Despite the lines of text hanging in front of him, Arthur’s mind latched onto something else entirely. And what could possibly be more important than System notifications that just might hold the key to surviving the next few seconds?

  Simple!

  It was the way the entire world around him had frozen, as if someone had hit a pause in a game.

  Just what kind of power is this? he thought a second before a quite crucial detail caught his attention. Wait a moment… It’s not frozen.

  His sight snapped back to the massive monster charging at him. At first glance, it looked as motionless as everything else. But when Arthur focused a bit harder, he witnessed the beast's arm move ever so slowly by maybe a millimeter or two.

  So no, there wasn’t any pause active right now. Rather, the world had slowed to a crawl. Or maybe it was his mind working overtime, making him experience everything in slow motion? With the System’s usual brand of bullshitery at work, either option was possible.

  Focus! Arthur mentally slapped himself. You are like one bad decision away from a second death. Focus on that!

  Warrior Matrix unlocked.

  Activate?

  To be honest, Arthur had no idea why the System was even asking. Given how fast this so-called Guardian could run and how sharp its blade looked, he very much doubted he could survive the clash as he was. This Matrix—whatever it was—could be his only chance to win.

  As they say, you only live once. Or well, twice in my case. And… hopefully thrice if this fails.

  With that morbid thought in mind, Arthur gave the System the green light. Nothing could have prepared him for what followed that decision.

  Aether Drive initialized. Transforming…

  It began in his Core, a pulse that spread throughout his entire vessel. Intense heat followed, but not the kind that burned his internal systems. Instead, it was something akin to what he felt during every upgrade.

  For a second, he had no idea what it meant…

  Then everything became as clear as the sky.

  The armor—the shell—that made up his vessel didn’t crack or split. It melted, turning hardened steel into liquid. Most of his systems followed in its wake, with only a few remaining intact inside the growing, red-hot orb his body had become.

  Arthur felt like he should be worried, or even horrified. But he wasn’t. A sense of calm, unlike anything he had ever experienced, settled over him, telling him to wait—to watch.

  So he did.

  The mass of molten steel moved at last, reshaping itself into things Arthur didn’t think would ever be a part of him again.

  First came the legs—thick, armored columns of steel painted the same greenish-gray as his original vessel. They also ended not in ordinary feet, but in three massive metallic talons that dug into the ground for stability.

  The torso formed next, vaguely humanoid in shape yet full of rough edges and jagged plating. Within it, the preserved systems took their spot. Generator, Engine, Sensors. Wires, pipes, and a bunch of other stuff reformed too, connecting those major parts to his new vessel.

  Arthur barely paid attention to that part, though. To him, the creation of his arms looked much more interesting.

  He again had two of those. Steel-covered limbs filled with joints, pistons, and gears that provided him with a full range of motion. Hands followed, each with five bulky metallic fingers. Cold and heavy but almost human.

  Still, that wasn’t all.

  On his left forearm, the molten steel continued to flow, reforming into two familiar shortened cannon barrels and one machine gun. A heartbeat later, a connection in his Core and mind snapped into place, giving him full control of those weapons.

  Holy sh—

  Arthur never got to finish the thought. In that moment, Silent Observer was forcefully shut down. Darkness consumed him and, for a second, he feared that something had gone wrong. Then the notification appeared.

  Transformation completed. Beware: Aether Drive cannot sustain this form for long before requiring a lengthy recharge. Make it count.

  Now, open your eyes.

  What?

  As if to answer his question, his mind lit up, dozens of different triggers and valves falling into his control. This time, he didn’t need an explanation about any of them. He simply pulled.

  His “eyes” snapped open, and the view of the battlefield returned.

  Oh… so that’s how it is.

  He could feel everything now, every joint, subsystem, or plate of armor. His metallic fingers twitched, as did the thick talons that now served as his feet. As for his sight?

  It came from a head mounted atop his new vessel. He had no idea what it looked like without a mirror, but it turned almost as freely as he remembered his human neck once could.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  His gaze dropped to his arms, noticing a detail he had somehow missed before.

  From every gap in his armor, every joint and seam, a dark red glow pulsed. One would have thought that it was just some cosmetic feature that added to the intimidation factor of this new vessel.

  Arthur knew better.

  Aether.

  That was the source of the glow. An energy he instinctively understood to be on par with—if not superior to—Ether. What it did exactly, he had no clue, but one thing was crystal clear.

  Every passing millisecond consumed a bit of it. And once it ran out?

  The transformation would end, just like the System notification had warned.

  A time-limited mech form, huh? He would have smiled if he could. Nice.

  Even if he stood a head or two shorter than an average Cyclops, it didn’t matter. The power flooding this body far surpassed anything his standard vessel could offer. Hell, even the two shortened cannons and the machine gun felt stronger with Aether coursing through them.

  Arthur chuckled inwardly.

  Guess my odds of survival just went way up. Let’s go.

  At his command, a flash consumed his right hand. When it faded, a long, simple sword rested in his grip. The only unique thing about it was the hollow channel running along the center of the blade that crackled with the crimson energy of Aether.

  A second later, time flow returned to normal.

  Arthur raised his left arm, cannons aimed at the charging monster. With a pull of a trigger, two AP shells left the chamber, leaving crimson trails in their wake.

  The Guardian, however, somehow knew what was coming and had its blade raised a split second before the projectiles even reached it, thus rendering them useless. Well, almost useless. This quick defense still forced the beast to slow down, which was all Arthur wanted anyway.

  Time to put this new body of mine to the test.

  The groan of joints and pistons filled the area as Arthur charged forward, gripping the sword with both hands. In the corner of his vision, he also spotted Athena diving in, her beak open and ready to fire.

  The Guardian ignored her and swung again.

  Arthur, following his instincts and what little he knew about swordsmanship, brought his blade up to block. To his surprise, he didn’t so much as twitch when the weapons clashed. Not even the monster’s size advantage was enough to push him back.

  Huh.

  Grinning inwardly, Arthur drew on some of the Aether now coursing through his Core and pushed.

  The beast stumbled back ever so slightly. That was more than enough.

  He loosened his grip on the sword with one hand and delivered a punch to its face.

  The Guardian screeched as it was knocked back even further. Still, he didn’t give it time to recover and fired the reloaded cannons right at its head. It popped like a balloon.

  At that moment, it should have been the end. After all, what could survive without a head?

  Apparently, this demon could.

  Its screech might have gotten cut off, but instead of dying, the flames coating the Guardian surged, turning white-hot at the edges. Arthur cursed and brought down his sword, hoping to end it quickly.

  The Guardian’s greatsword moved faster than before, blocking his strike. A stream of fire erupted from the creature’s torso right after, forcing him to step back and lean to the side. Even so, the flames still scorched the metal plates on his shoulder.

  Not that easy then. New pla—

  The flaming beast lunged, not giving him time to think. With a swing after swing coming at him, all Arthur could do was block or dodge. Maybe if he had some experience wielding a sword, he could do more, but alas, he had been just an ordinary human before this.

  And no, fighting with sticks as a kid did not count as experience.

  Athena! Could use some help!

  A sharp caw echoed through their link.

  Got it. Be quick. Please.

  No answer this time, so Arthur focused on defense. With every passing second, the Guardian’s flames burned hotter, and with them, its movement became faster. He had to draw on more and more Aether just to keep up and counter the blows that made the gears inside him groan under the strain.

  The fact that his shell was beginning to melt in several places was… less than ideal.

  Athena, now is as good a time as any! he called while blocking yet another strike. His knees buckled, the artificial pain spiking as something within him began to crack. Shit.

  A loud chirp from above thankfully saved him. The beast’s focus wavered just as a grenade exploded against its back, courtesy of Athena. Arthur didn’t waste another second.

  Both cannons loaded with HE shells, he summoned Warrior’s Hook in his left hand and fired it at the beast. Then, with a sharp yank, he pulled it toward him.

  In a final, desperate attempt to survive, the flames covering the Guardian’s body erupted. And yet, even as several of his subsystems began to melt, Arthur ignored the warnings. He fired his cannons and drove his blade into the spot where the most crimson flesh covered in bark was located.

  Instantly, the flames vanished.

  The Guardian slackened in his grip.

  He won.

  Arthur let the corpse fall and tore his sword free. Somehow, despite not having a true body, exhaustion washed over him all at once. He groaned and quickly checked his System status.

  Warning! Damage detected!

  Armor has degraded to Damaged status.

  Mobility has degraded to Operational status.

  Beware! Aether levels are now below 30%. Warrior Matrix will deactivate soon.

  He winced internally at the report. Not ideal, but he could handle it, especially now that the battle was over. He just had to deal with the stupid tree and the remnants of the demon horde.

  No biggie.

  Just as Arthur was about to deactivate the Matrix himself to hopefully save some energy, the ground beneath him shook again and again. A notification appeared a second later.

  Warning! Hell Gate breakout imminent.

  Right away, his gaze snapped to the portal bound within the demonic tree. And, true to the System notification, it was glowing and trembling just as it had before the Guardian stepped through it. Only the screeches were missing.

  Shit.

  Acting on pure instinct, Arthur grabbed his sword with both hands and rushed toward the tree. Aether inside him spiked, spilling more and more of the crackling crimson energy onto the blade.

  Honestly, he had no idea why he was even doing this. Yet it felt right.

  When only a few meters remained between him and the tree, Arthur swung in a wide, horizontal arc. At the same time, he reached for the energy covering his sword and released it.

  Annihilation.

  A thick crescent of crimson lightning tore free from the blade and slammed into the bottom of the tree without mercy. There was no resistance. No fight. The Aether technique simply carved straight through bark and Hell Gate alike.

  The latter pulsed once, then twice before blinking out of existence. The shaking stopped, too, though that was followed by the entire demonic tree falling to the side.

  Now it’s over, Arthur thought as his sword dissolved into nothing.

  Aether: 0%