They stood there for a while, under the remaining trees. Sasha was just staring at the sunset, lost in thought. The unconscious bodies were still on the ground, vines wrapped around them.

  Slava had learned quite a lot in this fight. The suit was extremely malleable. It helped him with control and reach. It was exactly like a living organ, an extension of himself that allowed him to better use his strength. If he wasn't careful, he would become dependent on it.

  "You guys should leave," he suddenly heard Serena say. Both he and Kolya had turned to look at her. At the same time, he felt a chill go down his spine. "It's coming." Her voice was neutral, same as always, but for some reason, he heard a hint of worry in it.

  Barely did he get to process the information that he saw Sasha fall to her knees. Soon after, he felt an enormous pressure overwhelming him. Something was attempting to infect him through his domain. The black suits in the vicinity flared up. Glaring up with difficulty he saw it, the Gamma suit.

  In the light of the setting sun, atop one of the arena's dilapidated walls, stood an ominous figure. Black smoke was radiating from it. With its arrival, Serena's plants instantly began to rot. He felt like black tendrils were extending toward him.

  As he was grinding his teeth trying to resist this ominous force, he saw vines growing around them. They rushed through the rot, reaching the figure. Swiftly evading, it jumped spinning through the air. At that moment, the invisible force invading him subsided. Every vine that as much as grazed it was seemingly vaporized.

  Landing around one hundred meters away, it smashed its hand onto the ground, a black misty wave spreading from it making all vegetation rot. Seeing this, Serena moved in front of them, raising her hand. When she did, a huge wall of vegetation grew, stopping its advance.

  "Oh, Dr. Rue! It's nice to see you again," the voice that came from the figure was deep and shredded, jerky. "No, sorry, should I call you Thorn? Or did it change again? Tell me, Serena." For the first time, Slava saw a shocked expression on her face.

  "What? You don't remember me?" As these words were spoken, the suit around the figure partially retreated revealing a feminine figure. When she finally saw her face, Serena showed an expression of disappointed disgust. Her suit didn't fully retreat from it. Instead, it looked like it was attached to it. Some of her black veins could be seen pulsing, dark smoke was rising from her pores, the darkness accentuating her features.

  "Are you another one of his experiments?" Her voice was now indifferent. All signs of her intrigue were gone. She didn't seem to remember her. Turning back around she addressed them looking straight at Kolya.

  "You have to leave. Now!" Before they could act, the woman screamed. "Fuck," Serena murmured, snapping her fingers. Following her movement, trees rose from the ground separating them from her.

  "You bitch! You killed Jason and you don't even remember?" Her words made the trees shake. Slava couldn't see her but he could feel her rushing in, her voice getting closer and closer.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  "Why?" She screamed. "Why are you protecting them?" Her voice was back to being muffled. "Since when do you care for people other than yourself?" He could hear the sounds of battle. Roots squirming, branches sizzling. "I sacrificed everything to get here, just so I could get to kill you!" Following another clash and sizzle, she continued, "what did you sacrifice?"

  The cacophony of sounds was overwhelming, but under it all, Slava clearly heard Serena's whisper. "More than you could ever imagine."

  After her mumbling, he heard a loud "Bang!" and in the next moment, a figure came crashing down next to them, tumbling through the trees.

  On guard, he watched it stand back up. Now that it was in front of him, he could clearly see it. The suit burned in black flames, it had a skull for a face with flaming hair flowing down its back, black tendrils extending from it, and enormous claws adorning its fingers. As he saw it crawl out of the crater, he noticed the plants sizzling under its monstrous feet. So this was a Gamma suit. You could barely call it a suit at this point, it was more an extension of her body. He wondered; was his suit also considered Gamma? Probably not, it could no longer be classified under the military standards and even then it was modified from an Alpha suit.

  Normally exosuits were divided into three classifications. For example, his suit, before it was modified, was originally identified as AlphaS6. The sixth version of series S, model Alpha. Model Alpha was a light infantry model designed for maneuverability and swiftness. It was the most common and allowed for the most modifications. In contrast, the Beta model, like the one Kolya had, was bulkier, had greater firepower, and was a lot more durable while being less modifiable and maneuverable.

  The last type, Gamma, was rare to see. Honestly, for normal soldiers, they were simply legends. He didn't know the AITF had them on hand, they would serve better on the front line. They were extremely specialized units piloted by the best that would go tow to tow with the strongest Tainted.

  Noticing his stare, the figure turned towards him. He couldn't react fast enough. When he tried to access his domain, he felt enormous pressure coming from her.

  "You're interesting," she said, the skull splitting open revealing her face. "Why are you with her?" Retracting her claws, she grabbed his chin, forcing him to look up at her.

  "Slava!" He heard Kolya scream. "Slava huh? Intriguing name," she was tapping into his suits' communications. He could only watch, angrily staring into her dark almost black irises. He felt the tendrils slowly wrapping around his body.

  "Leave him alone you monster!" Sasha screamed, spinning her spear and rushing in their direction. When Sasha's spear appeared behind her, a tendril wrapped around it. Like a snake wrapping around its prey, it stuck to the spear, reappearing at Sasha's location and restraining her.

  "Me a monster?" She laughed. "Do you even know who she is?" Looking through the hole she left in the trees, her eyes widened. Letting them go, the skull reformed around her face and she jumped. Kolya didn't hesitate, he rushed in grabbing them both. At the same time, the trees retreated around them and a giant hand smashed onto the ground. In front of them now knelt a giant Serena holding the woman down with her palm.

  "Now you pissed me off Anyxa," she said staring her down. It was amazing, how did she do it? Her figure was the same but she was much larger. To him that wasn't its target, her gaze felt like an enormous weight on his shoulders. Anyxa was struggling to move. Sizzling roots were wrapping around her, preventing her from moving even an inch. Looking to the side Serena spoke once more.

  "Leave," she told Kolya, her glare stern. Kolya didn't hesitate. Before she had even finished her word, he'd dashed off into the sky.

  "So you do remember," he heard the twisted voice laugh. Looking back, he could see Serena shrinking back, vines spreading all around her, blocking his vision.