Chapter 149: Side chapter: The last day of the Resistance? Part 1 out of 2

Scorpio descended from the clouds, partying them with a single beat of his mighty wings and allowing the sun to shine down on the slaughter below. Two tanks and an armored vehicle were left in smoldering ruins, their steel still hot from the cruel sun. Scorpio’s shadow fell on the bodies of his deceased soldiers, and he saw dead wolfkins along with the negotiator’s dead body. The poor man's upper body had been reduced to mush, leaving only his legs lying in the bloody sand.

So this is your answer. He spread his wings, making a beat to slow down his descent.

Tlaltzin Bento proudly stood among the wreckage, his Seconborn, his elite bodyguards stood at the edge of the circle of destruction. Scorpio’s eyes glanced at them, five members of the heavy assault team, sixteen smaller cyborg frames, all equipped with machineguns. Almost on purpose. He shifted his gaze on the dead, examining the wounds in the span of a second. Cauterized and torn asunder. Energy weapons and melee weapons. And none of the Seconborn had any blood on their gleaming bodies.

Tlaltzin, on the other hand, was covered in blood. The massive, oval-shaped steel frame with no head and covered with sensory stumps and cameras was carried by six column-like legs. Four long arms towered over the steel ball that served as the elder's torso, each ending in venomous metal claws. Upon seeing Scorpio, the frame turned toward him, moving deliberately and slowly, luring him into a false sense of security.

The elder had turned insane, this much the black wyrm knew. Single-handedly, the elder had pushed Zero and the front forces back, sending the entire mountain range on fire with chemical bombs launched from the missile launchers on his former body. His soldiers had gathered all willing bentos and soultakers, leading them away in the massive convoys that hurried to the farthest city of the Bento tribe, toward the Sky’s Nest. Tlaltzin’s viruses had infected crawlers, halting the massive engines of destruction, his metal frame was seemingly everywhere, followed by his elite troops, as he had crashed against Ashbringer and Alpha again and again, losing his soldiers and even his frame. Like a vengeful spirit, the elder was coming back each time, sparing none, save for the soldiers who had chosen to retreat or the bentos who had chosen to stay under the reclaimers. Tlaltzin’s reckless attacks had saved lives, whether he intended so or not.

If the elder had chosen to try to calm the panic that followed King's death by keeping his troops in defensive positions and in the cities, his excellency Wyrm Lord would have been forced to intervene, leaving molten ruins in his wake. With the foes acting erratic, driven by vengeance, Scorpio picked them off one by one, persuading the remaining elders to bend the knee and sparing civilian populations everywhere he went. As mighty as Tlaltzin was, he was but a single foe, and Alpha had already rendered his body unoperable twice already. He was saved only by the sacrifices of his loyal troops.

And now, Scorpio finally has him corned. The black wyrm sent the negotiator under a white flag, to discuss the terms of surrender, willing even to reveal the fact that Tehuoto was alive.

No more. He had no idea what had driven Tlaltzin insane, but he will no longer put up with it.

"Monster." Tlaltzin boomed to him.

The black wyrm landed and bowed his head slightly, keeping one eye on his foe.

"I must commend you on your efforts thus far. Although I had originally planned to capture you and force your tribe to surrender. You’ve managed to impress me," This was true on all accounts. Tlaltzin pulled off an impossible, complex evacuation, leaving land bare for the Reclaimers. And he was, based on his own research, a compassionate individual who had always spared lives before. His cruelty caught Scorpio off guard, "It would be a shame for such brazen bravery to go unrewarded. I, Captain Scorpio of the Reclamation Army, accept your challenge. Consider this a parting gift from me to you, Tlaltzin."

"Curse you and your gifts, creature!" The metal frame moved, crushing the remains of the battle tank beneath one leg, "Challenge? There are no more challenges, no more reasons left in this war. You murdered my family. You invaded my lands. Call the golden one and make peace with whatever gods your misbegotten kind prays to."

"No, Tlaltzin. There is no need to call his excellency here. You deserved a fight, maybe not a fair one, but for all the trouble you'd caused us, you deserved a proper ending." Scorpio spread his wings, welcoming the advance of his foe.

Tlaltzin charged at him. His legs didn’t move, they simply hovered over the ground, lifting up and sending the two thousand tons of his heavy body straight into Scorpio’s bulk. This didn’t catch the black wyrm by surprise, the panicked expression on his snout was carefully calculated. His right arm grabbed the steel claw aimed at his eye.

“Incomprehensible.”

They disappeared, teleported away by Scorpio’s power, appearing outside of the battlefield, one hundred meters above the ground. The black wyrm let go of his opponent, speaking the second word and allowing lightning to strike from his wing. With a booming sound, Tlaltzin’s frame was sent down, the advanced systems of his mechanical frame had absorbed the sudden influx of energy and repurposed it, sending forth a host of nanomachines that tried to create a singularity around Scorpio.

“Blast.”

The third word was spoken, and a wave of fire came around Scorpio’s body, reducing the nanomachines to ashes. Tlaltzin himself was propelled down, crashing against the sand and rocky surface with no apparent damage to his body. Scorpio teleported behind him, taking away one of the foe’s legs. He used it like a club, bringing it down on the sphere, piercing even the defensive shield, only for the armor plates on the sphere to explode, sending shards of reactive armor into Scorpio’s snout.

The black wyrm met this calmly, allowing his own thick scales to protect him. He was still calm when Tlaltzin’s claws shot forward, the fingers revealing energy whips beneath that wrapped around his body, causing a burning sensation upon touching the membrane of his wings. Energy flowed through them, enough to power up a small city, and Scorpio groaned, more annoyed at a ghost of pain than hurt.

Electricity has three effects: thermal, electrical, and biological. No wyrm worth his salt would ever die of heat. But the other two effects were annoying. His muscles twisted and contorted, and his organs trembled madly within his body, threatening to rupture against his bones. Scorpio broke free, seeing how Tlaltzin pointed his fingers at him. With a single word, Scorpio shifted through space, reappearing behind the opponent and bringing down his tail, splattering Tlaltzin’s steel frame against the ground in a torrent of sand and stone.

They fought for a good portion of an hour. Claws and scales, against whips, hooks, blades, and steel. Scorpio weaved around the incoming strikes, dodging each incoming attack and leaving gruesome claw marks on the frame of his opponent. Tlaltzin tried to surprise him with a never-ending arsenal of weapons: gravity weapons were followed by energy beams capable of turning crawlers' armor into a waterfall of steel, followed by chemical weapons that made the black wyrm frown, feeling how his immune system fought back against a deadly virus meant to depopulate a city.

Scorpio hated this. The feeling of burning blood coursing through his veins. The feeling of cracked scales. The need to pay attention to the fight. The need to kill. This was why he took Tlaltzin away from his butchered soldiers. They deserved a proper burial and not to be turned into a bloody mist beneath the titans' legs.

He loved building. He loved turning enemies into allies. He loved seeing destroyed cities come back to life, his heart raced faster at the thought of planning new trade routes, his mind speared with adrenaline each time Scorpio wondered how to attract immigration or tourists. The black wyrm felt divine during the invasion of Chosen Prince, when he was put in charge of overseeing the refugees. His genius saved thousands! He was in his element, even Ivar bowed to his wisdom back then!

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This was what Ivar could not understand. Conquest for conquest's sake was meaningless, futile. Tlaltzin and Jekaterina both could have offered so much to this world! Their knowledge and abilities would have been invaluable to the state.The short way was never the right one, except when you need to deal with critters like that Academician. The rotten ones must be eliminated, here, Scorpio was of the same mind as his rival.

Scorpio buried his claws deep into Tlaltzin’s tortured frame, and finally the frame has given in. The four remaining legs went limp, and the one remaining arm twitched and let out sparks and smoke before falling weakly on the ground. Scorpio widened the gap, pulling out more and more cords, wires, and tracks, depowering the cyborg as his claws sliced their way through the generators, turning the cameras around Tlaltzin’s body dark.

He found what he was looking for with the final, powerful strain. Scorpio was taken aback when he saw Tlaltzin's crucified body within the machine—the body that was missing all skin, eyes with no eyelids, and was staring at Scorpio with pure hatred. Scorpio’s ears picked up the sound of life-support systems shutting down one after another. The black wyrm could save him, but for his crimes, the elder would be sentenced to the Torment. Better a clean death than this.

"For what it is worth, you have my sympathy." Scorpio told him, feeling fire dancing around his fangs.

"You killed my wife and son," Tlaltzin’s words were a whisper, lacerated with deep-seated venom, "And brought war to our lands. Sun God willing, I’ll see you die for this from the other side."

"Your son is alive and well, no harm will come to him."

"Wha…" A new life came into the man’s eyes.

"Go to your woman." Scorpio spat at him.

Wyrms rarely use their breath. First, it was simply inefficient, their heat could not harm each other. Second, the flames came from their stomach fluids; spatting at your opponent was the ultimate insult to them. No properly raised son of the wyrms’ homeland would ever use their fire or acid breath in combat, not unless they wanted to disgrace their family names.

Scorpio couldn’t give two shits about his noble family. And a quick pyre was a fitting end to Tlaltzin’s madness. The fire devoured Tlaltzin’s body in an instant, leaving not even a skeleton behind. The systems inside the frame exploded, spitting out sparks and fire back into Scorpio’s face. The metal, no longer protected by the energy shield, lost its form, starting to melt under the heat that turned nearby sand into glass.

The black wyrm stepped away from the downed foe, looking at the Seconborn. As one, they bowed to him, waiting for their final fate.

"Gather the dead and surrender to our forces," The could see his forces advancing on the horizon, tanks ahead, crawlers followed by wolfkin and mechanical suits, with armored vehicles behind them. "No harm will come to you."

The black wyrm saw a streak leaving the front lines. His brows rose, wondering what Valerye was doing, before he saw a glass trail after the streak. Not Valerye. Ashbringer. The warlord was racing toward the distant mountains, trying to get away from both the reclaimers and the resistance. The fire trail weaved and darted, racing up against the mountain slope and disappearing above, never once stopping, leaving molten stone in her path. Scorpio felt a tingle of pain in his heart upon seeing a message come onto his communicator.

nOw dO iT nOw cAn’T rEsIsT ABYSS COMETH HE IS HERE HE IS HERE HERE HERE HERE HEHEHEHEHE

"Farewell, my friend." Scorpio sent a message to her pack, inputting the detonation command along with the male in her pack. They will find her body later. He’ll tell her husband personally.

My lord. It is time.

His mental call pierced the heavens, reaching out to the golden body resting in the lower orbit. Two eyes have opened, bringing more light to the ground beneath. The black wyrm fell on three legs, pressing one against his chest, the being covered in dark scales, greeting the newborn suns in the skies.

Must we really, Scorpio? Can’t we let them go?

Yes, lord. For the state’s sake, we must deny Iterna their ill-gotten spoils.

He heard a sigh coming from the heavens and saw the titan starting his descent.

Omega Team. Begin your operation. Spare whoever you can.

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