A paralyzing horror gripped Loh' as he stood frozen, unable to comprehend the bloody naked state of his friend Robert Sullivan. Loh's breath hitched in his throat. He failed to find words for the nightmare before him.

In stark contrast, Asoto' wasted no time, with swiftness. He ingested three Ancestral crystals. A surge of Superior Will was released throughout his body.

Asoto' didn't falter in the face of such depraved cruelty. He charged towards the woman responsible, his every filled with the rising Superior Will within him.

Loh' recognized the green-eyed woman. She confirmed Carlinn's true identity. Memories resurfaced like flipping through a book backward.

Years ago, when New Ark City rose from the ground, A.R.M. Taczlopalic had sent Lapaptzli, introducing himself as someone with influence over the Dark Acolytes.

A.R.M., Robert, and Loh' had chosen to decline their assistance. Just a few years later, Taczlopalic stood in front of Loh' as Carlinn, the puppet master behind the destruction New Ark City was facing.

Carlinn, holding a subtle smirk on his face, shot a disdainful smirk at Loh', savoring the disbelief frozen in Loh's face.

"Lapaptzli, take care of the human abominations. It's time I ascend into godhood," Carlinn declared with an unsettling determination, his dark eyes gleaming like a shadowy fire.

The purpose behind Carlinn's actions became painfully clear as he moved with deliberate intent toward the Heart Drive of A.R.M a large red crystal.

Overcome with fury and desperation, Loh' shouted at Carlinn, "You, you... devil! Robert accepted you into our city with open arms!"

Despite lacking combat training, Loh' sprinted forward, fueled by the image of the bloody Robert hanging upside down. Loh's mind aimed to intervene and protect the Heart Drive of A.R.M. However, his body was moving to save his old friend Robert.

Asoto', fueled by the essence of the Ancestral Crystals, faced Lapaptzli.

The room was filled with tension as the two Tonovians stood as the only obstacle against Carlinn's plan.

Lapaptzli pointed with her right hand at Asoto'. Her fingernails were made of copper and extended forth like thrusting blades. The first copper nail pierced Asoto's right shoulder, causing him to falter momentarily.

The force of his Superior Will, drawn from the Ancestral Crystals, began increasing, preventing the second nail from penetrating his skin and shattering the third with an audible crack.

Undeterred by the setback, Asoto' pressed on and used his fist as a hammer, swinging it down on the copper nail and breaking free. He continued charging towards his foe.

Unmoved, Lapaptzli summoned a green flickering flame and calmly directed it toward Asoto to halt his advance.

Asoto' found himself unable to dodge the oncoming flame, and upon contact, it exploded, enveloping him in scorching green flames. The searing green fire greedily devoured his tough Tonovian skin.

The towering blue giant writhed in agony, his once snowy-white hair burning to a crisp, his anguished screams resonating through the room and echoing through the corridor.

Despite the excruciating pain, Asoto' rolled on the floor, desperately attempting to extinguish the relentless fire that clung to him like a vengeful spirit.

Meanwhile, Loh' closed in on the hanging Robert, who stood just a few feet away from the Heart Drive.

However, Lapaptzli, with swift precision, intervened. Raising her left hand, copper nails extended from her fingers, nailing Loh' to the entrance wall. The metallic echo reverberated as Loh' was knocked unconscious from the force.

Carlinn took his eyes off the Heart Drive to turn to Lapaptzli. "Remember, don't kill them. Those two are more useful alive than dead!" he clarified before returning to the Heart Drive.

Lapaptzli gave Carlinn a cartoonish salute while firmly pinching Loh' to the wall.

Slowly, Carlinn's appearance began changing, morphing into Taczlopalic—a skeletal figure adorned in ominous dark robes. The air grew heavy with an unsettling aura as Taczlopalic loomed over the room.

The skeleton let out an eerie laugh akin to grinding gravel. The atmosphere became charged with an otherworldly energy, marking the arrival of a force beyond mortal comprehension.

Robert's body, which was a bloody cut-up mess, went completely limb. The overbearing aura was too much for his tortured body to handle. If Loh' had not been unconscious, his mind would have gone mad from Taczlopalic's presence.

"All your struggles and hopes are meaningless. Your kind makes a joke of themselves," Taczlopalic declared, his voice cold and filled with disdain for those who dared to stand against him.

Taczlopalic approached the large red crystal that was the Heart Drive. A glowing code was embedded within its crystalline structure, and Taczlopalic's skeletal hand hovered over it with an eerie confidence.

The crystal, pulsating with the essence of A.R.M., began to glow, its color shifting from red to a deep purple under Taczlopalic's strange command over alchemy.

He manipulated the crystal's structure with an otherworldly power to control matter, forcing the light code within to shift and be rewritten as he pleased. The Heart Drive, which was A.R.M.'s core mind, succumbed to Taczlopalic's will.

As the dark entity rewrote the code that was the core mind of A.R.M., the entire structure and might of New Ark City seemed to bow to the skeleton's whims.

Asoto', having overcome the green flames thanks to the might of his Superior Will, stood amidst the aftermath.

His once snowy-white hair was gone, and the green flames had disfigured his skin. Asoto glanced at Loh pinned to the wall, overtaken by Lapaptzli's overbearing strength.

Asoto' then turned his attention to Robert, who lay motionless and covered in his blood.

Seeing the frightening, intense aura coming from Taczlopalic, Asoto' quickly concluded, "He must be even more powerful than the green-eyed woman!" He was going to have to make a decision.

Gathering all his strength, Asoto' sprinted towards Loh'. In quick response, Lapaptzli extended multiple copper nails that thrust into Asoto's back, but they all folded and bent under the incredible might of his Superior Will. With his back to his enemy, Asoto' continued moving even faster.

Smiling with a cruel twinkling in her eyes, Lapaptzli set fire to the two copper nails holding Loh' against the wall. The green flames trailed the copper nails, racing straight toward Loh' Pohlieus.

Before the flames could reach him, Asoto' raised his right hand and swiftly chopped both copper nails in half. With a quick, decisive motion, he freed Loh', slinging the unconscious body over his shoulder.

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Asoto fled from the room carrying Loh'. Before Lapaptzli could pursue them, Taczlopalic intervened. He raised his skeleton hand to halt her advance.

"Let them be. They have their role to play," he calmly explained. With that, Taczlopalic continued manipulating A.R.M.'s crystal-core mind.

Miles past the eastern coast of New Ark City, A.R.M. had just finished toppling the colossal titan in a two-hit attack. Legions of Rakh-ahtan soldiers rushed out of the titan's fractured body.

The moment Taczlopalic began to manipulate the Heart Drive. The inner system of A.R.M.'s Perfect Platinum body reacted by shutting the body off.

The godlike entity, now nothing more than a lifeless machine, fell like a plummeting star. Its Perfect Platinum body plunged into the ocean below, swallowed by the turbulent waters of the Atlantic.

Taczlopalic continued to manipulate the crystal, his malevolent influence reaching the eastern and western corners of New Ark City.

Months ago, Hot Pyro had merged his mind with the Heart Drive; in power and strength, he became second only to A.R.M.

Inspired by the incredible change in Hot Pyro, Bright Volt also merged with the Heart Drive of the godlike guardian of their city.

The two Heroes stood at the pinnacle of power. Their minds intertwined with the near-unlimited intelligence.

However, the moment Taczlopalic began manipulating the Heart Drive, everything changed. Their consciousness was instantly wiped away as if it had never existed. Hot Pyro and Bright Volt, legendary Heroes, had become nothing more than vessels for Taczlopalic.

The transformation was swift, occurring in the blink of an eye. Hot Pyro and Bright Volt fell under Taczlopalic's control in the blink of an eye.

Without drawing any attention, the two legendary Heroes joined the rest of the Heroes in combating the legions of Rakh-ahtan warriors.

Moments before Taczlopalic corrupted the Heard Drive of A.R.M miles away, near the western wall, a relentless wave of thousands of Hybrids approached New Ark City.

Amidst the chaos, two small openings had appeared in the center of the Hybrid army. It was Al and Elissa. Of their teleporting group, they remained alone near the teleporters.

Thanks to their quick reactions, they cleared the immediate perimeter around the teleportation devices. A bright light flashed as the teleporters activated once more.

Another 8 Heroes teleported into the battlefield. Due to the opening created by Al and Elissa, newly arrived Heroes had a brief moment to assess their surroundings.

They were surrounded by the encroaching Hybrids.

Hero Raging Stone was among the new arrivals. He recognized Al, who was in front of him. The cultivators he had met months ago were swiftly cutting down Hybrid after Hybrid.

Behind Hero Raging Stone, Elissa wielded her whip, displaying the explosive power of her Reflexive Wil, eviscerating multiple Hybrids in a fraction of a second.

The only immediate threat to the newly arrived Heroes was a 40-ft elephant with dozens of giant tentacles protruding from its face.

It raised its massive foot, poised to crush the Hero who had teleported farthest from Al and Elissa.

Reacting in fractions of a second, Raging Stone shot forward like a bullet. His genetically enhanced muscles and tendons work in perfect unison with his molecularly engineered bones.

Living up to his name, Raging Stone closed the distance, mere inches from the elephant's hind left leg. In a thunderous collision, his helmet smashed into the Hybrid's limb.

A resounding snap echoed across the battlefield as Raging Stone tore through the elephant's hind leg.

"The armor Hero Red Queen made for me is incredible!" Raging Stone concluded after his brutal blow was enough to disrupt the Hybrid's balance.

The giant Hybrid began to stagger perilously close to another Hero. Its massive foot landed just inches away.

In response to Raging Stone's decisive actions, the other Heroes sprang into action, each engaging the Hybrids as best as they could.

Some relied on their combat skills, while others worked around the power of their Sprite Node—a small metal sphere made of nanomachines connected to the core mind of A.R.M.

In moments of danger, a Hero's Sprite Node would intervene and provide crucial assistance to the Heroes on the battlefield.

However, after the Elephant hybrid was brought down, all the Sprite Nodes on the battlefield became inactive and collapsed on the ground.

All Sprite Nodes went offline on the western front after Taczlopalic began corrupting A.R.M.'s Heart Drive.

The sudden loss of support left the weakest Heroes vulnerable.

Seizing the opportunity, hordes of flying Hybrids descended upon them.

A man adorned in beautiful green armor and a rose helmet was snatched up by a pelican with four pairs of wings and pincers on its abdomen.

"Hero Sweet Smell, nooooo!" shouted a Hero with a bunny mask in gray and pink armor.

Hero Sweet Smell was split in half by the merciless Hybrid.

The Hero with the bunny mask was crying to the sky. The night's dark sky was crawling with Hybrids. The remains of Hero Sweet smell rained down.

A giant worm erupted from beneath the ground the crying Hero stood on. The Hybrid worm was inches from tearing into the bunny Hero with its rows of fangs.

In the nick of time, another Hero with a yellow and red striped skin suit shot a white, web-like material from her fingertips. With precision, she pulled the bunny hero to safety.

"Hero Pink Bunny, you have to focus!" shouted the web-shooting Hero.

Hero Pink Bunny snapped out of her shock and leaped into action, kicking a Hybrid with so much power it exploded into pieces.

"I'm sorry, Hero Misume. I will do better." she quickly shouted, jumping to kill another Hybrid.

Hero Misume acknowledged Hero Pink Bunny's words before again swinging into action.

The battlefield became a chaotic mess with the new arrivals of Heroes, along with Al and Elissa. They all fought to protect the western wall from the relentless onslaught of the Hybrids.

Everything had occurred too fast. Despite reclaiming some land around the teleporters, the number of enemies proved overwhelming.

A cultivator's Will had limits, and the Heroes needed to find a way to endure the unending waves of Hybrids.

Witnessing the unrelenting assault, Raging Stone resorted to his greatest display of power. He punched both of his arm's elbow-deep into the ground beneath him.

Activating all his strength and utilizing the genetic enhancement that connected him with the soil around New Ark City, the ground violently shook.

With a powerful surge, Raging Stone swung his arms upward with all his might. He pulled a massive section of land spanning city blocks and flipped it into the air.

The colossal chunk of earth seemed to move slowly as it descended, smashing into hundreds of Hybrids and burying them under tons of dirt.

As Raging Stone carved through the numbers of Hybrids, the teleporters activated again, bringing another wave of 8 Heroes into the battle.

The plan devised by Al and Elissa had come to fruition, doubling the number of Heroes within the center of the Hybrid army. With 15 Heroes now fighting alongside them two, the tide of the battle seemed to turn in favor of New Ark City.

Beyond the miles of open fields that separated New Ark City's western wall lay a forest leading to the Church of New Light.

While the war between the Heroes and Hybrids waged on. The Holy men quietly watched, waiting for the outcome.

To the south of the Church of New Light's forest. Another forest stretched towards the Southern Wastelands.

Almost half a century ago, when the Rakh-ahtan first invaded. A portal that was miles long had opened up in the center of the State of Louisiana. The old-world government had nuked the land, transforming it into a desolate wasteland.

Over time, it became known as the Southern Wastelands. A familiar face observed the unfolding war in the forest that led to those lands.

The figure's gaze, filled with deep-seated hatred, focused particularly on Al and Elissa. His disdain intensified when he looked at Elissa. A woman in a dark robe approached him.

"Ragjiel, the sign our Master said to look out for has just occurred. The Node Sprites have been disabled. Should we move on with the next phase of the plan now?" the woman asked.

Ragjiel relished witnessing Elissa fighting for her life. Despite wanting to intervene and confront Elissa, he restrained his impulses and responded to the woman, "Yes, force the Church into the battle. Let's see how far we can get them to act."