Ethan stepped forward, his diamond skin shimring under the darkened sky.
"So you want my DNA, right? And if I’m not wrong, you’re also the one who manipulated Lyra and her family."
Malachi’s smile widened, satisfied.
"Of course. True evolution requires chaos... loss... despair."
Lyra trembled, rage surging back into her body.
"You used us, you lied about Elena. You made us attack the Guardians."
Malachi looked at her with delight.
"And look how much you’ve grown. Pain is the mother of power."
Ethan clenched his fists.
"Whatever your stupid plan is, I don’t understand it, and I don’t want to."
He lifted his gaze, locking it on Malachi.
"But the mont you decided to take my DNA," Ethan continued, his voice steady and dangerous. "I decided to show you what happens to anyone who goes against ."
In an instant, Ethan vanished, activating his full speed. Diamond fists wrapped in fire and ice appeared right in front of Malachi.
BOOOOM—!!
The punch slamd into Malachi’s chest, the impact tearing through the air and sending shockwaves across the battlefield.
Malachi slid backward slightly. He staggered half a step. He looked down slowly. A thin crack shimred across his skin.
"...You injured ," he said quietly. Then he smiled. His body pulsed and his muscles shifted, his bones realigned.
Malachi lifted his head, his eyes glowing brighter than before. He clenched his fist, and gravity spiked instantly.
CRUSH—!!!
Ethan was slamd into the ground. His diamond body cracked under the pressure as the earth caved in beneath him.
But Ethan fought back.
Swampheat vines burst from the ground and wrapped around his legs and torso, anchoring him firmly.
He redirected the gravity through the vines and forced himself upright. Frost gathered around his fist as he lunged forward.
CRACK—!!!
The ice-coated diamond punch slamd into Malachi’s ribs, fracturing a second layer of armor.
Malachi laughed. "You injure again, good."
His body pulsed again, as he started recovering back.
Ethan’s diamond form shone brighter. Frost coated one fist, while flas wrapped around the other.
BAM—!!!
His strike smashed into Malachi’s chest with massive force, sending the hybrid skidding backward and carving a deep trench into the ground.
Ethan didn’t stop. He used everything he had.
Ice powers to slow Malachi’s movent. Fire powers to burn through armor. Vines to restrain and pull. And his speed to strike him again and again. Telepathic Combat Sense to predict every counter.
At one mont, Ethan almost ended it.
He grabbed Malachi by the skull, slamd him hard into the earth, and drove an explosive diamond-and-ice punch straight into his chest.
CRACK—!!
Malachi’s chestplate shattered.
The King Zerg Core was partially exposed, flickering violently with unstable energy.
Malachi dropped to one knee. Ethan stepped forward, breathing heavily, gathering power for the finishing blow.
But then, the King Zerg core throbbed. Malachi roared. It was a horrific sound, like a dying star screaming.
The King Zerg Core surged with crimson fire, flooding his body with violent energy.
His wounds began to close as torn flesh knitted itself together. The foreign DNA inside him reacted instantly, mutating further. His bones shifted and realigned while muscles tore apart, regrew, and hardened into a stronger form.
He rose to his feet, standing taller than before.
He was stronger. And more monstrous. His eyes glowed with insect-like fury as a low chuckle escaped his throat.
"You almost killed . Good."
Ethan staggered backward, struggling to keep himself standing as he faced what Malachi had just beco.
Malachi moved with pure Zerg ferocity. He caught Ethan in the middle of his blitz.
CRRRRACK—!!!
And slamd him into the ground with such force that Ethan’s diamond form fractured. Cracks spread across the crystal surface as the earth exploded outward.
Ethan fought back instinctively.
He raised vine barriers to block the follow-up attacks. Ice shields ford around his body. Flas burst out to push Malachi away.
But it didn’t matter. Malachi adapted to every move. The King Zerg Core inside his chest glowed brighter, pulsing with unstable energy.
"Your strategies, I see them all." He grabbed Ethan by the throat. Then he hurled him.
Ethan’s body tore through trees, rock, and soil, crashing through an entire forest before finally hitting the ground. He lay there.
Barely conscious.
But then the Guardians stood up. One by one, they surrounded Malachi. Without hesitation, they attacked together.
Malachi looked at them and smiled. "Finally."
Ben Stark charged first, swinging his Astra-Sword with full force. John Smith fired Aether-charged cannons from his repaired cha.
Sasha released a rain of explosive arrows. Clint dive-bombed from above, aiming straight for Malachi’s head.
Malachi didn’t move. "Good... feed your resistance."
Ben’s sword struck first. Malachi caught the blade with two fingers. Then he snapped it. The Astra-Sword shattered.
Ben froze. "What—?"
Malachi punched him once. Ben was sent flying, crashing through debris and disappearing from sight.
John fired a full-power cannon blast. Malachi inhaled the energy. "Delicious."
A beam shot from his mouth. John’s cha exploded instantly.
Sasha fired another wave of explosive arrows. Malachi waved his hand. The arrows stopped in midair. Then they turned around. And flew straight back at her.
BOOM!!
Clint dove in to save her, grabbing her mid-fall, but Malachi appeared instantly.
He caught Clint by the throat in mid-air and slamd him into the ground with brutal force.
The battlefield went silent. The Guardians were defeated. All of it happened in less than thirty seconds.
But the mont the Guardians fell, the Forsaken moved.
Daniel Graves was first. Scythe materialized in his hand, shadow folding around the blade as he teleported behind Malachi and swung in a perfect killing arc.
At the sa ti, Ethan’s fortress armor expanded outward, locking into full castle configuration. Heavy cannons deployed, thrusters ignited, and he slamd forward like a moving stronghold.
Lena flooded the battlefield with corrosive webs, binding the ground, the air, the ruins themselves. Acidic strands wrapped toward Malachi from every direction, ant to lt flesh and armor alike.
Marcus tore forward at beast speed, claws out, fangs bared, aiming straight for Malachi’s throat.
Malachi didn’t dodge their attack. The scythe struck first. It cut across his back. Black blood sprayed.
Iron Mammoth crashed into him next, the impact shaking the ground as castle-armor slamd full force into his body. Cannons fired point-blank, burying Malachi in explosions.
Bloodweb’s corrosive strands wrapped around him, eating into his flesh, smoking violently.
Marcus slamd into Malachi’s chest, claws ripping, fangs tearing deep into his shoulder as he drove him backward through rubble.
For a mont, it looked like it worked.
Then— they heard.
"Ha ha ha ha," Malachi laughed. The sound echoed unnaturally. His body pulsed. The King Zerg Core flared bright crimson.
The scythe wound sealed instantly. Armor plates grew where flesh had been. Acid boiled away as a hardened crystal ford beneath it. Bones thickened. Muscles expanded.
He grabbed Fangstrike by the face. With one hand, he slamd Marcus into the ground hard enough to crater it, then lifted him again and threw him through a collapsed building.
Iron Mammoth fired again. Malachi turned and he punched the armor.
The fortress plating dented inward like paper. Systems scread as the entire suit was launched backward, crashing through multiple structures before collapsing in a heap.
Bloodweb tried to pull him down, webs tightening, burning deeper. Malachi flexed and vibration surged outward. The webs disintegrated instantly.
He stepped toward Lena, and then he held her and slamd back on the ground sa as Marcus.
Black Scythe reappeared above Malachi’s head, coming down with everything he had. Malachi caught Daniel.
He squeezed. Daniel felt the tear through his arm and dropped to one knee, clutching his head. Malachi kicked him aside like debris.
In less than a minute, the Forsaken were broken, just like the Guardians.
"Now, does anyone else want to try it again," He asked looking at the people in front of them.
"Yes," a deep voice answered. This ti Alastor Argos stepped forward.
"We want to try," he said, his voice shaking with fury. "GET AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!!"
Gravity exploded outward. The mountains in the distance trembled.
Alastor forced gravity into a single point, crushing down on Malachi’s left arm until it collapsed completely, bones shattering under the pressure.
Selene scread as she poured her power outward, amplifying strength and will into Aric and Lyra.
Photon energy wrapped around Aric fists as he charged. His punches struck Malachi with supernova-level force, cracking armor across his chest.
He roared and punched again. This ti, his fist tore straight through Malachi’s abdon.
Photon fists slamd into Malachi again and again, hitting like falling teors.
At the sa ti, Lyra unleashed her power.
She vibrated the ground so violently that it split open beneath them. A massive quake tore through the battlefield, and the vibration shattered Malachi’s wing structures completely.
Malachi fell to one knee. Blood pooled beneath him. His body trembled. He reached up and wiped a drop of blackened blood from his mouth.
Then he laughed.
"You... Argos..." he said slowly. "You have done it." His smile widened.
"...You insects hurt . How dare."
His body mutated again. New wings tore open from his back. Insectoid armor ford over his body. His teeth sharpened into cruel points.
Aric attacked again. But Malachi caught him by the face with one hand and slamd him through three buildings in a single motion.
Lyra scread and shook the Earth with all her power. Malachi stepped forward and flicked her forehead. She dropped instantly, unconscious.
Alastor tried to assert gravity dominance once more. Malachi reversed the field. Alastor was launched into the sky like a bullet, vanishing into the clouds. Before falling back to the sa place.
Selene attempted emotional disruption, pouring fear and despair into Malachi. The power reflected back at her. She scread as terror overwheld her mind and collapsed to the ground.
Ethan forced himself up again. Fire burned around him, ice ford along his arms, vines wrapped his body. Diamond hardened his form.
He threw everything he had at the monster.
Malachi didn’t move.
He backhanded Ethan across the battlefield, the impact cracking his diamond form as Ethan crashed through rubble and skidded to a stop.
Malachi looked around the battlefield, and now only Thomas was standing alone there.
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