Chapter 1394: Then Take It

Caldren stayed close beside him, every section of his mechanical armor primed for battle.

Ferrick’s mechanical eye glowed dark blue as he hovered high above Seraphina and the others on her back. Streams of data flickered across his vision.

Kaelira couldn’t even be bothered to hear him out.

The energy sphere in her palm was already straining to be released. The moment Ferrick appeared, she hurled it at him.

Purple-red light spread along its flight path. Before the first sphere had gone far, a second had already formed in Kaelira’s other hand.

A flash of red crossed Ferrick’s mechanical eye.

His metal fingers curled inward, anger nearly overwhelming his reason. In the end, he forced it down and merely glanced at Caldren.

He didn’t say a word.

Caldren understood the order.

Blinding red light flared inside his mechanical body as power surged through the conduits in his chest and into his right arm.

Hum!

The armor on his forearm split open, and an energy blade extended from the machinery within. Its edge sliced through the air, leaving fine vibrations in its wake.

Blue flames erupted from the thrusters beneath Caldren’s feet.

He vanished from Ferrick’s side, leaving only a few rings of displaced air behind. When he reappeared, he was already blocking Kaelira’s energy sphere.

The energy blade came down from above.

Its edge cut into the purple-red sphere, throwing the violent power inside out of balance. The surface caved inward, and cracks spread from the point of contact.

Just before the energy detonated, a faint spatial ripple spread around Caldren.

Pale blue light covered his mechanical armor.

He vanished from in front of the sphere, crossed the center of the blast, and reappeared beside Ferrick.

With nothing left in its path, the sphere traveled a short distance farther before exploding.

Boom!

A purple-red shock wave erupted downward.

The thick cloud layer was blasted open from the center, leaving a massive circular shaft through the clouds. The surrounding barrage scattered under the impact. Bullets veered off course, and missile exhaust trails whipped violently in the turbulence.

Ferrick remained silent for a moment.

Instead of launching another attack, he opened one mechanical hand and retrieved a bright, translucent pearl from his internal storage.

A gentle radiance flowed across its surface.

A current of energy lifted the pearl and carried it slowly toward Kaelira. It radiated no hostility, and its slow approach made Ferrick’s intention clear.

This was his final attempt at diplomacy.

"My lady..."

Ferrick stopped after only two words.

Kaelira raised both hands, her face expressionless.

A purple-red energy sphere hovered above each palm, the power inside them climbing rapidly.

Ferrick looked at the pearl, then at the two spheres.

"..."

Who was Kaelira?

The Desert Queen.

Thinking a shiny pearl would calm her down was far too naive.

Kaelira thrust both arms forward.

The two energy spheres shot toward Ferrick from either side.

Ferrick immediately retreated, and Caldren adjusted his position with him. Pale blue spatial energy rose around them, forming one barrier close to their bodies while a second and third expanded outward, sealing off every direction.

Both spheres slammed into the spatial barriers.

The first barrier buckled violently inward as purple-red energy flowed across the point of impact. Ferrick had expected Kaelira to keep attacking from the front, so he had concentrated most of their defenses there.

Then the sky changed color.

Vast sheets of purple-red light spread overhead.

Ferrick looked up and saw energy spheres forming beneath the clouds. Some were enormous, their surfaces roiling with violent flames of energy. Others were no bigger than a fingertip, but the power inside them was even more concentrated.

Spheres of every size filled the sky.

Then they all fell at once.

Purple-red trails streaked across the battlefield like a meteor shower descending upon the mechanical pyramid. The first spheres struck the spatial shield, their explosions staining the transparent barrier purple-red. More attacks landed in the surrounding areas an instant later.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Space around the mechanical pyramid twisted again and again.

The shield system teleported away any energy sphere that came too close. Some were sent into distant clouds, while others were displaced beneath the pyramid. Not one had broken through yet, but the anger in Kaelira’s eyes only intensified.

"You used my own power against me?"

She slowly rose higher into the sky.

Massive purple-red wings spread from her back. The energy storm they unleashed swept away every nearby bullet. Behind her, the phantom of a phoenix took shape, the outline of its wings extending farther and farther outward.

Kaelira’s eyes turned completely purple-red.

Every energy sphere displaced by the spatial shield stopped at once.

Whether buried deep in the clouds, beneath the mechanical pyramid, or far away in the open sky, each one abruptly lost its original trajectory.

Then they began to turn.

One after another, every sphere flew back toward Kaelira.

Ferrick froze.

The attacks he had successfully diverted were returning from every direction. But instead of striking the spatial shield again, they began orbiting Kaelira at high speed.

A growing torrent of purple-red energy formed around her.

Kaelira raised both hands overhead.

The rotating spheres converged above her palms one after another. The smallest merged first, followed by the larger ones. With every fusion, the core swelled, and the light inside it grew more blinding.

More and more energy poured in.

The sphere grew larger and larger.

At last, a colossal purple-red sphere hung above Kaelira, blotting out the sky. Its diameter was several times greater than Seraphina’s dragon form, and its shadow covered the mechanical pyramid and a vast stretch of clouds.

The surrounding space trembled under the pressure.

Even the gunfire below was dragged off course by its energy field. Bullets veered away, and the edges of laser beams warped.

Through the spatial shield, Kaelira glared at Ferrick and Caldren.

"You two spineless cowards!"

Her voice carried over the explosions tearing through the battlefield.

"You wanted my power so badly?"

Kaelira thrust both hands forward.

"Then take it!"

The colossal purple-red sphere began to move.

Despite its immense size, it continued accelerating after leaving Kaelira’s hands. It compressed the air before it into a visible curved shock front as it bore down on Ferrick and Caldren.