"Hm." Not one to raise a loud fuss, Kya simply stared at the menacing overlord in its fluid-filled pod and observed it while flicking a coin into the air over and over. This thing was clearly strong, even if it was hard to see beyond all the greenish smog and 'water' surrounding it, but there was no point in huffing and puffing about it. Work was never easy, at least not any job that came Kya's way as she got the short end of the stick frequently in that regard. With a snap of the wrist, Kya caught the flicked coin she was playing around with and put it away, headed over to a nearby control panel, and fiddled with a touch screen for a few seconds. Though she'd never seen any of this machinery before it didn't take her long to understand its inner workings and get down to business hacking it. Fortunately this was a rather simple affair, only a basic password and no real security measure beyond that which prevented anyone from messing with the locking mechanism containing the overlord, but that did raise questions about the cult of destruction's influence.
If the cult were so confident nobody would find this place or break in, so much so that one of their two big projects here was this unguarded, then they must have had a lot of external aid covering this place up. We're talking government support and maybe even domain-ruler level of gifted inconspicuous hideouts. Nobody ever dared come near this place to the point security protocols weren't even properly established? The cult must have either paid big bucks for bribes, to make this building seem official, or have gotten their people into positions of power swiftly since their founding. Both options were worrisome for someone like Kya, who wanted to get away from these people and was once again made privy to the scope and scale of their influence, but there was nothing that could be done about that and she knew all of this roughly prior to now anyway. Every time she was invited to another cult base it was never some tucked away, shady dungeon down a flight of stairs in a dark alley or whatever. It was always a decently high profile building not too far from a commercial area and / or hiding in plain sight and relatively undisturbed. There were electric fences and guards, sure, but it's not like they had state of the art equipment, any sort of ready military force, or were being sneaky about their arrival and continued presence. To leverage this much power across so many different planets and domains was eye opening.
Then again, maybe it all made sense if viewed objectively. Kya estimated, thanks to her own life experiences on this matter, that great power and reputation came with drawbacks. Such things were nigh impossible to achieve without having sacrificed or lost something in the process, nothing in life is ever free, and so maybe all powerful men and women were just depressed people who weren't necessarily against watching the world burn for whatever personal reason gnawed away at the back of their mind. Maybe a domain ruler lost a loved one during their tumultuous cultivation journey and wanted the cult of destruction to send a bit of Armageddon towards the person or people responsible before everyone else was targeted. From there, hey presto, a deal is made shortly after and land and unoccupied buildings are exchanged for assassination contracts or the annihilation of planets and their populations. Considering what these people got in exchange, a low profile building, by the books according to fabricated records, was a tiny price to pay. The same was also true in reverse, the destruction cult wanted to destroy anything regardless of rewards but if they were incentivised, and received benefits, then why not take up the offer? Morality was hard to come by in the cultivation world and if the cult of destruction were immoral down to the bone then there was naturally going to be a queue of people lining up to have them do their bidding here and there in exchange for services. If Kya looked at it that way, it really wasn't that strange they had this much reach after all and she'd come to accept it.
A few beeps and a couple boops later and the deed was done. Kya didn't even have to rely on magic or anything, she was good at this sort of thing and the challenge before her here was minimal to begin with. The result was as expected so she didn't show any sign of being pleased with herself like she normally would, such as a small smile behind her mask or the wag of her head wings, and instead she began pulling on levers and pressing buttons to remove the overlord from its pod. As the capsule-esque device began unlocking, and obscuring steam flowed freely through the cracks, Kya rounded up her weaponry and performed final checks to make sure they were all functional and in proper working order. Guns were fully reloaded, no potential risk of jamming, her claws were sharp and not chipped anywhere, her daggers were fastened securely inside a hidden compartment, a poisonous blow dart she had no real use for against a robot was residing comfortably up her jacket sleeve and attached to the length of her arm via an adhesive, miscellaneous gadgets were tucked away inside an easily accessible spatial ring on the belt across her feathered waist, and so on so forth. Everything clicked right into place, literally. The amount of clicking coming from Kya's body as she checked over everything was pretty incredible to the point one might mistake her for a malfunctioning car battery.
Still, Kya was done with the preliminary work soon after and spinning her guns back and forth as she waited for her foe to descend from the raised platform it was just ejected and spat out onto. The hunched overlord slowly but steadily stepped down a flight of stairs, its upper body unphased by the vibration of movement and perfectly unmoving in the most unnatural of ways. The overlord was top heavy too so this looked uncanny and off-putting but the worst part of it was that this robot didn't even have to walk, even though it did, as it was capable of hovering slightly above the ground should it wish to. Its legs were thin, toned but thin, and they emitted an alien purple glow from within the creases that hinted at an anomalous life form lurking within. Perhaps there once had been a sentience of some kind but now it was nothing more than a glowing shell piloted by souls at their wits end. Anyway, as for the rest of its body above the waist, it resembled a thick-pedicelled flower. A large and wide stem like body that curved outward the further up one looked and gradually blossomed into a diamond shaped flat, metallic surface upon which rested multiple jagged spikes towards its front side. Nestled atop that nest of sharp, jutting metal plates was another diamond shaped piece of metal but this one was thicker, rounder, and had three dimensional depth to it to facilitate omnidirectional swiveling because this was the robot's head. A giant golden plus sign was carved into the exact middle of the diamond, connecting all four points, and a small red dot in each of the four split off segments, used for optical purposes, resembled small but vibrant cherries bursting with ripeness. The first thing that came to Kya's mind was that this thing was the king of robotic Venus flytraps everywhere but that sort of underestimating would get her killed if she persisted in thinking like that because this thing oozed strength by the buckets.
The souls mucking around inside the overlord were one thing, sentient souls of any capacity could be a real problem if left unchecked and there were multiple present here, but the robot itself was a relic of ingenuity. It was impossible tell whether this had been a sentient robo or just an automated robot like any other during its time but it was a threat all the same and was looking to pose a real post-mortem problem even in death. The souls had really found a golden goose corpse to weaponize here and would justifiably fight Kya tooth and nail to keep control over it for as long a they possibly could. They were like dying embers who found a new spark and refused to let it burn out. Naturally they couldn't wield the full might this robot had when it was in full form, then Kya really might have to bring out the apotheosis, but it wasn't like this overlord would be a pushover even in this rundown state. Hell it still looked brand new even after countless years of idle inactivity; the houses in the fake village had more dust on them than this thing. Or maybe it was just the preservation capabilities of the cult of destruction that should be praised?
Kya shook her head because, again, none of this mattered and she couldn't afford to be getting distracted against this newly awakened foe, it would really do some damage if she took her eyes of it. According to the report given to her about a week ago, this robot possessed incredible means and used an unusual geometry-type magic that could create abundant shapes in mid air from effectively scratch and hurl them at people. It was kind of like a limitless telekinesis with infinite objects to chuck about and, while that may not have sounded like much compared to other types of world ending arts, this robot apparently took this particular concept very far. Its creator was a man named 'Sevorus' who had an unusual fascination and fixation with 'lines', to the point that even his own personal magic revolved around it in some manner, and so this robot's talents were an extension of that. The cult of destruction didn't know much about a mad genius as reclusive as Sevorus but he was assumed to be as crazy as he was clever. A dragon like him pursuing just about anything meant he'd inevitably produce astounding results whenever he lifted his finger and this robot was one such feat. It wasn't his magnum opus, God no, it was probably no more than just a throwaway product to him that he lost somewhere and forgot about, but to pretty much anyone else this robot was a priceless gem of a specimen.
Kya didn't know anything about this Sevorus guy but his creation, as a fellow tech afficionado, was impressive to a degree she could never replicate herself. She created gadgets here and there but her real specialty was controlling and roaming through other people's devices, like a bug in the system others set up for her to explore. She might have even been able to take over this robot with enough time spare had it not already been hijacked by the errant souls. It would have made a neat addition to her admittedly small collection but it wasn't in the cards unfortunately. Kya stepped forward in sync with the overlord and the two clashed gazes, both ever stoic and unflinching. The overlord cut an imposing figure as the various gasses swirling behind it faded away while Kya was a more subtle presence whose lethality only revealed itself the deeper one inspected her. This was a battle between a kingly brute and a nimble bird of prey and it was Kya who took the initiative to try and land a blow right out the gate.
Both Kya's guns flared to life and brought sound to this overwise quiet stare-down between the two combative behemoths. Her bullets ricocheted off a plate of metal and haphazardly bounced towards a another nearby console, shattering its screen and activating an alarm that would obnoxiously blare in the background for the rest of the fight. Not that it mattered, the fight had already kicked off as Kya utilised those two shots to dart behind her opponent in one swift set of movements and launch a broad sweeping kick at the overlord's head. She was looking to disorient the overlord by rattling the souls inside it but her assault was denied by a single raised palm without the overlord even needing to adjust his position in the slightest. Without an inch of swivel necessary, the robot read Kya's angle of attack and brilliantly snuffed out the danger without suffering even a minor blow. Kya's foot wasn't able to overcome the thick wall that was the overlord's robust defences so she tried to blast herself around to another blind spot and try a second time in a different position while aiming at the legs. The same result, a single guardian palm halting her from advancing, left her clicking her tongue but not surprised as she knew from the get go this wouldn't be an easy fight. If this overlord was as much of a simpleton as the other robots in this facility even Kya might be a bit disappointed by the anti-climactic ending to her mission and this was coming from the perron who just wanted to get it over and done with.
With the force of a hurricane, the overlord swung its arm around to try and bat Kya across the room but it missed as the aevysquall leapt backwards through the air with a quick somersault. Trying to catch the fleeing bird, by running after it and swiping with its arm again, proved pointless as she fired a shot at the overlord's head add blasted herself further backwards to safety in the span of milliseconds. The bullet in question merely bounced off the overlord's head like a ball off a goalpost so the score between them was still even for now with nobody having the edge. Kya lacked the firepower and the overlord lacked the speed and technique to ever land a hit. Though extended metaphors were being crossed, the ball still lay in the overlord's court, however, as it only needed to land one hit to inflict massive damage whereas Kya was a bit stuck in that regard and needed a new approach entirely. As if aware of this massive advantage, the overlord decided to press it without hesitation and clasped its hands together to form a triangular gap between them. Its hands then adjusted to reshape the triangle into a rectangle, a square, a circle, and then finally a triangle again and it was then that Kya's world spun, changing drastically before her very eyes.
Kya's vision distorted and, one blink later, she was in a foreign space filled with blurry, hazy, distorted shapes that made her brain feel fuzzy and tired. She stood atop a long, rainbow coloured road in the middle of a lava lamp-esque space. Colours around her in this tunnel bombarded her sense of direction and time while a giant overlord's bust loomed at the end of the tunnel. Its size was planetary and it looked akin to a God peering over the universe at large. This was all a mental attack, nothing here was real, but the ability to construct this place as rapidly as it did, and with nothing but the power of shapes no less, was extraordinary. How powerful this thing must have been in its heyday, and how powerful its creator Sevorus was, would be a marvel unlike any other. Unfortunately Kya was on the receiving end of the watered down version of whatever this attack was and needed to break free before the fight could continue so she took off running after a moment of brief contemplation. She hadn't been sure which direction to run because the overlord's presence followed her eyes no matter where she looked, stalking and mocking her inability to find any solace in this entrapping tunnel.
Should she run backwards?
Forwards?
Into the wall of colours?
It was an impossible choice to make with no information whatsoever so she just didn't make one at all and moved her body before making any sort of reasoned or logical choice. As a half breed, her animal instincts weren't to be scoffed at. Her familial line was hardly that of a bird of prey, and when thinking of killer animalistic instincts birds weren't really up there near the top of the list in most cases, but the homing capability of birds was to be respected and so when it came to directional quandaries Kya often found it best to just move on gut instinct, wherever her body and the wind took her. The correct answer here was actually that there was no real correct answer, both directions would have moved her towards the giant overlord regardless, this dimensional space was an inferior version of the real deal and much easier to come out alive of. Kya was fine so long as she didn't jump into the wall of shapeless colours to either side as that was a barrier leading into a mental attack that would dig even deeper into her brain and leave her comatose if she dared carelessly explore it. Getting eternally lost in a sea of discombobulating illusions was clearly terrible but that fate had been avoided... For now. Dodging it forever wasn't as simple as not willfully jumping into it as the overlord had means to encourage it and force desperation.
The overlord wasn't going to sit around and watch Kya scramble down the tunnel towards it without putting up a fight and this was where the unknown art really began its offensive and showed its true colours. Kya ran in a straight line at first but a rectangular train like object came barreling towards her out of thin air and she was forced to dodge roll sideways. She nearly rolled clean off the narrow rainbow road right to her grave but managed to cling to the edge and fling herself back up and resume her sprint. This had just turned into a nightmarish gauntlet and the overlord was evidently going to force her to play a game not dissimilar to 'hole in the wall' wherein a barrage of barely dodge-able shapes came speeding her way and she had to jump through hoops to avoid each and every single one. Getting hit would knock her back, reset her progress, and hurt a ton while breaking bones so she would be stuck here forever if she wasn't surgical in her movements form now on. Plus she couldn't just leap around them as she'd charge headfirst into the colourful tinted tunnel and suffer an equally terrible ending. She was like a lab rat in a maze... Or perhaps a bird in a labyrinthian cage was a more apt comparison? Either way, she didn't feel uncomfortable, she'd been debatably trapped all her life and maybe Bullet Dance was so close to her heart because it gave her a feeling of freedom as she gained the ability to outrun and ignore her problems. In this case, she blitzed down the tunnel and shot her way through each obstacle with pinpoint grace, sharp turns, precise flips, and instantaneous bursts of raw speed. Watching an acrobat at ten times speed would be less hypotonic as her movements were all purposeful, calculated, and delivered the exact result needed to get her past all the octagons, rings, cylinders, stars, and cones that threatened to ram into her at borderline light speed. To think this art was the weaker version was humbling but Kya wasn't a chump and could handle it.
With a double blast from her weapons, she zigzagged through the last two obstacles preventing her from reaching the end of the tunnel and came face to face with the massive overlord in a dark void, empty of all the colours that had assailed her senses mere seconds ago. She looked up defiantly, with an edge in her eyes that was quiet and unassuming but profound in term of self confidence. The overlord raised its arms in response, swaying them to and fro in front of him as he summoned forth more elaborate shapes to rain down upon Kya but she took to this challenge like a fish to water. Her guns were aimed perfectly as she flung herself forward onto the incoming shape meteor storm and ran across the roof of a square, kicked off a right angle, and slid down a spiral. She clamoured over and through the assault overload of the overlord's shaping spree, all the while Bullet Dancing through the abyss and climbing her way to challenge the God that ruled over it like a David vs Goliath sketch made real. Kya became a black and red streak that tore through space and time, arriving before the overlord and ready to make her move.
Daunting though the overlord was, she had the means at her disposal to fell this thing and bring the fight back to the real world. Kya closed her eyes and entered a mindless state, surrounded by emptiness on all sides save for erratic giggling that drew ever nearer. From the black void came numerous cackling, crooked white smiles with floating white slits for eyes hovering just above. Some slits were angled differently to others, giving the impression some were angry, some were sad, and some were joyous but, without fail, all laughed from their wavy zig zagging mouths in melodic but ghastly tones as they encroached on Kya's personal space. Rather than fear or reject them, Kya embraced them and allowed them in, permitting them to find a safe haven for their souls temporarily within her own. Changes were reflected to her real form accordingly as she became a floating black mist with an X-ray like skeleton flickering in and out of view from behind it with a creepy smile. Of note were her claws at the ends of her slender hands which looked capable of slashing asteroids in twain with a simple flick of the wrist. Rather, they were as deadly as they looked as Kya swiped her arm at incomprehensible speed and tore a massive scratch mark through the giant overlord, cracking its visage and soon after the space it had generated. the world shattered, the overlord stumbled a single step back and tilted its head, and Kya's new form was still standing but not standing tall. It was lanky, leant forward like a predatory animal ready to jump into action, and snarled as it laughed while its body faded in and out of view like a bad trip. That scratch earlier was a basic greeting and the overlord was going to have a real fight on its hands now.