The Mark of Zypheron-5

Chapter 59 – The Mark of Zypheron-5

Kael-X stood over Deadeye's unconscious body, his mind racing. The battle had drained him more than he cared to admit. Blood dripped from his wounds, staining the cracked concrete beneath him. His breathing was heavy, but his eyes remained sharp.

"You are wounded," Umbra's voice echoed in his mind, its tone calm yet watchful. "Even the strongest bleed, Kael-X."

Kael-X wiped the blood from his chin, his smirk unwavering. "Yeah, well… bleeding's just proof that I'm still standing."

But before he could savor his victory, something shifted in the air. A sharp beep rang through the ruined battlefield. His instincts flared—danger.

He barely had time to react before Deadeye's body was suddenly enveloped in a glowing red light. A Zypheron-5 emergency recall signal. The kind that activated when one of their elite soldiers was critically wounded.

Kael-X's eyes widened as he stepped back.

"They are coming," Nyx whispered ominously. "His failure is their summons."

A moment later, the sky above them ripped open with a blinding flash.

A massive portal, crackling with alien energy, formed high above the battlefield. Through it, the unmistakable silhouette of a Zypheron-5 warship loomed. The very sight of it sent a ripple of tension through the air.

Kael-X clenched his fists. "Tch… I barely had time to breathe, and they already sent backup?"

The ship didn't hesitate. It fired a pillar of crimson light straight down at Deadeye's body. The sniper's unconscious form disintegrated in an instant, teleported away.

Kael-X cursed under his breath. "Cowards. Couldn't even let me finish what I started."

"No… this is worse," Veyron interjected, his voice laced with cryptic amusement. "They don't retrieve failures just to save them. They retrieve them to… study what bested them."

Kael-X's eyes darkened. If Zypheron-5 analyzed his battle with Deadeye, they'd send something worse next time.

The warship wasn't leaving either.

Instead, another figure emerged from the portal.

A lone warrior, dressed in sleek black Zypheron-5 armor, landed gracefully on the ruined battlefield. Unlike Deadeye, this one wasn't carrying a sniper rifle. He didn't need one.

His glowing cybernetic eyes locked onto Kael-X. "Target acquired."

Kael-X sighed. "Oh great, what now?"

The warrior unsheathed two curved energy blades, their edges humming with lethal power.

The air around them grew heavy.

"A new player enters the stage," Veyron chuckled. "Shall we entertain him?"

Kael-X smirked, rolling his shoulders. His shadow beasts stirred around him, their presence coiling in anticipation.

"You know what?" Kael-X muttered, his stance shifting into battle readiness. "I was getting bored anyway."

With a single step, both warriors lunged forward—

The battle had only just begun.

Chapter 59 (Continued) – The Mark of Zypheron-5

Kael-X barely had time to analyze his new opponent before the warrior struck. The air screamed as the energy blades cut through it, aiming straight for his throat. He twisted, dodging by a hair's breadth, the heat of the blade singing his skin.

"Hmph, they sent a blade specialist this time," Nyx observed, her voice as cold as the void.

The warrior didn't speak. His movements were swift, calculated—no wasted motion. Every strike was aimed to kill. Kael-X deflected one with his forearm, but the sheer force sent him skidding backward.

"A machine wrapped in flesh," Veyron mused, floating beside Kael-X, his form shifting in and out of the shadows. "Efficient. Precise. Lacking a soul."

The warrior pivoted and raised a hand. A surge of blue energy crackled around his gauntlet—some kind of gravitational pulse. Before Kael-X could react, a blast of force slammed into him, sending him crashing through a ruined building.

"Damn it!" Kael-X growled, coughing up dust. "That one actually hurt."

"Shall I handle this?" Veyron's voice was amused, his form stretching unnaturally as he hovered over Kael-X's shoulder.

Kael-X wiped blood from his lip, grinning despite the pain. "You wanna take a turn? Be my guest."

Veyron's laughter was like a whisper in the dark. He stepped forward, his inky form solidifying into something almost humanoid. He raised a hand, and suddenly—

The battlefield shifted.

The Zypheron-5 warrior halted mid-step. His glowing eyes flickered as his surroundings changed. What had once been a ruined cityscape was now… nothing. A vast, endless void of swirling darkness.

"Welcome to my domain," Veyron's voice echoed from all directions. "A space without space. A time without time. Tell me, soldier, do you dream?"

The warrior spun, his blades crackling with energy. But there was nothing to strike. The void absorbed sound, light, even thought itself.

Then—

Hands.

Shadowy tendrils erupted from the ground, wrapping around the warrior's limbs. He slashed, but for every tendril he cut, three more replaced it.

"Futile," Veyron whispered, his voice caressing the warrior's ears like a phantom. "Your mind is already mine."

A flicker of hesitation passed through the soldier's cybernetic eyes. That was all Veyron needed.

With a single motion, the void collapsed.

The warrior found himself back in reality—but something was wrong. His limbs wouldn't move. His mind was fogged.

"You are undone," Veyron murmured.

The soldier's body convulsed. He dropped his weapons, clutching his helmet as something writhed beneath it. His own shadow—twisting, turning against him.

Then—

Snap.

His body went limp. The light in his eyes flickered. His mind was gone.

Veyron tilted his head. "Pity. He had potential."

Kael-X, still leaning against a broken pillar, let out a low whistle. "Damn. Remind me not to piss you off."

Veyron turned, his glowing violet eyes narrowing. "Too late for that, Kael-X."

Kael-X laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Just be glad you're on my side."

Above them, the Zypheron-5 warship hovered ominously, having witnessed everything.

And for the first time since this war began—

It hesitated.

Chapter 59 (Continued) – The Mark of Zypheron-5

A deep rumble echoed through the ruined city as the Zypheron-5 warship shifted its position. Its sleek metallic hull reflected the dim light, an ominous behemoth watching from the sky. Kael-X could feel its sensors scanning him, analyzing the battlefield.

Veyron floated beside him, watching the warship with mild amusement. "It seems they do not approve of my artistry."

Kael-X wiped blood from his mouth, his body still aching from the earlier battle. "They're probably recalculating. Figuring out how to deal with a magic-casting shadow beast."

"Let them ponder," Veyron said, his voice smooth and unreadable. "Their hesitation is our advantage."

Then—

A light flashed on the warship.

Kael-X barely had time to react before a beam of concentrated plasma ripped through the air. He threw himself sideways, the sheer heat of the blast melting the ground where he had just stood.

The shockwave sent him skidding backward, his boots carving deep trenches into the asphalt.

"Oh, they're done hesitating," Umbra muttered, its deep voice rumbling in Kael-X's mind.

The ship's hull shifted, and suddenly, dozens of mechanical drones detached from its underbelly. They moved in perfect synchronization, forming a wide perimeter in the sky. Their sleek designs were unmistakably Zypheron-5—each armed with high-frequency energy cannons.

Veyron chuckled. "An impressive display. But…"

He raised a hand, and instantly, the air around them darkened. The shadows on the ground stretched, pulling toward him like ink drawn into water. The drones hesitated for a fraction of a second—then opened fire.

Kael-X tensed, ready to dodge—

But he didn't have to.

The shadows surged upward, forming a writhing barrier between them and the incoming projectiles. The energy blasts vanished into the void, swallowed without a trace.

"Such primitive tactics," Veyron sighed dramatically. "Allow me to educate them."

With a flick of his wrist, the shadows lashed out.

Dark tendrils shot into the sky, twisting unnaturally as they wrapped around the drones. One by one, the machines froze midair, their systems shorting out as their own power was drained.

Then, like puppets with severed strings—

They dropped.

Kael-X watched as the drones crashed into the ruined streets, their once-precise formations turned into burning wreckage.

"Efficient," Nyx observed, her golden eyes flickering in approval.

Kael-X smirked. "I was just about to do that myself."

Veyron turned to him, his shadowy form rippling. "Oh? Then by all means, shall I let you handle the next wave?"

As if on cue, the warship shifted again. A loud mechanical hiss echoed through the battlefield. From its lower compartment, something massive descended.

A towering figure landed in the rubble, the impact sending a small tremor through the ground.

Kael-X narrowed his eyes. "Great. Another one of their specialists."

This one was different.

Clad in reinforced combat armor, the new arrival stood at least seven feet tall, its helmet glowing with multiple targeting reticles. On its back, a massive railgun hummed with energy—twice the size of a normal human.

Then, a voice crackled through its speaker.

"Kael-X. Target locked."

A chill ran through Kael-X's spine. He had faced snipers before. He had faced warriors, assassins, and cyborgs.

But this?

This was something else.

Veyron tilted his head. "Fascinating. This one smells like precision and inevitability."

The armored sniper raised its massive rifle.

Kael-X barely had time to breathe before—

BANG.

The shot ripped through the air. A blur of hyper-accelerated metal.

Kael-X twisted, but the bullet changed trajectory mid-flight—

And then—

Pain.

A sharp, searing pain tore through his shoulder. Blood splattered against the cracked pavement as Kael-X stumbled, gritting his teeth.

The sniper reloaded instantly, his movements cold and methodical.

Kael-X's vision blurred for a moment. That wasn't a normal bullet.

"Hmm," Veyron mused, watching the sniper. "This one might actually be fun."

The sniper aimed again.

And Kael-X knew—this fight had only just begun.