"Hey, hey, hey! That's just cheating! Who could dodge something like this?!" A cold sweat dripped down Seele's forehead. If it were just a few, or even a dozen missiles like before, she would've been confident in intercepting all of them.
But now? This dense, blizzard-like bombardment was impossible to evade. And why—why did the enemy react so violently just because she mentioned the name of the Stellaron?!
Hundreds, even thousands of missiles rained down from the sky, blanketing all the Wildfire members. In the span of a single breath, countless dazzling explosions bloomed, casting a brilliant glow over Svarog's cold, metallic frame.
"Fade away with the butterflies, phantom of the old world!"
With a furious roar, a blue-violet phantom burst through the smoke and flames. In an instant, the chilling glint of a scythe shot toward Svarog's head, carrying the dense power of the Path of the Hunt as it swung down with crushing force.
'Ultimate Skill—Chaotic Butterflies!'
"External threat detected. Defense system activated."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Svarog's eyes flashed red, and a golden energy shield materialized in front of him. In the next moment, Seele's lightning-fast attack landed.
'BANG! SCREECH—!'
The scythe clashed against the energy shield, producing a grating metallic shriek that reverberated in the ears of the wounded Wildfire members like an echoing dirge. The members covered their ears, gritting their teeth as they watched the clash between the girl and the machine.
"Haa—!!"
Seele roared, the veins on her slender, pale arms bulging violently, as if they were about to burst through her skin at any moment!
As she poured more strength into her attack, the power of the Path of the Hunt surging through her scythe grew even more intense. Within moments, it shattered the golden energy shield and struck Svarog's arm like a vengeful specter.
'WHOOSH—!'
The scythe flashed, and in that instant, one of Svarog's arms cleanly separated from its joint, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Yes, it worked!" Seele's face lit up with joy, and she immediately prepared to press her advantage, aiming to defeat Svarog in one go. However, Svarog was, after all, a highly intelligent robot that had existed for centuries—originally created by the Architects of Belobog.
As far as he was concerned, Seele's attack might work once, but a second time? That was another matter entirely…
"Seele, watch out!"
Natasha's urgent voice rang out from behind Seele. At the same time, Svarog raised his remaining arm, and a laser shot from his palm, aimed directly at the girl's modest chest.
In that split second, Seele instinctively dodged to the side. The powerful energy laser grazed past her, burning a small hole in her already scant clothing. But before she could even register the searing heat of the laser, she felt a gust of wind slash at her back like a blade.
'THUD—!!'
The world spun around her as the mechanical claw struck her from behind. The sheer physical impact left her dazed, the Path energy on her scythe dissipating. Then, the claw clenched tightly around her, leaving only her head exposed.
"Seele! Svarog, let her go!"
Natasha's eyes burned with fury as she watched Seele captured by Svarog. Over the years, Seele had stayed with Wildfire, by her side. To a large extent, this gentle older sister saw her as a younger sister—or even a daughter. Though Seele was often impulsive and caused trouble, that never diminished Natasha's affection and indulgence toward her.
'BOOM! BOOM! BOOM…'
Natasha raised her heavy cannon, firing shot after shot at Svarog. Yet, even after exhausting all her ammunition and nearly depleting her stamina, she still couldn't break through his defenses.
By then, Seele—who had been left groggy from the earlier impact—finally regained her senses. Seeing Natasha fighting desperately to save her, she shouted, "Forget about me! Just get out of here!"
"Seele…" Natasha hesitated, then glanced at the severely wounded Wildfire members behind her. Her heart twisted in conflict.
Those ordinary Wildfire members weren't like them—Pathstriders. Svarog's missile barrage had already inflicted heavy casualties, with many suffering grievous injuries, some even permanently disabled. If this continued, they would all die here.
And on the other hand…
Natasha bit her lip as she looked at Seele, firmly trapped in the mechanical claw.
"Everyone, retreat! I'll cover you!"
At Natasha's command, the Wildfire members quickly supported each other, fleeing the mechanical settlement in disarray. Once everyone had escaped, Natasha cast one last deep glance at Seele.
'Seele… I will save you!'
After Natasha fled, Svarog bound Seele and ordered his mechanical soldiers to guard her. Then…
'SPARK… CRACKLE…'
To Seele's shock, the leader of the mechanical settlement began emitting terrifying sparks from his body. Then came a series of mechanical commands she couldn't understand—and just like that, Svarog entered a dormant state.
Svarog had been created seven hundred years ago, and many of his components were now nearly impossible to replace. The previous battle with the Silvermane Guards had inflicted severe damage, leaving large portions of his parts critically compromised.
Because replicating many of these components required time, most of what he currently had were mere substitutes, allowing him to operate at only about 60% of his full strength. And now, after this battle, Svarog's injuries had worsened, forcing him into dormancy once more to repair the damage from overexertion.
"So… he was already at his limit too?" Seele laughed bitterly as she watched Svarog enter dormancy. No wonder he hadn't ordered a pursuit—he no longer had the strength to fight.
But even so… what did it matter? She was captured now, her weapon confiscated, unable to fight. Even if Wildfire launched another attack, they'd struggle to deal with these mechanical soldiers. The rest… was up to fate.
In the end… they were still far too weak.