Chapter 167

　　Praxis felt the Monarch`s control over Prometheus loosen as soon as the Vore disappeared in the blinding light of the onslaught of explosions Wraith had unleashed.

　　The cacophony of thunderous Lasgun fire and exploding missiles was deafening. Unlike Prometheus, which could destroy vast swathes of land and enemy forces, Wraith concentrated all of its firepower in a single area.

　　When a mushroom cloud of dust, debris, and superheated air began to rise, another explosion would restart the entire process.

　　Finally free of his restraints, Praxis laughed loudly as he witnessed the Monarch be obliterated before his eyes.

　　"Take that, you bastard! Not so invincible now, are you?!" Praxis taunted, allowing his typical calm and in-control demeanour to lapse for the moment. Still, the damage had been done to his Titan, and it seemed that he would need to return to the Silver Pyramid for repairs.

　　Hopefully, the Imperial Engineers had the capabilities to fix Prometheus, or they would be down a Titan for this battle.

　　Wraith allowed his illusions to still. Their attack ended as quickly as it began.

　　"I doubt anything could survive that." Yanis commented. Even a Titan would have been overwhelmed by the intense destruction he had wrought on such a limited area. Despite his words, he watched the still-smoking location where he had last seen the Monarch with a careful eye.

　　"I`ll need to head back for repairs. Do you have this area under control?" Praxis asked as he directed the Titan to drift closer to the ground. Yanis could see the damaged armour plates on Prometheus, and he guessed that the impairment to the Titan`s system must be severe if Praxis was in such a hurry to return.

　　"I have everything in control. The conjuring can last for hours, and there`s no-" Yanis was cut off as something pierced the smoke and cloud of dust where the Monarch had last been. It travelled so quickly that Praxis couldn`t see what happened, only the result.

　　A line of light was burned into his eyes, an afterimage of an attack. It split the distance between the cloud and Wraith in an instant, piercing through its cockpit with an ease that seemed unreal to the Earl. Wraith stood for a second, almost stunned by the unbelievable attack, before it crumpled to the ground.

　　The conjured illusions faded away, and their mosquito-like drones dropped like puppets whose strings had been cut.

　　"Yanis?" Praxis asked. Even with his experience in combat, he was confused by what happened. Nothing should have been able to pierce the shields and armour of a Titan with such ease. But the evidence was right in front of him.

　　Something had pierced through the Titan`s cockpit, instantly killing Yanis Samira.

　　Praxis watched in horror as the smoke and dust cleared, revealing the Monarch. It was whole and relatively undamaged. He could see traces of burns and cuts on its grey skin from where Wraith`s attack had struck true, but it was relatively minor when compared to the loss of a Titan.

　　The Monarch`s hand was still raised, its clawed finger pointing at where Wraith had been. Seeing the evidence of the Titan`s demise, it slowly lowered its hand, while behind it, a wave of more Vore Drones and Soldiers climbed out of the rift.

　　The flowing black liquid that shrouded the creature appeared to be significantly lessened than before. Praxis suspected it had something to do with how the Monarch had shielded itself from the explosions.

　　His guess was confirmed a moment later when the Monarch waved its hand toward a group of Vore Soldiers. The monsters staggered momentarily before collapsing into black liquid pooling along the ground.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

　　Praxis watched in horrid fascination as it crept along the ground and climbed the Monarch`s body, healing its wounds and replacing the shroud that it had lost.

　　"I`m no easy prey, monster." Praxis growled, and flames rushed out of the Prometheus, cloaking in an orange-red pillar of fire.

　　Immediately, notifications sounded out in the cockpit, warning of irreparable damage and an over-taxed environmental regulation system unable to keep up with the intense heat being generated. Praxis silenced them with a thought.

　　He knew that he wouldn`t be walking away from this battle alive.

　　Prometheus pushed off the ground, shooting toward the Monarch on wings of fire. The Vore merely raised its arms, and a field of energy the likes of which Praxis had never seen before surrounded it. Shouting loudly, the Titan slammed into the barrier, and everything for hundreds of miles in every direction disappeared in an inferno.

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　　As Kal was speeding eastward, he saw what he mistakenly took as the rising sun for a moment before the reality of where he was struck him.

　　A fireball hundreds of miles in diameter spread out from where he knew the Titans were fighting. With the light came a harsh wind of intense heat, and Kal was forced to ground Atlas to resist the storm winds.

　　Digging the Titan`s hands into a crevice between two metallic plates, he waited for the wind to subside gradually.

　　Taking to the air once more, Kal was struck by the devastation in front of him.

　　Most of the Easter Sector was gone. Nothing but a gaping void in the Dyson Sphere remained. Some kind of defensive system the A.I. had left had engaged, forming a thin membrane over the rift, preventing the remaining atmosphere within the Sphere from escaping.

　　The troops that had been stationed here had retreated when the Titans began to fight, and thankfully they were not caught in the destruction.

　　Flying over the rift, he saw no living beings, no Titans or Vore. Even in the space outside the Sphere lacked the invading creatures. So intense were the flames that it must have driven them off temporarily.

　　"Caledon, backup will be arriving shortly. What is your status? Have you made contact with Praxis and Samira?" Argyle asked. The communication link was filled with static, possibly a result of the devastation around him.

　　Kal`s sensors weren`t picking up increased levels of radiation, but something was causing interference.

　　"Negative. Wraith and Prometheus are MIA, along with whatever they were fighting. I`ll continue to look but&.hang on, I`m getting something." Kal stopped speaking once his HUD registered something metallic and large drifting through space outside of the Sphere.

　　Kal directed Atlas through the gap. The Titan easily pierced the barrier preventing the atmosphere from rushing out. Once he was in the void, Kal sped toward the object his sensors had detected.

　　It was the Prometheus, the little that remained of it. The Titan was missing all of its limbs and most of its head. The torso was relatively intact, although it was charred black from the fire. To Kal`s surprise, he was receiving a life signal from inside, although it was faint.

　　"I`ve found the Prometheus. Inform the medics that Praxis is in critical condition." Kal ordered, but he didn`t get a response from his spotty communications.

　　Gripping the remains of Prometheus in Atlas` clawed hands, he flew back toward the Silver Pyramid while keeping an eye out for Wraith or the Vore Monarch they had been fighting. He saw neither, and a short time later, he landed in front of the pyramid, where a group of engineers and medics were waiting.

　　Kal set the charred wreck of the Prometheus on the ground before climbing out of the cockpit to speak with Argyle. The Prince had come rushing out of the Pyramid as soon as Atlas was sighted, and his face was a mixture of shock and well-controlled fear.

　　While the engineers worked on opening the cockpit, Kal relayed his findings to the Prince.

　　"This is a disaster." Argyle whispered, careful not to let many overhear his words. "One Titan incapacitated, another likely destroyed, all because of a single Monarch Variant? Did you see any trace of the creature?" Argyle asked.

　　"Nothing remained. We`ll need the sensor data from Prometheus in order to assess the Monarch`s abilities if we are to have any hope of stalling them long enough for the detonation to occur." Kal replied, and Argyle let out a deep sigh.

　　"We`ll be relying on you and the other Titans more than ever before this is over. We have six hours left. I pray that was the only Monarch we will be dealing with." Argyle replied before they were interrupted by a shout from the Engineers.

　　"Medics! He`s in rough shape!" The cockpit opened with a hiss of steam and smoke. Praxis was in critical condition, and the single glance of his figure by Kal before he was carried off let him know that the Earl was out of this fight, even if they could repair his Titan.

　　"We`ll send you the sensor data once we have it. Until then, guard the Eastern Sector. Fall back to the next line of defence and hold for as long as you can." Argyle assured him.

　　Taking a last look at the Prometheus, Kal nodded before climbing back into Atlas.