Age of Asura [Progression, LitRPG, Apocalypse]

The shadow of the colossal figure loomed over them as it approached them slowly. Each of its blades appeared to be as big as each of its arms. Uruvi felt a cold shiver shoot up her spine.

“So… what could be this one’s gimmick?” whispered Rambha.

“My guess? Those big fucking swords,” replied Uruvi.

The Yantra raised its blades into the air, and all three, almost on instinct, put up their shields.

“Break!” said Ashwin.

Each of them ran to one of the edges of the arena, putting a good amount of distance between them and the machine. However, the machine swiped its blade across the arena, and it nearly cut through the shields of all three.

‘Dammit! Those are some huge swings!’ She watched as it spun around and lunged at her. It laid down three swipes in a single motion, one after another. She leapt high up into the air, over all three blades, before coming back down. Just as she touched the ground, she felt cold metal slam into her. She planted her feet into the ground and tightened her muscles before pushing the Yantra back. Free of Yantra, the arena began to swirl around as her body suddenly felt extremely tired. ‘Whoa… what happened?’

“Uruvi!” said Rambha as she appeared beside her. “You alright?”

“I think… I think so…” said Uruvi.

“Warning! Health below 50 percent,” said Arya.

“In any case, cast Rejuvenate and heal yourself,” said Rambha.

Uruvi did as she was instructed. She felt a surge of energy flood her body, shaking off the fatigue. She let out a deep breath, which cleared her vision and her mind. She caught a glimpse of Meka Meka bobbing in the air around the Yantra’s head. Beams of light shot past its head, while it tried to cut down Ashwin, who was engaging it all by himself.

“You tanked that thing! You are crazy!” said Rambha, with a cheeky grin.

“Yeah… that is nothing crazy.”

“Yeah, right. Any one of us would have been one-shot by it.”

She shot a glance at its full health bar. “Each of its swing sweeps the entire arena. How are we going to get close?”

“Ashwin is trying to hit it with his ranged attacks, but…”

“It’s barely having any effect.”

The Yantra slammed its sword into Meka Meka, sending it crashing onto the ground. “Meka Meka!” Rambha exclaimed.

“You girls done recovering?” shouted Ashwin, who was parrying and dodging its attack like his life depended on it.

Uruvi focused her sight on the machine. Bright red spots appeared on each of its joints that connected the arm to the torso. Another spot appeared on each of its heels.

“Hey! Can you make me a grappling gun?” asked Uruvi.

“Of course!” She opened her suitcase, and almost immediately a gun popped out and landed in Uruvi’s hand.

Uruvi aimed it at the Yantra’s head and pulled the trigger. The hook cut through the air and reached the head, but was knocked away by its arm. The wire of the grappling gun pulled the head back and wrapped itself around the arm.

“Here we go,” she said as she was yeeted away by the arm.

Rambha opened her suitcase once again, and a new Meka Meka popped out of it, along with a gun. She watched Uruvi get tossed around in the air by the Yantra. “Meka Meka! Time for revenge! Help our dear with footing.” The machine beeped and bopped before flying away, towards Uruvi. She shot a round of magical bullets at the Yantra, to no effect.

“Don’t bother, it is immune to magical attacks,” said Ashwin as he appeared beside her.

She cursed under her breath and asked, “what now?”

“What? Have you not played a video game before?” asked Ashwin, before rushing at the machine.

She tossed the gun back into the suitcase before another Meka Meka popped out of the suitcase. “Dodge and hit.”

Uruvi began to feel lightheaded. ‘Wait… what was the plan again?’ She felt weightless for a moment as she hung in the air, over the Yantra. Suddenly, a Meka Meka appeared before her. It pressed itself against the soles of her feet. “You are the best!” she said with a wide grin as she pushed herself off it.

A golden hue covered her as she shot through the air. Her aim was its shoulder, but the Yantra seemed to have sensed it. It turned just in time and was struck across its face. A second later, another hit erupted on its face thanks to her Skill, Kickback. The machine leaned forward but quickly regained its balance. Uruvi’s wire stretched, letting her swing back up into the air. She saw that the machine’s health had barely shrunk by a few points. ‘Its protecting its shoulders well… I guess it is a game of endurance now.’

More Meka Mekas appeared, surrounding the Yantra, distracting it. She saw Ashwin shoot up into the air and try to strike the machine in its shoulder. The Yantra, once again, pivoted away, dodging the attack.

The Yantra began to pick up pace, swinging its blades around in a rhythm while its feet danced about the arena. The trio and their Meka companions were forced to dodge and dash to beat the machine.

She swung around the machine, using the Meka Meka as leverage whenever it was needed. She felt her stomach churn at first, but as the battle continued, she found herself adapting to the sudden shift in forces. She wondered which Skill was responsible for this adaptation.

They slowly chipped away at its health bar. Just as its health bar dropped below the halfway mark, it stopped its dance of death. It brought the six blades down and stabbed the arena ground.

Uruvi landed back on the ground with a thud. Just as she did, the ground beneath her feet began to shake. Her eyes darted between the swords on the ground and noticed tremors radiating from them. She felt the intensity crank up. ‘Dammit! I should have stayed in the air!’

Suddenly, a Meka Meka flew over her head. “Uruvi! Hold onto it!” shouted Rambha.

She spotted a small metal bar on the belly of the robot. “Hope you are strong!” She leapt into the air and grabbed onto the handle. The Meka Meka plunged down before pulling back up. She looked down and saw the floor of the arena crack and shatter as the shockwaves passed over it. Her eyes shifted to her allies floating above the arena.

She noticed that its shoulders were exposed. “We need to kill this thing before it pulls up another gimmick.”

“You seeing what I am seeing?” asked Ashwin.

“Yeah. Its joints. They are wide exposed.”

“We need to hit all six of them at once,” he added.

“And how are we to do that?” asked Rambha.

Uruvi’s eyes locked on the shoulders. “Mark them…” she whispered. A dark symbol appeared on each of its shoulders. ‘Yes. This can work!’ “I can take care of the shoulders.”

“It is going to be hard, but I can try and hit the bottom two,” said Ashwin.

Rambha looked at her robots and said, “oh Meka Meka. Forgive me…”

The intensity of the shockwaves began to subside. “We need to act now!” said Ashwin.

The Meka Meka began to move, positioning them over their respective targets.

“Ready…? Now!” said Ashwin as he dropped off from the Meka Meka. He spun in the air, swiping his blade in an arc and sending a blast of air towards the left joint. He proceeded to point his sword down towards the right joint, dropping towards it at full speed.

Uruvi followed suit, dropping down onto the right shoulder. ‘I need to time this perfectly…’ She watched as the Meka Meka assembled before the last two joints and plunged towards them. She held her breath as a mix of red and gold aura formed around her. Her heart began to thump against her chest, and the time seemed to slow down. Suddenly, the shoulder began to close in faster. ‘It is standing up!’ She reached the shoulder much faster than she anticipated. The blade began to glow red-hot as she spun in the air. “Domino!” she shouted as she smashed her blade into the shoulder. Almost on cue, the other shoulder exploded, and its two arms fell to the ground.

More explosions followed, and the arms dropped to the ground one after another. Uruvi landed on her feet, dodging the falling metal arms as she dashed towards the heel. She shot a quick glance at its health bar, which plummeted to just 20 percent. ‘We are almost there!’ Her eyes caught sight of Ashwin heading for the left heel.

The Yantra staggered, placing its right foot further away from Uruvi. She cursed under her breath and ran in a semi-circle, correcting her path. She saw the foot twist, exposing the heel. ‘Now is my chance!’ She ran past the heel, delivering a powerful slash with her axe blade. A deep gash appeared on the metal ball before it exploded. The colossal statue finally collapsed onto the ground, shattering into a hundred small metal pieces.

Uruvi came to a stop, swaying back and forth before finally collapsing onto the ground. She couldn’t feel her body for a moment, having completely exhausted her strength. “Please don’t get up,” she said as she looked at the scoreboard. The light in the number 3 vanished. Seeing it, she breathed a giant sigh of relief.

“Is everyone alright?” asked Rambha.

“Yes…” she heard Ashwin say.

“Yeah...” Suddenly, her body was weightless. She began to float, pulled into the darkness above her. “Whoa! What is…” Before she could even complete the sentence, she found herself sucked out of the Yantra and thrown back into the concrete jungle outside.

“New Level attained. 10 Attribute points, 2 skill points, and 2 spell points gained.”