It was probably karma for Irnis, as now there are two sadists on the field, and somehow, the other one seems even better than Irnis.
Irnis knows she doesn't have a second to spare... at least not when she can see Nandak dropping slowly to the ground.
"I like that look on your face." And also when the entity is in front of her, talking like this.
Quite enough to make her mad for sure.
"Give me a weapon and summon reinforcements! I am going to take him down no matter what!" Irnis ordered the guardsmen while gazing at him.
The guardsman was a little shocked in alarm but he nodded and immediately responded sensing the anger in her voice. One entered the spaceship while the other, standing beside the already traumatized Princess, activated a device on their armor to call the reinforcements.
That guardsman came out from the mini spaceship while carefully carrying an unusual weapon.
At first glance, it appeared to be a smooth, simple sword but looking carefully along its length, one could notice strange attachments and protrusions. The sword's hilt was decorated with complex controls and its blade felt like it was pulsating a little. On both sides of the weapon's tip, two small, barrel-like extensions connected its base to the compact energy pack.
It wasn't any ordinary weapon - It was a hybrid weapon that combined both long-range attacks and close combat capabilities. An all-rounder weapon designed for maximum adaptability and effect.
Irnis's eyes refocused as she held the weapon and felt its weight and balance. Her hand strained with expectation as she grasped the hilt since her mind was set on a singular goal: take down the enemy, no matter the cost.
Meanwhile, her enemy was sitting on his air-chair and enjoying the view. He relished Irnis's anxiousness and fear and was having quite fun watching all that.
Irnis looked at him and then at the guardsman. This time her voice was lower.
"Go look inside for some 'Ryuns'. I might need those things during our battle."
••
After a few minutes, or instead, right after one and a half minutes, Irnis's reinforcements arrived — A total of the best thirty soldiers available at that time.
*"Only that much? Did they get the wrong message? No, it is not possible....but then.... why are they so less in number?"* Irnis thought looking at them with her eyes wide open.
Their suits were full of weapons and tools which were integrated into the armor's design. Each of them had different armor but they almost looked the same.
They were divided into six groups and in every group, five soldiers and every five soldier's weapon was unique according to their strengths and specialties.
Leading the charge against the entity were six seasoned lieutenants, each a master of their unique abilities. But, since Irnis was the commander, they all introduced themselves to her.
"Xeridian, the Blade Lieutenant," he had dual scimitars stuck on his back.
"Vrenxis, the Terra Lieutenant," she had gauntlets on both her hands.
"Lyqura, the Aether Lieutenant," a cannon of almost her size was levitating beside her.
"Vurl, the Maelstrom Lieutenant," a big, heavy rifle, in his hand.
"Zhyr, the Gale Lieutenant," she had something attached to her hands which was shining.
And lastly "Nianh, the Bulwark Lieutenant," had something fixed with a triangle shape in the center of her armor.
Nandak was halfway there.
"You all just wasted your time on introductions. All that won't even matter if you die here."
Irnis readied herself.
"Time is short, so heed my words. Until that sword hangs in mid-air, follow my instructions to the letter, but the instant it hits the ground, forget everything and attack that creature with all you've got."
They formed a semi-circle around Irnis.
Irnis being the commander, rang her voice out. "All of ya! Encircle the park, now! I want a secure perimeter, with no gaps. Xeridian, take your squad and cover the north side. Vraxxis, your squad takes the east. Four of you will be behind me to cover fire, the rest will surround him. We'll attack him from the south."
Clear and commanding, she directed her team to encircle the park. Her soldiers moved swiftly to obey, forming a tight cordon around the park. The formation was complete.
The being remained focused on Nandak without flinching and its calm demeanor became unsettling amid the chaos.
Only a foot above the ground...Nandak is getting closer...
As fast as she could, Irnis burst forth with a lightning-fast charge with her sword slicing through the air with a piercing whistle! The being was still sitting on his imaginary chair.
The blade's reduced size increased its deadly potential, as she launched a volley of strikes at a hypersonic pace. Her attacks increased which made them nearly imperceptible to the human eye.
Irnis activated the energy attachments on her sword, unleashing a barrage of intense rays that illuminated the darkening park. The sword's blade began to glow with brightening white light and left behind a trail of distorted air.
Her sword was annihilating everything in her path.
Yet, despite the amount of destruction, when the dust cleared away, the entity was found unscathed.
Irnis' eyes widened in shock as she stumbled backward but regained her composure in no time.
She quickly signaled her soldiers to open fire. The air erupted in a chorus of gunfire and energy blasts, a hail of projectiles hurtling toward the entity.
With a swift stroke, Irnis unleashed a torrent of energy from her sword, channeling it into a scorching plasma laser. The explosion raced forward and illuminated the surroundings with an intense, blinding, blue light.
The laser's fury was halted.
"Outstanding! You are quite good at this..." It was unable to penetrate his defenses. "...But of course, it wasn't enough."
Irnis quickly ran towards the creature's back, her sword ready to strike the decisive blow, but in the blink of an eye, her target vanished into thin air, which made her awkwardly stumble forward.
She looked around her surroundings in confusion to understand the sudden disappearance, but she couldn't see him. She cannot even feel his suffocating presence.
It went silent...
The formation dissembled...
Nandak touched the ground.
In that fleeting moment of disorientation, the being reappeared behind her.
Its burning body delivered a powerful blow that sent Irnis crashing to the ground.
All the other Dramon soldiers began to attack him.
Xeridian threw his dual energy scimitars which speeded through the air for rapid and accurate attacks, while Vrenxis used his gravity-manipulation gauntlets to disrupt his balance and create shockwaves.
Lyqura fired concentrated sound energy blasts from her sonic cannon, and Vurl rapid-fired plasma shots from his heavy rifle.
Meanwhile, the others focused on defenses. Zhyr tried to use strong winds to push the entity back, and Nianh absorbed the entity's energy with her energy shield, redirecting it back at him.
The air filled with noise from energy weapons and explosions.
The entity, however, remained unfazed.
Its formidable form effortlessly endured the attack. His body was covered in weird energy, generating a localized distortion field that refracted and deflected the incoming attacks from every other soldier.
Xeridian's radiant scimitars were engulfed by a churning vortex, suspended in mid-air in a swirling loop. Vrenxis's gravity crush was warped and deflected, slamming harmlessly into the ground with a muted thud.
Lyqura's sonic barrages were silenced and dissipated like mist. Vurl's plasma bolts ionized and shattered across the surface of the entity, adorning it like a macabre ornament.
Zhyr's tempestuous gusts were nudged off-course by just his eyes and rendered her attacks futile. Nianh's redirected energy blasts were absorbed by the entity's surface, fueling its ominous power.
It was quite amusing, at least to that being, that all their efforts were not only in vain but also got used by him for himself.
He dismissed all of their attacks and at Irnis, who just stood up after she was thrown away. The sudden reversal had left her reeling and her thoughts struggled to keep pace with the entity's unpredictable movements.
And then, suddenly, he was there.
Irnis' reflexes kicked in just in time, her sword flashing up to deflect the entity's surprise attack. Both blades clashed in a shower of sparks, the force of the blow sending Irnis flying backward. She struggled to right herself in mid-air, but the shockwave generated by the impact sent her tumbling across the ground.
Her sword bent.
Before she could even attempt to regain her footing, the entity closed the distance, its sword slicing through the air to strike Irnis with a precision that belied its otherworldly nature.
The sword bit deep, sending Irnis crashing to the ground once more, her vision blurring at the edges. Her armor was almost broken.
Irnis's head started spinning as the blunt side of Nandak struck her. A warm, sticky sensation spread across her skin as she felt her vision begin to blur and fade, but could see that the being was coming closer.
With a rush of adrenaline, she desperately tried to lift her arm and block his next move. But it only led to a sickening crack as her arm snapped, leaving her defenseless and writhing in pain.
She fell to the ground.
He slowly inclined closer to Irnis.
"Interesting... I am actually having fun after all that time in this sword. You people sure are entertaining."
He whispered to her but she was in a condition where she could not even hear her own voice.
Many other humans outside fainted, and now only half of them remained standing and were taking the unconscious ones away from the place.
All the other soldiers rushed towards him. All of them used their weapons against him.
He threw them away.
Before he could notice, Irnis quickly pulled out the small, shimmering glass orb from her pocket and hurled it at her wounded body. The things she asked for the guardsman to look for in the mini spaceship are now coming in handy.
The tiny sphere shattered upon impact, releasing a burst of radiant energy that enveloped her body. The light intensified, and Irnis' wounds began to mend at an incredible pace, her bleeding slowing, then stopping, as her torn flesh knitted back together. The pain receded, replaced by a strange, tingling sensation. Her cells were being repaired.
The being looked at her, narrowing his brows and fixing his eyes on the glass shards. His expression was unreadable.
Irnis clicked on a device on her wrist and a metallic liquid came out from her veins. It became a kind of gauntlet that gleamed with a fierce electric power.
She delivered swift punches, hitting the entity with all her strength.
However, he quickly swerved and dodged, effortlessly avoiding each strike.
He countered with a swift kick to her knee, sending her stumbling back. She crashed to the ground, blood streaming down her face. In a split second, the entity vanished, leaving Irnis struggling to her feet, her knee screaming in agony.
Other soldiers tried to support her with their weapons but they were blown away, again... Maybe they were annoying him.
Irnis spun around with great speed with her fists flying in a powerful arc but the entity disappeared again and then reappeared behind her.
She tried again but the entity was just toying with her as his movements were a blur of speed and agility that left Irnis struggling to keep up.
Despite her reputation as the fastest Dramon, Irnis found herself unable to land a hit, her attacks dismissed with almost casual ease. It became even more humiliating to Irnis as the entity was also evading the attacks from those soldiers' guns. The entity's dodges were so swift, so precise, that it seemed to be dancing around her, its movements a mesmerizing display of supernatural agility.
*"Why is she so desperately trying to hit me, knowing that it won't even make a scratch?"* as the entity thought in a brief moment of calmness, his rapid dodges came to a sudden stop.
The pause in movement was a purposeful decision, clearly reflected in the calculated break. But for Irnis, it was an opening.
Irnis unleashed a fierce battle cry and landed a powerful punch slamming into the entity with explosive force. The impact sparked a massive shockwave, ripping through the earth and shaking the ground.
A deafening boom echoed through the air. The ground shattered and split. A jagged fissure opened up as the earth recoiled from Irnis' powerful strike. Irnis' blow was cataclysmic, capable of leveling a skyscraper in an instant. Anything in her path can be destroyed.
But, the entity remained standing and his body was perfectly unblemished. The laws of physics seemed to bend. It left Irnis stunned and struggling to comprehend the sheer impossibility of its survival and probably, her survival too.
Some small sensors emerged from the gauntlet and made contact with the being's body which was Irnis's intention from the beginning.
It was then she felt the level of threat she was facing.
The gauntlet's advanced technology sensed the entity's power as Irnis' fist made contact with the being and sent it to her body. The advanced biotechnology embedded in Irnis' body, known as the "Power Analyzer," turned on because of the gauntlet. The tiny device, linked directly to her nervous system, rapidly assessed the entity's energy output, processing the data at incredible speed.
As the analysis unfolded and a staggering truth burst forth like a thunderclap, Irnis mind cannot process what she felt.
The calculation was more horrific than she imagined.
The Power Analyzer's warning signal flashed in her mind's eye, alerting her to the extreme danger posed by this behemoth of a foe.
"◦◦CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED◦"
"◦ENEMY'S ENERGY SIGNATURE EXCEEDS SAFE ENGAGEMENT PARAMETERS◦ RECOMMENDATION FOR IMMEDIATE RETREAT DUE TO ENERGY OVERLOAD RISK◦◦"
After the warning, it calculated his strength. The entity's power level loomed over her eyes, a colossal enormity towering at a staggering one million times that of Irnis' own.
The sheer magnitude of this disparity struck her like a chilling gust, sending shivers coursing through her marrow. The air seemed to vibrate with the weight of this revelation, leaving her breathless and awestruck.
Irnis' eyes widened in terror as she sprang backward, still reeling from the overwhelming revelation.
"Wha...what was that?" Her thoughts raced in chaos, her usual tactical clarity and focus were replaced by a numbing fear and her senses were overwhelmed by the crushing weight of her opponent's strength.
She lost her balance and her movements were irregular as she desperately sought to regain her footing and her wits, but her mind remained clouded by the daunting reality of her situation.
Irnis' voice trailed off, her words lost in a mix of disbelief and dread. She shook her head, trying to clear the impossibility from her mind. Her eyes remained fixed on the entity and her gaze, a blend of fear and awe.
"It...it can't be," she whispered again, her voice barely audible.
"No creature, no being, can possess such power. It defies the laws of nature... How is that even possible...?"
Her words faded into stunned silence as if she was waiting for the entity to vanish, to reveal itself as a mere illusion.
But it didn't.
It stood there.
Irnis' body succumbed to the overwhelming terror, her legs buckling beneath her as she collapsed to the ground. Her vision began to blur, her eyelids heavy, as consciousness slipped away.
The voices in her mind grew fainter, a distant echo, as her senses faltered. Her body trembled, convulsing in a violent surge of fear, as she vomited uncontrollably.
Tears streamed down her wide-opened eyes, mingling with the bile and sweat, as her breathing grew labored, each gasp a desperate struggle. Irnis' world narrowed to a tiny, darkening point, consumed by her fear.
The soldiers watched in horror, their eyes fixed on the crumpled form of Irnis, their commander and one of the most feared Dramon warriors. They exchanged nervous glances, their weapons trembling in their hands, as they wondered if they were next to fall.
Her sudden collapse sparked panic and horror among them. Minds racing, they struggled to grasp the terrifying implications. If someone as strong as Irnis fell so easily, what chance did they have against this beast? Their courage and morale vanished, replaced by creeping despair and dread.
Their fearful eyes met, hands trembling on sword grips, as they wondered who'd be the next to fall to the merciless entity.
"I don't know what happened to you but I guess you are done for." That being looked at Irnis, in disappointment.
Those guardsmen and Princess were so consumed by his presence that they weren't even looking around.
The entity's dominance was heavy, its presence suffocating, and the soldiers' hearts raced with the grim realization that they might be no match for its unbridled power. They were only waiting for Irnis to do something that could encourage them to fight.
Irnis, with a surge of desperation, rummaged through her pocket and retrieved a handful of small glass spheres filled with a mysterious liquid. Quickly, she popped the spheres into her mouth and swallowed them whole, the glass shattering between her teeth.
The liquid's effects were instantaneous, coursing through her veins like a revitalizing elixir. Her vision cleared, her breathing steadied, and her strength began to return. She started to get up.
The soldiers, inspired by Irnis' resilience, launched a fierce and chaotic assault on the entity, each employing their unique abilities and weapons to slow its advance.
They are going to go all out this time.
As the entity started moving, Xeridian unleashed a maelstrom of razor-sharp energy tendrils, ensnaring the foe with whip-like precision. Vrenxis conjured localized gravity anomalies, creating pockets of weightlessness that sent the entity stumbling.
Lyqura orchestrated a symphony of sonic resonance, generating harmonic waves that disrupted the entity's energy matrix. Vurl deployed a swarm of micro-drones, each firing miniature plasma bolts that peppered the entity's defenses.
Zhyr summoned a tempest of swirling vortex winds, buffeting the entity with turbulent air currents. Nianh channeled the entity's energy into a mirrored feedback loop, amplifying its power to catastrophic levels and turning it against the foe.
But, "Not enough."
The entity's defenses appeared to adapt and evolve with each attack, making the soldiers' diverse abilities ineffective against its power.
Despite their valiant efforts, the soldiers' attacks seemed to merely graze the entity, their blows deflected or absorbed with unsettling ease. Yet, they refused to yield, driven by their determination to defeat this monstrous foe. The battle raged on, a maelstrom of chaos and destruction, as the soldiers fought with every ounce of strength they possessed.
Irnis, her resolve renewed, stood tall once more, her eyes looking at the battlefield with a calculating gaze. Though her body still trembled from the entity's overwhelming power, her mindset remained unbroken.
The soldiers, inspired by her unwavering determination, rallied behind her, their morale boosted by her refusal to yield.
No matter how evil and sadistic Irnis is, she is also a commander.
"So, it's round two now? Hmm... interesting..." As the entity continued its relentless advance, Irnis' mind raced with a new strategy - not to defeat the monster but to escape.
She knew victory was impossible, but survival was still within reach.
The battle was far from over, but Irnis' focus had shifted from conquest to survival, her will to live driving her forward.
With a glance, she looked around the park for a way to outsmart the entity and escape this place but she couldn't find one.
The indifference was infuriating, making her feel small and powerless.
She was a formidable warrior, yet this creature treated her like a mere annoyance, unworthy of his attention.
The entity's aloofness only added to its unsettling presence, making Irnis feel like a mere insect beneath its notice. Her anger and frustration simmered, but she knew she had to keep her wits about her if she wanted to escape this situation.
While Irnis was thinking, while soldiers were getting ready, while Princess and her guards were petrified in the corner, and while unconscious people outside the barrier were being taken away... something materialized above Megravent's barrier which cast its shadows upon them.
The entity looked up.
All the Dramons who were there bowed down.
"How come is he here?"