The Lost Kingdom | Nova Terra Chronicles

The moment the bell rang, three shapes blurred across the arena floor--Zamy, Mek, and Davie.

The crowd leaned forward. Their eyes followed the trio surging through the dust, light refracting from their gear and cores.

Zamy, hanging slightly back, scanned the enemy formation--five gods of ancient might: Discordia, Coelus, Cardea, Carna, and Aesculapius. Each with a deadly specialty. Each already underestimating the mortals before them.

But Mek and Davie weren't mortals.

"Helix-Core: Engage!"

Mek's body pulsed with kinetic energy. The lights on his exo-armor flared blue, and his servos roared. He became a comet, barreling forward.

"Five minutes of uptime," he shouted through comms. "After that, I'm disabled--make it count!"

Boom!

Mek collided with Carna, his fist smashing against her jaw, forcing her to slide back. She recovered instantly and threw a retaliatory kick, but Mek backflipped out of range--mid-air, launching his Helix-Rocket. The projectile detonated on impact, forcing Carna to shield up as fire and kinetic energy licked the edges of her armor.

"Ion-Core: Active."

Davie's voice came next--calm, mechanical. The green glow on his chest and eyes sharpened.

"Ion-Systems: Online."

Lines of data flooded his vision, mapping heat signatures, predictive arcs, and magical auras.

He vanished from his start point and blinked behind Cardea, slashing low with his blade. Sparks flew as metal grazed enchanted armor, slicing into her thigh.

She hissed.

But she was already moving faster--Coelus had cast a buff seconds earlier.

She twisted her body, slammed her fist into Davie's side, then spun and kneed him in the gut. His systems beeped warnings. He was launched across the arena, slamming into the sand and skidding in a metal-grinding drag.

Zamy, watching the imbalance, gritted his teeth and moved in to assist Davie.

But he was met with a wave of searing violet energy--Discordia's Chaos Surge. The wall of pure magic smashed into him like a falling mountain.

"ZAMY!" Davie groaned as he forced himself upright.

Zamy was down, body smoking, hands trembling as he tried to rise again.

From the sidelines, Kayma sprinted in, hands-blazing with Shadow Magic.

Kuddle rushed toward Davie, trying to mend the glowing fissures in his side--but the light wouldn't take.

"He's not flesh! I can't heal him!" Kuddle shouted in frustration, his hands pulsing helplessly.

Mek, still moving, caught the exchange--but was already locked in again.

He dashed toward Carna with a burst of speed and drove his knee into her stomach--but her arm curled around him in response, lifting and slamming him down like a ragdoll.

"You're all speed," she sneered, "but you barely hurt."

Across the battlefield, Cardea kicked Davie aside with a smirk, her enchanted speed too much for his systems.

"You're all strength... but no speed."

The words echoed like daggers.

Mek's systems blinked 3:43 remaining.

Davie's AI recorded four major system fractures.

Zamy coughed blood, leaning up on one arm.

The crowd watched in silence, tension climbing.

The gods were winning this battle for sure... is what everyone thought, except for Beau.

Zamy leapt over Davie, hands blazing with spirals of Dark-Magic, while Kayma mirrored the motion, launching over Mek with his knife at the ready.

But the gods moved faster.

Discordia's hand flicked, and Coelus raised his palm--pure chaos and astral energy collided mid-air, blasting both mortals out of their paths.

"Not fast enough," Discordia whispered, her eyes swirling with madness.

Kayma slammed into the ground. He barely had time to lift himself before Carna flashed forward and--slash.

Blood sprayed into the dust-filled air.

Kayma's scream pierced the arena.

His arm fell off, still gripping his knife.

Davie, shaken but trying to cover him, fired off a shot from his sniper--miss.

Carna caught Kayma's falling body mid-spin and hurled him like a projectile. Davie took the full brunt. The clang of body on alloy echoed.

Kayma fell limp.

Across the arena, Kuddle gritted his teeth and pressed forward. His staff pulsed with green light as he rushed to Kayma's side--only for Cardea to intercept.

"No No" she said plainly, before slicing Kuddle's staff clean in half.

Still, Kuddle wasn't done.

He slammed his foot into the ground--roots and vines exploded up, wrapping around Cardea's legs and arms, holding her tight.

But Discordia's chaos-magic licked across the battlefield like wildfire--the vines ignited in violet flame.

"Chaos cannot be contained."

The fire coursed through Cardea.

Her eyes widened and her smile cracked.

And then she screamed.

Berserk.

Cardea surged forward and ripped through the vines like paper. Her speed exploded--her blade found Kuddle's chest three times in less than a second. He dropped, his cloak soaked red.

Zamy, staggering to his feet with bruises etched across his body, lifted his hand--but Coelus was already channeling.

An Astral Cage erupted around Zamy--a dome of shimmering light laced with orbiting blackholes.

Each step Zamy took closer to the edge, his limbs were pulled by invisible forces. His skin began to crack, his body bent under gravity's distortion.

On the far side, Aesculapius gently extended a hand. Soft light wove around Carna and Cardea, healing their bruises and burns like a painter fixing broken canvas.

The gods were unscathed. The battlefield was painted in defeat.

Mek and Davie, the last two standing.

Both staggering.

Both broken.

Both silent.

In the private box above the arena, Beau stood quietly. No emotion in his voice, no movement but his lips.

"Overclock."

Mek's Helix-Core pulsed once.

Then again.

Blue shifted to crimson.

Circuits around his body began to twist and burn like molten wires. His chest cracked open, revealing a blazing Helix Reactor, red-hot and unstable.

Davie's Ion-Core blinked green, his systems screaming to life.

His back split open.

Four weapons deployed--fusing into two sleek machine guns above each shoulder.

His sword detached from his arm--only to slam back in, fully absorbed into his frame.

His voice went from synthetic to inhumanly precise.

"Ion-Systems: Full Synchronization."

"Target: Carna and Cardea."

Energy spiraled around both of them as Carna and Cardea charged forward.

Mek launched forward. "Helix Rocket Barrage!" he roared.

Four rockets spun from his arms, trailing spirals of light and smoke as they screamed toward Carna. The goddess ducked, twisted--three missed, but one collided with her shoulder, breaking her guard.

Across the from Mek, Davie, with absolute precision, opened fire at Cardea. Her enchanted armor deflected the first wave, but Davie didn't stop there--he locked his targeting systems to one spot, each hit hammering in deeper until sparks and blood burst from the cracks.

"Davie! Cover me!" Mek shouted.

Without a word, Davie's weapons merged, transforming into a towering metal shield.

"Ion Shield--online."

He positioned himself ahead of Mek, absorbing strike after strike from Carna and Cardea's daggers, both goddesses closing in, blades flashing with divine enchantments. Sparks flew and cracks spread across the shield's plating.

Then...

"HELIX SURGE!!"

Davie flipped the shield forward, facing Mek. A moment of silence... then a blinding roar.

A torrent of Helix-Energy exploded outward, amplified by the Ion Shield's converter. The blast engulfed both Carna and Cardea, their bodies thrown like shattered dolls across the arena--motionless and lifeless.

The crowd erupted.

But only for a moment.

Aesculapius raised his hand.

Carna and Cardea's bodies surged with divine light, returning from the brink. As they gasped back to life, Coelus raised his staff, and purple glyphs swirled around them--enhancing their strength and speed thrice over.

From the far end of the battlefield, Mek and Davie stood tall.

"Go after the ranged ones. I'll handle these," Davie growled.

Mek nodded, launching into the air like a streak of lightning.

"In the dark, in the shallows, or in the distance..." Davie's voice rang through the field as he reloaded. "All shall be found."

"ION PULSE-LOCK!"

His eyes glowed with targeting data as his weapons locked onto both Carna and Cardea. A barrage of homing bullets lit up the air. He danced between them, firing round after round, weaving and strafing as each blast pushed them back.

Across the field, Mek's energy peaked, his silhouette trembling with power.

"Quicker than Light... Faster than Sound... and Stronger than You...

HELIX FRAME OVERDRIVE!!"

In a blink, he vanished.

Reality warped in his wake, and by the time the gods turned, Mek stood behind Aesculapius, Coelus, and Discordia.

The arena shook. A delayed sonic boom shattered the air as the trail behind Mek erupted, ripping through the field as if the world was catching up with time.

Discordia turned--too slow.

A pulsing orb of light crashed into her.

"ION SPLICER!" Davie's blast landed with pinpoint accuracy, draining Discordia of all her mana--rendering her powerless. She collapsed to her knees, dazed and defeated.

In the corner of her eye, Carna and Cardea lay motionless.

And then...

Silence.

The announcer stood, trembling.

"L-Ladies and gentlemen... the impossible has happened... NTG4... TAKES THE VICTORY!!!"

From the lounge, Rikushi, Hoshina, and Glonk stood in awe. Cheers thundered across the arena.

And far in the shadows, Discordia's eyes narrowed.

"Next time," she whispered, "I'll destroy you."