Some time earlier...
"Alright! Time for round two."
Rion exhaled slowly, steadying his breath as the chaos of the battlefield roared around him. The old research building was demolished beyond repair now, broken steel beams jutting out like the ribs of some long-dead beast.
Acrid scent of burning metal and gunpowder mixed with the foul stench of the beast's ichor, turning the air thick with tension. Dust hung in the atmosphere, reducing visibility and giving everything a ghostly haze, the outlines of crumbling structures barely discernible through the shifting fog of battle.
And then there was the beast itself—
The Wild Elephant stood amidst the devastation, its massive, grotesque form heaving with exertion. Its hide, thick as reinforced steel, was riddled with bullet holes and jagged wounds, some still smoking from recent explosions. Geen ichor oozed from its injuries, pooling beneath its towering frame, but its terrifying vitality refused to wane.
It let out a guttural, earsplitting bellow, the sound vibrating through the ground like a localized earthquake. A wave of pressure rolled outward from its body, scattering debris and forcing nearby combatants to shield their faces from the sheer force of its presence.
Stone, standing firm before the beast, cracked his knuckles, unfazed by its monstrous display.
His return to the fight had shifted the tide, his raw physicality and relentless aggression keeping the beast locked in brutal combat. The man fought like a living battering ram, his fists glowing red-hot as he pounded into the Anomaly-class creature with the force of a sledgehammer. Each impact sent shockwaves rippling through the monster's grotesque form, momentarily disrupting its regeneration.
The Wild Elephant roared in pain and fury, its hulking frame trembling under the assault. Its grotesque body twisted and contorted unnaturally, muscles bulging as it tried to counterattack, but Stone was too fast, weaving between its blows with controlled bursts of movement, his reflexes honed to perfection. He struck again—a brutal overhand punch that cratered the creature's thick skull, sending green ichor spraying across the ruins.
The others seized the opportunity.
Adrian and the other combatants pressed their advantage, their gunfire coordinated and precise. The muzzle flashes from their weapons flickered in rapid succession, forming a relentless hailstorm of armor-piercing rounds, full metal jacket shells, and concussive explosives that tore into the Wild Elephant's flesh, forcing it onto the defensive.
Rion, however, remained measured in his approach.
Instead of diving fully into the offensive like the others, he maintained a calculated distance, allowing his Sentinel to take the more active role. The battle bot moved as efficienctly as it could, sweeping its mounted rifle across the battlefield and unleashing controlled bursts of gunfire. Each shot was placed with mechanical precision, targeting the creature's joints, exposed musculature, and soft tissue vulnerabilities.
Despite his limited direct participation, the accuracy of his support fire ensured no one questioned—or noticed—his relative stillness.
With practiced ease, Rion ejected the spent magazine of armor-piercing rounds and slotted in a fresh magazine filled with CMX rounds. His electromagnetic rifle hummed as it adjusted to the new ammunition type.
He had analyzed the battle long enough.
The Wild Elephant's grotesque regeneration was its most dangerous trait. No matter how much damage they inflicted, the wounds sealed themselves, flesh knitting back together like molten wax cooling into form. However, there was a flaw—one he'd noticed in the brief windows of combat.
It struggled against fire.
His CMX rounds, infused with incendiary properties, would be a direct counter.
Still, even with the rounds loaded and his rifle primed, he didn't fire.
Instead, he activated his [Deadeye Repose] origin technique.
A subtle shift rippled through him as his origin energy funneled into the rifle and gathered into the bullet's payload. The transformation was almost imperceptible—no flashy glow, no dramatic surge of power—but Rion could somehow feel it.
A flicker of strain tightened his jaw as he maintained the delicate process. The CMX bullet, now increasingly infused with his energy, began to hum faintly within the rifle, the incendiary primer at its tip reacting to the concentrated charge.
He could almost feel the raw, destructive power growing with each passing second as he charged the shot. The effect of the [Deadeye Repose] technique meant that the longer he held the charge, the more destructive the shot would become.
And yet, Rion wasn't standing idle.
His Sentinel was still in play. The fact that he was able to split his mind into observing the battlefield, sending updated commands to the Sentinel through the control pad, and keping [Deadeye Repose] stable was a testament to his multitasking skill.
His nose bled on the face mask and his skull throbbed. The mental strain was pushing his limits. A lesser shooter would have lost control by now, but Rion gritted his teeth and endured.
The Wild Elephant roared again, its grotesque form quivering as it fought back against Stone's relentless assault. The Peak-stage stryker was a monster in his own right, his red-glowing fists hammering into the beast's skull like war drums. Cracks formed along the monster's hide, green ichor seeping out in sluggish rivulets. It was working.
They were wearing it down.
Not yet.
Rion's trigger finger twitched, but he still didn't fire. The moment to strike hadn't come. The beast's regeneration was still keeping it in the fight, meaning even a charged CMX round might not be enough if he fired prematurely. He needed it to expose itself a bit more.
Then, an opportunity presented itself.
A low, guttural tremor rippled through the beast's body, something worse than before. Its flesh convulsed, swelling unnaturally, muscles bloating beyond their limits. Its wounds weren't healing anymore. Instead, its massive frame swelled, pulsing with a newfound, reckless fury.
This is it.
Rion quietly activated [Overclock].
Bolts of blue electricity surged through him, crackling and dancing along his limbs. The energy manifestations was noticeably stronger than before—thicker, more volatile, a direct reflection of his growth to the Mid-stage of the 1st-tier.
The excess charge traveled down his arms and flowed straight into his rifle's conductive frame. The weapon hummed in response, its sleek frame trembling under the immense energy now coursing through it.
He ignored it.
His focus was absolute.
He had already marked a point—a weak spot Adrian had softened with his high-caliber round. A fracture in the beast's armored torso. It had been too minor to exploit earlier as the beast could easily choose to heal the part. But now that it had lost all sense of reason?
The right shot would be fatal.
The Wild Elephant erupted forward with terrifying speed, crashing through the battlefield like a sentient avalanche. Stone barely dodged, but in doing so, left others exposed. A retainer was flung across the ruins, his body crumpling against a wall. Another was caught mid-step, his torso folding unnaturally as he was thrown like a ragdoll.
Adrian barked orders, but there was nowhere to retreat. The beast had already turned, another charge imminent.
Now.
He let out a light exhale.
The battlefield faded. The roaring beast, the gunfire, the debris—it all became distant noise. His world narrowed to a single, crystalline moment and a single thought was on his mind as his finger deftly squeezed the trigger.
What a beautiful shot....
«WHIZZ!»
The air itself seemed to split apart as the charged round tore forward, leaving a streak of crackling blue in its wake until it struck the fracture in the beast's hide.
The reaction was immediate.
The incendiary payload ignited inside the Wild Elephant's torso.
«Boom!»
A miniature explosion erupted from within, sending searing blue flames tearing through its internals. The creature shrieked, its colossal body convulsing violently as molten ichor spewed from the wound. Its flesh convulse as the beast struggled futilely to repair the damage—but it wasn't built to recover from internal devastation.
Its massive limbs faltered, its berserk rage giving way to raw agony.
The other players on the battlefield fell into brief silence, all eyes locked on the collapsing Anomaly-class beast. The towering beast trembled, its breaths ragged, its monstrous frame no longer obeying its will.
Stone on the other hand didn't hesitate.
A deep, primal growl rumbled from his chest as his muscles coiled, raw energy crackling around his frame. The red aura that marked his qi surged violently, expanding like a storm front. His presence became suffocating, the sheer intensity of his power warping the air around him. Loose debris quivered, drawn toward him as if caught in an unseen gravitational pull. The ground beneath his feet fractured, thin web-like cracks spreading outward with each second.
His fists clenched.
The Wild Elephant, despite its failing body, instinctively recognized the threat. It shifted, its enormous frame swaying as it attempted to brace itself—but it was too late. The delayed reaction, the sluggishness in its movements, the slight droop in its massive shoulders… they all betrayed its fate.
Stone's qi condensed further, pressing against his skin like a second layer of armor. His breath came slow and measured, each inhalation feeding into the hurricane of power building within him.
Then—he moved.
The earth cracked beneath his launch, a deafening boom echoing across the battlefield as he shot forward with terrifying speed. His form became a streak of red light, closing the distance in a fraction of a second.
The Wild Elephant attempted to react, but its body refused to obey. The incendiary damage had gutted its ability to counter, leaving it wide open.
That was all Stone needed.
A single step brought him directly into striking range. His fist, already drawn back, now pulsed with unfathomable energy. The red qi surrounding it condensed into a near-solid mass, forming a blazing, glowing gauntlet of pure destructive force.
Stone's eyes burned with focused intent as his fist shot forward.
[Mountain Shaking Fist!]
A thunderclap erupted through the air as he made contact.
The impact was instantaneous—and cataclysmic.
A detonation of pure force radiated outward from the point of contact, a shockwave so powerful that it sent an expanding ring of dust and shattered stone outward in all directions.
The Wild Elephant's massive frame convulsed under the raw force, its entire body caving inward around the blow. Its thick hide, tougher than reinforced steel, buckled inward, cratering as the shockwave traveled through its flesh in devastating ripples.
A heavy stillness settled over the ruins, the only sound the faint crackling of residual energy dissipating into the air. The dust slowly began to settle, revealing the aftermath of Stone's strike.
The Wild Elephant lay in a heap of broken flesh and twisted muscle, its once-monstrous form utterly shattered. Deep fissures ran across its body, internal ruptures evident in the grotesque way its limbs were splayed.
It was done.
Stone exhaled, his breath ragged as his qi slowly receded, the suffocating aura around him fading. His body trembled slightly—he had pushed himself to his absolute limits for that attack.
But he didn't regret it.
This battle had pushed him closer to the 2nd-tier breakthrough opportunity that he sought.
A slow murmur of disbelief rippled through the surviving combatants. Some were too stunned to speak. Others simply stared at the wreckage, still processing the sheer devastation Stone had just unleashed.
Then, from somewhere in the crowd, a single voice broke the silence.
"…Holy shit."
That was all it took.
A wave of cheers and victorious shouts erupted across the battlefield. Retainers and mercenaries alike celebrated, the weight of the battle finally lifting off their shoulders. The tension that had gripped them for so long was now replaced with pure, unfiltered relief.
The beast was dead.
They had won.
Rion, still standing off to the side, let out a slow breath, finally allowing his body to relax. His rifle, now a bit hot to the touch, hung loosely in his grasp. The exhaustion from [Overclock] and [Deadeye Repose] was catching up to him, but he didn't let it show.
Instead, he simply watched as Stone straightened himself, rolling his shoulders before turning to face the others.
"Alright," Stone said, his muffled voice carrying over the noise with its usual weight. "Time to clean up."