'How…did it come to this?'
Minutes prior to its eruption from the ocean, the wreckage of a Titan warrior could be seen strewn about the dark sea. Pieces of metal and debris floated away from the main body, leaving it battered and filled with holes.
Still in his armor form, Tyler sighed. Surprisingly enough, he could feel the terrible pain arcing through his body even in his current state.
The armor's damage was his bodily damage, and currently, the armor itself was torn to the point where it was almost multiple separated pieces.
'If I turn back into human form right now, I'll probably die instantly.'
Tyler thought back to the previous battle, if it could even be called that.
Rather than a battle, it was a one-sided beatdown.
The power of the Titan warrior after Tyler, Synth, and Ash combined their individual power was immense, but it didn't seem to matter at all to Zara.
She was feral, but strangely rational at the same time. She moved like a beast, but her every attack was fatal and calculated.
Her claws moved as if ignoring space, always hitting their target. The myriad of scars and gashes lining both Tyler's armor form and Ash's body were innumerable.
Her shadow was a terrifying assassin with a mind of its own. Whenever it attacked, Ash and Tyler had to use everything in their power to evade or block. The shadows were extremely strange as well. They changed properties multiple times, making blocking them completely an almost impossible task.
If Tyler and the rest hadn't been focused to the utmost, they would've died.
'No, she spared us.'
"Keuk…"
Ash's strained breaths resounded through the area as Tyler tried to pull her up to the surface. Synth stood nearby with dark circles under her eyes, furiously typing away on a holographic keyboard she manifested.
"Synth…what are you doing…?" Tyler asked through sound transmission.
"…maintenance."
Despite her attempts to remain calm, that single word shook as much as a magnitude 9 earthquake. She could barely input the proper commands on her keyboard with the level of tremoring in her hands.
"Relax…" Tyler said with a smile, "We aren't dying yet."
Synth sighed. Even if they weren't dead, weren't they already on the brink? If Ash and Tyler took even a bit more damage, they'd be in a fatal state that couldn't be healed with their current methods.
"I barely have enough mana to repair everything. At this rate, it's better for us to just give up and wait for the battle to end…"
"No!"
Tyler immediately stopped her from continuing.
"No matter what, we will not abandon our comrades…even if that means we die!"
Tyler was determined. He didn't care about his own state at all.
As a child, he never dreamt of becoming a soldier on the battlefield. He never dreamt of putting his life on the line for the sake of merely surviving.
The ones who'd forced him to do so were the Nox.
Their followers killed his family, and years later, they destroyed his homeworld completely.
His grudge against the Nox was immense, but he'd thoroughly suppressed it so he could grow without losing his life to recklessness.
However, the Nox were doing the same thing again. They were threatening to take away the things he cared about.
"But I'm not powerless anymore."
Damien was strong, but he wasn't strong enough to take Zara and Sebastian at the same time. He needed someone to at least act like a meat shield so he could move unhindered.
"As long as we have the ability, we will perform."
"That's the fucking problem!" Synth shouted abruptly.
"You don't have the ability! We're out of mana, we're out of stamina, and the two of you are so wounded that you can't even move properly! How the fuck do you expect to help without dying?!"
She understood Tyler's mentality. While she didn't have the same strong hatred for the Nox as he did, she'd heard his story more than once already.
Still, she couldn't condone his suicidal actions.
"I'm shutting down operations. You won't be able to move until reinforcements arrive. Use this time to heal."
Synth decisively pressed a button on her keyboard, which immediately restricted Ash's movements. Naturally, Tyler was restricted as well.
"We…go…"
At that moment, Ash opened her mouth. She couldn't articulate herself properly in berserker form, but she could at least voice her intentions.
She wanted to go.
Not for any grand reason like Tyler, though.
She just wanted to save the woman who'd been treating her like a younger sister all this time.
Zara was kind to the trio and never treated them wrong. If Damien was the devil who chastised and tortured them whenever he had the opportunity, Zara was the angel that'd pick them up afterwards and make sure they were alright.
Ash didn't want to repay Zara's kindness with cowardice.
She wanted to help in any way possible.
"Will…move…!"
Ash's titanic body began to slowly drag itself through the water. Electric sparks fizzled out from Synth's machines as they tried to restrain her.
But what was a berserker without power?
RAAAAAAAH!
Ash's roar reverberated through the dark waters like a whale call. Her muscles bulged to their greatest extent, and veins popped out of her skin.
BOOM!
A wall of reddish mana burst from her body and pushed back the devices holding her.
But even with her newfound freedom, she wasn't moving very fast.
Her berserk transformation would end without mana, and she didn't have much left. At most, she could attack a few more times before being forced to revert.
'But that's enough.'
Tyler's voice appeared in her head.
"Just a single decisive moment is all we need. After that, we can leave everything to that bastard."
Ash smiled. He was a devilish training instructor and a man with a heart blacker than Nox Mana, but Ash didn't doubt his reliability.
Damien would always turn a situation in his favor if he had the opportunity.
"Haa, you two are going to be the death of me one day."
She already knew it when she was forced to be the voice of rationality, but these two had truly lost their minds.
With yet another sigh, Synth closed her eyes and hopped into a compartment on the Titan warrior's armor. This was a space she'd made specifically for herself.
"Fine, then let's go. But if I die, I'm haunting both of you from the grave!"
"Mm!"
Ash pushed herself through the water with Synth's technological support.
And with that, the three made their way to the surface.
***
BOOOOOOOOM!
"You…!"
Damien's shocked exclamation was jolting.
Even through the pain, Tyler smiled.
"What do you think…? Is this…enough to get acknowledged?"
There was a massive hole in Ash's torso. The bottom of her heart could be seen dangling from its top. Tyler was acting as Ash's armor, so the damage on his body didn't even need to be mentioned. He was just as fatally wounded as the berserker.
As for Synth…
The compartment she sat in exploded. Shards of thick glass flew through the air and stabbed into her coffee-colored skin, drawing a painting of blood upon her body.
At the same time, the impact itself rattled her internals and caused countless ruptures within her body. If it wasn't for Synth taking a majority of this force, Ash's body would've completely exploded in that moment.
The Titan warrior fell out of the sky, unable to continue operating.
And those who piloted it…
Even if they were still alive now, their injuries already fated them with death.
The reddish-black in Damien's eyes became far worse. The sparks crackling around his body started to shatter space itself with their presence.
Everything was going wrong. Everything was falling apart…
…because of one man.
Damien's crazed eyes locked onto Sebastian spewing hatred.
That man had to die, even if it meant Damien would die with him.
That was the only thought in Damien's mind as he dragged Sebastian into the void.
