✨CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE — TRI-ANGLE STRIKE✨
The Sky Hunter moved first.
One moment it was standing… the next, it was right in front of Aiden, its afterimage still fading behind it. A palm strike shot toward Aiden's chest—sharp, precise, mechanical.
Aiden barely got his gauntlet up.
CLANG!
The impact rang like struck metal and sent him skating backward across the roof.
Maya snapped her fingers forward.
"Starlight Veil!"
A thin, shimmering sheet of blue light flashed between Aiden and the Sky Hunter just long enough for him to regain footing.
"Thanks," he said.
"Don't get hit in the heart next time," Maya replied plainly.
The Sky Hunter stepped through the fading veil, eyes glowing white.
"Your coordination is improving.
Expected difficulty: rising."
Dara peeked from behind the AC unit.
"Bro, your motivational speeches are terrible."
The Sky Hunter raised a hand.
Three small drones materialized behind it, forming a triangle pattern—each a glowing, humming star-like node.
Aiden frowned. "What are those?"
Maya's face tightened.
"Celestial triangulators. They trap movement."
The drones shot outward, forming a floating triangle around Aiden.
Before he could react, beams connected between them—forming a cage of crackling light.
Aiden pushed against it. The barrier shocked him back, heat biting his palm.
The Sky Hunter leveled a finger at Aiden like passing judgment.
"In this formation, escape probability is zero."
Dara shouted, "Then we break the formation!"
He sprinted out from cover—surprisingly fast—and swung a metal rod he'd scavenged earlier at one of the drones.
The Sky Hunter didn't even look his way.
"Interference detected."
The drone blasted Dara with a burst of force.
He flew backward—
"Aiden!" Maya shouted.
Aiden slammed both fists into the barrier.
Golden cracks spread across it at the exact moment Dara hit the rooftop.
The crack widened.
Aiden roared and shoved his arm through—
The barrier shattered.
Aiden tore free and sprinted toward Dara, catching him before he slid off the roof.
"I'm good… I'm good," Dara wheezed. "Just… mildly airborne."
Aiden stood, turning back toward the Sky Hunter.
"We're breaking your toys first."
Maya was already moving.
She hurled a star-forged dagger upward; it sliced through one of the triangulator drones. It exploded in a quick flash of white light.
Aiden leaped at the second drone, punching it midair.
His gauntlet detonated it in a burst of gold sparks.
The third tried to flee—
but Dara, from the ground, tossed a piece of broken concrete straight up.
BONK.
It hit the drone, wobbling it long enough for Maya to fire a precise star-beam that finished it off.
The Sky Hunter looked between the three broken drones.
"Unfavorable outcome recorded."
Aiden cracked his knuckles.
"Yeah? Try adapting to this."
He charged again.
The Sky Hunter met him mid-dash.
Their blows collided—gold light against celestial silver—sparks flying in all directions.
Punch for punch.
Block for block.
Kick for counter-kick.
The rooftop vibrated with the force of every clash.
Maya circled the fight, gathering energy.
Dara stayed behind cover, looking for another opening to help.
Aiden ducked a slicing strike and uppercut the Sky Hunter under the chin.
The Hunter staggered back two steps.
"Structural integrity: stable," it muttered.
Aiden grinned.
"Mine too."
Maya shouted from the side, "Aiden—move!"
He didn't ask why.
He dove aside—
Maya extended both hands.
FWOOOOOSH
A massive burst of starlight shot forward, engulfing the Sky Hunter in a blinding blue column.
The roof shook.
The light vanished.
The Sky Hunter stood there—smoke rising from its armor, cracks glowing silver along its chest plate.
For the first time… it looked damaged.
It tilted its head in a jerky, unstable motion.
"Recalibrating…
Hostiles exhibit significant evolution…"
Aiden stepped forward.
"So do we."
The Sky Hunter lifted its head.
And its voice changed—
"Then you leave me no choice.
Permission to deploy Second Form—granted."
The sky above them darkened instantly.
And from the clouds, something massive began to descend.