With Altopereh looming above them like a metallic reaper, Anemone and Maximilian finally understood that the real battle had only just begun. Their power reserves were draining fast—sync mode was pushing both their bodies and their orbitons to the brink. They had been fighting for over thirty minutes at breakneck speed, and despite their best efforts there wasn't a single meaningful scratch on Altopereh's armor. The Vanisher moved with an impossible fluidity, slipping through their assaults with ghostlike grace and punishing them with brutal counterstrikes.
Realizing pride would only get them killed, the two finally swallowed it and opened a channel to Mikhail. Before deployment, Mikhail had gathered the two god-pilots for a briefing, revealing something neither Anemone nor Maximilian had heard of before—a prototype weapon known as the Millennial Claw. A spear-like projectile capable of melting through planetary crust all the way to the core. At the time, the two young aces barely cared. Their confidence was absolute. They believed their own strength was more than enough.
Now they knew it wasn't.
"Hey, General," Maximilian said, voice strained and rough, "I think it's time we test that new toy of yours. What do you think?"
"We'd never hit him," Mikhail replied. "You saw his speed."
Maximilian smirked despite the sweat running down his face. "We can pin him to the ground for a moment. Long enough. You just fire on time."
"It'll take a minute for the Claw to reach the surface from orbit," Mikhail warned. "Can you hold him for that long?"
"Who do you think you're talking to, General? We're gods."
Mikhail didn't waste another second. "Then hold on. I'll signal you when the weapon is ready."
—
At the reserve fleet hidden behind Antia's twin moons, Leonora received the update—and the moment she heard the words Millennial Claw, her voice exploded through the comms.
"General, what do you think you are doing!? Do you know that weapon can destroy the planet?!"
"Calm yourself, General," Mikhail said firmly. "You've seen how this battle is going. If you have another way to stop that monster, I'm listening."
"That weapon hasn't even been tested! Do you understand the collateral damage? The casualties?"
Mikhail exhaled long and hard. "Our options are limited. Failure isn't on the table. I will do anything necessary. I made a promise to my emperor."
He ended the call, fully committed to the order he knew might damn them all.
—
On the surface, the Tartarusios slowly approached the battlefield. What remained of the Basin of Trass was a scarred wasteland—craters, shattered stone ridges, burned trenches carved by plasma strikes. The god-orbitons were moving too fast for normal eyes to follow; the crew could only see bursts of light, flashes of steel, shockwaves tearing through the air.
Suddenly Perciosa's silhouette shot past the ship, wings sharp as monofilament blades. She aimed to slice the Tartarusios clean in half—
—but Altopereh dropped from above, catching Perciosa's wing mid-slash and hurling her backwards like a ragdoll.
Anemone recovered instantly, grinning with wicked delight. "Oh? Your friends came back for you. I guess the plan worked."
Altopereh hovered between Perciosa and the Tartarusios. Oscar's voice crackled through the channel.
"Youri, we need an opening to escape—the empire has sealed the orbit!"
"I know," Youri replied, calm even amid chaos. "I can shoot them down, but first I have to deal with these two. Don't worry—I won't let my ship die here."
Oscar's relief was clear. "All right, buddy. Titans are deployed, they'll back you up. Patching them in now."
As Altopereh launched forward again, Youri addressed the Titans:
"Listen up. If you want to live, never take your eyes off your radar. And don't attack first—ever. I'll tell you when to strike."
"Copy that!" the Titan pilots shouted.
Anemone's eyes widened with excitement. "Hey Max, we've got new prey. I'm feeling hungry."
"Don't get sloppy," Maximilian warned. "Go for them one by one."
No sooner were the words spoken than Anemone hurled Perciosa at Alex's Titan. Her claws clamped around his orbiton like the jaws of a wolf. She raised her arm, ready to split him in two—
—but a burst of plasma slammed into her, tearing her grip open. Alex broke free and rolled midair, firing a burst of high-velocity rounds before retreating to formation.
Anemone trembled with rage. A normal Titan had struck her.
She roared—an unhinged, primal screech—and unleashed a flurry of plasma slashes. Explosions rippled across the battlefield as the Titans scrambled to dodge, blown apart in multiple directions.
"Did you survive?" Youri demanded.
Alex groaned. "I… think so."
Preston chimed in. "All limbs intact—somehow."
Marek added, "Systems still online. I can fight."
Tom complained, "I've never been hit this hard in my life!"
"Thank God you're alive," Sergio replied.
"Good," said Youri. "Now scatter. Surround them from the sky. Switch to laser rounds. Wait for my signal."
The Titans took to the sky's.
Youri then went on the offensive. Altopereh streaked forward, grabbed Perciosa by the wing, and hurled her bodily toward Sirius. Maximilian had no choice but to catch her—
—and that gave Youri the perfect opening.
Altopereh fired two plasma blasts. Both shots hit dead center.
"NOW!" Youri commanded.
All five Titans fired at once—five converging beams of red light, burning down through the sky. The twin god-orbitons were engulfed in a massive explosion that lit the horizon.
Dust billowed. Silence followed.
"Did we get them?" Preston asked.
"Maybe they ran out of power," Alex added.
"Don't drop your guard!" Youri barked—
But it was too late.
Perciosa burst from the haze behind Tom, claws lifted for the kill.
Altopereh intercepted the strike, taking the full hit instead. The impact hurled the Vanisher into the ground, shaking the entire basin.
Maximilian's voice erupted in Mikhail's ear:
"FIRE THE CLAW! NOW!"
He launched Sirius upward and unleashed a containment beam downward, pinning Altopereh to the ground. The blinding white beam cracked the earth like fragile glass.
Above the clouds, the Millennial Claw detached.
A spear of absolute destruction cut through atmosphere, trailing molten fire.
It struck the ground mere meters from Altopereh.
The world detonated.
A shockwave obliterated the landscape, throwing orbitons and debris miles away. The Tartarusios lurched violently, nearly crashing into collapsing terrain.
In less than a minute, the western region of Antia disintegrated. The entire Basin of Trass was erased, replaced by an endless crater of molten ruin.
From the rubble, two figures rose—battered but alive.
"Gods…" Anemone wheezed, clutching her neck. "I never want to take a hit like that again."
"I second that," Maximilian groaned.
Scattered across the shattered wasteland lay the Titans, some partially buried, some sparking, some hanging together by exposed power cables.
Deep beneath the collapsed earth, at the epicenter of the impact, Altopereh lay half-buried. Its armor was cracked—limbs damaged—core systems flickering.
Inside the cockpit, a red light pulsed across Youri's unconscious face.
In his subconscious, he floated in a dark, water-like void—bubbles drifting around him. A place he had been many times before.
Something massive stirred in the abyss.
A colossal figure approached—its form a hideous fusion of molten bark, ancient stone, and living shadow. Jagged textures rippled across skin like volcanic obsidian threaded with twisted roots. Its skull-like face burned with twin ember eyes, horned ridges curling like demonic crowns. Tendrils of smoke-flesh writhed behind it, shifting like limbs of pure void.
It raised a dripping claw, ichor falling like black tar.
Its voice rolled like a thousand buried volcanoes.
"So… you're finally letting me out. Don't worry. I'll give them a show."
Back in reality—
A hand burst from the rubble.
Then a violent explosion. Followed by a deafening roar.
Altopereh—its true form, the one that once terrified entire worlds—rose from the devastation.
This time, the Vanisher was fully awakened.