Age of Asura [Progression, LitRPG, Apocalypse]

A large Meka-Yantra landed at the center of the ground, sending tremors through the arena. Uruvi let out a dull grunt and said, “ugh! Not this one again!”

“So, what is this one’s gimmick?” asked Rambha.

“Basically, multiple lives. You knock it down once, its armor reassembles and regains like 70 percent of its health. Takes three or four times to put it to rest,” said Uruvi.

“Shouldn’t be a problem with three people ganging up on it,” Rambha replied.

The Meka charged at them, with a massive sword in its hand.

“Well, we're about to find out,” said Ashwin.

A large health bar appeared above its head, with no mention of its Level. Uruvi didn’t mind that, for she figured it wouldn’t be above the Maha Yantra’s Level 15. She charged towards it as it threw a horizontal slash towards her. She immediately ducked beneath the arc and took a swipe at its left knee. The machine’s left leg buckled, and it slammed its knee into the floor. Her eyes shifted to the health bar, which had barely moved. She threw a few more basic slashes at it, and the Yantra tanked them all. ‘Okay. Let’s up the ante.’

The Yantra swung its fist at her, but she dodged it by stepping back. She pulled her axe back and lunged at it once again, this time covered in a golden glow as she struck the machine right in the torso. The Yantra slammed its back onto the ground and was pushed back by the force of her hit. Its health bar barely hit 5 percent. “Dammit! This thing is a tank!” she said as she stepped back.

“Yeah, considering you hit the hardest among us, it is going to take a while,” said Rambha.

“Either of you can cause a permanent dent to its health bar?” she asked.

Ashwin rubbed his chin and said, “that is not all. Look at its armor. You have barely left a dent.”

She saw that her charged hit had indeed barely left a mark. “You are right. Think it is absorbing the damage to protect the armor?”

“It is a theory. Let’s try to do as much damage as we can to that armor. Or at least as much as it allows,” he said.

Rambha opened her suitcase, and another robot popped out of it. It hovered over Uruvi, its two metallic eyes looking down at her curiously. “Meka meka will assist you in the fight,” said Rambha.

“Meka meka?” Uruvi repeated.

The robot made an adorable buzz while bobbing in the air.

They turned around and saw that the Yantra was back on its feet. It held its sword up and slammed its foot into the ground. A golden aura enveloped the machine.

“Heads up, guys. It looks to be cranking things up,” said Rambha.

Uruvi and Ashwin charged forward and engaged with the charged-up Yantra. Its swings were faster, and the time between each attack had shrunk, reacting accordingly to its opponents. Ashwin hit the metal creature with bursts of light attacks. “Uruvi! Strike it after my burst!”

She did as she was told. Her hit left a deep scar on its armor, and about 5 percent of its health bar turned grey. “Nice! It works.”

The Yantra swiped its sword at them, forcing them to leap back. Meka meka flew in, spinning like a top and smashed into the Yantra, causing it to stagger backwards.

“Uruvi! Knock off its helmet!” said Rambha.

She used the window of opportunity to leap over the Yantra and smashed her axe into the helmet. The helmet flew into the air before shooting back towards the Machine. However, by then Meka Meka snuck in.

The Yantra turned around to face Uruvi. She watched as the machine lunged at her but was suddenly knocked aside by an invisible force, causing it to lose balance. Its health dropped by a few points, and the missing portion turned grey. ‘It is working!’

She leapt at the Yantra, enveloped in a pocket of red and gold aura, while the blade of her axe turned red hot. Blasts of light accompanied her, chipping away at its magical protection as she tore through the armor from the outside.

They slowly chipped away at the health bar as the armor was torn to shreds. She delivered the final blow that turned the Yantra to dust. Rambha let out a huge cheer as Meka Meka returned to her side.

“One down,” said Uruvi as she turned towards the giant display.

The number ‘1’ lost its glow. The sound of machine parts spinning filled the air as three more Yantra descended from the darkness above them. These took the shape of foot soldiers, each equipped with a spear. They landed with a dull metal clank and took a battle formation, their spears pointed at the humans.

“Spears? Seems like a downgrade…” said Rambha with a hearty chuckle.

The Yantra in the middle shot towards them like a bullet, its spear aimed right at Rambha. Her eyes widened, and her instincts kicked in. She placed her suitcase against her torso, blocking the tip just in time. The force of the hits knocked her back, sending her tumbling to the ground. She came to a stop and looked up at the Yantra that stood between Ashwin and Uruvi, who had their hands on the spear, but could not stop it.

“I take it back. Those things are menacing,” said Rambha.

Uruvi could see the other two Yantra preparing to charge. “Barricade!” she shouted, and Ashwin followed. Their shields appeared just in time to stop the full force attack.

The middle unit broke free of their grip and rushed towards Rambha. Uruvi turned back towards her mate, calling out in concern.

“Don’t worry. I got this!” said Rambha.

“Divide and conquer?” asked Uruvi.

“Pretty much,” said Ashwin as he grabbed the Yantra before him and heaved it away.

The last Yantra thrust its spear at her, shattering its shield. She parried the spear with her axe and slammed her left shoulder into the machine, knocking it back.

The Yantra came to a stop and immediately charged at her. It jumped into the air and thrust the spear at her, which, despite the increase in speed, she was able to dodge. She swung her axe at it, cutting through its left shoulder. The Yantra countered by swinging the spear in an arc. She leapt over it and landed back on her feet. She struck the machine a few more times, cutting into the armor and leaving behind deep gashes.

She danced around the swings of its spear, slowly chipping away at the health bar. As it dipped into the red, she shouted, “Thunderclap!” The resulting shockwave broke the Yantra into several pieces and scattered them all over the ground. She watched them with bated breath as they slowly turned to dust. “Huh. I guess it ain’t coming back.”

She quickly turned around and saw that her teammates were also finishing up their battles, barely breaking a sweat. The number ‘2’ on the board dimmed, while they regrouped.

“Was expecting more of a challenge, to be honest,” said Uruvi.

“I think it was meant to be a three v one. Not three v three,” said Ashwin.

“Really?” asked Uruvi.

“They were well coordinated, attacking one after another and leaving very little room to breathe,” he explained.

“Huh… So we took its only gimmick apart, without even knowing?” she asked.

“Pretty much,” he replied.

The sound of gears spinning filled the air once again. They turned their attention towards the last Yantra as it descended from the darkness once again.

It was tall and thin, taking the shape of a Hindu goddess. As its feet touched the ground, there was no noise. It stood a massive fifteen feet tall, looking down at its human opponents.

“Whoa! That is big!” said Rambha.

It raised its arms, which were followed by two more arms appearing out of its torso. They were followed by another pair of arms, bringing the total to six. Uruvi felt her chest cave in fear as cold sweat poured down her forehead. She watched as large swords appeared in each of its hands as it took a step forward.

“Well… That escalated quickly,” she said with a fierce grin on her face.