The swords that it previously wielded tightly were now by its side, sizzling at the grass it laid upon.

It struggled and struggled, looking around to try and find options. Energy blasts rained down on its person, damaging the bot’s shell and causing damage to the components inside it from the blunt trauma.

As its energy rifles overheated, Slasher reached for its superheated blades and managed to focus all its force into cutting deeper into the slash it had made previously. It had cut through some more important components, but the bot remained stood up as if nothing had really happened.

This only prompted it to fall back a step. With Slasher now free, it exploded away and began running through the trees as fast as it could.

Cael felt a glimmer of hope upon seeing his bot still in the game.

He pumped his fist to the sky upon seeing this and couldn’t help but smile. Cael was still in this.

The fight wasn’t over, though, as Cael reached out to manipulate his camera view. Upon doing so, he could see the bot speeding after his own. Its burly form moved with an alarming amount of speed, and the large gap between the two bots only continued to close.

The strides of Slasher were made with urgency and maximum effort. The bot was utilising the most energy from its mana stores that it could.

It turned corners and utilised its agility to try and gain the advantage over the bot that was chasing it, but this wasn’t so easy.

Its massive legs allowed it to move powerfully and quickly in one direction. Following the bot’s every route wasn’t a necessity. Its energy blasters also made Slasher have to take unorthodox routes as it was forced to evade the blasts, while also moving forward.

If it could follow Slasher’s general direction of movement, it would slowly cover the gap between them.

Seconds passed, and only steps now separated the two bots. Soon enough, Slasher ran forward as fast as it legs could go but only managed to remain an arm’s length away from the larger bot.

With a final energy blast square on its back, Slasher stumbled forward and lost a large amount of speed. The heavy bot had got its adversary just in the right place to win.

It charged forward with heavy but explosive strides, then extended its arm toward Slasher.

Cael’s hope was lost. His hands were now on his head as he witnessed this intense conflict unfold. His bot was about to be eliminated, and only at the hand of its second enemy.

Just before the bot could touch Slasher, a stray energy blast of colossal force and size slammed into its side. With its armour already in suboptimal condition from Slasher’s superheated blades, the armour melted and burned away.

The internals of the bot were revealed, and it then received a heavy assault of large energy blasts from a gigantic bot. It stood at far above 2 metres and even 7 feet. Its size was massive, and it was definitely well in the heavyweight class.

A full black, with red components across its exterior, the bot stared down its injured opponent with glowing red eyes. Slasher gave one last look to the bot that had been chasing it down, and took this opportunity to run away as fast as it could.

This juggernaut of a bot was more invested in the fighter that already looked to be on its last legs. It gave Slasher an attentive gaze, but turned its head back slowly thudded forward instead.

Slasher was saved at the last second, and Cael had remained in by a thread.

As time passed, Slasher’s aggressiveness slowly but steadily calmed. Cael was thankful for this, as he agreed with its decision.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

With 2 eliminations under its belt, there wouldn’t be a need to continue seeking out enemies to attack. Now, his main task would be to remain covert and wait for the player count to slowly but steadily dwindle.

The chaotic din in the surrounding forest soon subsided and was followed by an unsettling tranquillity.

Slasher remained slow, traversing through the tree branches and staying still whenever necessary. With its sensors, it could detect moving bots in the distance but it managed to keep its movements hidden or hide behind objects to keep down its energy signatures.

In dense, dim environments like these, thermal sensors were the paradigm in forms of types of sensors used.

Minutes passed, and Cael felt glad because it was clear that the player count was steadily decreasing.

As this happened, though, Slasher could see a blue translucent barrier approaching.

[Fighting Zone has decreased to account for lower remaining players]

[Exiting the blue barrier will result in immediate elimination]

Luckily, Slasher was smart enough to discern the meaning behind that statement too and jogged forward upon seeing the barrier approach.

It resembled a veil of energy and looked to stretch infinitely into the sky.

As Slasher continued forward, though, it started to notice more and more players. It was getting tougher to keep himself hidden, as he had to take unorthodox paths and spring behind objects when seeing targets.

Soon, the barrier stopped closing, but the zone had gotten significantly smaller. Cael could tell from the curvature within the barrier he could see. It was slight, but with this much curve the total circle girdling the zone wasn’t going to be very large.

Slasher came to an absolute stop upon seeing another bot walking past. It was a mediumweight, but significantly larger than Cael’s creation. The mechanic expected it to weigh 230 to 250 lbs.

His arms were now behind his back, and he surveyed Slasher’s surroundings to see where to head to next.

The forestry was shrouded in thick, tense air as Cael fearfully awaited what was going to happen next.

He was hoping for this bot to continue walking, but it did not. It scanned the surroundings, and looked puzzled upon seeing no targets.

However, it came to a stop as it faced Slasher.

Silence.

Cael wasn’t even there but it was like even he could not move too. Him and his bot were frozen in place, as this bot slowly tilted its head in a mechanical way.

There was a slight vibration that filled the silence as it did this, struggling to form a clear image of what was ahead.

Vrrm!”

The bot immediately lifted its hand, and the energy rifle on its shoulder began to glow. Slasher was caught.

“Darn it!” Cael blurted out, upon seeing this.

Slasher saw this immediately, looking from side to side to try and find an escape route. There wasn’t going to be any, and energy blasts could eventually tear through trees. Staying behind one wouldn’t be the best protection.

Leaping to its left, an energy blast slammed into the tree that it was previously using to protect itself.

Making an elegant roll, Slasher grabbed the katana at its right side using its left hand.

Fwoosh!

It dashed toward the larger bot, just managing to evade an energy blast that came its way. The bot was daring, but able to do so due to its agility.

Fear did not alter its decisions. Even in the heat of the moment, it could think sharply and know when to take risks and when not to.

Dropping down to slide across the muddy ground, Slasher cut at the bot’s flank with its superheated sword.

The sword wasn’t being given power directly from the bot’s mana cores, but was still hot enough to cut into the armour plate.

Nothing amounted from this slash, however, as it simply wasn’t deep enough. He leapt up and swivelled around, upon seeing its opponent approach.

Clank!

Numerous punches were thrown at Slasher, that used its impressive sword swinging abilities to either block or parry away the attacks. It used the sharp edge of the blade, where it wouldn’t snap off if something was to impact it.

It got the orientation of the sword just right so that hits would land on the sharp edge, also allowing it to deliver cuts when defending.

Although, the range between the bots was alarmingly close. Energy blasts rained down on Slasher from its adversary’s energy rifle.

The force behind each blast forced Slasher back, while causing further damage to its armour plates. Each strike would melt the impacted area of the armour, while also cracking the other parts that remained hard and solid.

Each blast possessed enough force to knock Slasher back several steps. Its armour wasn’t extremely layered, to give it the chance to use better agility. However, it had been caught by surprise.

Distance was created between the two battling bots, and Slasher was now resting on a tree. It used the time for its body to cool, which made sure that further injuries weren’t incurred. Energy blasts wore down points on armour, making them even more susceptible to attack.

Keeping well back made sure its enemy couldn’t immediately do that.

Utilising this time, it also connected both of its blades to the dangling wires from its wrists. They glowed more brightly, and Slasher was ready to go.

It didn’t show any form of emotion to try and amp itself up but remained just as still and calm as before. This large bot’s rifle began charging up an intense blast through its single, wide barrel.

There was a deep, intense vibration as this happened, but this readied Slasher for whatever was coming.

BOOM!