Ezra's grip on Orion tightened, his knuckles white as he wrestled with the struggling figure beneath him.
On the other side, Pharrell surged forward, his fist flying toward Carina. She immediately parried it, her right forearm meeting his strike with a crack. Her left forearm clamped onto his elbow, and with one opposing move.
Crack.
A snap tore through the tunnel as Pharrell’s forearm bent unnaturally, the jagged bone barely contained by his skin. His scream was a raw, guttural wail, echoing off the stone walls.
Carina didn’t hesitate. Her right hand shot up, her middle finger driving straight into Pharrell’s left eye. He convulsed, his howl turning into a choked, panicked cry as blood streamed down his face.
His remaining hand swung wildly, a desperate attempt to retaliate. Carina parried effortlessly, her arm swift as a blur as she blocked the blow and sent a kick to the back of his knee.
The joint buckled. Pharrell’s leg collapsed, his massive frame crashing down as his screams dissolved into guttural gasps.
Carina didn’t let up. She circled him like a predator, locking her arms around his throat. Her muscles coiled. One sharp twist.
Pharrell’s body jerked once. Twice. Then went still, collapsing into a lifeless heap on the ground.
The dust began to settle.
The Architect stood still, her face unreadable as Pharrell crumpled lifelessly to the ground.
Carina didn’t hesitate. She lunged at the Architect, her fists clenched, each step became louder and louder as she became faster and faster.
The Architect raised her arms, ready for the collision. Carina swung her right fist, a haymaker aimed to obliterate her opponent’s head, but the Architect ducked low, her movements were far more fluid.
A counter came fast—a brutal punch. It landed like a sledgehammer to Carina’s ribs, sending her reeling. Pain flared, but she gritted her teeth. Using the momentum, she shot her hand forward and grasped the Architect’s wrist as she spun.
With a furious tug and the help of gravity, she dragged the Architect’s arm over her shoulder and slammed her toward the ground.
The Architect twisted midair, catching herself on one arm and rolling forward. Her legs snapped out in a flurry, blocking Carina’s incoming kick before sweeping beneath her feet.
Carina hit the ground hard, her breath driven from her lungs. She retaliated immediately, rolling to her belly and driving her heel into the Architect's abdomen with explosive force.
“Disappear.”
The Architect hissed coldly.
Before Carina’s heel could connect, the Architect vanished in a flash of searing light.
“What the—?!”
Carina stumbled to her feet, her eyes darting wildly.
A blur materialized in her periphery.
The Architect was on her in an instant, knife in hand, thrusting the blade straight for her throat.
Carina reacted on instinct. She twisted away, seizing the Architect’s arm in a vice grip.
Her muscles burned as she wrenched the limb back, trying to snap it. But the Architect’s strength was inhuman—unyielding.
“Shield!”
The Architect barked.
A pulse of energy exploded from her wrist. It slammed into Carina like a wrecking ball, hurling her across the tunnel.
She crashed to the ground, skidding to a stop with a groan.
“Carina!”
Ezra shouted, staring toward her.
But Orion was faster. His hand clamped around Ezra’s neck like a steel vice, and his elbow drove into Ezra’s face.
The crunch of bone echoed as Ezra reeled, blood streaking from his nose.
With a quick yank, Orion ripped the jacket off his back, the M4 was slung beneath.
He immediately pulled the rifle by the sling and held the gun, aiming it at Ezra.
Orion pulled the trigger without hesitation.
The modified munition detonated with a thunderous crack, the shot igniting as the rifle bucked violently. The ammunition ejection door snapped out as sparks and flame from the gunpowder exited.
The barrel ripped away from the body, its corded projectile embedding deep into Ezra’s collarbone.
Ezra grunted in pain, his right hand clawing at the embedded bullet, another one trying to free the cable that tangled on his left arm, but Orion gave no reprieve.
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He spun the rifle barrel like a whip, the cord tightening around his forearm as he yanked with inhuman strength.
Ezra staggered forward, his body dragged by the cord’s brutal pull. Refusing to fall, he roared, throwing a desperate punch.
Orion ducked low, his movements a blur. His razor-sharp horn speared through Ezra’s abdomen, carving into flesh like a blade.
Blood sprayed as Ezra’s body went limp, the force sending him crashing into the wall behind.
Carina staggered to her feet, gasping, only to see the Architect charging straight at her.
The knife glinted menacingly in the dim light.
Carina braced herself, her heart pounding, the Architect closing in like a raging bull.
Carina’s hands trembled as she raised her knife, gripping it as if it were a spear.
Her legs wavered beneath her, betraying the fear coursing through her, but she stood firm, eyes locked on the Architect.
Bang.
Suddenly, a deafening roar shattered the air as 12 massive 120mm artillery guns erupted behind her.
The underground lit up in fiery streaks, the shells screaming toward her shield in a straight arc.
Boom!
The modified HESH shells slammed into the Architect's shield, detonating in devastating bursts that sent fragments of steel and rock slicing through the air.
Carina immediately stood up and ran away.
The Architect staggered, her shield flickering under the sheer onslaught before it shattered completely.
In the chaos, the ground quaked again as a massive weapon emerged from the smoke.
Workers frantically pulled away a tarp, revealing the towering barrel of an 800mm Schwerer Gustav replica.
It was carried to the upper ground by a huge elevator.
Behind the gun, the walls had already been destroyed.
“Load it now!”
A voice barked from the crew, as the gargantuan armor-piercing shell was rammed into the breech.
Carina’s pulse thundered in her ears.
There was no time to hesitate.
She sprinted through the smoke, her vision narrowing on the Architect, who remained eerily composed despite the carnage.
The Architect raised her knife in a deadly arc, but Carina met her mid-charge. She hurled herself forward, arms wrapping around the Architect’s neck in a crushing grip.
With a feral scream, Carina pivoted on one leg and hurled the Architect’s body into Orion like throwing a shot put.
The Architect's body crashed into Orion before he noticed. Their bodies rolling in a tangle of limbs.
Ezra seized the opening. His fingers gripped the loose cord. In a flash, he looped it around the horn and yanked it taut.
But Orion recovered fast.
His eyes flared with rage as he lunged at Ezra.
Before Orion could land a blow, Ezra drove his knee upward, smashing it into Orion’s crotch as hard as he could.
Orion roared in pain, doubling over.
Then he kicked his crotch again. Orion collapsed completely onto the ground.
Ezra used the momentum to leap onto his back, twisting the cord tighter around Orion’s horn.
He clawed at the remaining cord, managing to loop it around the Architect’s leg.
“What the fuck are you doing?!”
Orion bellowed, his voice raw with fury as he fought to rip the cord from his horn.
Nearby, the Schwerer Gustav crew worked quickly. The massive shell locked into place, followed by the hiss of the breech closing.
“Round ready to fire!”
Someone shouted.
Carina turned and bolted toward the cannon, her body a blur of motion. The ground beneath her shook as the enormous weapon prepared to unleash its wrath.
Ezra gritted his teeth, blood streaming from the deep gash in his collarbone.
He grabbed at the cord tangled in his left forearm, pulling with all his might to free himself.
Orion’s hand lashed out, gripping Ezra’s arm with iron strength, pinning him in place.
No other choice.
With a guttural growl, Ezra made a desperate decision.
He pulled the cord as the cable cut through his skin. He screamed loud, pouring all his power into his right hand. Then it snapped.
The sharp crack of bone shot through the air, and pain flared white-hot in his vision.
Ignoring the searing pain, Ezra raced back to safety, blood trailing behind him like a fuel tank leak, leaving Orion with the forearm.
Orion stared, wide-eyed, at the limp forearm he held in his grasp.
“Fuck you!!!”
Orion threw the arm away, struggled to free himself from the tangled cord around his horn while the Architect lay still and silent.
"Three!"
The worker’s voice thundered over the chaos.
Orion thrashed violently, his guttural screams echoing in the tunnel as he clawed at the tangled cord around his horn. Desperation twisted his features, veins bulging against his neck as he yanked and pulled.
But the cord refused to budge—knotted tight, no end in sight.
With a savage roar, Orion turned to his last, desperate option. Gripping his horn with both hands, he braced himself and twisted.
But he couldn't. His horns were too tough.
Frustration boiled over into a howl of despair that filled the tunnel like a storm.
Then, from the shadows of a side tunnel, a hulking figure emerged.
Orion froze mid-struggle, his fury giving way to disbelief.
Hassan.
The man lumbered forward in a massive juggernaut suit, the armor groaning under its own weight as he fought to lift his legs.
The heavy suit drove deep into the rubble-strewn ground.
His face was a ruin. Flesh mangled, shards of glass embedded like jewelry, his eyes sunken but alight with a grim purpose.
The worker's voice broke through the tension.
"Two!”
Hassan pressed on, unyielding. His movements were stiff, driven more by will than physical strength.
Reaching Orion, he raised both metal-clad arms, to shield him.
Suddenly, Hassan’s towering form crashed down, enveloping Orion in a massive embrace of steel.
The worker’s shout rang out like a death knell.
"One!"
Time seemed to freeze as the Schwerer Gustav roared to life.
The 800mm shell erupted from the barrel with a thunderous crack, the sheer force tearing through the air at impossible speed. The tunnel shook, debris raining down as the round bore down on them like a harbinger of doom.
At the last second, the Architect raised both arms, summoning a shimmering double-layered shield, its energy radiating a desperate brilliance.
"Long live the leader."
Hassan rasped, his voice barely audible over the cacophony.
Orion’s eyes widened, a glimmer of terror flickering in his blood-red pupils.
The shell hit.
The Architect’s shield shattered instantly, exploding into a storm of crimson shards that scattered like dying stars.
BOOM!
The detonation was cataclysmic. A blinding flash consumed the tunnel as the shell exploded, igniting everything in its radius.
The shockwave hurled molten shrapnel and jagged stone in all directions, drowning the world in chaos.
The deafening roar lingered, leaving ringing silence in its wake.
The tunnel was unrecognizable in an instant—a maw of scorched rock and twisted metal.
Flames licked at the rubble, the heat distorting the air in shimmering waves.
The explosion was still tearing through the air.
Behind, four Leopard 2 tanks made it to the surface. The crews slammed their throttles to full power.
Without braking, they crashed into the Schwerer Gustav’s back. As four of them lined up together, shifted to the first gear and floored the pedal, thick black smoke excited the exhaust, as the tanks began pushing the Gustav slowly.
Its massive steel wheels grind through rock, metal, and debris, crushing everything beneath its colossal weight.
“Detonate it now!”
Pungkas bellowed, his voice cutting through the chaos as he clambered up the ladder.
Without hesitation, one of the workers slammed the fuse switch.
BOOM!
The sound was earth-shattering. Thousands of dynamites erupted in a cataclysmic chain reaction, their fiery force ripping through the tunnel.
Solid rock buckled and split, sent hurtling into the air as jagged debris rained down in a lethal storm.
The steam engines didn't stand a chance. The containment units ruptured violently, releasing a surge of superheated steam that scalded everything in its path.
The pressure ignited a secondary explosion, shredding the steel mountings that had supported the tunnel's ceiling.
A hellish inferno consumed the corridor. Fire raced through the wreckage, feeding on the explosive power of the arsenal’s foundation.
The heat was unbearable, cold steel was immediately turned into liquid streaks of glowing metal that dripped onto the rubble below.
Within seconds, the tunnel collapsed entirely, a once-indestructible structure reduced to chaotic heaps of boulders and flames.
The Gustav surged forward, unstoppable.
Its massive frame bulldozed through the wreckage, flames licking at its armor as the behemoth carved a path of destruction through the inferno, carrying its crew deeper into the chaos.