Chapter 31: The Hero’s Cruelty

As Rachel was walking down the path of bloodied corpses, she heard Hex whisper,

"Let me take their blood. It’s not fresh, but it will still quench my thirst. And how are you going to fight that hero? What do you have left besides your mecha claws and limited energy? With the blood around, I can at least give you one strong blood slash from it. You can think of it as revenge for the lives he has taken."

Rachel stopped to think, anger rising as she considered that these poor souls deserved vengeance. She finally agreed, pulling the cursed blade free. As she walked, Hex absorbed all the blood from the women and children Rachel passed, channeling it into the cursed blade. The weapon straightened, beginning to glow with a bloody aura, its once grand power slowly returning bit by bit.

Rachel finally reached the deepest part, where she could hear the hero yelling at the remaining women and children as she stealthily approached, following the sound of his voice echoing through the corridor.

“Hurry up!” the hero Jax yelled. “Or I will send you into that room like I did with the others. Now move faster!” Then he snapped, “Forget it—let’s just do this the easy way.” He activated the device secured around his neck, releasing waves of sound. At once, VR headsets sprang out of some of the boxes the women and children were carrying and began attaching themselves to the screaming women and children, turning them into his puppets. Then he spoke again.

“Transfer these crates as fast as you can—now go!”

now the controled women and children moved at abnormal speeds loading all the boxes onto the massive lift

Rachel finally turned the corner where she could see him.

He had light purple skin, and his hair shimmered with raw energy. Rachel had seen people of his kind before—summoned to her world as heroes to fight her mother—so she was very familiar with his race’s natural abilities. That familiarity made her feel more at ease, knowing she wouldn’t have too much trouble fighting him. She then noticed the women and children, all with VR headsets on their heads, loading countless boxes onto the massive lift

Then ZeroOne echoed in her helmet, “Those boxes… they are VR helmets. We have to stop him quickly. I now know his plan.”

Rachel charged an energy blast into the palm of her hand as she turned the corner, firing it at the hero Jax. He noticed just in time and twisted out of the way, the blast grazing his shoulder.

But she didn’t stop—she charged forward, weapon held high, ready to cleave down on him, only to be blocked by a wall of women and children controlled by the VR headsets.

“Ha!” Jax laughed. “Can’t do it, can you? All these innocent lives… you must be the third hero I heard about.”

“Just back off! I’m putting these worthless humans’ lives to good use. They will help make me strong enough to confront the demon lord and finally leave this wretched place so I can return home.”

Then he stepped in front of the children. “Now let’s have a proper fight—no sneaky backstabbing.”

He waved his hand, and the women and children went back to work, gathering the boxes onto the lift as hes confronted rachel.

Rachel prepared her sword as she charged straight at him.

He smirked, trying to use his hero power of magnetism on Rachel but noticed it had no effect on her for some reason so deciding to save his energy, he turned to his race’s special ability and thrust his hand into a small conjured portal, his sword vanishing with it. Rachel dodged quickly to the left, avoiding a blade that shot out of another portal behind her, aiming to pierce her as she pressed forward.

The hero tried again, summoning more small portals, each one spitting out thrusts meant to skewer her—but she evaded them all.

Then he screamed, “How are you able to dodge my attacks, you wretch?”

Rachel closed in and swung down with the cursed blade. The hero leapt back, barely avoiding the strike, as a chunk of metal rose from the ground to intercept her strike. Her blade sliced clean through it, the halves clattering to the floor. Jax smirked—and in that instant, two VR headsets launched toward Rachel, his grin widening as they flew at her as he hoped to gain a powerful slave.

As the cables lashed out at Rachel, grabbing her and worming their way into the tears in her armor, they suddenly froze. ZeroOne reacted instantly, his tri‑claw piercing the descending VR headsets as he hacked into both, seizing control of them.

ZeroOne then redirected the VR headsets to attack the hero, but they collapsed uselessly to the ground as Jax activated the device on his neck, retaking control. The hero sneered.

“Worthless! Still, I must admit—you are a formidable hero. Not only does my magnetism not work on you, You even understand my race’s unique abilities. But right now, I don’t have time to waste on you. So let’s end this. I have a friend down here who would love to play with you, just as it did with the other women and children.”

Rachel charged at him again, but her path was suddenly blocked by metal walls as Jax used his hero power of magnetism to trap her. She quickly unleashed the blood slash Hex had prepared, cutting through the metal barrier. The strike collided with the steel, carving a deep gash through it as a scream echoed from Jax on the other side.

Hex whispered in her ear, “Got him. Unfortunately, he will survive… we only managed to lop off part of his arm with that attack.”

The walls shifted and reformed, an opening tore open to Rachel’s left. The metal walls closed in, forcing her into the new passage until she was sealed inside a vast chamber. Waiting there stood a towering Mecha Troll with a massive pillar of metal was held in its hand, and scattered all around were the crushed remains of women and children.

The Mecha Troll started to lumber toward Rachel at a slow pace, then clumsily swung downward with the massive metal pillar clutched in its hand. Its momentum quickly transformed the slow, awkward swing into a deadly strike with each blow.

Rachel dodged left and right, avoiding the deadly swings, then charged between its legs and slashed at its ankles with the cursed blade. Feeding it blood had temporarily restored its sharpness, biting deep and leaving huge gashes. In her other hand she held energy, fully charged and ready to use.

Rachel shoved her hand into the newly formed gash made by the cursed blade and released the energy blast, causing the troll’s leg to explode from the inside. Small explosions rippled upward through the limb. Rachel, not wanting to be crushed, ran quickly out of danger’s way as the troll collapsed onto one knee, its leg no longer functioning.

But the troll didn’t stop after it fell—it didn’t even care. Its massive pillar swung at Rachel, who thought she was out of danger.

The blow slammed into her stomach and sent her flying into the wall across the room, a burst of blood painting the metal wall behind her.

Rachel coughed up blood.

ZeroOne spoke urgently, “Your ribs are broken, and some have punctured your vitals. Immediate action is needed.”

Dazed, Rachel focused through the pain, forcing her hand to weave a powerful healing spell. Bones shifted back into place, wounds knitting together.

“Damn… using that big healing spell has left me almost empty. I need to be more careful. This Mecha Troll doesn’t even care if it’s damaged—it’s an all‑offensive machine.”

Rachel then got to her feet and formed an energy greatsword in her left hand while gripping her cursed blade in her right.

She charged at the troll that was still on one knee, dodging its deadly strikes and slashing with both weapons relentlessly. Massive gashes tore into the Mecha Troll’s body, sparks flying as it began to fall apart.

Thinking she had won, Rachel stepped back and reshaped the energy great sword into an energy lance, preparing to pierce its core—but then a bright light flared from its eyes, temporarily blinding her.

All the gashes in the Mecha Troll’s body glowed brightly as the damage began to repair itself. In moments, its body was pristine again, and it stood back up as if nothing had happened.

ZeroOne chimed in, “We need to take out its ability to regenerate. Just keep fighting, and I’ll figure out where that light is originating from in its body. Get close enough for me to hack it. I won’t be able to control something like this, but I’ll at least be able to locate the source of its regeneration. Stay alive until then.”

Rachel then charged in, hurling her cursed blade. It penetrated deep into the Mecha Troll’s leg. As the giant swung its metal pillar downward, Rachel rushed straight between its legs and activated her mecha claws. Kicking off the metal wall, she drove her claws into the troll’s back, anchoring herself there. “ZeroOne—do it now!” she shouted.

ZeroOne extended her braids, which he controlled,, opening the tri‑claws and piercing them both into the Mecha Troll’s back to work as fast as possible.

The troll dropped its metal pillar and thrashed, reaching behind with both massive arms to grab her, stumbling as it tried. Unable to reach, it roared in frustration.

“You’d better hurry!” Rachel yelled.

“Almost there,” ZeroOne replied.

The Mecha Troll suddenly lurched backward, charging to crush Rachel against the wall.

“ZeroOne?!” she screamed again.

“Scan complete,” ZeroOne responded calmly.

Rachel released her hold and dropped between the troll’s legs just as it slammed its back into the wall, leaving a massive dent in the metal surface.

“So, you found it?” Rachel asked as she ran out from under the troll’s legs.

ZeroOne echoed in her helmet, “Yes. It’s right behind the head—we just need to penetrate deep to get to it.”

Rachel charged back at the recovering troll as it stepped forward, reaching for its metal pillar. She leapt onto the handle of her sword still embedded in the troll’s leg, then launched herself upward, forming an energy scythe. She swung it upward the glowing blade stabbing into the troll’s neck before sliding down, as it sliced deep. The troll thrashed, sending Rachel crashing to the ground, its head now barely attached.

The troll swung its pillar down at her, but Rachel rolled aside just in time. The massive weapon smashed into the floor, leaving a crater of twisted metal.

It ripped the pillar free and raised it again—but Rachel was gone. After rolling clear, she had activated her mecha claw, latching onto the pillar. Hauling herself upward, now positioned above the troll’s head, with a energy great sword formed in hand. She let go, and kicked off dropping straight down toward the half-severed neck, and she came down like an executioner’s blade, severing its head completely. The head thudded to the ground, and Rachel slammed into it hard before rolling off, using her mecha claws to dig in and stop herself from tumbling further.

A bright light flared in the troll’s gaping neck, its body glowing as the severed head began to tear apart and fly toward the stump, trying to rebuild itself.

Rachel refused to give it the chance. She formed an energy spear and hurled it full force into the light. The weapon pierced the brilliance, and a massive explosion followed. The troll’s upper body detonated into countless pieces, sending scrap, circuits, and wires flying in all directions.

Then Rachel heard the announcement echo in her head:

Assimilation found... Auto-Restoration… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation complete. Modifying cursed armor… Modification complete.

Assimilation finished.

Rachel crawled to her feet.

ZeroOne chimed in, “This new assimilation can be used to restore your damaged armor and equipment to pristine condition, but it takes time and energy. In a few hours your armor will be fully restored.”

Rachel asked, “So I’ll gain access back to all of my damaged parts—finally being able to use my right hand again?”

ZeroOne replied, “Yes. All functions will be in perfect order, but I suggest you don’t use this assimilation in battle unless you want to run out of energy.”

Rachel nodded. “Alright, but let’s wait until we get out of here. Jax may still be around.”

She ran to the door at the end of the large room and noticed some movement. A small little girl was shaking under the body of a woman. Rachel stopped, turned to the girl, and spoke gently. “It’s okay now—the big mecha is dead.”

The little girl peeked out and saw the mecha’s powerless body in the distance before slowly crawling free.

Rachel asked softly, “Are you Jill?”

The scared little girl nodded.

Rachel smiled faintly. “Your big, strong brother found me and sent me here to save you. It’s all okay now—take my hand.”

Jill shakily took Rachel’s hand. Rachel checked her for wounds—luckily, she had only a few bruises, nothing serious. When they reached the door, Rachel told her, “Stay right here. I’m going to check things out. I’ll be right back.”

With that, Rachel slipped through the door in search of Jax.