Titan's Wrath

Chapter 20: Titan's Wrath

The battlefield was in ruins, but the instant the commander stepped forward, the air seemed to coil upon itself under the weight of her presence.

Caden, still getting accustomed with his newfound power, felt a shiver crawl down his spine, but as a raw instinct.

Proximar, that golden aura still emanating from him, was in no rush. He cocked his head to one side; violet eyes narrowed as he scanned the new challenger in front of him.

The commander didn't waste any more time.

She moved.

No superfluous movement; no dramatic build-up.

One step forward—then a sonic boom cracked through the battlefield.

She appeared right next to the proximar in a flash, swinging her hammer on an arc of movement that distorts gravity, and the caved ground made debris rip towards the sky violently.

The time Proximar reacts in time, its katana flashes up.

BOOOOOM!!!

A shockwave exploded from that impact, racing across the battlefield like an unstoppable tidal wave. War machines were flung about like paper toys, and the crater became huge gaping trenches, while both humans and Proximar soldiers were blown through the air.

Caden just barely had time to plant himself. The soles of his boots ground against cracked ground as the pressure wave roared past him.

[Oh?] The System whistled low. [Now this is a real fight.]

The Proximar gritted its teeth as it was driven back, feet carving twin trenches into the ground. It flickered, vanishing and reappearing above the commander, katana descending in a flash of violet.

But she was faster.

Her hammer twisted mid-swing, its weight shifting with unnatural precision. She pivoted not dodging the hit, but meeting the strike head-on.

BOOOM!!!

The impact sent another shockwave tearing through the battlefield. Caden watched as her hammer's handle bent slightly under the force, but the commander didn't even flinch.

She grinned.

Then, she pushed forward.

A sudden surge of energy burst from her form, and for the first time, the Proximar was on the defensive.

It flickered away, trying to reposition itself

But the commander was already there.

She had anticipated it.

With one swing, she brought her hammer down. Not at the Proximar.

At the ground.

CRACK!!!

The entire battlefield collapsed.

Tectonic plates rumbled as a massive fissure spread outward, splitting the land in two. Trenches yawned open, swallowing debris and the unfortunate combatants.

The look on Caden's face was incredulous.

[Ohhh, she's not just strong, she's experienced.] The System hummed. [She's forcing the Proximar to fight on her terms. Controlling the terrain. Forcing it into close combat where she excels. Tsk. Not bad.]

Caden watched every move, every shift in the battle, his eyes narrowed. The Proximar was adaptive; now it beginning to react. The commander's strikes were heavy **in force**; neither congestion nor gulps were possible.

Finally, the humanoid Proximar stopped its retreat.

It exhaled.

Then its golden aura flared and doubled in an instant.

Its body expanded slightly, muscle fibers twisting, its once humanoid shape warping into something more monstrous.

Violet veins pulsed along its arms, and its katana glowed, its edge elongating into a jagged, crackling nightmare of energy.

The commander raised an eyebrow. "Finally getting serious?"

The Proximar smirked the vanished.

The very instant the Proximar vanished, Caden barely had time to blink before another explosion occured

BOOOM!

The commander's hammer swung up with a blaze of speed.

A thunderous impact detonated in the middle of the air, and with a first, the Proximar was sent flying but the commander was moved back by countless feet. The monstrous form blurred into the battlefield, slamming through a collapsing war machine and reorienting itself in the air.

It landed on its feet, hunched low, violet energy pulsating across its body in hard jerks. Its breathing had altered no longer regular and controlled.

The commander cracked her neck. "That all?"

The Proximar sneered, and then—

The battlefield distorted.

It moved.

Faster than before, almost as if the space between them had contracted. One moment it was yards away the next, it was right in front of her.

Its katana slashed out, no longer a clean cut but a cut that rended space itself.

The commander met it head-on.

BOOOOM!!!!

A single swing of her hammer generated a counter-shockwave that sent the air into shattered shards.

Caden gritted his teeth as the sheer force of the clash flattened structures on whole. For a moment, his vision blurred. He willed himself to focus.

[You're barely keeping up, huh?] The System chuckled. [Welcome to the real battlefield.]

Caden didn't heed the jab since his mind was already busy with trying to understanding their movements.

The commander and the Proximar had long surpassed brute force.

They were nullifying each others attack.

Every strike from the Proximar had been a bid to disrupt the commander's rythymn. But every arc of her hammer not only matched his power, it deflected it, never allowing any momentum to build.

[She's not just matching his strength.] The System noted with interest. [She's using it against him. Every time he accelerates, she forces a collision to stop his motion. Every time he tries to control space, she disrupts it.]

Caden's fists curled.

This was the difference. 

Not just raw power but the understanding of how to use it. 

And then something changed. 

The Proximar shifted, its violet aura condensing again. The jagged crackling of its katana settled into a smooth, perfect arc. 

A whisper of silence stretched across the battlefield. 

Then It made a forward slash. 

The katana didn't just cut. 

It erased. 

A black, crescent-shaped void shot toward the commander, bending gravity in its wake. 

Caden's breath caught.

Even the commander flinched for a moment.

[Oh.] The System said, that rare note of interest. [Now that's a problem.]

The commander's hand tightened on her hammer and then she moved.

She charged right out into the void.

The instant she charged, the whole battlefield froze.

Caden's instincts yelled at him to move, run, get away, but it was as if his feet were stuck, eyes nailed on this impossible sight in front of him.

The crescent void, sucking in light and space itself, cut across toward the commander. The air tugged at it, tugging everything from debris to shredded metal, even the very earth, into its disintegration into nothingness.

Yet, she showed no hesitation.

She held her hammer high.

A low, rumbling hum erupted from the weapon as it shimmered with raw power.

And then she swung.

BOOOOM!!!

The battlefield exploded.

Her hammer met the void slash-not dodging, not evading, but meeting annihilation head-on.

A shockwave unlike any detonated and sent screaming waves of force outward. The ground beneath her fractured and collapsed in all directions, the sheer impact sending entire war machines flipping through the air like weightless debris.

Caden braced himself, boots scraping against the shattered terrain, his fingers trembling at the impossible sight.

And then

She shattered it.

The black crescent broke apart like fragile glass.

Void energy scattered, dissipating into the air as her hammer forced existence back into place.

The Proximar's smirk vanished.

It flickered. Reappeared. Its stance subtly shifted, katana held tighter.

[Oh-oh] The System let out a low whistle. [She just brute-forced an erasure attack. That's not just strength...]

Caden's eyes sharpened.

"That's dominance."

The commander straightened, rolling her shoulders. "That it?"

The Proximar's golden aura flared wildly. No more smirks. No more games.

It lunged, katana igniting with a deep violet glow.

She met it halfway.

The air itself cracked as they clashed once more

Hammer against blade.

Titan against monster.

The instant their weapons touched, the battlefield distorted.

A column of golden and violet energy exploded into the sky, splitting the clouds asunder in a terrifying explosion of force. The air itself seemed to convulse.

Caden threw an arm up over his face as rubble and shattered fragments of metal rained down, the very force of their clash blurring his vision. The very earth beneath his feet shook as if the entire battlefield would break into oblivion at any moment.

Yet, in the middle of the chaos, his eyes never left them.

The commander and the Proximar weren't exchanging blows anymore.

They were tearing each other apart.

Every strike from the Proximar's katana was a killing blow and every swing came with enough power to split and shatter mountains. Its weight bent the battlefield itself, making war machines little more than twisted wreckage.

But the commander did not waver.

Her hammer moved with her, as an extension of herself. It was as if she wasn't just fighting but dictating the very flow of battle itself. Every arc of her weapon wasn't just an attack; it was control. She wasn't reacting to the Proximar's strikes.

Deflecting momentum. Redirecting force. Every attempt by the Proximar to take control of the battlefield was being nullified before it could even gain ground.

[She's making it fight her fight.] The System said in a low, near reverent tone. [No superfluous motion. No hesitation. She's not stronger just better.]

And the Proximar knew it too.

Its violet eyes burned with fury as it disengaged, flickering backward in a blur of speed. Its body shook no longer in confidence but in frustration.

It was losing.

It could feel it.

The commander exhaled, rolling her shoulders, her grip on the hammer shifting ever so slightly.

"What's wrong?" she called, voice laced with a taunting edge. "You were looking real confident a moment ago."

The Proximar's aura surged violently.

Then, it roared.

A blinding shockwave of violet energy detonated from its form, carving massive trenches into the battlefield. Its body twisted, warping even further its humanoid frame expanded, muscles hardened into grotesque, monstrous bulges.

Its katana ignited with a violet flame; its edge was no longer a blade, an extension of itself.

[Oh, it's burning everything it has left;] the System mused. [Cornered beasts bite the hardest.]

Caden's fists were clenched. He could feel it, this was the final clash.

The Proximar vanished.

No sound. No warning.

It's speed pure, terrifying speed.

And the commander

She smiled.

The instant the Proximar reappeared, blade descending in an arc meant to erase her from existence

She moved.

No fear. No hesitation.

She met the attack head-on again.

BOOOOM!!!

Unlike any before, the impact was.

An explosion of raw force detonated outward, tearing asunder what little was left of the battlefield. The sheer pressure alone sent Caden hurtling backward, his boots chiseling deep grooves into the ground.

Yet, through the chaos, he saw it.

The commander had caught the Proximar's blade.

With one hand.

Its abyssal katana-an extension of its very being, a servant of destruction forged from its very essence was stalled.

The Proximar's violet eyes widened in disbelief.

The commander leaned to one side, almost amused.

"Nice trick."

And then she crushed the blade.

The katana shattered in her grip, fragments of abyssal energy dispersing into nothingness.

The Proximar stumbled backward, chest rising and falling in ragged, frantic breaths. For the first time since the battle began, there was something new in its expression.

Fear.

The commander didn't give it time to recover.

She stepped forward, hammer raised high.

The Proximar tried to move tried to flicker away but its body betrayed it. Its energy was spent, its form exhausted from its last desperate attempt to end her.

The commander's voice was cold.

"It's over."

She swung.

The hammer came down.

CRACK!!!

A single, final impact.

The Proximar's body caved inward, the sheer force of the strike obliterating its form in an instant. Its golden aura shattered, fragments of energy dispersing into the wind like dying embers.

And just like that

It was dead.

The battlefield fell silent.

Caden exhaled sharply, his heart pounding against his ribs. Even with his newfound strength, even with the System guiding him, he knew

That level of combat was beyond him.

Far beyond.

[That was really something else, huh?] the System murmured, almost contemplative. [That's what a real powerhouse looks like. Not just strength, not just power but complete, absolute control.]

Caden said nothing.

He continued staring at the commander, who shrugged her shoulders, letting out a soft sigh, as if she had just finished a set of warm-ups.

She turned slightly towards him.

Their eyes met.

She smiled wryly. "You keeping up, kid?"

Caden's lips parted.

But no words came.

Because, in that moment

Caden went rigid, his instincts flaring violently. His gaze shot toward the battlefield toward the ruins, the tumbled over buildings, the smoldering war machines that sat far off in the distance.

And he saw it.

Weak. Faint.

But present.

Auras.

A handful of them.

Most of them nearly as potent as the Proximar's had been. They were lurking out in the distance.

Watching.

The air grew thick as the weight of unseen gazes fell heavy over him.

Then the System's voice came and it was sharp.

[Multiple high-grade energy signatures detected. Similar to the previous hostile combatant. Intentions unknown. Extreme caution recommended.]

Caden's breath caught.

The commander's smirk fell.

She felt it too.