Chapter 28: Echoes in a Silent City

Rachel and Eldon sat around a campfire as an investigator recounted the witness testimonies gathered from villagers who had seen the hero Jax—how he lured the Mecha Argus into the city, and every step he took before ultimately vanishing.

After the hero Jax lured the giant Mecha Argus into the city, we all fought hard alongside him as he helped defend against the colossus. But then, in the chaos, he vanished—leaving us to fend off the Mecha Argus on our own.

Later, an evacuating woman reported seeing him drive up in a massive big rig truck. He loaded the nearby women and children inside, sealed the truck once it was full, and drove east. It has been several days since, and neither he nor the evacuees have returned.

“We’re hoping you could follow their trail and find out what became of them—perhaps they ran into trouble as they fled east from the city.”

Rachel looked at the gathered, worried city folk and said, “I will go find them—just prepare some transportation.”

She stood up, ready to begin her trip east in search of the missing hero, women, and children.

Eldon started to follow, but Rachel stopped him with a firm hand. She glanced at the frightened people and spoke firmly, “No, you stay here this time, Eldon. Look at them—they are all relying on you right now. Just as Liz said, you’re a town elder. Help lead them in the recovery process; you have the most experience here.”

Eldon nodded, realizing she was right. He replied, “Go get yourself ready. Everything will be prepared for you within the hour.”

Rachel left the city, determined to gather something substantial for her Mimic’s Storage. She approached the massive hand of Argus, sliced it clean at the wrist, and with effort managed to force it into her Mimic’s Storage.

ZeroOne’s echo chimed in: “Storing the hand has drained 65% of your armor’s energy. It will take just as much to remove it, and you now have only 5% of storage space remaining. Use it with caution.”

Rachel then headed back toward Eldon. For a moment she thought of stopping by to say goodbye to Liz, but she changed her mind, wanting Liz to stay focused on crafting her new weapon.

She approached as Eldon had the SUV ready and prepared for her. Eldon stepped forward, gave Rachel a quick hug, and spoke to her in a gentle voice: “You take care, and don’t do anything reckless. I’ll make sure everything becomes stable around here, so return safely.”

Rachel replied with a determined voice, “I will come back without a scratch—don’t worry.”

Then Eldon burst into laughter, wiping a tear from his eye. “That’s impossible—you not getting injured? Impossible! Now go, before it gets too late.”

Rachel gave him one last nod, then entered the SUV and headed east. Eldon and the villagers watched her departure as a trail of dust rose in her wake.

After a few hours it was starting to get dark when Rachel saw lights flickering in the distance.

She drove toward them and noticed a small town, hoping this was where the hero might have fled with the women and children, so she decided to make a stop here. Upon entering, she stepped out and stored the SUV in her Mimic’s Storage, which was now at its capacity limit.

She looked around as the villagers greeted her with warm smiles. Rachel asked about the hero, but no one had seen anything.

At last, an elderly grandmother spoke up to her: “It’s getting late. Why not stay at my place? I live alone and would enjoy the company. I’ll even cook you a good meal—all I ask is that you entertain me with stories of your travels. At my age, I don’t get around much anymore.”

Rachel gazed at the grandmother’s warm smile and agreed. She appeared to be about the same age as Eldon and was likely a survivor of the initial attack on Earth, hoping she might gain some useful information from the old woman.

Rachel entered the cozy house, sat down, and allowed herself a brief rest while the grandmother began preparing food.

The grandmother returned and set down a cup of juice. “You look parched—here, quench your thirst while I prepare dinner. It won’t take long.”

Rachel stared at the orange-looking juice before taking a drink. Immediately something felt wrong—her stomach twisted in piercing pain, and she began to cough up blood as her body convulsed.

The grandmother approached with an evil smile on her face. “Good… another form for our children.” Her arm warped into a tentacle that wrapped around Rachel’s leg, dragging her toward the door. Outside stood a group of formless humans, flanked by the very villagers Rachel had met earlier.

The grandmother released the spasming Rachel and announced, “Now, which one of you will claim your very own human form today?”

The crowd’s eyes shifted, no longer human but mechanical, glowing like those of the Mecha. Struggling against the convulsions, Rachel tried to summon a cure poison spell in her hand, but the spasms kept disrupting it. After several attempts, she finally succeeded, slowly cleansing the toxin from her body—though not quickly enough.

The Mecha-humans, distracted by their debate over who would take Rachel’s form, gave her precious moments. But not soon enough, one faceless Mecha broke away, its body splitting open as writhing tentacles lashed out and wrapped around her.

The creature pulled Rachel inside, fully encasing her in its shifting mass. Within, freed of the poison, Rachel triggered her Mimic’s Storage. Her armor surged onto her body, and with a roar she unleashed her mecha claws, slicing outward. Blades of steel tore the humanoid Mecha into ribbons, its body collapsing to the ground in sparking tatters.

The remaining villagers turned toward her. Weapons materialized in their hands—scythes, swords, daggers, hammers, polearms, axes, lances. A massive arsenal of energy-forged arms leveled at Rachel.

Rachel looked around as she was swarmed by countless human Mechas that were slowly closing in. She was not in the best of shape; though the poison was cleansed, it still left its marks on the insides of her body, and she was no longer in optimal condition.

Then ZeroOne chimed in: “This is a perfect time to utilize your Deep Dive system, which should allow you to keep up with this many targets.”

Rachel concentrated and appeared in the dark room again, but this time everything was sharp, vivid, and detailed.

ZeroOne pulsed: “They are approaching, Rachel. Stay focused.”

Then the intruder Hex manifested, a black tar-like substance rising and twisting until it formed into Rachel’s own dark elf likeness.

The curse slowly stepped toward her, leaning close to whisper in her ear:

“If you want help, just ask. There are no humans here to kill, and your body is in pain. Just say the word and let down your guard, and I will take over—I will win this battle for you.”

Rachel ignored ZeroOne’s attempts to pull Hex away. The entity clung tightly to her, refusing to let go, while Rachel kept her focus locked on the charging Mecha-humans.

A great axe–wielding Mecha-human was the first to rush her. Instead of backing away, Rachel stepped in close beneath its raised arms. Her movements were smooth and precise, enhanced by the Deep Dive system. With blinding speed, she drove her mecha claws straight into its chest. The machine powered down instantly, collapsing while her arm still penetrated its body, hanging powerless.

Then Rachel heard her favorite notification chime in:

Assimilation found. Shapeshifters Arsenal… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation complete. Modifying cursed armor… Modification complete.

Assimilation finished.

Rachel muttered to herself as the information entered her mind: “So they’re shapeshifters, not Mecha-humans. But in the end, it doesn’t matter. I’ll destroy them all so they can’t harm any more humans like they tried to do to me.”

From the side, two Mecha-shapeshifters wielding daggers rushed at her. Rachel gripped the still-motionless shapeshifter in her grasp, spun, and hurled it with full force. The powerless body smashed into the charging attackers, and all three collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Then ZeroOne pulsed by her side in the Deep Dive, cutting straight to the point:

“The Shapeshifters Arsenal allows you to form an energy-based weapon just like theirs. All you have to do is think of the form you want it to take. Be warned—it isn’t as strong as your sword, but it grants you versatility in combat. You can also charge energy in your palm and release it as a ranged burst attack.”

Rachel ran forward, dodging the attacks of the numerous Mecha-shapeshifters. She thrust out her hand, focusing hard as she tried to charge an energy shot to test it. But she almost cursed aloud when a notification flared in her head:

Right gauntlet damaged. Unable to use Shapeshifters Arsenal.

Rachel summoned her cursed blade, squeezed the trigger, and swung in a wide arc, bisecting a cluster of Mecha-shapeshifters. An instant later, an energy blast slammed into her chest, knocking her hard to the ground as she dropped her cursed blade.

The moment she hit the ground, a spear lunged toward her. Rachel rolled aside, only to be met by another spear thrust. She jerked her head just in time, the spearhead grazing her helmet and tearing a shallow gash across it.

Making a quick decision, she fired her energy hook skyward toward the tallest building. The powerful pull yanked her clear of danger, launching her upward. She kicked off the wall and rose high above the city.

Below, the Mecha-shapeshifters transformed their arms, charging them with energy to unleash a volley at the descending Rachel. But just as they took aim and fired, the sun was eclipsed as the Mecha Argus’s colossal hand descended from above. It crashed into the town, demolishing buildings and crushing a majority of the Mecha-shapeshifters beneath its weight.

Before slamming into the ground herself, Rachel fired her energy hook again, swinging toward a nearby building. She refused to risk breaking another bone.

The remaining Mecha-shapeshifters charged toward Rachel.

She fired out her energy hook, piercing the chest of one and using the energy hook’s power to drag it toward her. As it closed in, Rachel spun with the momentum and hurled the body into the oncoming group, deactivating the hook at just the right time to send them crashing together in a violent collision.

From above, a dagger-wielding Mecha-shapeshifter leapt down from a balcony.

Rachel focused hard, imagining the form of a lance. Energy surged into her left hand, shaping into a glowing lance. She thrust upward, impaling the attacker through the chest. Sparks burst as its body twitched and malfunctioned.

Before she could recover, an energy blast slammed into her extended wrist. A grim notification echoed in her mind:

Energy Hook and Mimic’s Storage damaged. Activation no longer available.

Rachel then glanced at her damaged gauntlet, a big melted hole burned through her gauntlet. Enraged, she turned toward the Mecha-shapeshifter that had struck it.

The lance in her hand shifted into an energy spear, and with full force she hurled it forward, piercing the Mecha-shapeshifter’s chest and pinning it against the wall. The spear then dissipated, leaving the Mecha-shapeshifter to slump powerless to the floor.

She stepped back, narrowly dodging a sword strike. Energy crackled in her palm as she thrust her hand forward, unleashing a charged burst of energy that blasted into the Mecha-shapeshifter’s chest, sending it collapsing to the ground.

ZeroOne pulsed beside her: “You only have 3% energy left.”

Rachel’s eyes darted around, looking for her sword until she realized that it was pinned under Argus’s massive hand.

With no way to reclaim it, she turned and sprinted away as a mob of Mecha-shapeshifters unleashed a barrage of energy blasts.

Explosions littered the buildings and ground around her, small craters erupting where the shots barely missed.

Finally, she gained enough distance. Her cursed blade reformed in her grip, and she squeezed the trigger tight.

With relentless fury she swung again and again, sending a continuous stream of cursed energy blades carving through the swarm. The shapeshifters were sliced apart until, at last, the weapon sputtered and fell silent, drained of power.

Now she stood still, surrounded by silence, as the entire town lay reduced to nothing more than a smoldering scrap yard.

Then she looked at her treasured energy hook and Mimic’s Storage—both now damaged beyond use. She could no longer access the contents inside.

And on this night, only the furious screams and curses of Rachel echoed through the silent city of Mecha-shapeshifters.