As José Rodriguez taps into an ancient power, one that his master, Ramma, gave him, Megla and her Kessu companions stand at alert, protectively shielding Ruuki's unconscious body. They watch as, in the distance, flashes of lightning erupt from time to time. At the mouth of the cave, they sometimes see José run or fly from one direction to another, his movements a blur. Titanic explosions shake the underground realm, causing dirt and rocks to fall from the ceiling.

"Kyargh! What in the Rodaks is going on out there?!" Megla asks. "I can't just sit here and let the Admiral fight by himself!"

Megla hefts her giant LORBEC, a gun capable of killing dozens of enemies with a single shot. Unaware of how exactly it works, she hesitantly takes aim toward the entrance, her hands shaking from adrenaline. She waits for enemies to slip past the Admiral, but none emerge.

As the lone Kraktol stands guard, little Lele glances around the inner cave, noting its lack of entrances and exits.

"Is Big Baldy gonna be okay?"

"I don't know," Megla mutters. "He... he should be! The Admiral is incredibly powerful. He's a Precursor, dammit! He killed a Gate Troll like it was nothing! If he can't slaughter whatever's out there, then how can we?!"

After a moment of silence, Lele reaches into the pockets of her little blue dress. She pulls out a small datapad, one she apparently filched off the Bloodbearer.

Tap. Tap.

The kitten types a series of commands, drawing Megla's attention.

"What is that? What are you doing?"

Lele doesn't look at Megla. "This tablet can connect to the main ship, so I'm talkin' to the synthmind, Umi. Maybe she knows what's going on."

Megla's slit-eyes narrow. "That's right! The Admiral told me he can talk to Umi in his head. She probably knows what he's fighting, since she can see everything he can."

Half a minute later, a long series of words appears on the datapad. Lele scans them silently.

"Big Baldy... he's fighting something called a 'Shade.' It's a demon that lives in darkness. It hates the light, so we should be okay as long as your glowy-armor stays bright."

Baaru, the Kessu Matriarch, shivers with fright. "Oh no! How could I be so stupid?!"

"Hm?" Megla asks. "What is it, Baaru?"

Baaru presses her paws against her cheeks. "Ahh! The ancient legend! Every Kessu elder of our clan knows the story, but I always thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo gobbledygook! There's supposed to be a terrible ghost that lives under the mountain. It steals young girls and drags them into the darkness, never to be seen again!"

The sides of Megla's long, croco-jaw raise up in disgust. "Seriously? Young girls? Why only girls?! Is it some kind of gross, pervert-ghost?"

"I don't know..." Baaru answers, shaking her head with despair. "I thought it was just a story we told to scare the kittens away from the caves. I always assumed the worst things we'd find down here were Xonbils and Lorroks! How could there be such dreadful creatures as woman-stealing ghosts?"

Megla glances around the room. Despite the brightness of her Survival Suit providing 99% of the light in the room, it only barely illuminates the walls and ceiling, several hundred feet away. For a brief moment, she almost thinks she sees a shadow shifting, but naturally, after calming herself down, she realizes it can only be a trick of the light; nothing but her imagination.

"Kyargh! So creepy... I don't like this one bit! Hey, furball! Ask Umi if there's anything we can do to protect ourselves."

Megla naturally directs her order at Lele, but the kitten doesn't reply for a moment. She lifts her head to gaze into the distance, at the mouth of their mini-cave.

"Afraid of the light... ah!"

With a quick flourish, Lele digs into the pocket on the other side of her coat. She pulls out her trusty Hypospanner, an engineering device she always keeps on her, ever since she found it on the Bloodbearer.

"Hey, mud-breath! Gimme your gun!"

Lele trots over to Megla and stretches on her tippy-toes to grab at the Kraktol's weapon. Megla, however, only snarls at her. "Stupid brat! This weapon is dangerous! It's not something a little baby like you can handle!"

"I'm not a baby! I'm way smarter than you!" Lele retorts. She hops up and barely manages to touch the underside of the gun before falling back down and landing deftly on her paw-pads. "Gimme! I know what I'm doing!"

"The heck you do! This isn't a toy!"

Lele and Megla fight over the gun for half a minute, but no matter how Lele yells and complains, Megla doesn't give an inch.

Finally, Lele stops trying to grab the weapon. "Hmph! Fine. Fine! I guess Big Baldy can just die then! It will be all your fault!"

Megla's annoyance shifts to discomfort. A pit opens up in her stomach. "What? Die? But how? D-don't say such terrible things!"

Lele's grandmother walks over and rests her paws on Lele's shoulders. "Use your words. Why do you want Megla's gun? She won't even think of giving it to you otherwise, not unless she knows what you're going to do with it. We can't afford any accidents at a time like this."

After hearing her grandparent's firm tone, Lele's ears sag a little.

"I can help, grammy... these Shades are really scary, but I can save us! Why won't anyone believe in me?"

Continuing, Lele adds, "That gun won't hurt a Shade, but I can make something that will!"

Megla's eyes widen. "You can? Will we be able to help the Admiral?"

"Yeah!"

The Kraktol hesitates for a moment. She considers the kitten's words, but then considers the fact that, indeed, the gun probably won't even hurt the Shades if she manages to shoot them. Once she notices the watery look in Lele's eyes, Megla lowers her guard and takes a knee.

"Kyargh! Alright, fine! Here. Take it, but be careful! If you mess up... we're all done for!"

Lele smiles as she grabs the giant gun out of Megla's arms and plops it on the ground. "Thank you, big sister! Wow, you're not as smelly as I thought!"

"Sh-shut up, stupid Kessu!" Megla growls. "If we die because of you, I'm gonna bully you in the Forbidden Swamp!"

"Hmph. I'd like to see you try!"

Without another word, Lele plops on her butt. She turns her attention toward the giant gun, presses a button on her Hyperspanner, and gets to work disassembling the weapon piece by piece.

Megla stands up again and turns her attention to the battle outside, as more aftershocks tear through the underground caverns. Unable to help her Admiral, all Megla can do is stand and watch, her heart trembling with fear.

"Admiral..."

.......................................

Tyrannical power surges through José's body. With the Shades on the retreat, Admiral Rodriguez tears through their ranks like a river carving out a canyon. He slaughters one Shade after another, accumulating more than a thousand kills within tens of minutes.

Lightning arcs from his palms, shredding the soul-forces of Yama's harem. He conjures flaming orbs in his hands and flings them in all directions, over and over, creating beautiful, bright towers of light to better illuminate the darkness. Slowly but surely, the Admiral forces the Shades to retreat. No longer do their iron-bar attacks faze him.

Yama, on his last legs, scowls viciously at the human from a distance. "You're only one Terran! How can a single fleshbag be so powerful?!"

José fires a bolt of lightning toward the Emperor of Shadows, allowing it to arc off his fingertip. "Lots of practice."

Blood drips from José's nose. He watches as Yama dodges the lightning bolt to retreat even further into the darkness. Right as José starts to pursue the Demon Emperor, his brain trembles with exhaustion.

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I can't maintain such a high psionic potential for long. I need to drop my limiter back down to Level 1... but if I do that, my killing speed and efficiency will plummet.

Right as the Admiral entertains the thought of limiting his power, a terrible presence appears up ahead. From the darkness, countless Hellhounds appear, with Orc riders to boot. Goblins crawl along the walls, while new enemies follow as well. Six gigantic trolls, only a bit smaller than the Gate Trolls José fought in the Bloodbearer's simulation, trail behind the swifter demonic beasts. Unlike the Shades, none of these monsters fear something as mundane as light.

Shit.

José's eyes sag. His vision blurs for a moment, but he shakes his head and regains his focus.

More monsters. If I only had to face an army of Shades or an army of monsters, I wouldn't have any issues... but both at once is simply impossible. I'm only one man. Damn!

The Admiral's willpower weakens considerably as the monster army charges at him from the darkness. Hesitantly, he takes a few steps back.

[Admiral,] Umi says, her voice speaking telepathically to the Terran, [I have dispatched Officer Soren Mudrose to your position. She will arrive via a Burrowpod in T-minus one minute, seventeen seconds. I have outfitted her with a Mark II Titan-class Battlesuit, as well as multiple auxiliary attachments.]

With those words, Umi succeeds in forcing José's mental strength back to its full potential. [What?! No! Don't you dare send her here! God dammit! It's bad enough if the rest of us die; you can't send a young girl with poor combat experience to this battlefield!]

[My options are limited, Admiral,] Umi counters. [Do not worry. You should be well-aware of a Titan-class Battlesuit's combat potential. Officer Soren Mudrose will not only be all but invincible, but she will potentially be able to rescue you and prevent any unnecessary casualties.]

[If Soren lumbers in here with a Titan-suit, she's liable to bring the roof down on our heads!] José roars. [Shit! She won't know how to control that much firepower! Just one wrong move and she'll kill us all!]

[I have factored in the potential for catastrophe,] Umi replies, her robotic monotone giving off a sense of assurance. [However, you must do your part, Admiral. Do not fall in battle, and do not overtax your brain. Psionic powers are too draining for Terrans to use without restraint. You should lower your limiter back to Level One and focus on preserving your life until Soren reaches your position.]

[I can't do that.] José retorts. [Yama holds all the cards. If I back off and don't fight with all my strength, he might wise up and circle around behind me to take Megla and the others hostage! That Survival Suit might be able to protect Megla and Lele if she holds the kitten close, but all the other Kessu will be totally defenseless!]

He continues. [Shades are weak to light, but I didn't bring anything capable of outputting a lethal luminosity. Even my nanites have limits. I'm running on fumes, and I have to take a risk. Even if I can't kill Yama, I have to try! Maybe I can scare him away, at least until Soren arrives...]

Before the Admiral can continue further, the monster army arrives in front of him. José swallows his explanations, leaving it to the synthmind to figure out why his plan is the only sensible choice at this moment.

Admiral Rodriguez unleashes a counterattack at the apex of his limits. He flattens dozens of enemies with telekinetic compression blasts, crushing them with gravitic power beyond what their bodies can handle. Dozens of orcs explode into meat chunks as the weight of mountains presses on them from above, but their Hellhound mounts only suffer a few moments of slowdown before continuing.

"Roaaaar!!"

Two Hellhounds dart left and right, then leap at José's flanks with their open maws aimed at his jugular. He stomps his foot against the floor, causing them to abruptly stop in midair and slam against the rocky ground. "Aiiyee!"

The Admiral flickers forward, his feet moonwalking across the ground as if he's become an ice skater. He dodges and weaves, evading multiple dangerous melee attacks from orcs and goblins, all while beelining for the six gigantic Gate Trolls in the rear.

Megla still has the Living Moldanium Rifle, José thinks. She can take care of any small fry that get past me, but these Trolls are beyond her ability to fight. I have to slaughter them first!

The Admiral envelops his body with psionic energy. He kicks off the ground and rushes toward a giant Troll, one with cherry-red skin. The monster grabs at him, but it moves a step too slow. Admiral Rodriguez flies head-first into its chest, turning himself into a living missile. He rips through the Troll's skin and bone like a carving knife, tearing out its ribs and entrails through the monster's back.

"Graaaah!!"

The monster howls in pain, but José doesn't let up. He instantly reverses direction and smashes against its back, then tears out of its front, creating a second gaping hole on the creature's body.

Unable to withstand the pain, the Gate Troll crashes forward and falls to the ground. Its collapse startles the other monsters, making them look at the Terran in a new light.

"Fleshbag fly?" One orc asks. "Kill Troll? How so strong?!"

"Not normal fleshbag. Big strong one!" A different orc answers. Both of them converse in their own language, though if necessary, José could easily understand them through his universal translator. "We get much honor if we kill! No fear!"

"Yeah! Many kill, big slaughter!"

The orcs both draw their weapons; giant curved scimitars. Before José can continue toward a second Troll, twenty nearby orcs charge him from every direction. The Admiral starts to crush them like before, only for his vision to momentarily go dark.

Ugh... my mind is slipping...

He grimaces.

I can't lower my limiter to Level One! I can't! Yama might have other subordinates, someone capable of impaling me when I'm too distracted! I just have to keep fighting and... and hope!

Admiral Rodriguez shakes his head once again. He quickly flickers backward and retreats, narrowly avoiding the multi-pronged, potentially lethal combination attack. He zips back in the direction of Megla and the Kessu, heaving his chest with considerable difficulty.

Blood drips from not only the Admiral's nose, but his eyes and ears, too. He coughs up a mouthful of clear fluid and gasps in surprise.

Cerebral hemorrhaging already?! Not good. I only have minutes left at best!

The moment Admiral Rodriguez loses his train of thought, the unthinkable happens. A gigantic shadow-fist suddenly bursts out of the ground and crashes into him, uppercutting José and blasting him into the sky!

BOOM!

José plows into the ceiling at a quarter of the speed of sound. His ragdolling form drags along the cave's roof and gouges out a trench, spraying rock and dirt in all directions. As soon as he loses some of his momentum, José falls away and spirals to the ground below. He hits the rocky floor with a tremendous thud, causing a crater to form as he drags just a bit further. Eventually, his careening form slows to a stop, leaving behind a long trail of thick, viscous blood.

Exhausted, beaten, and battered, José lays motionless for five seconds before hazily blinking his eyes.

[Warning! Severe internal damage detected throughout Admiral Rodriguez's body!] Umi exclaims. [Recommend immediate medical assistance. Seventy five broken bones detected. Multiple internal organs have collapsed. Imminent failure state assumed!]

The Admiral stares forward, his vision dancing erratically. With his face buried half an inch into the rocky floor, he mostly ends up inhaling bits of dirt, along with blood and bone from his broken nose.

"Huk... huk..." José gurgles. He struggles to breathe thanks to countless bones in his chest impaling his internal organs.

Not far away, a black figure materializes. Yama, the Emperor of Shadows, rubs his fist. The miasma comprising his body trembles from having come into close contact with such a dangerously bright object.

"Filthy human. Did you think we wouldn't dare to hit you?! We will never allow one of your kind to bully us! For daring to rip and tear your way through our harem, we will sentence you to a never-ending cycle of perpetual torment, one which will culminate in a most agonizing death! Kekekeke!!"

Multiple other Shades materialize around Yama. They also keep their distance from José, but evil looks of glee play upon their faces as they observe the rapid decline of his glowing skin.

"Look, Master! The fleshbag's skin is losing its luster! He's on his last legs!"

"Order the orcs to take him away! With the human defeated, we can capture those females he fought so hard to protect! Hahaha! That is what happens when anyone attempts to get in this king's way!"

Yama cackles with glee. His words reach José's ears, but the Admiral finds himself in such a delirious daze that he can barely comprehend Yama's words.

Capture... girls... no...

Body hurts. Starting to fade. Can't think.

Is this... where it ends?

At least... now... I can see them again. See everyone. Won't be alone anymore...

A bloody tear forms in the corner of José's eyes. He stares into the ground blankly, unable to even twitch a muscle.

Evelyn... Nick... haha... I've missed both of you... so much.

José's eyes flutter for a moment.

Then... they close.

The Admiral's glowing body slowly dims, shrouding the caves in darkness once again.

Immediately, countless shadows descend upon him. The Shades grab the Terran's arms and legs to pin him against the floor.

One of the shades cackles. "Hahaha! Stupid human. You don't have any juice left! Now, Master Yama will torture you and turn your women into his playthings! He won't let you die... he'll make you suffer for what you've done! Wahahaha!!"

Another Shade grins evilly. "All that fighting, and he still lost. Humans are truly the most pathetic creatures in the galaxy. No wonder they all perished, leaving only this lost lamb behind. They were no threat after all!"

Yama, the Emperor of Shadows, proudly struts toward José. He kneels in front of the all-but-dead Terran and reveals a disgustingly wretched grin.

"And now, little fleshbag... we will teach you what it means to suffer."

...

Several miles distant, near the cave's entrance, a violent boom causes a tremendous shockwave to blast outward in every direction. A terrifying wave of air pressure surges throughout the cavernous reaches as a gigantic metal tube plows into the planet's surface at three times the speed of sound. Its impact causes the entire mountain range to shudder and all of the shades surrounding José to look up in alarm.

"Huh? What was that?"

"Don't know. It sounded like one of those 'bombs' Master once told us about."

"Did the human plant a bomb, then? Did he plan to seal us all underground?! That tricky bastard!"

The Shades quickly converse with one another, uncertain of what to do. However, Yama doesn't pay the noise much heed.

"Hmph. Who cares about the struggles of one dying fleshbag? Salt, Pepper, you two go and find out what happened. The rest of us will move on to capture the females. And you orcs over there, stop standing around with your thumbs up your butts! Grab this sack of meat and drag him back to our lair!"

The orcs nod dumbly. "Yes, boss. We do a drag like you say!"

Yama nods, then turns away from the unmoving Terran.

"Good! Hehehe! Now, we can finally wrap our claws around those juicy, tight little morsels. Voluptuous! Come with us. You will shackle the crocodile, while we will seize the little one. We wish to ravage her before her family and laugh at their helplessness!"

"Yes, Master," Voluptuous answers, bowing her head meekly.

Both shadows flit away, with countless others following in their wake.

...

Elsewhere in the cave system, several miles away.

A gigantic robot, twenty feet tall, steps out of the metal cylinder containing it. Its pilot shakes off a moment of dizziness as she adjusts her breathing.

"Sister... Admiral... I'm coming to save you!"