Chapter 19: Titans Clash

A low hum thrummed through the air like the heartbeat of a god. The Overlord Machine's massive cannon, embedded in its forearm, glowed crimson with gathering energy. The world around it shuddered under its presence, and time itself seemed to slow as its devastating weapon charged to completion.

Kael's eyes widened with panic. "It's going to fire!"

"No time—" Marcus began.

But Kael had already slammed his hands into the earth.

With a guttural roar, he summoned a colossal dome of stone, its thick walls reinforced with dense layers of earth and ore. The structure enveloped dozens of enforcers, shielding them just as the Overlord's cannon erupted with a deafening boom. A pillar of red light lanced through the battlefield.

The impact was cataclysmic.

The stone dome vaporized under the force of the blast, the shockwave leveling trees and tossing bodies like ragdolls. Dust, fire, and debris engulfed the area. When the dust settled, the ground where the dome once stood was a smoldering crater.

Screams filled the air. Charred corpses littered the earth. Survivors crawled, bloodied and coughing, dazed by the force of the explosion.

Marcus clenched his fists, heart pounding. "No…"

Kael stood frozen, horror washing over his face. "I… I couldn't protect them…"

Lira's voice was tight with shock. "There were too many. It was too fast…"

Goat's voice crackled through the speakers of the Overlord. "Feeble insects. Did you really think you could stand against me?" He chuckled darkly, then his tone shifted to mocking persuasion. "Not all of you have to die, you know. You can join me. Embrace the chaos. Stand by my side, and together we'll usher in a new age where rules crumble and power reigns supreme!"

The battlefield paused for a breath. For a moment, even the chaos seemed to hold its breath.

Then a cry rang out. "NEVER!"

The branch manager of the local USA unit burst from cover, face twisted in fury and defiance. He charged the Overlord, weapon raised.

The machine didn't even bother to aim its cannon. With an effortless swing of its leg, it kicked the man like a discarded doll. His body flew through the air and slammed into a broken boulder, blood spraying on impact.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Marcus's gaze snapped up to the towering machine. His fury burned hot and wild. "We can't let this thing keep firing. We need to distract it, give the survivors a chance to retreat!"

Kael nodded, face hardening. "I'll draw its attention with golems."

Lira's eyes gleamed with resolve. "And I'll support you both. Let's go."

With a roar, Marcus ignited his fire prana. Flames surged from his arms and legs. His blade shimmered with the heat of the second breathing technique, his aura blazing like a supernova. He launched forward, a comet of fury aimed at the mechanical god.

"Let's see how tough you really are!"

He slammed his flaming sword against the machine's leg with all his might. The impact created a thunderous clang and a brief spark of molten metal… but barely a scratch. Marcus staggered back, arm numb from the recoil.

"Shit!" he hissed. "It's like hitting a mountain."

Kael transformed, entering his First Hunter Form. His muscles bulged, skin turning to layered stone. He thrust his hands into the earth and summoned massive golems—each the size of a truck. They lunged at the Overlord, grappling its arms and legs.

"Hold him!" Kael barked.

Lira, from a distance, chanted swiftly and rained spears of ice toward the cockpit, hoping to obscure Goat's vision. Shards shattered across its armor like glass against steel.

The Overlord barely flinched. It shrugged off the golems like toys, smashing one with a single swipe. Marcus flew in again, flames bursting from his feet as jets to propel him skyward. He slashed toward the glowing chest core.

"Burn through!" he roared.

The blade landed. A bright flare. But again, the armor held.

The machine's arm swatted him mid-air. The blow sent Marcus hurtling like a meteor, crashing into the ground with a boom. Dirt exploded upward. A crater formed around him. Blood trickled from his lips as he coughed and gasped, limbs shaking.

"Marcus!" Kael shouted, panic in his voice.

"Marcus, no!" Lira cried, firing another volley of ice projectiles.

The machine turned its sights on them. The cannon began charging again, the red light intensifying.

A cruel voice echoed from within the Overlord, amplified and dripping with disdain. "Look at you—scrambling like insects, clawing at the boots of a god. This effort of yours… it's meaningless! This machine is perfection. A marvel! And I am its master!"

Goat's laughter boomed through the air, low and deranged. "You thought your little tricks and tantrums could stop me? Pathetic. This Overlord series will usher in a new era—my era! Chaos will rain down, and there is nothing, nothing, you can do to stop it!"

He let out another cackle, the sound sharp and mechanical as it echoed from the machine's voice modulators.

Kael's jaw clenched. "It's aiming at us!"

Lira's face went pale. "We can't dodge that in time…"

Desperately, Kael threw up another wall of stone, layers upon layers compacted to their maximum density. "Help me!"

Lira joined in, summoning a frost barrier over it, her ice weaving into the cracks and reinforcing it.

Behind them, Marcus groaned, vision blurred. The world spun. Through the haze, he saw it—the red glow, the cannon, his friends about to be obliterated.

"No… not again…"

Memories surged—Kael shielding him from blasts, Lira taking wounds to guard his flank, their laughter, their shared burdens. His fists trembled.

"I won't… lose them!"

He roared, forcing his battered body to stand. Flames erupted violently from his core, uncontrollable, raw. His second breathing technique flared brighter than ever before. The ground beneath him cracked as blue fire exploded from his feet. For a fleeting moment, something strange flickered above his head—shimmering horns, wreathed in that same eerie blue fire. They twisted like antlers of flame, flickering in and out of existence, as if something ancient and primal was beginning to awaken inside him.

He shot forward.

The cannon fired.

A blinding flash consumed everything.

Far above the battlefield, a helicopter sliced through the sky. Inside, Ryun sat, gripping the safety bar with white knuckles.

"We're almost there," the pilot shouted over the roar.

Ryun's eyes narrowed at the plume of smoke rising in the distance.

"Hold on guys" he whispered. "Just a little longer."

To be continued...