Empress Kuroyurei Saiba

The party landed in the Dynastiotron Village with scraps of the wartram toppling beside them.

"Man, talk about a crash landing," Ritom shook his head.

Mivangeline observed the Minka houses with white sliding doors and blossoming gardens of crystalized bismuth trees. Red bromine ponds with silver technetium water lilies teemed with steampunk goldfish made of wood and gears.

The Commander then did a headcount of the party. Ten members remained along with some police droids: Herself, Shien, Naivern, Ritom, Enshiron, Elysia, Knavus, Zirconessa, Ruddigus, and Esarin.

She signaled the group to hide behind the train carts as ronin sharpshooters jumped outside their houses, firing at the DJ bionic commandos marching into their territory. The party watched the machine commandos blast the samurai into pieces with their arm machine guns.

"We should avoid as much fighting as possible," Mivangeline whispered. "Follow me."

War raged through the village as they weaved between ruined houses and darted across hexagon-tiled streets riddled with smoking craters. They ran in zigzags through the battlefield. DJ Kyushu fighters soared above them, nosediving into rooftops where Dynastiotron snipers hid in vain.

***

"Shien! You're a curse!" Thalamoid roared from the hovertrain wreckage. "You went into my life and ruined everything! Give me back my mom!"

As Dynastiotron and DJ forces brawled around her, Cyroid's hologram appeared.

"Cyroid! What do you want?" Thalamoid roared.

"We've cut off program Zeruqkchiyion from your account," The mechanical man pointed at her. "You will be stuck in the Syanic Earth along with the players."

"Wait, what? You can't do that!" Thalamoid checked her profile to find the log-out button useless.

"I'm afraid the Supreme Herald doesn't tolerate such treason. Thus, you'll be punished severely."

A built man with mechanized arms and legs walked beside Cyroid. The man wore thick, orange armor with the Kneapexist minotaur's skull with five red stars boldly branded across the chest plate. He had fiery orange hair and goggles above his red military skull mask. The man had a cylindrical flamethrower slung over his shoulder. Contour haze shrouded the man's profile. It was Garum Suvenjior, the High Envoy of Venezuela.

"We're onto you, traitor!" Suvenjior pounded his geared fists together. "How dare you betray the Supreme Herald! An enemy of Fanghui is an enemy of mine!"

"Destroy her!" Cyroid's hologram ordered before fading.

Suvenjior blasted his flamethrower at Thalamoid. The droid woman evaded the torrential fire and charged at the High Envoy. Suvenjior twisted his weapon's handles until the innard springs tightened. He pulled the handles off, ejecting the flamethrower to hit Thalamoid's head.

The cylinder ricocheted off her confused face as she lost her scythe. Suvenjior's handles sharpened into knives, cutting the scythe down before rushing for her neck.

"Avian Form: Wryneck Scythe!" Thalamoid sliced her palms on par with Suvenjior's military knife tactics.

Suvenjior flicked a knife, commanding his flamethrower to launch into Thalamoid as a battering ram. It knocked her into a Dynastiotron dojo as Suvenjior tackled the droid woman. The two combatants rolled on each other until they landed in the purple stadium.

When Suvenjior flicked his knife again, the flying flamethrower dashed for Thalamoid. The droid woman jumped over the cylinder and unsheathed her left claw at Suvenjior to disarm his knives. Suvenjior quick-drew an incendiary pistol from his knee holster, blasting Thalamoid's left claw into pieces.

"Avian Form: Heron's Tal-" Before Thalamoid could lift her foot, Suvenjior quick-drew another knife from his knee holster to cut her knee. "Leave me alone!"

He then jabbed the knife towards her head, but Thalamoid held his arm as Suvenjior pinned her to the wooden wall. The High Envoy's arm winded with grinding gears, as he streaked the knife through the wall for Thalamoid's neck.

She barely ducked in time. "Avian Form: Woodpecker Beak Strikes!"

Thalamoid struck her palms at Suvenjior's chest. He resisted as his heat armor burned Thalamoid's hands. She screamed as Suvenjior flicked his knife, sending the flamethrower to knock her out of the dojo.

I can't beat him! The droid woman scampered for her life as Suvenjior made chase. I got to escape somehow!

***

"We're almost there!" Mivangeline climbed the stairs to the palace.

"Hey, where's Shien and Zirconessa?" Ritom looked back.

The party saw a nearby Dynastiotron weapon's garage explode with Shien and Zirconessa flying out while a moth-shaped DJ Nakajima bomber hovered above them.

"This is your fault, Zirc!" Shien kicked her.

"Ow! What do you mean?" Zirconessa had her hands full of Dynastiotron machinery. "These items are great for making cool gadgets. Check out these hyperspectral night vision goggles!"

"Nobody cares about some stupid Halloween costume!"

"I'm a weaponsmith. Every piece of equipment matters!" Zirconessa swiped her items in a tab.

"No time to argue! We have to run!" Mivangeline saw the bomber loom over them.

The party scuttled up the stairs as the bomber aimed crosshairs at the stairway. Its thorax compartment launched missiles that exploded wherever the crosshairs aimed. Everybody scrambled left and right upstairs from the bomber's terror. Finally, they reached the palace entrance underneath jade roofing with torches igniting with blue flickering antimony crystals. Between the antimony torches were the shining blue doors decorated with green snake statues.

The moth bomber's satellite dish antennae sounded with Morse code. A swarm of DJ Kyushu fighters circled towards the party.

"Get in!" Mivangeline opened the creaking doors.

"B-but that's the boss room!" Ritom panicked.

"Stop whining and move your lazy butt!" Elysia kicked him in the rear.

Everyone rushed inside the dark hallway as the door closed behind them. The party shuddered as the kamikaze fighters exploded onto the invincible door.

"Boss two of three, huh?" Ruddigus huffed. "If Dosigma wasn't the hardest boss, I wonder how hard this one would be."

Antimony torches ignited the dark hallway. The sight of police droid body parts made Zirconessa puke and the other police droids shiver.

"I hope Phoenicia's okay," Shien worried.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm worried about Ampyria," Ritom crossed his arms. "Even though she's a troublemaker."

"They're strong androids. I'm sure we'll find them," Mivangeline nodded. "Let's go."

The party ran through the dark hall until they reached an infinite red room similar to Dosigma's. Swagger rock music vibrated as a large red tab blinked in front of the party.

!Warning!

!Deadly Virus Detected!

Elysia clutched her machete. "So it begins."

"Where is it?" Knavus glanced across the endless room.

Ruddigus blinked. "I know Dosigma appeared on his own when we fought him."

"That's weird. Naivern, boost our stats! Tanks in front and ranged in back," Mivangeline instructed. "Ritom, use your goggles to see what we're missing."

Shien, Mivangeline, Elysia, Ritom, and Zirconessa walked in front while Naivern raised their attack and defense. Everyone sweated in confusion, unable to find the boss in the silent room.

"I don't see anything," Ritom scanned the area.

Naivern screamed when a giant hand with katana fingers scratched her back. The ranged team fired at the skeletal hand until it retreated to invisibility. Another bladed hand cut Enshiron's chest.

No! I left the ranged team exposed! Mivangeline ran to the ranged group. "Tanks, defensive manuevers!"

The tank team formed a defensive circle around the ranged members, looking across the silent room with hearts racing in terror. When a skeletal fist punched Elysia, the party fired at it until it became invisible.

"Ritom, are you sure your goggles aren't seeing anything?" Mivangeline asked.

"Nothing! I'm serious!" Ritom looked in different directions. "What should we do?"

"Wait a minute," Zirconessa swiped a tab for the Dynastiotron night vision goggles and wore them. "Shien, block your right!"

Shien whacked his staff against the stealthy hand. Finally, the cloaked enemy emerged with its katana-fingered hands. It wore a five-eyed night vision tactical helmet with a horned tiara over its long nylon white hair. Below the giant arms were two crab pincers with blinking eyeballs. Loose wires dangled from the boss' snake body that ended with a dragon's head as its tail. The Empress grinned its anglerfish fangs at the party.

Empress Kuroyurei Saiba

Level 500

HP: [462,174/500,000]

Trait 1: Cyberdark Helminth

Trait 2: Spectral Claw

"Good thing I brought this along," Zirconessa adjusted her Dynastiotron goggles. "Spectral Claw means it gains double attack and agility while cloaked."

"So this boss has a cloaking device," Mivangeline checked the party's status. "We should use an eonspace brew."

Ruddigus gave Enshiron the second-to-last eonspace brew to heal the party. "Alright. We only have one left."

"Now it's our turn to attack," Mivangeline charged at the Empress with her kunai. "Get in position!"

Shien, Mivangeline, Elysia, Ritom, and Zirconessa attacked the Empress while the ranged group fired at the boss. Kuroyurei's pincer eyes rotated as they fired purple lasers that passed through their bodies.

"Careful, guys! Those lasers don't hurt, but they halve your HP!" Ritom blasted his flamethrower at the Empress.

Kuroyurei pummeled the tank members with rolling punches powered by jet-powered gauntlets.

"Doesn't Phoenicia punch like this?" Shien used his staff to block.

Ritom gasped when the Empress' tail dragon breathed exploding dice at the party. "Wait, Ampyria attacks like that!"

The Empress' breastplate opened, revealing Phoenicia locked inside. The tail dragon's neck opened to reveal Ampyria in the same state. IV lines connected their veins to the Empress' organs. Everyone froze as the wires siphoned the androids' blood, healing Kuroyurei with Cyberdark Helminth.

"Phoenicia!" Shien shouted.

"Sh-Shien..." Phoenicia's lips mumbled. "H-help, please..."