Vicious Castle. A Victorian-themed secret castle-like bunker that only opens in the event of a dire emergency. With the relic shield shattered by Rion's trapped explosives, the remnants of the city-state vanish within the underground as the Fon's relic technology rises from below. The tallest tower in the castle stretches across the clouds above where the stars remain. The bottom floors, which were dungeon-like with corridors and mazes, were riddled with shattered spear fragments and piled-up armored plates.
Ryo patiently held his straight posture within the aircraft with his Sunlight allies. He peeked outside of the open compartment to scan his surroundings with his neural interface. Nothing came to his attention just yet, but he was still prepared with his combat ax in hand. He pressed his fingers against his ears to activate his neural communicator, speaking to everyone in Chiaki's frequency. "Do you see anything yet?" He asked.
"Nothing yet," Chiaki said, watching the backline led by Rux Zanner. "Just give me the signal and we'll be good to go, Ryo."
"This can't be normal," Sophie communicated through the frequency. Equipped with the same nanosuit that Natia previously wore, she could activate the sixth sense limitations within to boost her prowess if she needed it for emergency purposes. She guarded the opposite moving aircraft traveling beside Ryo. "Shouldn't the enemy be there by now? We've hovered over long enough-"
A whirling red light came abruptly towards Ryo's perspective, catching him and the others off guard. The word "captain" cried out before a colossal energy beam blasted another aircraft supporting Ryo and Sophie. The red beam disintegrated all of the Fon aboard the ship, leaving Ryo no choice but to act. He rushed towards the pilot of his aircraft and pushed the flight stick downwards. The soldiers on board tumbled forward, but Ryo saved their lives. The colossal beam missed by an inch, which bought them enough time to evacuate.
"Get out! Now!" Ryo ordered the Fon aboard his aircraft. The Fon leaped from the aircraft and activated their parachutes. Ryo soared through the skies on his nanosuit and scanned the area once more. Genesis soldiers had already captured Vicious Castle, leaving it all under their jurisdiction and power. The colossal red beam was a magic-infused weapon of unknown origin that two of the Genesis soldiers were charging as he analyzed their movements.
"Chiaki, now!" Ryo called within his frequency.
"Roger!" Chiaki shouted, gesturing with his entire arm. "All right, move forward! Takedown the castle form below and find the glacial crystal!"
The Fon soldiers performed a quick battlecry in unison before pushing their catapults and explosive ballista towards the entrance of Vicious Castle. Genesis infantry soldiers prepared their pulse rifles and baton weapons on the ground, while midair paratrooper soldiers soared with their mechanized wings. From behind the ground troops, fearless Fon soldiers charged with their spears, entering Vicious Castle with the urge to kill.
"Naoto, take out that laser!" Ryo commanded.
Natsu, Sumire's mech, secretly remained in the shrubbery around the outskirts of Vicious Castle seeking command. Naoto, who heard Ryo's words, powered Natsu to the maximum and blasted off towards the center of the castle. Using Natsu's neural interface, Naoto was able to see the charged beam through the wall. "Coming through!" Naoto yelled, extending an energy blade much similar to Sumire's. He charged through and pierced through the weapon, destroying it instantly after passing through with his turbines. "Fuck yeah!"
"Senna! Bame! Air assault from the skies!" Ryo commanded.
Rains of arrows and spears descended from the nearest mountaintops toward Vicious Castle, striking the flying paratroopers with their wings. Senna and Bame both ordered their troops to descend the mountaintops with their parachutes, slowly applying pressure towards the skies.
The Genesis soldiers counterattacked with napalm shots toward the skies. Fon soldiers dropped like flies after being struck with its explosive power. Senna and Bame cut both of their parachutes as they landed on the side of the castle.
"Alien pieces of shit!" One of the Genesis commanders roared at the top of their lungs as Chiaki's forces assaulted the perimeter of the ground. "Protect the underground station! Don't let anyone get to the crystal!"
The soldiers clashed with one another at last near the ground level. Splitting and bloodcurdling cries of dismemberment and mimicry sounded the chaos below. Senna and Bame charged with their soldiers armed with their blades, leading the charge against the Genesis soldiers.
"Fire napalm on the ground!" Another Genesis commander ordered. "Kill all of those aliens!"
His order completely went through. Countless amounts of napalm struck the ground level, razing nearly all of the soldiers underneath. Screams of agony awaited Senna and Bame. One of the explosions struck the area next to Senna, sending her soaring against a piece of stone. Bame charged forward to rescue her, but winged paratroopers assaulted his body with a barrage of bullets, ending his life immediately after one of the stray bullets pierced through his eyes.
"No!" Senna cried. "Bame!"
Her cries attracted the attention of more winged paratroopers, who charged at her with their blades. Before they could strike her head on, multiple cluster grenades appeared in front of Senna's perspective. Ryo, who flew above ground level, watched as pixelated explosives imitating comic effect blasted the paratroopers back into oblivion. The other Fon soldiers gasped in awe after witnessing a shadowy crimson figure dance across Senna's position with a gunblade in hand, slicing through her assailants. Joined by mercenaries from the outside world, more forces flooded the ground level.
"Lucine..." Ziko whispered with his young army. Armed with their sleep darts, they climbed the back of the castle and entered through its many windows. Ziko's young soldiers assaulted many of the complex rooms and corridors, putting its soldiers to sleep before executing them with a quick slash to the neck. Ziko leaped through a mini archway, entering a dining facility where soldiers barricaded other doors with their formation of soldiers.
From outside, Natsu, piloted by Naoto, dove directly next to Senna and offered his hand. "Hurry, get on!" He ordered Senna. Senna leaped onto his hand and clutched onto her chest wound before Naoto extracted her out of the castle outdoors.
Ryo kept his eyes on Lucine from a distance. She elegantly slashed through many of the Genesis soldiers without exerting much energy. The drones that chased Ryo and his allies down during their chase hovered beside her, protecting them as she entered the castle through a shattered window.
"Ryo, watch out!" Sophie cried.
"Shit!" Ryo cried. A winged paratrooper latched onto Ryo's leg and dragged him through the castle. The two of them struggled with each other as they collided against the castle walls. The paratrooper shoved Ryo against one of the royal dining halls where more innocent Fon was kept hostage. Ryo kicked the paratrooper back and utilized his mag booster to yank their wings directly off. Armed with his ax, Ryo swiftly executed the soldier by tossing it towards the paratrooper's head.
Ryo scanned his surroundings and noticed the frightened hostages curled up against bookshelves shielding their bodies. "Jinni, Nana! I need extraction support!" Ryo called from his frequency on his neural interface.
Another massive mech much like Natsu slammed through the windows, piloted by Jinni and Nana together. The mech had a massive rectangular extraction pod that collected individuals, which was perfect for extraction missions. The mech laid back and opened its pods. "Hurry inside!" Jinni called the hostages.
More Genesis soldiers stormed the castle floors and set the area on fire with their flamethrowers. Time was of the essence. Ryo, aggravated by the soldiers, lunged forward and slashed through them. He tossed his ax towards one of the soldier's flamethrower tanks, exploding it and dousing their allies in oil and flame. Sophie clashed through the windows with her dual blades, cutting through more Genesis soldiers holding the Fon hostage. She nodded at Ryo and moved together as a duo through to the third floor.
"Above you, Ryo!" Sophie called, witnessing a firing squad blast their bullets upon Fon soldiers.
"Grab my hand!" Ryo called, extending his palm.
Sophie snatched his hand. Ryo tossed her above towards the ceiling where the Genesis soldiers failed to keep up with her speed. Sophie descended with her blades speedily, slicing through the firing squads with ease. Ryo charged towards the opposite side of the castle which Sophie hadn't touched. More soldiers stormed the third floor.
"Sophie, we have to go!" Ryo called.
However, she could not hear Ryo. Sophie battled multiple ground troopers by herself, leaving her vulnerable for a back attack. One of the Genesis troopers jabbed their blade towards Sophie's hind legs, sending her to the ground.
Ryo rampaged forward with his combat ax. He snatched one of Sophie's extended blades and spun through the soldiers with them to dice them apart. Another soldier attempted to strike Sophie down near the neck, but Ryo sent him flying with his mag booster before delivering a powerful kick to him as he fell. The soldier soared out the windows towards his death.
"You okay?" Ryo asked as he gave Sophie back her weapon.
"Y-yeah," Sophie said. "I'm fine. Let's keep moving."
Chiaki's forces bombarded the bottom floor of the castle with fiery slings from their catapults. The explosive ballista calibrated themselves to blast towards their napalm weapons, destroying them entirely. Chiaki's ground troopers flooded the first floor, seizing all control of it as they barricaded the outskirts.
Ryo and Sophie looked down from the third floor, watching their positive progress. "I think we're going to beat them!" Sophie cheered. "We're winning!"
Ryo held his chin high up and smiled at Sophie. "Yeah, we-"
He stopped. Hundreds of Gatling guns lined up on the fourth floor with Genesis soldiers at the ready. They pointed towards the first three floors and unloaded all of their bullets. They showered the Fon and the others, killing a majority of the ground troopers. Ryo and Sophie raced each other outside of the windows, flying out to avoid gunfire. They then pierced through the fourth floor and collided through the Gatling guns to take them out of commission. Sophie glided through each of the soldiers and executed them with her blades.
"Damn it, we're losing too many people!" Ryo yelled.
More Genesis soldiers came out from within the bottom floor. Their bulky dark-cobalt armor and iron masks made them even more resilient to gunfire. Four of them moved slowly through the ground level, incinerating the Fon with their flamethrowers in hand.
Ryo dove down and struck one of them with his combat ax. Another retaliated by delivering a solid blow towards his helmet visor, sending him flying back against a wall. Their strength was completely unparalleled compared to Ryo, and he hadn't expected such a threat. The four armored troopers placed their flamethrowers away and equipped a set of electric rotating gauntlets. They set their eyes among Ryo, charging at him with the intent to kill.
After inhaling a deep breath, Ryo pushed himself off and slid underneath one of the soldiers who attempted to slug his entire arm towards his face. Ryo leaped into the air with his ax, allowing two more of the armored soldiers to collide with one another. The four soldiers delivered a quick electric barrage with their fists, missing Ryo after he dodged multiple times. Each blow tore the castle's walls apart, and they increasingly grew frustrated after Ryo evaded them multiple times.
Sophie dove down and jabbed her blades through one of them. Their armor prevented them from being attacked, and they spun around with a quick slug towards Sophie's armored visor. The electricity completely rendered her nanosuit unusable. Ryo watched as the four soldiers pummeled Sophie down with their fists, shattering her nanosuit apart.
One of the soldiers pushed the other three aside. Sophie's bare face was visible for everyone to see. The armored soldier extended a massive edge that was lethal to the touch. Ryo charged forward and attempted to stop Sophie from being murdered, but failed. Two of the soldiers attacked him with their electric gauntlets, pinning him to the ground.
The armored soldier charged forward with its massive edge at Sophie's head. An unstoppable force snapped the blade straight off of the soldier's fist. Sir Vayah, who stood by the soldier's stunned gaze, struck its chest with the brute force of his own gauntlet. The force sent the armored soldier flying through the castle walls and eventually out of the entire establishment. The soldiers fixated on Ryo charged at Vayah, but their combined efforts proved useless against his towering strength and speed. Vayah utilized his iron claymore to clobber all of the armored troopers to death. Ryo soared in to rescue Sophie from certain death.
"T-thank you," Sophie said after covering her head with her helmet visor once more. "I almost... I almost lost it for a second." She chuckled, wanting to find the positivity in survival.
"I've got you," Ryo said, holding onto Sophie's arm securely. "Let's get to Jinni. She'll take a look-"
Sophie collapsed to the ground. Her stunned face made no emotion. Ryo caught her from falling down on her head and leaped off the third floor as Vayah advanced through the castle. He placed her body on a bed of grass and supported her head with his palm.
"Hey," Ryo whispered. "Hey, hey! What's going on with you?"
Sophie's eyes fell flat. "I don't feel so good," She whispered. "I don't know what it is. I just don't..."
Ryo gasped. His left hand was soaked in blood coming from her left side. He realized that without her nanosuit, her body was unable to constantly heal at an accelerated rate. "No, no, no," He repeated. "Here, let me give you my suit. It'll help you."
"There's no need for that," A firm voice solidified Sophie's safety. Corlean approached Sophie and gently touched her shoulder. Her wounds were fully healed; yet a black eye-patch was strapped onto her missing eye. Liquidated nanomachines from the command center circulated around her arm, passing it through to Sophie's wound for a quick cleanse. Ryo watched as Corlean brushed beside him with armored battle attire from Sunlight's drop ships. Corlean stepped forward with her rapier in hand, slicing the air once to place it by her hip. "I'll help you all," She said. "Sumire!"
Sunlight and the Fon forces turned back and watched Sumire wearing a variant of Corlean's battle gear. The nanomachines were a weakened version of Sunlight's nanosuits, but it provided more flexible and wide range of movement. The machines circulated around Sumire's body like floating magic. Her jet-black hair blew back against the wind as more machines supported her weight. She opened her eyes, and her irises shrunk in belittling impatience with a thirst for revenge.
"Attack!" Sumire roared at the top of her lungs.
"Charge!" Voices from behind yelled abruptly to support her.
Sumire propelled herself forward, blasting at the speed of sound toward Vicious Castle as reinforcements from Sunlight arrived to support the battle. Rose Accel and Natia arrived with more aircrafts, tanks, and infantry troops to support them. Ryo, whose heart was pounding fast, retreated out of the area with Sophie in his arms. Within the woods, Naoto laid a fatally injured Senna on a pile of autumn leaves against a tree. Ryo laid Sophie against another tree and slid to support Senna.
"We need first-aid! Quickly!" Ryo commanded on his frequency. He rushed back to get help, but Senna swiftly stole his attention by seizing control of his hand. Naoto closed his eyes and looked away from Senna's fatal wound; both of her lungs had been punctured, and her entire spine was close to breaking.
"Ryo Nakai..." Senna could barely utter a single word. "Underneath Vicious Castle..."
"Underneath - what? What's there?" Ryo asked.
Senna began wheezing throughout her slow and sluggish breathing patterns. Her eyes began to fade in light. Naoto continued looking away. "Memory... fragment..." She whispered. "Save... Lucine. And thank Sumire... for me." She exhaled one final breath before she slouched back, death at her door. "Lucine..."
"Damn it!" Ryo shouted, slamming his fist against the tree. The knowledge he gained from his journey at Genesis Laboratories only made her request much more meaningful. Memory fragments were transposed from energy sapped from the Fon, and one that was much like April's fragment was hidden underneath Vicious Castle.
Naoto's skin shivered as he creaked his head towards Ryo with his eyes still closed. He opened them slowly, hiding the shame in his face by keeping a straight glare at the ground. "Go." His voice nearly cracked in pure shame.
Ryo nodded and pressed against Naoto's shoulder with his palm. "Take a breather, okay?" He said.
"I'll take care of him." Natia's voice rang loud and clear behind Ryo. "Hurry on ahead."
Ryo smiled as Natia removed her helmet visor. "Thought you were good as dead." He said.
"Well, hello to you too," Natia retorted, holding her twin swords and placing her back against another tree. "You should be happy that I came in the first place with reinforcements."
"Don't worry about that, I'm happy," Ryo acknowledged. "But I'm happy you're alive."
Natia rolled her eyes. "Just shut up and do what you need to do!" She yelled.
Ryo nodded once more and activated his nanosuit. Without another word, he propelled himself towards the castle with forces backing him up.