground open. Oliver managed to roll aside, but the shockwave caught him, sending him tumbling again.

  Her next kick sent him crashing into a collapsed building. Before he could recover, she was there again, raining down blows.

  Each strike chipped away at his armor, fragments of crimson plating shattering and falling.

  He tried to counter, to parry, to move. But she was too fast, too strong.

  Finally, her hand closed around his throat.

  The Empress lifted him, her hand tightening just enough to cut off his air.

  “Look!” she roared, her voice echoing across the battlefield. “Another of your heroes falls!”

  The Orks roared, their voices echoing through the shattered plaza like a chorus of beasts. They pounded their chests, struck their armor, their celebration a thunderous rhythm of victory.

  Oliver hung in the Empress’s grip, his armor cracked, his body screaming in pain. Every breath felt like fire in his lungs. His vision blurred.

  Around them, the Hoplites didn’t stop fighting.

  Even as their commander dangled in the enemy’s grasp, they didn’t falter. Their formation held. Their weapons struck true. Not one of them turned to help him, not out of apathy—but out of faith.

  Faith in their leader.

  Faith that Oliver would find a way.

  He could feel it through the comms, silent, steady determination. They weren’t retreating. They were holding the line.

  They believe in me.

  Oliver’s chest heaved, his breath ragged. But even as exhaustion clawed at his mind, a spark of clarity cut through the pain.

  The Empress had stopped.

  She was still.

  Finally.

  Exactly what he needed.

  Oliver forced his eyes open.

  [Insight]

  The moment he activated it, the world changed.

  The pain vanished. The sound faded. Everything slowed to a crawl, the battlefield dissolving into a haze of golden light.

  Seconds later, the data hit him.

  Pure and raw knowledge, flooding straight into his mind.

  Schematics. Biological data. Energy readings.

  Every detail of the Ork armor’s composition unfolded before him like a living blueprint. He saw the layers of plating, the Energy conduits, the crystalline core buried deep within. He saw the way it fused with their flesh, the way it pulsed with their blood.

  It was fascinating—and horrifying.

  The armor wasn’t just metal. It was alive.

  Part biological, part synthetic, an extension of the Ork itself. The corrupted Crystals that powered it were embedded into their nervous systems, feeding on their lifeforce like parasites.

  But none of it made sense.

  The more he learned, the more alien it felt. The deeper he dug, the less he understood.

  The information blurred together, meaningless noise flooding his mind.

  No. No, no, no—

  He pushed harder.

  His mental defenses screamed, his skull pounding with the strain, but he refused to stop. He couldn’t stop. Somewhere in this mess, there had to be an answer.

  He dove deeper, forcing the Insight to go beyond. His vision fractured into layers, streams of data cascading across his mind like rivers of light.

  Something clicked.

  Hidden beneath the chaos, buried within the corrupted architecture of the Crystals, he found it.

  A single, overlooked line of information. Something the Orks themselves had discovered, something they had built their power around.

  The secret of their Auxiliary Crystals.

  How to activate their [Combat Mode].

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