The mont the two ch Fras stepped onto the battlefield, all eyes turned.
This includes the residents of the shelter who had no idea that they had huge robots hidden in their central area!
With their strong presence, even Threx the Glutton paused in its advance.
The monstrosity's many eyes squinted before its mouth split wider as if recognizing danger.
The huge mouth released a black mist as it devoured the debris blocking its path… It seed that the black mist was actually hastening its 'chewing' process…
In the anti, from the command center that was overseeing the whole situation within the shelter, Arial sent out a command.
"Initiate Titan Engagent Protocol. Threx must not reach the Central Region."
The Juggernaut ch moved forward…
With its twin rotary cannons spinning up, everyone witnessed how it released a storm of mana-infused rounds!
The attack imdiately tore into Threx's side, splattering blood and chunks of corrupted flesh.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each hit exploded like mini-grenades, forcing the zombie giant to stagger.
Vanguard ch, on the other hand, targeted its front and released a barrage of cryo missiles that detonated near Threx's legs! This attack slowed its movent with a sudden layer of frost appearing on its legs!
With this move, they successfully halted its movent and everyone, including Sona, could now safely retreat…
However, Threx retaliated with a speed unsuited for its huge size...
Its enormous tongue suddenly lashed out like a whip, wrapping around Juggernaut's cannon arm.
"Dammit!" Regina growled, activating her auxiliary thrusters. She could've dodged this attack if she didn't get too close to the Zombie Lord. She miscalculated the distance.
Still, the ch Fra that Cloud guided them to make wasn't ordinary… They used thousands of Reputation Points to obtain the core items from the Anima Store!
These ch Fras conquered planets and there was no way a monster like this could easily crush it!
Soon, the ch spun and dragged the tongue forcibly then triggered the Pile Bunker!
BOOM!
A thunderous crack echoed as the hydraulic spike pierced the disgusting tongue, severing it imdiately.
Threx scread and knocked so of the retreating Warden Units off their feet.
Suddenly, black mist erupted from its back and to everyone's surprise, dozens of zombies ca out as if they had just burrowed underground!
"It had summoning abilities?" Arial was shocked as he had never heard anything about this at all. He received a lot of information from Cloud and there weren't any records about Zombie Lords capable of producing Zombies. This was definitely not a good sign.
Still, Arial reacted imdiately…
"Release Drone Swarm Delta! Redirect Warden Units Beta Squad to control the flanks!"
A hundred Blade Drones took to the skies.
It was one of their trump cards once again. They do not have many of these since they only had three weeks to make them.
These Drones had special blades attached to them and they sward the Zombies that Threx had just summoned.
They imdiately started cutting down the Runner Zombies as they passed from above…
Furthermore, Arial also commanded the Warden Units to wield their swords and guns to join the fray and intercept the advancing Zombies…
anwhile, the Vanguard ch's plasma launchers started releasing it powers!
Fwoooom!
A blast of white-hot plasma slamd into Threx's left arm, burning deep into the bone and halting its swing...
"Target limb integrity: 43%," Xyrille muttered after getting information from the ch System... "I can blow it off."
She then locked in a missile pod sequence… Cryo Missiles, Plasma Missiles, and Kinetic Rounds!
"Firestorm Carousel, confirm."
Just like that, the missiles struck like fireworks—first freezing, then superheating the limb, before the final kinetic blast shattered it like frozen glass.
Boom!
Threx roared in agony—but it had a strong vitality as expected.
It opened its huge mouth—and everything around it began pulling inward!
"What?!" Arial and the rest of the team couldn't help but feel alard at this sight…
It was like they were seeing a small gravity field that could suck anything around it…
The Juggernaut ch, even with thrusters at max output, began sliding toward its mouth!
"Regina, disengage! Disengage!" Arial warned.
"No ti—charging the Bunker again!"
As debris, drones, Zombies and so Warden Units were pulled toward Threx's open mouth, Regina slamd a sequence on her interface.
A surge of electricity flooded Juggernaut's legs, locking it in place.
As her ch Fra was holding on, she launched the Pile Bunker into the ground and fired it like it was a ground anchor.
Just like that, the Juggernaut ch held its ground...
anwhile, the Vanguard ch moved around the flank and unleashed a full plasma burst directly into Threx's side.
Boom!
The impact lit up the battlefield like there was a sunrise.
Threx was visibly injured and barely holding on, but its mouth still pulled… It seed too desperate!
Arial gritted his teeth. "This won't be enough. Not unless…"
His eyes locked on a high-risk strategy.
"Regina, Xyrille—Prepare for Cross Core Overload."
Both pilots hesitated.
"Are you serious?!" Xyrille shouted. "That could fry us both!"
"I won't put you in danger… I have a plan!" Arial replied. He knew the importance of the Pilots. They do not have many of them in the first place. He needed these pilots to be safe.
Thankfully, as he integrated into the Shelter's System and absorbed a lot of abilities from Cloud, he was quite confident to pull this off.
"Very well!"
"Fine!"
The two chs had soon repositioned in a pincer…
After a few monts, the Juggernaut ch ramd Threx in the gut, while Vanguard took position behind.
Soon, their energy cores began syncing…
After a few monts, a golden-red aura spread outward…
[ Link complete. ] Cloud reported. This Cloud was, of course, similar to Shane's Cloud… However, it was a separate A.I. using the limited data center of the New Genesis Shelter.
"EXECUTING—CROSS CORE OVERLOAD."
The ground beneath Threx erupted as powerful energy surged through both chs and funneled into their weapons.
Juggernaut ch then drove the Pile Bunker into Threx's chest, then released a pulse of hot energy.
Simultaneously, the Vanguard ch fired both plasma launchers and all missile pods in a single, concentrated shot to the back.
BOOOOOMMM!!!
A blinding shockwave tore through the battlefield.
It was already getting late in the night but the sky turned white for a mont. Even parts of the barricades were vaporized. All sensors went dark!
Then, it was followed by silence…
The smoke rose for so ti and soon, the dust settled.
The upper half of Threx's body slumped to the ground while its entire torso was charred and cracked... Its terrifying mouth was finally closed—permanently.
[ You have eliminated a Lord-Tier Zombie: "Threx, the Glutton" ]
As soon as the Zombie Lord's death was confird, Cheers erupted across the comms.
Arial finally allowed himself to exhale. Then, he asked about the Pilots' condition.
Regina's voice ca in first… It was ragged but alive. "Status: ch functional... barely."
Xyrille followed. "Systems fried... but hey, we're alive."
Arial smiled faintly.
Then he sent another person to the Portal Hall to send a ssage to Shane.
[ Crisis averted. We're safe—for now. Thank you. ]
However, Arial soon realized that Shane had already sent two people to supposedly assist with their current situation.
***
A few monts ago, while the battlefield trembled under the combat of the large machines and Zombies, the residents of the shelter were also busy… This was true even in the dical hall, kitchen hall, ammunition departnts, craftsman bay, and others.
The rear was not a place of silence or retreat… They were all busy in their own ways, helping everyone to get through the Zombie Wave…
In the ch Division Building, there were flashing red lights in every corridor. Sirens blared intermittently as system alerts echoed through the tallic halls. But here, no one panicked. No one ran.
They were all working…
Within this Departnt, Walker-Grade Exo-Suits worn by many laborers and even engineers, clanked across the hall...
Clyde, one of the engineers, operating the Exo-Suits for faster movent, was using Anima-Grade welders and hamrs as they rebuilt the shattered Barrier Core along the North Wall.
"Clyde! There's a Crack at Segnt 4-C!" shouted Engineer Keno, a woman also wearing an Exo-Suit reminded... "We need a new stabilizer crystal!"
She was one of the hybrid humans with obsidian-like scales.
Clyde imdiately acted and found a glowing violet crystal—a Grade-2 Force Field Node from the system's crafting store.
"Here!" he shouted as he showed it to Keno…
It was the new stabilizer crystal that she needed. Not exactly the thing she wanted but it will do for ergency repairs.
"Cloud is still offline… Do you think it will be back?" Clyde asked Keno... Apparently, after the huge explosion a while ago, Cloud's operations stopped at the Engineering Bay.
They knew that the Cloud assisting them was just a copy of Lord Shane's Super A.I.. This was why they weren't panicking.
After all, it was slower and could only assist in things related to machine operations and construction.
However, its disappearance was still a huge blow to them…
"Don't worry, I'm sure Cloud will be back..." Keno said as she also needed Cloud's help.
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