The impact was explosive.
Asher and the Oga crashed into each other, both hitting with full force, neither holding back anymore.
The Oga swung first—three fast slashes aid at Asher’s chest, throat, and head.
Asher blocked the first with his forearm, ducked under the second, and twisted away from the third. Even so, he felt the wind from each strike scrape across his skin.
He countered with a heavy punch to the Oga’s cracked chest.
The machine didn’t budge.
Instead, it drove its knee into Asher’s stomach. The hit folded him forward, stealing his breath.
Before he could recover, the Oga grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground.
Asher clawed at its wrist, trying to break free. His feet kicked against empty air as the machine tightened its grip, tal fingers digging into his throat.
"Body stability compromised," the Oga said calmly. "Final strike initiated."
It raised its clawed hand, aiming for his heart.
Asher’s eyes narrowed.
No more playing around.
He grabbed the Oga’s wrist with both hands, twisted his body, and swung his legs up—wrapping them around the machine’s elbow.
Then he pulled.
Hard.
tal groaned.
The Oga’s arm bent unnaturally. Sparks flew.
Still, the claw kept lowering toward his chest.
Asher roared and twisted harder.
The elbow joint snapped with a sharp, tallic crack.
The entire arm tore halfway off.
The Oga dropped him imdiately.
Asher hit the ground on one knee, coughing hard, catching his breath through his bruised throat.
The Oga’s now nearly-useless arm hung by loose wires.
It should’ve been slowing down.
But it didn’t.
The machine stepped forward, its body shaking from internal damage, its voice glitching.
"Mission... cannot... fail..."
It lunged again.
Even with one damaged arm, its speed was terrifying.
Asher rolled to the side. The Oga’s remaining claw stabbed into the floor, carving another deep hole.
Asher grabbed the broken arm still hanging off the machine.
And he yanked.
He tore the arm completely off.
The Oga staggered, sparks raining from the torn socket.
But the machine didn’t stop fighting.
It spun and slashed with its last claw, aiming at Asher’s throat.
He blocked with his forearm. The claw cut through his sleeve and sliced into his skin, leaving a burning line.
Asher clenched his jaw through the pain.
He grabbed the Oga’s wrist again.
This ti, he didn’t try to break it.
He aid lower.
He drove his fist straight into the cracked chest plate.
The armor buckled.
A sharp flash of red light burst from the core.
The Oga staggered backward, stabilizing itself with one damaged leg.
Asher didn’t give it ti to recover.
He stepped forward and punched the sa spot again.
This ti the crack split open.
The red core inside pulsed wildly, exposed.
The Oga tried to raise its claw for a counterattack, but its movents were jerky now. Slower. Less precise.
"Warning," it said. "Core failure im—mi—minent..."
Asher took one final breath and slamd his fist directly into the exposed core.
The chamber lit up red.
A loud tallic crack echoed around them as the core shattered like glass.
The Oga froze.
Its visor flickered.
Its body twitched once, twice—
Then stopped moving completely.
Asher stepped back, panting hard, covered in cuts, sweat, and machine oil.
The Oga stood still for two seconds.
Then it fell forward, hitting the ground with a heavy crash.
Asher leaned on his knees, breathing deep.
"...Finally."
He wiped the blood from his face and straightened up slowly.
The Knight limped toward him.
Asher nodded.
"It’s over."
But the ground under the broken Oga suddenly humd with a low vibration.
Asher’s eyes narrowed.
"...Wait. What now?"
Asher took one step back as the humming grew louder.
The broken Oga’s core—what was left of it—began glowing again. Faint at first, then brighter, like sothing was trying to restart inside the machine.
Asher frowned.
"No... no, you’re done. Stay down."
The glow suddenly pulsed.
A soft click ca from inside the Oga’s body.
Then another.
The machine’s crushed chest shifted just slightly, like sothing underneath was moving on its own.
The Knight’s eyes widened.
"Asher... step back."
Asher didn’t move. "I’m not letting this thing get up again."
But the machine wasn’t standing.
Sothing else was happening.
Small panels along the Oga’s spine opened, releasing thin strands of red light that crawled across the floor like energy leaks.
A sharp beeping sound echoed in the room—fast, repetitive, rising in pitch.
Asher blinked once.
"...Is that a self-destruct?"
The Knight shook his head slowly.
"No. Sothing worse."
The Oga’s dead body suddenly jerked.
A thin, snake-like tal cable pushed out from the broken core, writhing like a living thing. More cables followed, all glowing faint red, all trying to reach outward across the floor as if searching for sothing to latch onto.
Asher’s eyes narrowed.
"Great. It’s not just a robot. It’s a parasite too."
One cable snapped toward him like a whip.
Asher smacked it away with the back of his hand.
"Not today."
More cables shot out, faster this ti.
Asher stepped forward and stomped hard on the exposed core, crushing the tal around it even deeper.
The cables reacted imdiately, shaking violently.
He hit it again.
And again.
He kept stomping until the entire chest cavity of the Oga was flattened into the floor.
The red lights flickered.
The cables twitched.
Then, finally—they went limp.
No sound.
No movent.
The glow faded completely.
Asher stayed still for a mont, panting, watching to make sure nothing else moved.
Only when he was certain it was over did he let out a long breath.
"Okay," he muttered. "Now it’s actually dead."
The Knight walked up beside him, scanning the crushed machine.
"Asher... that wasn’t part of its original design. Sothing modified it."
Asher wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Yeah, I noticed."
He crouched down, poking one of the now-dead cables with his finger.
"What’s the chance there are more of these things?"
The Knight didn’t answer right away.
He simply looked toward the dark corridor ahead.
A cold breeze drifted out.
And then—deep in the distance—another tallic hum answered back.
Asher straightened slowly.
"...So that’s a yes."
The Knight nodded once, his expression grim.
"We keep moving," Asher said, rolling his shoulder despite the pain. "If more of these Ogas are waiting... I want to find them before they find us."
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