Zenith opened the second phase of the battle by using his other arm to throw his spear but at this point, Ardi had already determined its maximum velocity and so dodged it before grabbing the first Archon who fetched her and just as Zenith recalled his spear, she placed the Archon in its path.
The Spear easily tore through the Archon’s but she wasn’t done with it.
Several of Zenith’s guards had rail guns which they used to fire ultra-high velocity projectiles at her but she wasn’t finished healing so she used the Archon as a shield.
This worked until two more of them reached Ardi who dropped the corpse in her hand and tried her new skill.
She dashed away, avoiding their attacks before punching one of them in the shoulder but since [Impact Multiplier] was also active, her fist went straight through it and almost split his torso in two.
The other tried attacking her again and again, she activated [Impact Multiplier] before kicking his legs in two.
His body fell to the ground and she unceremoniously stomped his neck into a flattened sheet.
Seeing that their fellow guards were dead, the remaining nineteen resumed firing at Ardi while Zenith threw his spear but, even before it left his hand, Ardi noticed that his energy signature had dropped significantly and was sitting at 975W.
While some of his energy usage could be attributed to things like regeneration and general movement, Ardi realized that using the Spear was really draining.
She then turned her attention to the hundreds of projectiles that were striking her Nanitesuit every second and while she was only taking 0.5% of damage to her Dermis for every bullet, they were coming at a rate of ten per second from each rifle and there were nineteen rifles.
Even though her Combined DI was back at 200%, she wouldn’t be able to tank them all for long so she dashed towards them while setting the condition internally that [Impact Multiplier] would activate automatically after each attack so long as her energy was above 100J.
Zenith stepped back just as soon as Ardi reached his first guards and she ripped him in two with her newly recovered arm.
Ten of the remaining eighteen then grabbed her and, while her limbs were strong, it wasn’t enough to overcome their combined strength as they forced her to the ground.
But this was better than having her Dermis fail and for her to be ripped apart by bullets so she tried thinking of a possible way forward as her perception of time slowed to a crawl.
None of her available pre-set skills seemed like they would be of any help in this situation and the interesting ones Required 2 or more E-Souls.
She didn’t have time to eat the E-Souls of the Archons she’d already killed and so turned to her ability to create extra Skills.
What she needed was a way to deal with a group of enemies.
She also realized that a more complex extra skill would probably also require more E-Souls and so she sighed internally before thinking about Zenith’s Spear.
She had large enough energy reserves to use it with less caution than Zenith was clearly displaying.
She realized that she could probably catch it if she used [Impact Multiplier] while grabbing it.
Her body would automatically treat this as an attack for exerting a large force opposite to the spear’s and that would help her avoid losing her arms in the process.
Now all she had to do was free herself from the pile of Archons on top of her.
She drafted an extra skill that was as useful as it was risky.
[- Skill: [Ember Vents]
- Description: Widens internal heat sync routes and creates two vents at each joint to eject excess heat.
* Effect: Greatly boosts heat management.
Energy Cost: 5J
Required Level: 1
Required ES (E-Souls): 1]
After hastily drafting it, Ardi acquired the skill and tried getting up.
The force required to move ten Archons was far more than she had but she moved anyway up until her Myofibers were releasing so much heat that the air going through her heat syncs spontaneously combusted as it exited her newly formed vents which were about two centimetres wide.
This wasn’t a problem for either Ardi or the Archons at first but the Archons didn’t have a means to deal with the rapidly increasing heat since they themselves were generating large amounts of heat in trying to keep Ardi down.
Those closest to her were the first to weaken slightly as their Nanites began to pop.
Ardi dealt with the heat by ensuring that she was pulling cool air into her system from her head and releasing it everywhere else in her body since she could simply regrow her non-organic parts.
One by one, the Archons grew a little weaker and their energy levels were also dropping but it seems as though Zenith realized some of what Ardi was up to because he threw his spear into the pile of Archons, impaling two of them along with Ardi.
The Spear lodged itself in her stomach but, while it was incredibly painful, it was also exactly what she wanted and so she quickly grabbed it before Activating [Neural Coupling] and [Scan].
It looked as though the Spear had a mini E-Soul at its centre and it was trying to get back to Zenith by itself.
Ardi realized that she wouldn’t be able to override its desires but she could show the Spear that she would be able to wield it better and so she tightened her hold on it until its Composite outer layer began to crack.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
The Spear seemingly panicked and disconnected its link to Zenith.
It then allowed Ardi’s Nanites to form a connection with its E-Soul and like that, the two were connected.
Ardi quickly looked over what the Spear was capable of and was immediately impressed.
[Weapon Mastery Branch: Radwan’s Wrath
- Level 1: Basic Mastery
- Skill: [Recall]
- Description: Allows Ardi to recall the Spear.
Energy Cost: 0J
Required Level: 1
Required ES (E-Souls): 0
- Skill: [Protonic Pierce]
- Description: Allows Ardi to throw the Spear at its maximum velocity (200 km/h) + her maximum strength.
Energy Cost: 250J
Required Level: 1
Required ES (E-Souls): 1
- Skill: [Gravfold Flare]
* Description: Channels a large amount of Ardi’s own energy into a powerful wave of distorted space with a reach of 5m.
Energy Cost: 500J
Required Level: 1
Required ES (E-Souls): 1
- Level 2: Advanced Mastery
- Skill: [Stellar Strike]
Description: Charges the spear with energy and Ardi can throw it to deal increased damage at a distance.
Energy Cost: 400J
Required Level: 5
Required ES (E-Souls): 2]
Ardi instantly acquired [Gravfold Flare] and immediately used it even with the Spear still embedded in her abdomen.
She then felt it siphon 500W worth of energy out of her which it absorbed before releasing as a single upward wave of distorted space that tore through the Archons as if they were made of butter.
She crawled onto her feet while pulling out the Spear before turning to Zenith who looked like he was trying to recall it.
If he wanted it so badly, Ardi was more than willing to give it to him so, without Activating any other additional skills, she threw it with all the force she could muster only for two of his guards to get in the way.
They were impaled in his stead prompting the others to move in front of him in a defensive line.
Ardi scoffed before recalling the Spear, impaling two more guards as she dashed forward.
They fired their weapons, chipping away at her Nanitesuit but it was finally time to cull their numbers.
Ardi swung the Spear, after pumping 500W of energy into it, and activated [Gravfold Flare] sending out a wave of distorted gravity that split the remaining Archons, leaving only Zenith who had backed away to a she distance.
“Come on! Show me your godly beauty! SHOW ME EVERYTHING!” Zenith yelled and this was enough to enrage Ardi so much that she threw aside the Spear and kicked his chest, caving the entire structure in and forcing him to the ground.
He tried attacking her legs but she tore off his arms and removed his helmet, revealing his damaged head.
One of the goggles was completely broken and the other was visibly malfunctioning.
She then glared at him as she finally allowed her anger and frustration to pour through her eyes in terrifying shades of Cyan and Pink.
“Yes… there it is. The face of a new-born god. Such scorn…” Zenith wheezed as his Nanite fluids bled from what was left of his body.
“I wish… no. That wouldn’t have been truthful to you. So I guess I must be grateful.” He sighed.
“And, while I am satisfied with our date, I’ll admit that I’m a bit of a sore loser.” He weakly chuckled making Ardi’s eyes narrow.
“One hundred and forty-seven Gravfold Canons are going to fire on this location in a couple of seconds. I know I’ll die too but it won’t be too bad if we die together, right?”
Ardi bit her teeth before pulling her foot out from Zenith’s chest.
She then sat next to him, closed her eyes and synchronized with the Gore.
“Captains of the Fleet of Collectors, you heard what Zenith just said and you’re aware that I can dampen Grav waves! I need you all to allow me to synchronize with your ships so that I can use all of our Gravshields to keep us alive!” Ardi’s words were clear in the silence of the landing bay and a moment of agonizing silence passed before a transmission finally came in.
[This is Vice Fleet Admiral, Heatdeath, standing on the bridge of the New Genesis. You have full access to all of our systems! I’d rather not end up as space dust today, so show us what our new Admiral is capable of!]
Ua nodded once before sending out signals to all one hundred and ninety-eight ships which all greeted her openly.
In a matter of nanoseconds, she synchronized with all of their AIs just as the first Grav waves arrived and she successfully diffused them although the resulting Shockwave was enough to reach the Gore which was at the centre of the Maelstrom of Unseen violence.
Her mind was flooded with all sorts of signals as the AIs and crews of the fleet panicked for their lives but she steeled herself and quickly contacted Gudo who arrived in the landing bay shortly after to find her lying on the ground.
Her body was rapidly heating up and while her [Ember Vents] were doing their best, they weren’t enough to properly cool her.
So Gudo picked her up and sprinted to the Control Room where he gently sat her on the special chair which she clicked into.
She then quickly sent her Nanites to get cooled while diffusing wave after wave of distorted space.
“Good luck, Admiral!” Gudo saluted before promptly following Ardi’s next instruction.
Her mind recoiled with each impact.
Quintillions of bits rushed through her mind every microsecond and she had this would have fried her mind if she wasn’t actively compartmentalizing her own mind.
She reserved the outer parts of the CQNN for more difficult processes since they were easier to cool and kept the inner parts at low usage levels.
This allowed her to calmly communicate with Guro, Tsuro and Condor Unit who, after a few minutes, arrived with twenty-five E-Souls in hand.
Ardi extended a hand toward them prompting Meredith to step forward.
She then handed Ardi an E-Soul which, with eyes that were still closed, ate.
She then ate the other twenty-five while still diffusion tens of shots at a time across an area that was tens of Kilometres wide.
Her mind was just barely able to keep up so she decided to acquire her CQNN’s final upgrade.
[3. "(CQNN) Mark III"
- Description: Full quantum neural integration across organic and Optic pathways along with the addition of individualized Ardinites which contain a single small-scale Cyanic Core, allowing them to operate independently and as an extension of Ardi.
* Effects: Superior adaptive learning capabilities and Ardinite Hive.]
Ardi opened her eyes and gasped as she felt her own presence scattered all across the Gore.
This was because all of her Nanites were rebuilding themselves to fit the newly learned Ardinite architecture.
This meant that not only could she sense them, she was them.
Each and every single one of the trillions.
Ardi used them to form a makeshift neural network to spread the workload she was under and had them form a sphere of data which represented the combined strength of the Gravshields at her disposal.
Now all she had to do was pinpoint which parts of the sphere needed the most attention but by the time this network was completed, the shots stopped coming.
She knew it was because the guns had overheated but she wondered why Zenith had pushed them this far.
So she stood up, prompting her crew to move aside, and returned to the landing bay where Zenith hummed a particular tune.
“Nearer… my God … to thee.”
Ardi walked up to him but at this point, his remaining goggle was dead and his energy signature was really low.
“I can see you… feel you… all around me.” He wheezed as Ardi’s crew gathered around her.
“I’m glad I got to play a part in your ascension.”
Ardi had gotten tired of Zenith’s ramblings so she sat by his side and gently placed her hand on his forehead.
“Are you the only one who manufactures Gravfold Canons?”
“… no.”
“Then I would have been forced to process that much data eventually. On the path I’ve chosen, there are only two certainties. Either I’ll die or I will find my peace.”
“I see… well… if you’re going to stubbornly refuse my assertions then I’m going to blindly believe that I helped.”
“You are free to think whatever you want.”
“… headstrong till the end.”
Zenith finally ran out of power and, after taking a moment to glance at the wave of signals that was coming her way, Ardi reached into Zenith’s skull, retrieved his E-Soul and ate it.