I pushed myself to my feet, fighting off my panic, when the sky shifted. The endless void shimmered blue and red and black, inviolate by the bright light of the moon.

I rapidly backpedaled, dodging a lazy swipe from the scorpion’s crackling claw, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the sky. There was something wrong with it, with the way it shimmered and seemed to grow, someh—

The insane magnitude of what I was seeing wormed its way through my mind, and even when it connected, it took me a second to compute that I was not looking at the sky, but at formless, indecipherable terror.

Before, even with all its horrible mouths and eldritch, impossible angles, it had still somewhat resembled a snake.

Now it was just a dark writhing mass of gnashing metal teeth, crazed, illogical machinery, and hunger.

[̷̨̧̨̡̡̛̰͍̻̭̖̦͔̖̻̱̫̭̲̦͇̈́̓͋̊̐̈́̇̽͗̎̒̐͊̉̍̅͜͠͠

D̶̡̨̲̘͈͕̳͇̹̰̲̜̱̩̺̳͙̜͎̯͑̈́̈́̈́͆̌͗͗́͘͜͝͝͝o̸̧̧̨͕͔̻̞̦̗̣̪͉̲͙̖̫̰̫̮̼̯̟̞̥͈͇̔̀̿̆̄͜ ̴̢̧̛͉̺̟̬̜̞̖͇̟̹̻̲̞̙͈͔̠͔͕͓͑͋͐̿̉̓͌̈́̏̋͑̒̀̐̎̇͊̐͋̌̉̏̂͂͗̚̚͘ͅñ̴̢̛̗͔̯͉̼̒̄̏͐̆͛̈́͑̎̈́͒̕͠ó̶̭̍̌̎̌̿̈̾͆̽̈́̀̔̕t̶̢̢̡̩͈̫̹̣̦̤̘͍͓͔̭̺̘͐̌̈́͛͋̄̾̒̓̀͆͒̂͆̈͛̕͘̚̚͜͠ ̴̧̨̫͍̳̫̟͙͓̞̜̮͈̮̯̰̰̙͊̿̍͊̈͑̊̃̏̊̿́̈̈́͊̈́̽͛̃́̈͋̕͠͝ͅq̴̢̻̙̦̣̘͒́̅͑̈̑̄̀̀̽̎̎̎̉̃̒̅͌̀̉͛ư̵̡͚͔̗̯͎̹̠̥͙͈̘͔̲̘̜͓͕͚͉͍͙̥̺̯̱̖͔̪̈́̀̄̇́͑̓̋̀̓̇͛̽̈́̽͑̏̆̓́̊͗̽̚̚͠e̸̹͚̊̍̃̽̀̀̿̽̓̀͆̐̅̿̚͝s̷̢̠̝̦̗͕̲̪͔̯̱̝͍̖̳͔̱̼̯͙͙̖͋̌͆͗̐̽̒͒̅̐̈́̽͋͌̈́̇͆̍̇̈́́͘̚̕ţ̸̡̨̛͚̭̖͔̮͍̼̮̫̼͖̹̘̙̙̤͎͇͚̦̱̭̒̇͛̎͋͋͐̋̃͗̀̀̐̉̋̿̔̍͑̆̑̉̌̕̚̕͜i̴̧̺̬̮͕̗͚̳̔̋̇͊͗̄̀̌̀͋̏̋͆̾̀́̈́̾̑̈́̚̕͝͝͝͠ó̶̧͙͈͎̺̦͓̭̙̬͙͔͚͉̍̌͊̂̂͐̌͌̋̇̒̈͂͑̂͗͒͂ǹ̴̢̢͚͔͖͍̫̲̫͕͍̱͎̱͚͈͇̙͕̝̀͜͝ͅ.̵͓̬̻͉͕̟̳̘̬̖̙͚̲͇̭͈͗͗͗̀̉̎̌̀͂̎̿͌̕͠]̵̧̡͖͇͓͙̲̫͎̣̲͉̜̹̓́̑̈́͘͜

[DPM filesize: ????]

[>>Submit?]

Despite my better judgment, I slowed down. It was just what the scorpion needed to surprise me yet again. My attention whipped down as the glowing red pyramid atop its stinger hummed. A split second later, it unleashed a bright red beam of energy without any further warning. It sheared through the ground between us in the blink of an eye, leaving an angry red weld sizzling in the mosaic, and only a panicked sideways lunge saved my life.

As it was, the beam didn’t scorch my face, but it traveled over my ankle. Suddenly, I felt nothing but a serene warmth where my foot should have been. Then the red weld in the ground exploded, blasting me to the side. In a surreal, stomach-churning moment, I watched my foot (still spraying blood) sailing through the sky, landing somewhere deep within the dark network of alleyways.

The pain hit me the moment realization sank in.

[DPM integrity]

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I screamed, a bestial, inhuman sound that sounded utterly wrong even to me, my eyes fixed on the blood gushing from my stump leg.

“Sultana! Your blessing! Use it!” Zephyro yelled. I had no idea where he had come from, where he was, or where I was.

It took agonizing seconds for Zephyro’s words to reach me, lost in the deep haze of my pain. They had a powerless quality to them that sent my own fears to stratospheres unknown, before I even understand the words. When I finally did, I pumped as much logic into my leg as I could, like a drowning person frantically reaching for a piece of driftwood.

{CONSUMED LOGIC - 200 LB}

{AVAILABLE LOGIC - 250 LB}

[DPM integrity]

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 112% ⚠ ▲▲

[DPM integrity]

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 100% ▼

{CPU Load: ▲ 85%}

{Core Temp: ▲ 84° C}

The pain vanished almost immediately; the panic took longer. Long enough for the scorpion to tower over me. Long enough for it to raise its right pincer, crackling with insane energy, poised to end me with the piston-powered strike. I rolled, and the chainsaw-claw struck the ground where I had lain, the high-powered machine spraying dirt and stones and drying blood everywhere.

As was to be expected, Zephyro had been close by, and wasted no time engaging the insect with a series of blindingly quick strikes of his scimitar.

I did not expect most of them to bounce off its shell. Zephyro did not bat an eye, glitched a step to the side, and resumed his assault.

“laenat allah ealayk! Flee, Sultana! You must get away! To the fortress!”

The same moment he said that, the gargantuan mass that had been the snake shuddered, opened its many horrible mouths, and howled.

It sounded like the warbled, blasphemous recording of a muezzin played in reverse. Its nauseating sound haunted through the city. The horrible melody bounced off shattered walls, ruined garden rooftops, empty streets with cracked cobbles, indomitable fortress gates, and permeated the endless void that had devoured the night sky.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

For a second, there was nothing but silence.

Then, from the darkness that engulfed the city, the answer came in howls and hisses and screeches and doom.

[>>compiling… 99%]

[>>Done.]

[>>compiled remote_access_array_alpha_001.exe]

{NEW PROGRAM INSTALLED: remote_access_array_alpha_001.exe}

[//run remote_access_array_alpha_001.exe]

[>>Now running remote_access_array_alpha_001.exe]

{Memory: 50/40 LKB RAM ⚠}

[//exit remote_access_array_alpha_001.exe]

[>>terminated.]

{Memory: 40/100 LKB RAM: REQUIRES 300 LB}

{AVAILABLE LOGIC - 250 LB}

“FUCK!” I yelled and got up as fast as I could. My first two steps were cautious, but my foot felt as good as new. “Zephyro, buy me time!” I could still feel the remnants of my rage pushing me forward, but I had no time to worry about it.

“No, you must— oof!” The scorpion had slammed its electric claw into the Vizier's side as he was distracted and sent him flying into a nearby house. It took less than two seconds before a beam of pure moonlight shot from the hole and singed a plate of the beasts’ armor into a red-hot slab. The monster roared like a street-illegal motorcycle, and rushed after the vizier immediately, cramming its claws into the hole like a cat fishing for a mouse.

… which left Pharus lying in a heap of debris, lightless…

…behind three bike-sized spiders, eying me hungrily.

I actually growled and dashed forward, shielding my face with my arms. I noticed that finely woven kevlar protected both my arms now, which was helpful as the fucking beasts skittered forward their legs stabbing wherever they could. Finally, my exertions caught up with me, and Arx collapsed. Now every cut, every stab left a gash in my armor that didn’t reseal.

{CPU Load: ▲ 92%}

{Core Temp: ▲ 85° C}

{[Arx, A Saint’s Terrified Embrace] HAS BEEN DISABLED.}

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I cursed. Where did they even come from? Hadn’t we destroyed all the spider-minds already?

Breathing heavily and bleeding from several gashes, I manage to leave the spiders behind in my dash toward Pharus. I risked a glance sideways toward Zephyro, hoping he was doing better than I.

The scorpion roared as another beam hit it below the tail, searing through a pustule growing out of the holes on its back. The beast shook itself, and several spiders popped out of its back like parasites out of a zit.

Now I knew the answer to that question, and I wished I didn’t.

Luckily, a stray beam of moonlight caught the newly “born” spiders before they had time to get their bearing, their Logic immediately pouring back into the Scorpion to be recycled into slowly bubbling pustules.

I was almost there. I heard a shovel-on-asphalt-chirp, dodged and punched a spider aside as it landed, its attack going wide. Still moving, I bent down and reached for Pharus. The second I scooped up its handle, energy flowed through me, and the weapon ignited.

Using my momentum as a boost, I pulled on my weapons’ head stuck in the debris with all the strength I could muster. For a second, I thought it wouldn’t be enough, as the chain pulled taut and spun me around.

But then Pharus came free in a hail of splinters and dirt.

{[Pharus, Fury of the Torchbearer] HAS BEEN ENABLED.}

{Vincite, Clarifactrix!}

I spun and wasted no time, flailing at the spiders which had so nicely volunteered as tribute for my next upgrade.

They dodged and danced between my attacks, coming closer with each whiffed strike. My eyes narrowed, lips curled into a snarl. How dared they? When the first Feral came into range, it jumped, but I screamed in defiance, slapping it onto the ground with my gauntleted hand. The creature’s rusty metal edges cut through the leather and into my hand, but I did not stop, pinning it down and pulling Pharus back to me. I grabbed the censer like a rock and started bashing it into the beast, screaming with every strike.

{INCOMING LOGIC - 40 LB}

{AVAILABLE LOGIC - 250 LB}

When it broke, I inhaled the Logic like fresh mountain air, and only then turned my attention to the remaining Ferals. One of them had two bladed legs stuck in my armor, the other was in the process of thrusting a 30 centimeter knife straight at my head.

Focus, Sam!

I threw my head to the side, and Pharus’ censer into its face, pulled away from the other while haphazardly wrapping the chain around my arm. When they both attacked me at once, I thrust my arm in a wide sweep, and miraculously, it worked just as I had intended.

While I punched the left one to send it staggering back, the chain deflected the blades of the other, allowing me to get back to my feet and give Pharus a bit more reach. I used that immediately, cracking metal plates with a strike the dazed spider was unable to dodge. One more strike, I judged by its jerky movements and sparking circuitry.

When the second spider hesitated to calculate its path of attack, I didn’t hesitate and faked an attack towards it, sending it jumping back. But instead of letting Pharus hit the ground, I continued the motion, slamming it into the injured spider’s side. It burst open, and when the remaining Feral turned greedily towards the escaping logic, I dashed in, Pharus close, and drove it into the arachnid’s abdomen.

It spasmed and died, Logic leaking out of it like rapidly evaporating ichor.

I fell onto my rump, panting hard.

{CPU Load: ▼ 72%}

{Core Temp: ▼ 88° C}

{[Arx, A Saint’s Terrified Embrace] HAS BEEN DISABLED.}

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{INCOMING LOGIC - 80 LB}

{AVAILABLE LOGIC - 330 LB}