The soldiers and Penthesilea swiftly retreated from the vast space into the tunnel, their lives at stake as Envy's shell unleashed violent magic, shaking the underground space. Penthesilea exerted her full strength, running with all her might, while the soldiers diverted their power armor's energy to their legs, entering Super Intensity mode to dash through the crumbling tunnel.
On Ragnar's side, Envy's shell began a transformative process fueled by forbidden magic. Ragnar readied himself to use a forbidden spell in response, but then a familiar voice sounded from behind him.
"Old man, do you need my help?" A rather arrogant woman's voice cut through, causing Ragnar to cancel his spell preparation and turn around, finding Pride standing there.
"Oh? Okay, please take above ground," Ragnar replied politely, a knowing smile playing on his lips, akin to an adult dealing with a troubleso child.
"Yes, you're polite enough, old man. But sohow, I feel like you're treating like a child," Pride remarked, eyeing Ragnar suspiciously.
"Sigh... It doesn't matter; I'll help you," Pride sighed and approached Ragnar, placing a hand on his back. In a flash of light, they both vanished.
Back on the surface, near the mobile HQ, a shimring sphere materialized. Ragnar and Pride stepped out as the light faded. The ground trembled violently, throwing the forward base into ergency mode. Soldiers and personnel scrambled to secure equipnt and fortify tents, desperately preventing a collapse.
Ragnar studied Pride, surprised by her lack of fatigue. "You seem stronger," he remarked. "I rember you couldn't teleport another person without resorting to blood magic,"
Pride, caught off guard by the unexpected complint, puffed out her chest with a forced laugh. "Huh? Uh... yeah! Of course! Who do you think I am?
Hahahaha!" Her voice betrayed a hint of awkwardness.
Ragnar tilted his head, a flicker of curiosity crossing his features. Pride's usual arrogance seed subdued. He pondered the reason for this unexpected change.
It took Penthesilea and the soldiers a grueling five minutes of full-speed sprinting to escape the collapsing tunnel. They erged back in the town where their investigation began. Exhaustion gnawed at the power-armored soldiers, but Penthesilea knew rest was a luxury they couldn't afford.
"Hold your ground, n!" she roared, her voice cutting through the chaos. "This isn't over! Back to the Mobile HQ, double ti! Do you want to die here like rats in a trap?"
Her words snapped the soldiers back to alert, and they surged forward in "High Intensity Mode," the thunder of their boots pounding the ground like a desperate war drum.
The earthquake intensified with each passing second. Buildings crumbled, roads cracked open, and the earth itself seed to split in two. Dust and debris choked the air as entire structures toppled, leaving a trail of devastation in their wake.
Fortunately, all the survivors in town had been rescued and moved to the quarantine zone to check for virus activity in their bodies and observe any symptoms of the zombie virus that the Confederacy released on the town. Therefore, there's no one in town right now except for so thieves, burglars, and criminals taking advantage of the situation to plunder hos and shops.
The earth swallowed up all the buildings in the center of the town square as it opened up.
RoaaaarrrrR!!
A monstrous roar, a sound that shook the very air, heralded the creature's arrival. A colossal form erupted from the earth, its serpentine body impossibly long, coiling high into the sky before crashing down with a force that sent tremors rippling through the ground once more.
This creature, standing 100 ters tall and stretching 300 ters in length, defied the natural order of all living beings. A grotesque fusion, it bore the torso of a colossal human woman grafted onto the back of a monstrous serpent. The serpent's head, reminiscent of a dragon, was adorned with a fearso array of horns.
Pride, witnessing the colossal monstrosity erupt from the ground, gasped. "Teacher Envy?!" The words tumbled from her lips, laced with disbelief. Her hand instinctively reached for her phone, a flicker of panic urging her to contact Koyuki and Greed. But she hesitated. Sothing felt off. Envy's essence, the familiar soul signature, was absent.
Closing her eyes, Pride focused, extending her senses. Her brow furrowed in confusion. There was no trace of Envy within that horrifying creature. "No," she muttered, a tremor in her voice. "It's not her... then what is it?"
Ragnar, his gaze fixed on the monstrous spectacle, spoke. "Just a hunch, but I believe I have an idea. That... monstrosity might be the Eisenhart family's prized magical research - the Terror Construct."
Pride's surprise was evident. "Eisenhart?! Those grumpy old mages?"
Ragnar chuckled, a hint of amusent flickering across his face. "Indeed," he confird, unintentionally agreeing with her assessnt.
Shifting his focus, Ragnar addressed Pride. "We need to get the soldiers out of here. I have no doubt that creature will target this location."
A booming, monstrous laugh erupted from the creature, a chilling sound that seed to originate from the human woman's torso.
"Is this the power of a mages! AMAZING!!!" it roared, inspecting its massive hand with a warped sense of wonder.
Then, it spotted Penthesilea's group fleeing in the distance. The Astral PMC soldiers appeared like re ants from its elevated perspective. With a fraction of its power, it could crush them all.
Alexander Vance, now a twisted part of this monstrosity, harbored a deep-seated hatred for Astral Tech, particularly the PMC troops. Their advanced power armor had revolutionized warfare, rendering Vance Armory's weapons obsolete and plunging his life's work into ruin.
He blad Astral Tech for his woes, conveniently ignoring his own disastrous decision to sell weapons to the Confederacy.
"If not for you! if it's not for you" Vance's voice bood within the creature, laced with maniacal rage. "If it's not for you!! I would be the President of the US! DIE Astral TECH!!!" It channeled its imnse strength into a single arm, slamming its fist down with earth-shattering force.
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