Chapter 170

　　"Ten minutes! Hold for ten more minutes, and then we retreat!" Argyle shouted.

　　Piloting the Assault Class Mech Judgement,` the Prince was on the front lines fighting the endless Vore. Slicing through a Soldier variant with a vibrating sword, Argyle fired his dual, shoulder-mounted PPCs into a line of approaching creatures, cutting through them and clearing a path for his troops to regroup.

　　The conflict had retracted significantly to the point where the humans were clustered just in front of the glowing Silver Pyramid. Their losses were staggering, and Argyle knew now that Alexander had been correct. They would only need a few Starships to flee the Sphere with those who remained.

　　Argyle had left coordinating the conflict to his father, who was overseeing the final preparations for the detonation. Above them, the red sun had expanded to hundreds of times its regular size. The artificial star was distorting as it grew, losing its sphere shape and becoming oval.

　　To the troops, they knew the end was coming even without the confirmation from their Prince. Soon, they would abandon the Pyramid and escape to the Starships. Even if the Vore destroyed the Pyramid after they had left, it would be too late to stop the detonation.

　　For Kal, the last hour had been a thing of nightmares. They had fought multiple Monarchs, and each time the creatures were defeated, they would return stronger and would adapt to their tactics.

　　"Kal!" Katherine shouted as Atlas slammed into the ground. With the force behind the Monarch`s attack, the Titan dug a nearly mile-long trench in the ground.

　　This Monarch was different from the others they had faced. After they had landed a few blows on its body, the creature had destroyed and absorbed thousands of Vore around it. Its body enlarged to three times its normal size, gaining additional arms.

　　Worse than its physical abilities, its telekinetic barrier and attacks had reached an entirely new level. It seemed able to predict their movements and respond with frightening quickness.

　　Not hearing a response from Kal, Katherine rushed toward the Vore to distract it while Kal recovered.

　　"Patrick, shield Atlas!" Katherine ordered as time appeared to slow around her. She saw Sovereign standing in front of the downed Atlas. Its sceptre was raised as a golden shield glowed brightly around it. For now, the barrier on Sovereign was still impenetrable, but the Vore were testing the limits of its power.

　　Hyperion rushed around the side of the Monarch, avoiding its eyeline as she looked to test its barrier. She had found through trial and error that the telekinetic ability they used to protect themselves had weaknesses. It surrounded their entire bodies but could be penetrated with enough force if the Vore was distracted or focusing on something else.

　　It was like they had a limited amount of psychic power that they could use to defend or attack, but not both simultaneously. To strengthen their barrier in one location meant weakening it in another.

　　So, Hyperion looked for holes. Zipping around the battlefield, her knives slashed at the shield surrounding the Monarch. Katherine would withdraw as soon as she felt the barrier begin to trap her. Once the Titan`s movements became sluggish, she would leap away and come at the Vore from a different angle.

　　It was like a dance. Each movement of hers would bring a counter from the Vore. She wasn`t sure if its speed was increasing or if it was better able to respond to her actions, but she was no longer untouchable on the battlefield.

　　Slashing again without finding an opening, she stepped away just as a streak of orange energy struck the barrier. Luminous had been clearing the smaller Vore away from where the Titans were fighting, but it seemed she was finally free.

　　The orange lightning bolt hung in the air to the left side of the Monarch, drawing its attention toward the other Titan. Not letting the opportunity pass, Katherine ducked behind the creature quickly. This time, she drove both of her vibrating blades into the Monarch`s back.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

　　It was like trying to stab sand; they merely sunk into the barrier without reaching the Vore, but it gave Luminous an opening.

　　"Empyrean Chastisement!" Iris shouted, and the crystal orbs formed a dozen concentric rings between her Titan and the Monarch. A bolt of orange lightning struck the first ring, buzzing around the orbs quickly before shooting to the next.

　　Each time it jumped, the strength of the bolt grew stronger. The energy changed colour, growing lighter as it passed through each ring until it was blindingly white.

　　With a deafening crack, it struck the Monarch. So powerful was the energy that it bypassed its telekinetic barrier instantly and burned a hole directly through the creature`s chest. There was a shimmer of electricity around the Vore before the barrier fell, and it plummeted to the ground at the feet of the two Titans.

　　"Good work!" Katherine exclaimed.

　　It was the fourth Monarch they had defeated, and even though the creatures evolved in response to the conflict around them, the Titans were adapting as well. They were working better as a team and becoming more comfortable with their abilities.

　　"Thanks. I`m glad that`s the last of them for now. Luminous may be ready to keep fighting, but I need a break. That last attack is too draining." Iris admitted.

　　She was sweaty and exhausted. Directing so many of the crystal orbs was exhausting, and they hadn`t had any chance for a break since the fighting started.

　　The Titans were powerful, but their limited number and invaluable presence on the battlefield meant there was no relief. At least the soldiers on the front lines could rotate to the rear.

　　"I`m the same. Hyperion is good for a sprint, but this battle is a marathon. I don`t know if I can use Strident Blades` again without a rest. But it`s almost over. Another seven minutes, and we can begin the evacuation. Patrick, how`s Kal doing?" Katherine asked. Sovereign lowered its shields after the Monarch had fallen and carefully lifted Atlas from the ground.

　　"He`s in rough shape, but he`ll live." Patrick replied.

　　"I`m fine." Kal added. His face was covered in blood, and the screen of his helmet was cracked. Despite the gel cushioning, the last blow from the Monarch had caused him to strike his head on the cockpit`s terminal as he landed.

　　"Stay back. Let us do the heavy lifting for now, Kal. We wouldn`t want you to die just when we`re at the finish line." Patrick responded, and Kal let out a derisive snort at the comment.

　　"Kal, Is a dead Vore supposed to do that?" Katherine asked, turning away from the others as she noticed movement from the Monarch`s corpse. Something was squirming beneath its skin, like worms that were struggling to break free from the flesh that contained them.

　　The limbs and torso of the Monarch began to twitch and spasm.

　　"Sensors are showing that it`s deceased&What in the world?" Patrick asked. It was bubbling now, like the liquid inside of its boiling. The Monarch left a monstrously large corpse, easily over four hundred feet in length and so massive that it dwarfed the Titans beside it.

　　Black liquid began to leak from its orifices, forming pools on the ground. Katherine and Iris stepped back cautiously, careful not to let the liquid touch their Titans. In places, the torso of the Monarch bulged suddenly, like a cyst ready to burst.

　　"Retreat! Patrick, form the shield!" Kal shouted. He was already moving, dragging the slow-moving Katherine away from the dead Monarch. She hadn`t been lying when she said she was having trouble with fatigue. The Hyperion felt like it was fighting against her control.

　　She was tired, and the Titan knew it. Her old fears were returning, and her feeling of control when training with Kal was quickly evaporating.

　　Kal, Iris and Katherine had barely maneuvered their Titans behind the expanding shield of Sovereign when the first of the corpse`s cysts popped. A spray of black liquid formed a geyser out of the body, sending droplets across the ground and striking the Sovereign`s golden shield.

　　To Patrick`s shock, he felt the Titan`s power begin to ebb. Whatever the droplets were, they were eating away at the shield and were forcing the Titan`s reactor to draw on more energy to replace it. Another spray of black liquid erupted from another part of the corpse, and soon it was raining black blood.

　　The ground around them was dyed black, and the metal surface outside of their shield became pitted and eroded from the liquid.

　　"I`m not going to be able to hold it!" Patrick shouted as the golden shield began to show signs of failure. Its deep colour was quickly lightening in spots, and he knew it was only a matter of seconds before it failed.

　　"Celestial Desolation!" Kal shouted, driving the power of the Atlas outward. The increased gravity forced many of the droplets to crash to the ground before they reached the shield, but even then, wave after wave of eruptions shot out of the Monarch`s corpse and it was too much for even Atlas to prevent.

　　The shield failed, and the Titans were exposed to the liquid. Kal watched the armour of Atlas, already damaged from the battle, suffer even more. Like acid, the liquid ate away at the metal, making it weak and brittle.

　　Finally, the black rain ended. The Vore`s body was gone, and a lake of black liquid was in its place.