In Umego, terrified citizens continued to flee. Shu and various soldiers directed them behind him, pointing towards the gates.
"Keep going! We'll keep you safe!"
Just then, he noticed a young Voltian man being taken away by monsters, and he remembered the young wife.
"Crap! Save the man!"
He and a few other soldiers chased after the monsters, but they were too fast. He fired a few rounds, dropping a couple of them, but they continued to run with their prey.
"Too fast! We won't make it!" an S-3 soldier exclaimed.
The monsters began to gain even more distance, nearly escaping Shu's sight.
And then, a massive group of spikes pierced them all, and the man fell to the ground.
"Who—?" Shu turned around. "DIRECTOR?"
Akira was standing there, fist closed, and the spikes got even larger. "I'll be damned if I let these bastards ruin MY home!"
A couple of soldiers grabbed the man and directed him away. "Thank you, thank you!"
Shu walked over to Akira. "Are you hurt, sir?"
"No, you incompetent guard! Where's Kobayashi? I've got a spike with his name on it!"
Shu put a hand on his shoulder. "Sir, I can't let you do that! It's too risky—-!"
A group of monsters rushed toward them, mouths open, but Akira closed his fist and more spikes came out of the ground to impale them.
"Woah..." Shu wondered.
"Kobayashi," Akira muttered, gritting his teeth. "Your head is MINE."
They heard a loud boom to the left, and saw a massive green serpentine head towering over the buildings, looking ready to kill.
Meanwhile, to the left of the battle...
Prismar and Morino continued to clash blades, and their speed became much faster than the eye could see.
As Morino launched one of his glowing axes at him, it just barely scraped Prismar's shoulder, setting it on fire.
Prismar casually patted out the flames. "What a fine weapon. I wonder where you got it."
Morino pulled his axe back, spinning it around. "From the greatest woman...I COULD EVER ASK FOR!"
Morino quickly launched it at Prismar's head, but he caught it with ease. "A human woman?"
Morino laughed, before gripping the chain of the axe.
"FURY!"
Fire began to erupt from the chain, and Prismar quickly moved out of the way just before it reached him.
"With only one special move, you've become one-dimensional."
He attacked Morino from behind, preparing to slash him, but Morino managed to block just in time.
Just as he began to catch his breath, he realized something. "The kids!"
He quickly looked toward the water tank, but he saw they were free, and standing next to them...
"RAHHHHHH!"
The Hydra immediately opened its mouth and began to shoot flames at Alterna, who put up a massive ice wall.
"Prismar! PRISMAR! HELP!"
She threw herself out of the way just as the flames burned the tip of her hair. "It got me! It got me! My hair!"
Morino and Prismar paused and watched the scene, surprised.
"LUCA! What on earth did you DO?" Morino asked.
The Hydra opened its mouth and shot a blast of flame at Prismar, who stomped his foot into the ground and trapped himself inside a large, human-shaped crystal statue.
"Complications, of course, there'd be complications with her!"
Morino landed next to Yuri and Tomoko. "What happened to Luca? What kind of beast is this?"
"I don't know!" Yuri exclaimed. "He just turned into that massive monster and broke us free!"
"I wanna ride on its back!" Tomoko blurted out.
The Hydra roared again, shooting more fire at Prismar, whose crystal statue slightly began to melt.
"This flame, how hot IS it?" he wondered. "It's beginning to burn through, all because she failed!"
Immediately, the statue began to move, growing a long blade from its hand and charging toward the creature.
"Luca! Look out!" Morino called out.
Before Morino could stop him, Prismar had already severed all four of Luca's heads.
Once he landed behind the creature, he saw Alterna drop next to him, trying to fix her hair.
"Prismar, you idiot! It's a HYDRA, you're not supposed to decapitate it!"
Prismar slapped his head. "How about YOU finish it off then, Rank 17?"
Prismar shattered the statue encasing him, just as two of the Hydra's regrown heads lunged at him in an attempt to eat him.
"Hmph."
Without a glance behind him, he sliced them to pieces, and Alterna shook him by his shoulders. "Aren't you listening? You're only making more!"
Sure enough, all the heads regrew, and there were now ten. Luca began walking toward them, mouths open.
Alterna gripped her Ice Katana and took a deep breath. "ONSLAUGHT!"
She slashed through the air again and again, and the ice from the slashes hit Luca in the chest, freezing his lower body.
"See? I'm a natural at this!"
Prismar scoffed. "And yet you begged for my help."
Alterna folded her arms, but just then, a metal chain wrapped around both of them, pulling them together. "BIND!"
"Gah! I'm stuck!"
"Now, Yuri!" Morino ordered.
Yuri touched the ground, sinking them deep into it. "Will it hold?"
Morino tightened his grip on his weapon. "Yes."
Alterna struggled against the binds, but Prismar kept calm, watching as the group attempted to restrain them.
"Alterna, I think it's time."
She stopped and looked at him. "Time for what?"
His eyes began to glow. "Annihilation. Do it!"
She took one look at him and immediately caught on, smiling. "If you insist."
She turned back to the others. "Old man, Tomoko, word of advice...RUN."
Her eyes also began to glow. "Combat Form: Annihilate."
Just like a twig, Morino's chain snapped, sending both of the attached axes flying in opposite directions. The area surrounding the pair began to crumble and collapse, and Morino immediately noticed what was going on.
"Look out!"
Without hesitation, he grabbed Tomoko and Yuri, just as the force sent all of them flying down the block, including Luca.
Yuri fell to the ground, rubbing her bottom. "Ow, can I catch a break?"
But she stood up, and immediately she backed up. "Oh my..."
"Awesome!" Tomoko said, excited.
Morino watched in horror as the entire street crumpled. At the end of it, was Alterna, now a hulking giant, having grown to well over six hundred feet tall.
On her shoulder sat Prismar, who simply pointed at the group. "Now, we can finish them off."
A deep, booming laugh came out of Alterna.
Morino looked at his hands, seeing he was unarmed. "Oh no..."
And without a second thought, Alterna began running toward them, shaking the ground with every step.
Meanwhile, at the south side of the battle...
Kai, Obara, and Mina watched from behind cover as Oyakawa and Mashimo attempted to fend off Raylon, blasting him with their rifles.
"Your technology isn't strong enough."
With a wave of his hand, a powerful blast of light knocked the guns out of their hands, frying the circuits inside.
Oyakawa picked up his gun. "Damn, he jammed it!"
"It's fine! We've got this." Mashimo stated.
Mashimo's body began to glow white, and soon, it shifted to a silvery metal.
"PLATINUM FORM. GO!"
Raylon watched as Mashimo put his head down and charged at him. "Impressive."
Then he extended his fingers, shooting out rays of light that began to burn Mashimo's skin.
"It feels just like the Sun! Can't get close to him!" Mashimo noted.
As Raylon fired more light beams at Mashimo, a fist came for his head.
"Predictable."
He backhanded Oyakawa, sending him stumbling back. With another beam of light, Mashimo was pushed back as well.
Obara stood up. "We should help! The probability of their victory alone...is 32%!"
Kai grabbed his arm. "Dude, are you CRAZY? He'll kill us if we get too close! Our best bet is to let the Vice-Generals handle this!"
Mina watched as Raylon began to glow. "I'm with Kai on this! We're not able to contend with that guy!"
Mashimo got up, hardening his skin again. "I will not falter! I will make my General proud!"
He got into a running stance and used all his energy to close the gap between himself and Raylon.
Raylon blocked his punch with one arm, but Mashimo punched again and again, shaking the area with his blows.
"Do any of you know where the Holder is? This is a waste of time."
Oyakawa ran up behind him. "We're not letting you take him!"
Raylon sidestepped his punch, but Oyakawa touched his chest, letting the magic seep into him.
"Accelerate."
Then, in a blur, he moved much faster than before, forcing Raylon to react quickly. Oyakawa's punches began to break the sound barrier, but Raylon managed to stay a step ahead.
Mashimo ran next to Oyakawa, punching Raylon into a wall.
"Yes! Go, Vice-Generals!" Kai cheered.
Raylon slid to the floor, unfazed. "I'll end this, now."
As the two Vice-Generals got close to him, Raylon unleashed a powerful explosion of light, sending them both flying out of the shopping district.
"Vice-Generals!" Kai called out.
In an instant, Raylon was next to the three, and all of them instinctively pulled out their weapons.
"Fresh blood. Such a pity."
As they fired, he disappeared, and they frantically looked around for him.
"Where'd he go?" Kai asked.
"Stay sharp, probability says he hasn't left this area," Obara replied.
He looked around, scanning the probabilities, before looking at a food booth.
"Probability: 97%!"
He threw a metal ball at it, and just as he thought, it stopped in mid-air.
"There!"
They raised their guns, but a flash of light short-circuited them all.
"No, no, no!" Mina cried. "What now?"
"Kai!" Obara yelled. "Touch this!"
He gave him a metal ball, and Kai hesitated, before touching it and infusing his magic into it. "Done!"
Right before it started to grow in size, Obara chucked it at Raylon, who was still invisible.
"Probability: 94%!"
The ball grew to the size of the booth and crushed it, but Raylon reappeared, sitting on top of the ball.
"Your teamwork is commendable, I'll say."
And with a swipe of his hand, he blasted them all into the air with a ray of light, just before they covered their eyes.
Outside of the shopping district, Mashimo was busy attempting to pick himself out of the rubble he landed in.
"Ugh...the rookies...have to help...the rookies..."
But he heard a female voice coming from down the block.
"Dachii? Marachii? Father?"
He blinked a few times, and he saw Kia racing down the street, frantically searching for her family.
"Hello? Anyone?"
Mashimo immediately recognized her. "The General's daughter! Why is she here?"
She continued to run down the street, and once Kia reached where he was, Mashimo got up, standing in front of her.
"Excuse me, Ma'am! You have to run! It's not safe!"
Kia glared at him, and she attempted to walk around him. "Get out of my way! I'm going to help my family!"
"No, you can't! You aren't capable of—-!"
But before either of them could utter another word, a tendril of smoke coiled around Kia's waist and pulled her into the air.
"AHHH!"
Mashimo attempted to grab her. "Hold on!"
But as he tried to reach out for her, the smoke dragged her away, far into the air. "Crap!"
And before he could follow her, a blast of light knocked him down.
The smoke continued to pull Kia away, and as she looked down at the ground far below her, she nearly vomited.
"Please...make it stop..."
But in the distance, she could see herself being pulled towards a skyscraper, and soon after, she saw her kids below her, running after General Nakada, who was heading in the direction of the skyscraper.
And they saw her too.
"Mother!" Dachii and Marachii called out, but they could only watch as the smoke yanked Kia inside the building, right in the heart of the battle.
Without a moment of doubt in his mind, Dachii charged up his body, and he jumped right after her, crashing into the building.
—-