Chapter 406 - 406: Expendable
"Goddamn it, he is a monster." Eleanora murmured, her words carrying both literal and figurative weight.
Literal, because Michael was a Radiant Lord, two stages below her. She should have had an easy time subduing him… yet he was still so strong despite his unstable condition.
There was no way for her to know that the more chaos she inflicted upon his soul, the stronger he would become.
Figurative, because the longer she observed his soul, the worse she felt, as if staring into something never meant to see the light of day.
It wouldn't be a lie to say that she would prefer to observe the soul of a Monarch tier alien. At least there would be some sort of harmony, however twisted it was… while Michael was pure chaos, dreadful energy that oozed with horrifying darkness.
Eleanora admitted it to herself. In a fair fight, she was bound to lose… the gap between them was simply too great.
Fortunately, she wasn't a woman to play fair.
Slowly, she retreated backward, letting waves of ants pounce on Michael one by one.
The creatures weren't the problem by themselves. Michael was easily able to pick them off. However, they acted like obstacles that prevented him from reaching Eleanora and stopping the painful melody.
With the boost in energy they gained from her melody, the ants swiftly overwhelmed the lingering aliens before focusing solely on him. To make matters worse, the battle drew the attention of more nearby ants.
For each one that fell, two more took its place.
At the same time, Cyberfang was locked in combat with the royal champion. The mechanical beast wasn't able to deliver the final strike due to the ants swarming towards its frame as well.
[Calculating…]
The AI of the beast searched for a way out of its predicament. Sooner or later, its body was bound to fall due to the overwhelming strain.
[Evaluating danger…]
Relying on its Master to defeat Eleanora was foolish. With a glance, the beast could perceive that even though Michael was at his strongest, he was constantly sustaining damage.
[Adjusting parameters…]
What was Cyberfang to begin with? Once a simple AI, given a certain degree of consciousness due to Michael's Bypasser technique… Yet why had it not gone rogue like the other AIs on Venus and chosen to follow its Master instead?
It could be argued that Cyberfang was just a simple algorithm meant to serve without question…
But then why had Cyberfang disobeyed Michael's order and remained here?
[Shifting priorities…]
For some reason, Cyberfang felt relieved that they were the only two on the battlefield. If the rest of the crew were here, they would have been taken by surprise by the enemy's ability to disturb souls at such a level… some would have surely died.
The harm to Michael's soul had exceeded dangerous parameters. He was clearly unable to reason with his usual clarity.
What was expendable… And what was too precious to let go?
[Executing most favorable plan of action.]
Cyberfang's eyes shone brighter.
[Overcharge.]
Thanks to its enhancements other than electricity, the mechanical beast was capable of relying on stored spiritual energy within its body to boost its prowess.
Cyberfang's front paws swatted two ants obstructing its way.
With the path cleared, the beast moved toward the royal champion faster than before.
Eliminating the enemy that could easily follow them was essential. Given its power and overreliance on its brethren, the foe had to fall with one strike.
Cyberfang's jaws opened wide, clamping onto the head. Four paws dug deep into the ant's exoskeleton. The pressure proved too immense, shattering the ant's armor.
But Cyberfang didn't let go. Rotating the royal champion's head several times, he beheaded the foe, killing it on the spot.
In the meantime, cracks appeared on his armor. Focusing on the royal champion meant the other ants were free to damage Cyberfang.
Ignoring his lessening structural integrity, the beast bolted towards his Master.
Michael, having been fighting with Eleanora and her soldiers nonstop, was not doing well in terms of endurance. His strength was depleting much faster than normal due to the instability in his soul.
Eleanora looked exhausted herself, but not nearly enough to delay her next attack.
Her blindness forced her to rely on her ability to peer into souls to locate her foes.
That was why she was unable to sense Cyberfang in time.
The beast rampaged through the gathered ants, took Michael in his mechanical jaws, and charged full speed away from the battlefield.
A grimace twisted across Eleanora's face, realizing that her royal champion was dead.
"Others will be born in time, but don't think that you will live long enough to see them!"
As an Absolute Lord, she was able to fly on her own. She rose into the sky, ready to follow Michael and finish the job…
She froze.
A chill ran down her spine.
"…"
Slowly, she turned toward the Monarch tier alien.
For the first time, the kilometer-sized monster had halted its consumption of the spiritual crystals. Its eyes locked onto the place where the two Lords had battled.
Eleanora might not have been able to see, but the flickers of its soul told her all she needed to know.
"Alexia…" Eleanora murmured. The ant queen's control over the Monarch was far from absolute. One wrong move, and the Monarch would become fully aware and bring hell to the ant colony and everybody else in the hollow valley.
With urgency, she moved toward her spiritual beast to help her contain the Monarch before things got out of control.
Meanwhile, Michael found himself in Cyberfang's jaws.
"Let me go… I need to stop the sound…" He spoke slowly.
The distance grew, his thoughts slowly cleared, and the madness gave way to a heavy exhaustion.
Cyberfang didn't answer, nor did he slow his charge toward the feline camp.
Only when they drew near and no threat appeared did the mechanical beast's final strength fade. It collapsed to the ground, carving a trail with its inertia before finally coming to a stop.
One paw had been torn apart, his head bore a large hole, and the armor had crumbled to dust. The accumulated damage was simply too much. Even the most advanced engineers would have arrived at a unanimous conclusion.
Cyberfang's body was never going to be operational again.