Chapter 36: The Reaping Blade Returns

Rachel watched as Liz hovered away, then turned to see the countless Mecha Draugr, the Mecha Oni, and the Mecha Vampire. Suddenly, the Mecha Vampire broke apart into dozens of small bats, scattering and hiding itself within the army of Mecha Draugr.

“This isn’t good,” ZeroOne echoed in her helmet. “If it doesn’t take its Mecha Vampire form, we won’t be able to kill it.”

Rachel turned her gaze to the Mecha Oni. “Then we’ll have to go for the Oni first.”

ZeroOne cut in again. “Before you charge in, do you want me to restore the flow of the armor’s energy? Right now, the Energy Forge’s power is being diverted to Mimic’s storage to temporarily increase its capacity.”

“Do it. I’m going to need all the power I can get.” Rachel charged forward, producing an energy great sword in her left hand while gripping the cursed blade in her right.

She pulled the trigger, swinging the cursed blade twice at the incoming horde of Mecha Draugr, carving a path toward the towering Mecha Oni.

As she approached, the Mecha Oni raised its massive club to strike at the rapidly advancing Rachel.

But then everything went wrong—Rachel was suddenly struck in the back as the Mecha Vampire materialized behind her, slamming into her and siphoning more of her energy.

Rachel fell forward to the ground as the Mecha Oni’s club came crashing down. She energy hooked out of the way, scrambled to her feet, and used her thrusters to launch herself forward at the Mecha Oni’s leg.

She struck with both the cursed blade and the energy sword—the cursed blade bit deep, but the energy blade didn’t even leave a scratch. She quickly deactivated it and stepped back as the Mecha Oni dragged its club across the ground, kicking up dirt and rocks. Rachel tried to leap away, only to be blocked by the Mecha Vampire. The Mecha Oni’s club slammed into her, sending her bouncing painfully across the ground.

The moment she came to a stop, the Mecha Vampire was already descending on her with its clawed hand ready to pierce. Rachel reached out, trying to grab the descending hand, only for her own hand to pass uselessly through the Mecha Vampire’s body as its claws tore into her arm.

ZeroOne chimed in, “You must get it away—this much contact is quickly draining your energy!”

Rachel then activated her energy blast and fired it into the Mecha Vampire’s body, destroying a mass of nanites that fell to the ground like sand. Its clawed hand dissolved, retreating back as the body reformed. Rachel seized the moment to energy hook herself away.

ZeroOne’s mechanical voice kicked in “We don’t have much energy left, and we will have to cancel the deep dive soon.”

Rachel swung at the Mecha Draugr that tried to assault her. They fell beneath her cursed blade as she regained her focus. “Don’t worry, I have an idea how to defeat it—or at least make its core hard for it to hide from us.”

“Now let’s just see if I can bait it to attack again.” Rachel began charging energy bursts in both her hands as she rushed toward the Mecha Oni.

As she sprinted, she gave ZeroOne a command. “Focus on my surroundings. The moment the Mecha Vampire appears, let me know.”

ZeroOne echoed, “understood.”

Rachel got within the Mecha Oni’s range as it swung down at her again. She had no plan to fight it just yet. Instead, she energy hooked the Mecha Oni’s shoulder and pulled herself past it.

Rachel then pulled on the energy hook, twisting midair, and yanked herself back toward the Mecha Oni. She deactivated the hook just as ZeroOne chimed in, “The Mecha Vampire is at your back and closing in fast!”

“Alright, let’s hope this works.” Rachel landed on the back of the Mecha Oni’s head, turned, and pointed both hands at the approaching Mecha Vampire. She angled them perfectly and fired both energy blasts.

They struck simultaneously, colliding together and creating an explosion just like when she fought the Mecha Minotaur. The blast tore through the Mecha Vampire, turning almost all its nanites to dust.

Rachel spotted the Mecha Vampire’s core falling toward the ground. The remaining nanites tried to form a bat around the core, but Rachel would not let this happen. She dove toward it, activated her back thruster, and shot forward. Reaching out with her mecha claw, she grabbed the bat-like form shielding the core.

Rachel hit the ground hard as Mecha Draugr closed in. ZeroOne shot out hacking braids, piercing into two Mecha Draugr and taking control of them. He sent them to distract the others as he spoke. “That was reckless. I’m activating the nano healing canister. Stay put—I’ll distract them while you recover.”

Rachel lay in the crater from her impact, holding out her hand to look at her prize: the Mecha Vampire core, still trying to tear itself free with its remaining nanites. She smirked and crushed it in her grip.

A familiar announcement rang out:

Assimilation found. Siphon Synthesizer… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation complete. Modifying cursed great sword…

The cursed blade began to shake beside Rachel, going through another transformation.

As the healing nanites worked on her wounds, ZeroOne continued fighting off the approaching Mecha Draugr. Eventually, he lost control of them, and Rachel decided break time was over. Feeling a bit better, she sat up.

She glanced toward the cursed blade, still in its modification process. Knowing her energy weapons had no effect on the Mecha Oni, she sighed. Man, I’m glad I brought that with me.

She focused on the incoming Mecha Oni and charged toward it empty-handed.

The Mecha Oni stomped its foot down hard, spiderweb cracks racing across the ground.

Rachel’s sprint faltered as she staggered. She used her back thruster to force herself away from the Mecha Oni’s club as it smashed down where she had stood. Facing the Mecha Oni, she activated her thrusters and launched forward toward its leg.

She raised her hand and swung down hard—and at the last moment, the massive Mecha Minotaur’s axe appeared in her grip. It tore through the Mecha Oni’s leg, bringing the giant to its knees, then vanished back into Mimic’s storage.

Rachel charged forward again not allowing her motion to stop for a second and swung overhead. The Mecha Minotaur’s axe reformed in her hands and cleaved through the Mecha Oni’s other leg before vanishing once more.

Now immobile, the Mecha Oni could only thrash violently with its club. Rachel activated her energy hook and launched herself high into the air. Spinning around, the Mecha Minotaur’s axe appeared again. The momentum boosted her strike as the axe tore through the Mecha Oni’s raised arm, then continued unstoppable, slicing clean through its head. Rachel landed as the massive headless Mecha Oni collapsed.

A notification rang in her head:

Assimilation found… Muscle Actuator… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation complete. Modifying cursed armor… Modification complete.

Assimilation finished.

Another notification followed immediately:

Modification complete…

Assimilation finished…

With a burst of darkness, the cursed blade formed into Rachel’s hand, radiating with more power.

Rachel called out to ZeroOne, and it replied, “I’ll get right on it. But be careful—more Mecha undead are approaching.” As he analyzed the two new assimilations, Rachel charged forward, swinging her newly assimilated cursed blade.

She noticed she could move and swing the cursed blade with ease now. As she created scrap piles beside her, Hex began giggling—then laughing, then shrieking with maddened joy.

“This blood… it’s so pure, so full of energy! Keep killing, Rachel—kill them all! Hahaha!”

Rachel glanced at Hex in the deep dive space with an uneasy look but kept fighting.

ZeroOne returned, pulsing beside her. “The Muscle Actuator grants your armor more strength, making movement easier and more efficient so you wont tire as easy. As for the Siphon Synthesizer—every time you hit a Mecha, the sword will drain some of its energy and synthesize it into pure blood, feeding Hex’s curse. This should help you control your urges from now on.”

Rachel continued to destroy the Mecha undead until a loud crack echoed from the Necropolis. More cracks followed, then the structure burst apart. A massive Mecha Bone Dragon pulled itself free of the collapsed ruins, towering above. Atop its head stood Jax, staring down at Rachel like prey.

Then Liz appeared beside Rachel, hovering. “Looks like I made it back just in time, fully recharged and ready to go.”

Rachel smirked. “Good. Let’s finish this.” They readied themselves for the final battle.