Chapter 206: The Final Blow

The invader leader’s sword came down, enveloped in violet energy.

Armstrong barely managed to raise his right arm to protect himself. The impact slammed him into the ground, cracking the asphalt beneath him.

"DAD!"

Jane rushed toward him, but Armstrong rolled to the side before the enemy could finish him off.

The captain let out a cry of pain. Every movement caused unbearable agony, and blood continued pouring from the wound where his left arm had been severed.

Even so, he managed to get onto his knees.

The invader leader stared at him in disbelief.

"Why do you keep resisting? You’ve lost your weapon, your arm, and almost all your strength. What do you hope to accomplish?"

Armstrong took a deep breath.

"To make you keep talking."

The enemy frowned.

Armstrong propelled himself forward, forcing the leader to raise his sword to stop him. The captain had no chance of defeating him in a direct confrontation, but he still possessed something his opponent seemed to have forgotten.

Experience.

And while the leader focused on finishing him off, the hunters continued advancing toward the core.

◇◆◇

"Jane, we have to move!" Liam shouted over the communicator.

The sub-captain remained beside her father, unable to tear her eyes away from his wound.

"I’m not leaving him here!"

"I’m not asking you to abandon him! We need to stop that monster from reaching the core!"

Jane gritted her teeth.

A few meters away, the leader charged at Armstrong again. The captain dodged the first strike, but the second caught him in the shoulder and forced him down onto one knee.

Jane spread her energy wings.

"Then I’ll cover my father from here!"

She took to the air and unleashed a volley of feathers at the invader.

The leader turned to deflect the projectiles, and Armstrong seized that moment to move away from his sword.

"Jane, get back!" he shouted.

But she had already descended to intercept the next attack.

The leader easily blocked her strikes and forced her backward with a blast of energy. Jane managed to remain airborne, although the impact caused her wings to flicker.

"A daughter willing to die alongside her father. What a waste."

"Shut up!"

Jane fired another volley.

The leader raised his sword to repel it, but an energy platform suddenly appeared beneath his feet. Wayne had managed to disrupt his position for a fraction of a second.

"Now, Captain!" Wayne shouted.

Armstrong saw his opportunity.

He lunged at the enemy and drove his fist into the crack he had previously opened in the leader’s armor.

The invader staggered backward, surprised by the force of the impact.

It wasn’t enough to knock him down, but it did interrupt his next attack.

Armstrong fell to his knees again.

His body couldn’t take much more.

◇◆◇

Meanwhile, Liam and the others reached the base of the core.

The enormous structure towered above them, connected to the smaller pillars by thick metal conduits. Violet energy coursed across its surface as if it had a pulse of its own.

"We can’t let it finish activating!" Liam shouted.

Don Rouch extended his hands toward the conduits, attempting to deform them.

However, he barely managed to bend one before a blast of energy forced him to retreat.

"The energy is too concentrated! I can’t manipulate all these connections at once!"

"Then we’ll destroy them piece by piece!" Amber replied.

She lunged toward a connection on the side while Wayne raised platforms to help the ranged fighters reach the higher points.

Tim and his teammates held back the invaders protecting the structure. Ruby tried to approach one of the conduits, but a burst of violet energy forced her to retreat.

"I can’t devour it while it’s still charged!" she shouted.

"Don’t take any risks! We need to weaken it first!" Liam ordered.

Lydia appeared beside him.

"I’ll distract the defenders."

Her body split into several copies that scattered around the core. Some launched acid bubbles at the invaders, while others created illusions to confuse them.

The enemy’s defensive formation began to fall apart.

Liam took advantage of the opening and pointed toward the lower connections.

"Everyone who can attack, focus on those conduits! We have to interrupt the energy flow!"

The hunters obeyed.

For the first time, the core’s light flickered.

James watched from the command center.

"It’s working! The readings are starting to fluctuate!"

Pix appeared beside him, her expression serious.

"But the core is still accumulating energy. If we don’t destroy it soon, it could release everything it’s stored."

Liam heard the message and gritted his teeth.

They had to finish this before it was too late.

◇◆◇

On the other side of the avenue, Armstrong could barely remain standing.

The enemy leader approached slowly, the crack in his armor growing wider.

"I admit your resilience is extraordinary. But enduring a fight doesn’t mean winning it."

Armstrong studied his opponent’s sword.

The blade was enveloped in energy.

’He always charges his next attack from the same side...’

He had noticed it during their last few exchanges. The enemy was faster and stronger, but he relied too heavily on the superiority of his attacks.

Whenever Armstrong appeared vulnerable, the invader tried to end the fight with a decisive blow.

And that made him predictable.

"Nothing to say?" the leader asked.

Armstrong raised his gaze.

"I was thinking."

"About what?"

"About how arrogant you are."

The leader growled and charged at him.

Armstrong waited.

The sword descended along the same trajectory the enemy had used before. At the last moment, the captain shifted to one side.

The blade struck the ground.

Armstrong grabbed the enemy’s arm with his only hand and used the momentum of his own body to pull himself closer.

Then he delivered a direct punch to the crack in the leader’s armor.

The leader staggered backward.

Armstrong gave him no time to recover. He struck him again, this time in the side, and finished with a headbutt that left the invader reeling.

The enemy dropped to one knee.

For the first time since the battle began, he appeared genuinely wounded.

But Armstrong was also at his limit.

His vision blurred, and his legs began to tremble.

The leader slowly rose to his feet.

"Damn you!"

Violet energy exploded around his body.

Armstrong tried to prepare for the next attack, but he could barely raise his arm.

Then a voice rang out over the communicator.

"Captain, the core is becoming unstable!" Liam announced.

Armstrong managed a faint smile.

"Then we’d better finish this."

◇◆◇

The leader raised his sword and concentrated all his remaining energy into a single attack.

The violet lines on his armor glowed so intensely that they seemed ready to burst.

"I’ll erase this world and everyone who tries to protect it!"

Armstrong took a deep breath.

He couldn’t dodge that attack. He didn’t have the strength to block it, either.

But he didn’t need to stop it head-on.

When the enemy lunged at him, Armstrong stepped back half a pace, forcing the leader to extend his arm too far to reach him.

The sword swept past his body.

The captain seized the opportunity and slipped inside the invader’s guard.

With his right hand, he grabbed the damaged section of the armor and pulled with all his might, exposing the area where the protection had cracked.

Then he concentrated the last of his energy into a direct punch.

His fist struck the crack, shattering the armor.

The leader’s eyes widened, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Armstrong struck him again, this time throwing the full weight of his body into the blow.

The invader crashed onto the asphalt.

His sword slid several meters before coming to a stop.

Armstrong remained standing for a moment.

Then his legs gave out.

He fell to his knees, struggling to breathe.

The leader tried to get up, but his body refused to respond. The violet energy coursing through his armor began to fade, and the light in his eyes dimmed.

Armstrong had won.

Jane reached her father and caught him before he could collapse completely.

"Dad! You did it!"

Armstrong could barely manage a smile.

"I told you... I wasn’t finished yet."

She let out a tearful laugh and called for medical assistance over the communicator.

But their victory wasn’t secured just yet.

◇◆◇

A deafening rumble shook the avenue.

Everyone turned toward the core.

The metal connections were fracturing, and enormous violet cracks spread across the structure’s surface. However, the portal remained open.

James studied the readings and went pale.

"The leader’s defeat hasn’t closed the rift! The core is still functioning!"

Liam raised his weapon.

"Then we’ll finish the job!"

Don Rouch and Wayne coordinated their abilities to immobilize the remaining connections. Amber and the others attacked the weakened points, while Ruby managed to approach a section where the energy was beginning to fade.

This time, she could devour it.

A wave of energy swept across the battlefield, and the violet pillars began shutting down one after another.

"Everyone, fall back!" James shouted.

The central structure cracked apart completely.

Liam grabbed Lydia’s hand and ran toward a sheltered area as the hunters evacuated the avenue.

Behind them, the core began to crumble.

The dimensional rift contracted, but before it closed, it released one final flash that illuminated the entire city.

And as the deafening roar of the collapsing structure echoed between the buildings, the hunters realized that the war was finally drawing to a close.

They just had to survive that final explosion.