ETERNAL LEGION**
**[RECOVERY STATUS: 58%]**
**[SHADOW MANA RESERVES: 3100/8500]**
**[DIMENSIONAL BREACH ALERT: HUNTERS DETECTED]**
The regeneration pool's viscous fluid drained with a hiss as Seun rose, his body still knitting itself back together. The damage report scrolled across his vision, each line pulsing with golden urgency:
**[PERMANENT INJURIES SUSTAINED]**
- Neural Scarring: Right Brachial Plexus (14% Shadow Conduction Loss)
- Fractured Shadow Core: Hairline Cracks Detected
- System Recommendation: 42 Hours Full Rest (Ignored)
Across the sanctuary chamber, Voltaic knelt in its charging station, chrome-plated segments humming. The shadow-mech's form flickered where Void Eye's dimensional strike had landed, but already the damage was reversing itself - tendrils of living darkness stitching the wound closed.
**"Monarch."** Its voice crackled with static. **"Targets remain at perimeter."**
Seun clenched his right fist, feeling the sluggish response of his shadow mana through scarred neural pathways. It didn't matter. The villa's dimensional cloak held firm, and his soldiers...
His soldiers were eternal.
---
### **THE UNDYING ARMY**
Lina materialized from the chamber's gloom, her form now perfectly stable. The data corruption had been purged, her adaptive camouflage shimmering like liquid obsidian.
**"They're probing the edges,"** she reported, projecting a hologram of the four hunters. Void Eye's pulsating ocular implants flared as he scanned empty air just meters from the villa's hidden threshold. **"Kim's starting to suspect dimensional folding."**
Seun watched as Iron Fist Mei slammed her augmented fists together, creating a shockwave that made the very air ripple. The vibration passed harmlessly through the villa's dimensional barrier, but the intent was clear - they were hunting something beyond normal perception.
**"Engagement protocol?"** Lina asked.
Seun flexed his fingers. Golden text scrolled:
**[SHADOW LEGION PRIME DIRECTIVE]**
- Soldiers Cannot Permanently Die While Mana Reserves >1%
- Regeneration Time: 4-11 Seconds Based on Damage
- Exception: Complete Host Death
**"Send Voltaic."** Seun's voice was iron. **"Let them learn what immortality looks like."**
---
### **VOLTAIC'S IMMORTAL GAUNTLET**
The shadow-mech emerged from nothingness directly behind Ghost Bullet Ren. Its plasma claws sheared through the sniper's rifle before he could turn, the resonance rounds detonating harmlessly in their chamber.
Ren rolled away with A-Rank reflexes, sidearm already drawn. "Contact! Mech at point—"
Voltaic's backhand sent him crashing through a ruined concrete pillar. Before the dust settled, the mech's chest array pulsed violet.
**[DATA CORRUPTION WAVE: ACTIVATED]**
The blast hit all four hunters simultaneously:
- Void Eye's ocular implants glitched violently
- Iron Fist's augmentations spasmed
- Code Breaker's scanners exploded
- Ghost Bullet's cybernetic leg locked up
Kim recovered first. **"Kill it properly this time!"**
Iron Fist Mei's arms whined as she activated overload protocols. Her next punch cratered Voltaic's chest, the kinetic force liquefying its internal mechanisms. The shadow-mech exploded in a shower of molten metal and darkness.
**[VOLTAIC STATUS: DESTROYED]**
**[SHADOW MANA DEDUCTION: 290]**
**[REGENERATION INITIATED: 7 SECONDS]**
The hunters barely had time to breathe before tendrils of living shadow erupted from the wreckage. Chrome segments reassembled themselves mid-air as Voltaic stepped whole from the void.
**"Monarch sends regards."**
Mei's face went pale.
---
### **THE HUNTERS' HORROR**
For seventeen minutes, Voltaic waged its one-mech war:
1. **First Death**: Crushed by Iron Fist's meteor slam (Regeneration: 9 seconds)
2. **Second Death**: Disintegrated by Void Eye's dimensional rupture (Regeneration: 11 seconds)
3. **Third Death**: Sniper round through core (Regeneration: 4 seconds)
Each time, it returned stronger. Each resurrection taught it more about their tactics. By the sixth regeneration, Voltaic was countering moves before they happened.
Ghost Bullet Ren's hands shook as he reloaded. **"What the hell is this thing?!"**
Code Breaker Jae's scanner finally locked onto the truth. **"It's not a machine! Look at the energy signature—it's drawing from a dimensional source! There's a—"**
Voltaic's claws silenced him permanently.
**[FIRST HUNTER ELIMINATED]**
**[SHADOW MANA RECOVERED: +180]**
Void Eye's pulsating eyes widened as he finally understood. **"Fall back! This is just the vanguard!"**
---
### **SEUN'S ASCENSION**
Back in the villa, the System displayed real-time updates:
**[VOLTAIC PERFORMANCE: 189% ABOVE PROJECTIONS]**
**[HUNTER MORALE: CRITICAL]**
**[SHADOW MANA FLUCTUATION: +12% EFFICIENCY]**
Seun rose fully from the regeneration pool, his scars glowing faintly with contained power. On the viewscreen, Voltaic tore through Iron Fist's last desperate defense, its claws now crackling with stolen resonance energy.
Lina materialized beside him. **"Monarch. Winterscorn has reformed."**
The ice general's voice rumbled through the chamber before he fully appeared. **"Monarch."** Frostbite patterns swirled across his rebuilt form, the icy claws now gleaming with embedded void shards.
Seun watched as Void Eye finally broke and ran, Voltaic giving chase like some relentless horror from the abyss. The numbers scrolled before him:
**[CURRENT RANK: A- (21%)]**
**[SHADOW MANA RESERVES: 2980/8500]**
**[NEXT EVOLUTION: 100% MANA CAPACITY]**
He turned to his generals.
**"Prepare the dungeon strike force. We hunt properly this time."**
---