Chapter 37: The Mecha Bone Dragon's Descent

Jax looked down upon them. "So, you both have come to try and take what is mine. After I am rid of the two of you, I will destroy the Demon Lord and head home as a hero."

Then Liz spoke: "And how are you a hero when you have killed the ones you were supposed to protect?"

Jax looked unbothered. "Necessary sacrifices for me to gain the power I need to defeat the Demon Lord."

Rachel then shouted angrily, "You’re no better than the Demon Lord!"

"Well," Jax said, "we will see who is truly correct when only one of us stands here victorious."

Then, without another word, black flames started to seep through the bone dragon’s mouth as its metallic heart beat loudly in its chest.

Then it spewed the black flames, separating Liz and Rachel. Jax lifted his hand as more Mecha Draugr started forming and chased after Liz.

Rachel, avoiding the dragon’s breath as she used her thrusters to stay ahead, then quickly turned to the Mecha Bone Dragon and latched onto its head with her energy hook.

She slashed with her cursed blade, releasing a bloody arc alongside her beam slash. The strikes dug deep into the creature’s skull before she collided with its head, driving her blade through in a combined beam-and-blood slash that shattered its metal skull. Scraps of circuits and wires scattered to the ground below as black flames burst out where the head once was, erupting like a volcano.

Rachel then turned and leapt down to the center of its spine and stabbed the cursed blade into it, sending beam and blood energy rushing through its body. Countless popping sounds echoed before the Mecha Bone Dragon collapsed into a pile of bones, and she leapt back to the ground.

She then thought to herself, "Well, that was a big letdown. I guess the Mecha Bone Dragon was just a pushover."

Rachel then glanced at Liz and Jax’s fight.

But then ZeroOne chimed in, "Rachel, it’s not over yet."

Rachel turned around to see the Mecha Bone Dragon’s heart floating as its body was being pieced back together.

ZeroOne echoed in her head, "Looks like we have to take out the heart to defeat it."

Before the bone dragon could fully reform, Rachel activated her energy hook on the now rebuilding body and flung herself forward with great force. She then engaged her thrusters for even more speed, pushing herself to the limit as she swung the Mecha Minotaur’s axe down onto the Mecha Bone Dragon’s heart.

A sickening crunch of metal rang out as the axe dug in, leaving a deep gash. But cracks soon spread along the weapon’s surface, and the Mecha Minotaur’s axe crumbled into scrap. Moments later, the dragon’s tail slammed Rachel into the ground, crushing her into a crater. Blood filled her mouth as she coughed, but she quickly fired her energy hook and pulled herself to safety before the next blow could land.

Then ZeroOne announced, "Activating nano-healing canister," as a sharp hiss filled the air—the device engaging for the second time that day.

The Mecha Bone Dragon swiped its metal tail at Rachel, but she dodged and quickly activated her thrusters as its maw filled with dark flames. She retreated just beyond the fiery blast, then turned back, narrowly avoiding another tail swipe.

Launching her energy hook into the dragon’s rib cage, she flung herself forward toward its exposed heart. She unleashed everything into the gash the Mecha Minotaur’s axe had left, beam and blood slashes raining forward in a relentless barrage. Her blade finally reached the wound, but her momentum halted as cracks began to spread across the weapon.

Kicking off the heart, Rachel glanced at the fracture along her blade and thought, "Well, this won’t work… I think it’s time we switch it up," as she looked toward Liz.

As the dark flames separated Liz and Rachel, Liz turned swiftly and pulled out her twin pistols. She rotated the cylinders until they clicked into place, hearing the announcement:

Tesla Shot activated.

Liz then hovered toward the swarm of Mecha Draugr and held down the triggers. Lightning shot forth from her pistols, tearing through circuits as the Mecha Draugr's twitched, smoked, and collapsed.

Jax clicked his tongue and leapt down with his scythe, ready to split Liz in two, but her speed was too fast and agile with her hover boots. Jax reached out to stop her movement, but it didn’t work.

Liz chuckled at him and replied, “You think after what you did to me I wouldn’t come up with countermeasures for your ability?”

Jax then swung his hand, and the Mecha Draugr's she had just destroyed slammed into her back, knocking her forward as her hover boots shut off . Jax charged forward and was mid-swing, about to pierce her when she activated her energy shield, stopping the scythe’s descent.

She leapt to her feet, reactivated her hover boots, and glided backward like an ice skater, creating distance. Switching to rapid shot, she fired relentlessly at Jax—but the attack simply bounced off.

Jax opened a portal and thrust his metal bone hand through, seizing Liz by the neck and halting her movement. He squeezed harder, ready to crush her throat, a smirk flashing across his face—only for an instant.

Blades of energy struck Jax, pushing him back and forcing him to release Liz. As he stumbled, he looked up and saw Rachel being chased by the dragon. Two more red energy blades quickly approached him. Liz then switched to beam blades and charged Jax.

Jax quickly raised his arm, blocking Liz’s beam blades with a chunk of scrap metal, and then hurled his scythe toward Rachel, guiding it with magnetism. But Rachel’s momentum didn’t falter. With Eldon’s killer directly in front of her, she hurled her cursed blade at the incoming scythe. The weapons clashed, diverting the attack, as Rachel ignited her thruster and burst forward. Her cursed blade reappeared in her hand, dragging across the ground before she sliced upward, and unleashed a blood wave slash that sent Jax flying skyward.

Rachel quickly called out to Liz, “The dragon’s weakness is its heart—try to break it! I’m having no luck!” Liz turned and headed toward the bone dragon.

Liz hovered away as Rachel’s eyes never left Jax. She launched her energy hook at the still-descending Jax, who hadn’t recovered from the blood wave. The hook wrapped around his leg, and Rachel gripped the energy rope, pulling down with all her might, slamming Jax into the ground as he coughed up blood.

She then reactivated the hook, yanking Jax toward her, and slashed with her cursed blade straight across his face. The strike cracked the Mecha Reaper’s mask, which shattered and fell to the ground moments later. Jax’s scythe then descended toward Rachel, forcing her to release the energy hook.

Jax grew irritated and decided to channel the armor’s energy into his magnetism. All the Draugr swords lifted into the air, spinning rapidly—hundreds of blades whirling at once. With a wave of his hand, Jax sent them hurtling toward Rachel.

She sprinted and dodged desperately as each blade tried to cut her down. There was nowhere safe until she spotted Argus’s head still lying by the crumbled necropolis. She energy-hooked toward it, grappling and bursting her way into the empty eye socket as the countless swords clattered against the metal skull and fell away.

But then she realized something was wrong—the Mecha Argus head was starting to rise into the sky. The sound of creaking metal filled her ears as she realized too late that she had made a bad decision. Jax was crushing Argus’s massive head with his power. She ran for the eye socket, only to have it smashed shut. Thinking quickly, Rachel shouted to ZeroOne.

“Divert the Energy Forge back to Mimic’s storage!”

ZeroOne pulsed in acknowledgment: “All energy re-routed to Mimic’s storage.”

Jax looked up with a grin as Rachel was trapped in the sky, as he was slowly crushing the Mecha Argus head. But then it vanished, and Jax was left dumbfounded when all he saw was Rachel plummeting toward him.

Rachel dived straight at Jax, activating her thrusters as she released the Argus head from Mimic’s storage. It descended like a meteor as she smirked and called out, “Catch this!”

Jax, his face twisting in shock, raised both hands to stop it—but the Argus head fell too fast. It slammed into him with a colossal BOOM!, the impact cracking the ground and sending a wave of dust billowing in all directions.

Rachel flipped around and activated her thrusters to slow her descent to the ground.

She then looked toward Liz, who had done her job well—the heart was now exposed for a final blow. Rachel drew her cursed blade, reignited her thrusters, and charged straight for the Mecha Bone Dragon’s exposed heart.

Liz, who was given the job of cracking the heart, intercepted the Mecha Bone Dragon and hovered toward it, drawing its attention as it blasted dark flames at her.

She agilely dodged the flames and slipped beneath the dragon’s chest. Pulling the triggers on her pistols, she fired the Tesla Shot directly at the heart, but it had no effect. The Mecha Bone Dragon leapt back and swiped its clawed hand at Liz. She rotated the cylinders until they clicked into place as the announcement echoed in her ears:

Burst Shot activated...

Liz aimed and fired a slow-moving ball of energy at the Mecha Bone Dragon’s descending claw. The moment the orb collided with its hand, it erupted in a burst of force, sending out a shockwave that blasted the claw away and allowed her to hover to safety.

Liz then cycled her cylinders again and switched to beam blades as the message played in her head:

Beam Blade activated.

Liz then saw the Mecha Bone Dragon’s tail descend toward her, but she easily evaded it. She charged back toward the dragon’s heart as its claws descended again, swiftly hovering to the right before activating her damaged Phoenix Wings. The burst lifted her just high enough to reach the heart before the wings lost power.

She jammed both beam blades into the gash Rachel had made, but they did little damage. Landing back on the ground, she quickly hovered away as another torrent of dark flames shot toward her.

Liz studied the heart, searching for a way to damage it as she hovered back and forth in thought. Then it struck her. She reached into the metal plate at her sides and pulled out numerous tiny disks, holding them tightly in her hands.

She waited patiently until the tail finally swiped at her. Liz leapt onto the bony appendage and hoverd along its spine before dropping through the ribs onto the Mecha Dragon’s heart. As she slid off the side, she thrust her hand into the gash Rachel had made, releasing all the tiny disks into the wound. Then she quickly hoverd away, she spoke to her visor, “Detonate all proximity mines.” A massive explosion erupted as the gash in the dragon’s heart it blew apart, revealing the damaged, exposed Mecha Bone Dragon’s energy core.

Liz then pulled out her rifle, saving the charged blast for the final strike. She aimed carefully—but stopped when Rachel suddenly thrust past her, cursed blade ready. Rachel latched onto the heart with her energy hook, activating both blood slash and beam slash as she thrust her weapon deep into the Mecha Bone Dragon’s core. The blade sank only halfway before a violent burst of energy erupted from the core, blasting Rachel backward. She crashed into the headless Mecha Oni’s body and coughed up more blood.

"So close," Rachel whispered. She tried to stand but stumbled, grabbing something for support so she wouldn’t fall. When she looked at what she had caught hold of, a big smile spread across her face.

Rachel then thrust herself forward at full speed as Liz kept the Bone Dragon’s attention. She energy hooked back to its core, pouring all her strength into the hook and her thrusters. As she approached, she pulled her arm back and swung hard at the pommel of her sword. The Mecha Oni’s club suddenly appeared in her hands, smashing into the cursed blade’s pommel with tremendous force. The cursed blade pierced straight through the Mecha Dragon’s core, out its back, and vanished. The dragon twitched, shook, and spasmed before its bones lost form and clattered to the ground. Then Rachel heard an announcement:

Assimilation found. Charge Amplification, Scabbard Overload… Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Assimilation complete. Modifying Great Sword Scabbard… Modification complete.

Assimilation finished.

There was a noticeable change in the cursed blade’s scabbard—it became wider and thicker as lights lit up along its surface. Rachel felt the shift on her back where the scabbard rested. The cursed blade appeared within it, and a notification chimed in her ear:

Scabbard charging...

ZeroOne then explained: “This new assimilation allows your scabbard to charge energy. Once charged, you can sheathe your cursed blade, transferring the enormous power into it—making its next beam strike extremely powerful.

It also has an Overcharge function. After sheathing the cursed blade, you can activate Overcharge, which will continue charging the blade until it becomes unstable. At that point, you must swing it, releasing an overloaded strike that explodes with tremendous force. But beware—you will suffer backlash from it, so only use it when absolutely necessary.”

Liz approached and gave Rachel a hug. “We did it. That bastard is finally gone. Now let’s hang out for a bit—there are some parts I want to scavenge from around—” But before she could finish, the Argus head exploded and a bloodied Jax emerged, missing a leg. His metal bone arm was now a jagged piece of twisted metal. Enraged, Jax roared and unleashed all his magnetism powers, fueled by the Mecha Reaper’s armor, pulling the surrounding mechas toward him. The machines fused together, forming a massive titan that towered even over Mecha Argus, looming above them, ready to end their lives.