The Frelsi kept staring at Nach with their anxiety raising. It was inconceivable that a single person could stand with such presence even facing all those many enemies at once.
It was surreal, she was unshakable, she did not move even a single finger. In another sort of situation, she would just be seen as a strange person, a statue, or something like this. But, at that point, the more they stared at her, the more she looked like an impassable barrier.
They tried to show their weapons, regain composure, and show that morale was still high. But nothing was capable to shake the iron will of that Ridire in front of them.
The leader took a step forward, his leg prosthesis making a strange sound when moving.
Everyone followed him, closing a few steps. A huge gap still separated them from Sionnach, but her presence was so strong that it looked like they were a few inches distant from each other.
The pressure was overwhelming enough to make some of them retreat some steps backward again.
Anyways, most of them continued to press forward little by little, while she kept some meters distant from the electric huge fence surrounding the tower.
Most of the Frelsi needed to admit that, but the fence being there right now, separating them, was kind of a relief. Sionnach seemed to be a beast in a cage for them.
"S-shall we go for it?"
"H-Hey, everyone, why are you hesitating now? There is just one woman, isn't it?"
"You are stopping as well, man…"
"What the leader is thinking here? Why just doesn't yell a freaking command?"
"Hey, hey, seriously, what's going on, what are we facing here!"
Mumbles and more mumbles started to appear amongst the troop. Their complaints were not unreasonable at all. It was strange that a whole troop was faltering in the presence of a single random enemy.
The leader was sweating buckets. It was cold, incredibly cold at that hour of the night, but he felt that all the water of his body was leaving him now. His heartbeat was crazy fast and he was thankful that he had lost his legs, cause everyone would be able to see them trembling.
After some minutes trying to cool himself down, he finally gave a strong step forward, claiming in a loud voice.
"Why are you so shy now? The goal is on our hands already! The sight of the freedom and happiness that our Future together will bring is being destroyed bit by bit for those two!
"We are strong, we are united, we seek our freedom together! Go ahead, now!"
All the troops started to run after their leader, screaming words of motivation and trying to cheer up the rest of their friends who were still hesitating.
Seventy rebels ran towards Sionnach.
She kept there, staring at them.
The more close the Frelsi got, the more their hearts raced. Their instincts said that they need to get out of there, they could not pass that fence, no matter what. They brushed it off and ran faster though.
Sionnach held her hatchet tightly and then started to walk slowly straight. Step by step, calmly, fearlessly. She did not even blink. The sad mask she wore was common to everyone in District 42, as it was just their natural faces. But, somehow, it looked creepy… and unquestionably threatening.
"What's with that hell of woman!? She wasn't bluffing at all? Does she really intend to clash with us? What does that Ridire have in mind?"
She shortened the distance from the fence by half.
"Casper…" She thought. "I believe in you… I am giving my life to you, leaving it in your hands… What will you do now? How much stronger you can get in a difficult situation?"
She breathed in, deeply.
"I had my response since my eight years old. I can get as stronger as I need. I can do everything I ought to do. I can have the value of a hundred men army.
"I wonder how far you can go…"
Casper must have been the one struggling the most there.
His palms were already without any skin, and each time he grabbed one of the iron bars, a good amount of pain was sent through his entire hand.
His arms were shaking uncontrollably. His legs were already numb, to the point where he needed to look down to see if he could get his feet in some of the bars below.
"Go! Don't let the same freaking thing happen again! Don't let your weaknesses and your exhaustion get in your way when you are trying to save someone! Don't let that thing happen again, Casper!" He screamed, talking to himself.
He knew he had to keep quiet to don't lost breath, but his mind was almost turning off, so he needed to keep talking to not lost consciousness.
"Faster! Go faster! Faster! You need to… To be stronger, damn it! You are almost there!"
In just a minute or so, Casper would finally finish climbing that tower.
He looked down, and Frelsi had already broken in through the fence and were entering that space. Nach was calmly waiting for them.
Casper panicked and continued to climb, this time even faster than before.
"SURVIVE!" That crap of a scream came again, sharpening his senses and making his body shake with determination.
"Keep. Going. Already!"
Down there, the Frelsi were running towards Sionnach at a high pace.
"Don't waste your precious bullets, we can beat her just with melee weapons!" The leader said.
"Yes, sir!" All of them answered, drawing their blades.
Sionnach ran towards them, which got them by surprise.
Bip… Bip… Bip…
She pressed forward, going straight in the leader's direction, closing the distance in no time.
Everyone was startled and had no time to react.
As if a flash of lightning had blinded them for a second, the head of the leader was already rolling on the ground, and some of their comrades were already with deep cuts on their bodies.
Sionnach was with her mask covered in blood. Everyone looked at her as if she was a monster.
She crouched down carefully and picked up a dagger that belonged to their leader. The hatchet was still on her right hand, dripping blood.
They tried to retaliate, ignoring the fear and surrounding Sionnach.
Bip…. Bip… Bip…
Casper noticed it as well. He saw the figure of Sionnach surrounded by them.
He finished climbing the tower. In front of him was something looking like a regular dodecahedron, with a faint blue light. It was huge, almost Casper's height.
Bip… Bip… Bip…
Meanwhile, Sionnach was like a bunny in a trap.
The Frelsi were frightened of her, but still closing the distance slowly to be able to attack her from all sides.
They still could not believe that their leader died so easily by her hands.
Whenever one or two of them advanced in her attack range, her weapons would fly at an incredible speed, never missing the fatal blow.
The circle of enemies, however, closed the gap even more, and in no time she would be caught.
Nonetheless, Sionnach, with a great show of courage, did not let them close the distance completely; she did it instead, rushing and breaking in into the circle, and launching a flurry of blows to all sides.
She started to receive a lot of strikes as well. She needed to stop to attack to shrink the body and cover herself with her arms, trying to defend or avoid every attack she could.
"Casper…"
Bip… Bip… Bip…
"I am Sorry…"
Bip… Bip… Bip…
Casper ran towards the core of energy, stretching his arm as much as he could.
Bip…. Bip… Bip…
"See you… soon?"
Bip… ... ...
Casper jumped with all his might, his fingers were just a few millimeters distant from touching the core.
… ... ...
Sionnach gave a huge roar that made every enemy around her tremble in fear and despair.
She raised the device in her left wrist, pointing to the skies.
The device started to pull electricity from all the devices of the Frelsi, and even of the electric fence.
Rays of electricity and aesthetics began to gather in the device, as it was a lightning rod in the middle of a storm.
The vision of everyone got blurred with blue and white.
The device panicked and kept sucking electricity from everywhere. It started to make a strange and unbearable noise, that made everyone there scream in pain.
The tower was already activating and sending energy as well, but it was too late.
When the device reached its limit, it exploded in a tsunami of electricity that swept across the battlefield.
The artificial bolts of lightning and rays collided with each other, creating more huge explosions with the same loud sound of a monstrous thunder.
Soon enough, all of that electricity, separating and merging, colliding and attracting, condensed in a huge single mass of energy.
The final explosion was so unbelievably strong, that the Tower of Energy could not manage to keep straight in the ground, almost falling.
Casper needed to hold on to the structure trying to not fly from there. His mind did not register yet what had just happened.
After that, everything calmed down. Not just the complex, but also the whole midwest region fell silent.
A huge crater appeared in the middle of the complex, and all the bodies that were down there turned into nothing but dust.
A strong, final gust of wind went from the south, sweeping the ashes of the battlefield and putting an end to that act