The doors to Xelthar's quarters slid open with a metallic hiss, revealing a cavernous, dimly lit room filled with ominous dispys of onry and symbols of his authority. Ethan stepped forward, his movements tense and calcuted. The air buzzed with a low hum, an almost suffog pressure that seemed to twist and pulse around him. Though he felt the faint pressure from the mind-trol on still operating somewhere nearby, Ethan's mind remaieady, protected by whatever strange power resided within him.
Xelthar stood at the ter of the room, encased in heavy, gleaming power armor that pulsed with faint energy fields. The armor's imposing frame was reinforced at the joints and seams, while the shoulders and chest were fitted with enhaing desigo withstand heavy fire. His eyes narrowed as he took ihan's ued state.
"So," Xelthar sneered, his voice muffled through his helmet's speakers but still carrying a tone of disbelief. "You're not just here for a noble sacrifice, are you? No one should be able to resist the on's effects, yet here you stand."
Ethan remained silent, his grip tightening on his psma dagger and ser pistol. His thoughts weren't on expining anything to Xelthar. They were on Lyra, incapacitated and likely fighting for her life in the hallway. He didn't have time fames.
"Nothing to say?" Xelthar jeered, his tone shifting to mockery. "You e here to front me alone? What did you think was going to happen? That you'd somehow survive?"
Ethan's silence was uling, his calm demeanor an unusual sight for someone in such a high-stakes situatiohar, clearly irritated by the ck of respoook a step forward, his armor's energy field fring as he ched his fists.
"Let me show you the differeween a true leader and a misguided fool."
With a sudden roar, Xelthar lunged forward, ahan responded by raising his ser pistol, aiming for the oints in the armor, the joints, the neck, and any exposed seams. He fired several shots, eae nding precisely where he aimed, but they only left faint scorch marks ohick pting. Xelthar's armor was desigo withstand far more than ser fire.
Xelthar ughed, his voice eg in the chamber. "Is that all you've got? You'll have to do better than that!"
Without missing a beat, Ethan sidestepped, moving in close with his psma dagger, aiming for the softer areas around the armor's joints. His dagger flickered with a deadly glow as he struck, but Xelthar's power armor responded with defensive energy fields that absorbed the brunt of the attack, defleg his bde.
The warlord tered with a brutal swing, his armranting him enhanced speed and power. Ethan barely had time to dodge, feeling the air shift as Xelthar's armored fist whooshed past him, narrowly missing. However, the force of the swing threw him off bance, and before he could fully recover, Xelthar brought a heavy boot down on the floor, creating a shockwave that reverberated through the ground.
The shockwave hit Ethan squarely, f him to stagger backward. His HUD fshed with alerts, warning of minor damage from the impact. He quickly reset his stance, his mind rag to find a strategy. Clearly, brute force wouldn't work here.
"Already struggling, are we?" Xelthar taunted, amusement g his voice. "You really thought you could challenge me? This armor has crushed better men than you. You're nothing more than a small nuisance."
Ethan's jaw ched, his focus unwaverie Xelthar's taunts. He shifted his grip on the psma dagger, sidering his approach. Xelthar's armor was resilient, but no defense was imperable. He o identify patterns, watch for the momentary pses in the armor's energy fields, and exploit them.
Xelthar unched into another flurry of attacks, each swing of his armored fists and reinforced gaus desigo crush anything in their path. Ethan moved with precision, dodging and weaving arouhar's brutal strikes, eaent a testament to his ret training and enhanced reflexes. Though a few gng blows ected, he mao keep himself rgely unscathed, his body anticipating each attack just enough to avoid taking critical damage.
Ethan saportunity and lunged forward, aiming his psma dagger at the armor's neck seam. But Xelthar twisted, blog the blow with an armored forearm, aaliated by smming his fist ihan's side. The impact sent him sprawling, pain fring through his ribs as his HUD bred damage warnings.
Ethan forced himself to his feet, shaking off the paihar's mog ughter filled the room.
"What's the matter, merary? Did you think this would be easy?" Xelthar sneered, his voice ced with satisfa. "I have entire legions bowing to my power. And you're nothing but another fool who thinks he stand against me."
Ethan steadied his breathing, his gaze focused as he locked onto Xelthar's every movement. Brute strength wouldn't be his path to victory here, but his training and agility gave him the advantage of speed and timing. He circled Xelthar, watg the slight shifts in his armor as he prepared to attack again.
"Still not giving up, are you?" Xelthar growled, irritation creeping into his tone. "What is it with you and that ridiculous desperation in your eyes? What drives you?"
Ethan's calm fa?ade finally cracked, a Xelthar's gaze. "The only thing driving me is ending this," he said, his voice cold, "so you won't harm anyone else."
Xelthar chuckled darkly, but Ethan had already unched forward, his movements faster than before. He moved in close, slipping under Xelthar's guard and striking at the armor's joints with his psma dagger, each strike probing for weaknesses. He nded a hit on the armor's shoulder, creating a small cra the pting.
The warlord roared in frustration, swinging wildly as he tried to shake Ethan off. But Ethan was relentless, pressing his advantage as he found oints and struck with precision. He was careful, avoiding the powerful energy fields and using his enhanced agility to stay oep ahead.
But the strain of the fight was wearing on him, ahar's strike ected hard, sendihan crashing into a dispy case against the wall. Gss shattered around him as he struggled tain his footing, his breathing bored.
Xelthar advanced, a triumphant glint in his eyes. "You 't keep this up. All that effort just to survive a few minutes longer."
Ethan forced himself up, using the adrenaline c through him to ighe pain. He o end this, and fast. Studying the armor's movements, he began to see a pattern. A slight dey in the energy fields around the waist and neck, vulnerabilities he could exploit.
As Xelthar swung agaihan dodged, rollih the attad ing up with his psma dagger aimed at the warlord's waist. He drove the dagger forward, sinking it into a gap in the armor's pting. Sparks flew as he twisted the bde, the energy field flickering in response.
Xelthar bellowed in rage, trying to shove Ethan off, but Ethan held his ground, driving the dagger deeper. Finally, he pulled back, seeing a dent where the armor had weakened. He aimed his ser pistol at the damaged area, firing a trated burst that caused the armor to spark and short-circuit slightly.
Etha a surge of hope. Xelthar's armor was showing signs of damage, and he was finally gaining the upper hand. But he knew he couldn't let his guard down.
Xelthar, visibly frustrated and furious, unched another barrage of attacks, his movements more erratic. Ethan dodged each swing, his agility allowing him to stay just out of reach as he tiargeting the weakened points in the armor.
Ethan narrowly dodged a powerful swing, feeling the gust of air as Xelthar's armored fist whooshed past his head. He steadied his breathing, his muscles tense, eyes locked ohar. The warlord's armor sparked at its weakened points, a sign that his relentless strikes were finally making an impact. But Ethan could feel his own limits pressing in. The weight of exhaustion creeping up with each move, the sting of bruises and impacts making his body ache.
He tightened his grip on the psma dagger, f himself to stay sharp. Xelthar's rage-filled eyes glihrough his visor, ahan knew he couldn't afford a single misstep. Lyra's life depended on how fast he could finish this. He readied himself for the assault, his mind and body aligned on one goal: end this, no matter what it took.
