Raphael blocks partially, but the explosion throws him back several meters.
His boots carve deep trenches across the cavern floor before he regains balance. Dust rises around him, lightning flickering faintly along his limbs as he steadies himself.
The robot does not hesitate.
It advances.
Its movements are unnervingly natural now, less rigid, more fluid, as if adapting mid-combat. One metallic foot slams forward. The ground cracks beneath it. Its arm swings in a wide arc, fist cutting through the air with compressed force.
Raphael vanishes from the impact point in a burst of speed.
The punch lands where he stood, detonating the ground in a shower of shattered stone.
Raphael reappears at the robot's face and drives a punch forward.
Lightning erupts from his fist.
The discharge arcs outward in branching veins of white-blue energy, slamming directly into the robot's torso. The cavern flashes bright as thunder cracks violently within the enclosed space.
The robot raises both arms and absorbs the strike head-on.
Its metallic body glows briefly under the lightning's assault. It is forced backwards several steps, heavy feet gouging the floor.
Raphael does not give it space to recover.
He charges.
Hand-to-hand combat begins.
Raphael closes the distance instantly and throws a rapid combination, elbow, knee, fist, each blow reinforced with condensed fighting energy. Sparks fly as his attacks collide with metal plating. The robot counters with brutal efficiency. Its arms rotate at impossible angles, deflecting strikes, retaliating with piston-like punches.
One metallic fist slams into Raphael's shoulder.
The impact sends a shock through his armour, but he rolls with the momentum, twisting his body to redirect the force. He retaliates with a spinning kick that lands squarely against the robot's chest, denting the metal inward.
The robot grabs his leg.
Raphael reacts instantly, lightning bursting from his knee joint, forcing the creature to release him. He flips backwards, landing lightly, aura flaring brighter.
The robot lunges again, attempting to grapple.
They collide chest to chest.
Metal screeches against armour as they struggle for dominance. Raphael plants his feet and drives his forehead forward, smashing into the robot's head with reinforced force. The creature staggers half a step.
Raphael capitalises.
Lightning gathers around his fist, coiling tighter.
He slams his fist into the ground.
A pulse of light erupts outward like a wave, spreading in concentric arcs across the cavern floor toward the robot.
The energy ripples violently, cracking the earth beneath it.
The robot reacts instantly.
Fire bursts from its feet.
Jets of blue-orange flame propel it upward.
It hovers in the air, rising above the wave of lightning that surges beneath it.
From midair, it raises its hand toward Raphael.
Energy gathers again.
One sphere.
Two.
Three.
Then a barrage.
Blue energy balls rain down like artillery fire.
Raphael spreads both arms outward.
Lightning condenses in front of him, weaving together into a vertical wall of crackling energy.
The first sphere collides.
The explosion slams against the lightning barrier, sending shockwaves outward.
Another sphere hits.
Then another.
The barrage intensifies.
Energy spheres hammer continuously into the lightning wall. Each impact detonates with blinding light and deafening sound; the cavern trembles under the relentless assault. The lightning barrier flickers under pressure but holds firm.
Kaelan watches quietly from behind, spirit power subtly reinforcing the surrounding space to prevent structural collapse.
The robot does not stop.
It continues firing in mechanical precision, adjusting angles, seeking weaknesses in the barrier's weave. The lightning wall begins to distort under the strain, arcs snapping violently across its surface.
Then,
The barrage ceases.
The robot hovers silently in midair.
For a brief second, everything is still.
The lightning wall shifts.
Its shape begins to change.
Instead of a flat barrier, the energy twists and coils, gathering into a long, serpentine form. A head forms at the front, jaws open wide, fangs made of pure lightning.
A dragon.
With a roar of thunder, the lightning dragon surges upward toward the hovering robot.
Caught off guard by the sudden transformation, the robot fails to evade fully.
The dragon slams into it.
The impact detonates midair.
The robot is thrown downward, crashing into the cavern floor with a thunderous boom that cracks stone outward in a radial pattern.
Dust billows.
Raphael does not hesitate.
He draws his sword.
The blade hums as fighting energy flows into it.
The robot rises quickly from the crater.
Its metallic plating is scorched and dented, but its movements remain stable. It lifts one arm. Blue energy condenses along its forearm, forming a blade of pure energy.
An energy sword.
Raphael charges.
So does the robot.
They collide.
Steel meets energy.
Shockwaves erupt with each strike.
Raphael slashes downward. The robot parries. The clash sends compressed air bursting outward, knocking debris across the cavern.
Raphael pivots and thrusts. The robot sidesteps unnaturally fast, countering with a horizontal slash of its energy blade. Raphael blocks, sparks exploding between steel and light.
They exchange dozens of blows in seconds.
Each collision sends visible ripples through the air. The cavern walls tremble. Light from above flickers.
Raphael presses hard, driving the robot backward step by step.
Then,
The robot adjusts.
Its movements become sharper.
More predictive.
Raphael's next strike meets resistance before it even completes.
The robot shifts slightly and lands a heavy kick against Raphael's side.
Raphael is flung backwards violently.
He skids across the floor and crashes near Kaelan's feet.
Kaelan looks down at him calmly.
"Do you require assistance?"
Raphael pushes himself upright immediately.
"No."
He steadies his breathing.
Under his breath, he whispers, "Its strength has increased. It feels like it can read me."
The robot stands in the distance, energy sword still glowing.
Raphael's aura expands.
Fighting energy condenses around his body, forming a semi-transparent armour of crackling lightning. The energy layers over him like a second skin.
The robot fires another energy sphere.
The projectile slams directly into Raphael's chest.
The explosion engulfs him.
When the smoke clears, he stands unharmed.
Unscathed.
Lightning armour intact.
Raphael lowers his stance.
Then charges once more toward the creature.
Raphael closes the distance in a blur, lightning armour crackling violently around him. His sword arcs downward, carrying condensed thunder along its edge. The robot meets him head-on, its energy blade flaring brighter as the two weapons collide.
The clash detonates with a burst of light.
Raphael pivots left, slashing horizontally. The robot blocks and counters immediately with a thrust aimed at his chest. Raphael twists aside, sparks trailing from the grazing strike across his lightning armour. He retaliates with a rising cut that scrapes along the robot's torso, peeling metal plating and exposing flickering blue light beneath.
The robot's movements sharpen further.
It swings its energy blade in tight, efficient patterns, each motion optimised. Raphael responds in kind, footwork accelerating as his speed increases gradually with each exchange.
He begins invoking techniques.
"Thunder Vein Cleave."
Lightning condenses along his blade in branching streams, extending its reach momentarily. He slashes in a diagonal arc, the thunder-lined edge crashing against the robot's shoulder joint. Metal splits further, molten fragments scattering across the floor.
The robot counters with a rapid sequence, three consecutive strikes aimed at Raphael's head, neck, and thigh. Raphael parries the first, deflects the second, and absorbs the third with his lightning armour, sliding backwards but maintaining balance.
He exhales sharply.
"Stormflash Step."
His figure flickers, disappearing for a split second before reappearing behind the robot. He thrusts his blade forward, lightning spiralling along its length like a drill.
The tip pierces through damaged plating, penetrating deeper into the robot's internal structure. Blue sparks erupt violently from the wound.
The robot spins unnaturally, energy blade carving a wide arc. Raphael withdraws just in time, but the shockwave still forces him back several steps.
His breathing grows heavier.
Lightning surges again.
"Skybreaker Descent."
Raphael leaps high, lightning gathering above him in a swirling vortex. He descends like a falling bolt, sword aimed straight down. The strike lands squarely atop the robot's shoulder, driving it into the ground. Stone cracks outward in a spiderweb pattern.
The robot struggles to rise.
Raphael does not relent.
"Thunderclap Sever."
He channels nearly half his remaining fighting energy into a single horizontal slash. The blade screams as it cuts through the air. The strike connects cleanly across the robot's midsection.
For a moment, silence.
Then,
The robot's torso splits partially along the cut. Blue light flickers erratically within. Its energy sword destabilises, shrinking and dissolving into sparks.
Raphael staggers slightly.
The lightning armour around him dims, flickering as strain begins to show. His chest rises and falls heavily.
The robot attempts to stand fully upright. Its movements are less fluid now, delayed by fractions of a second.
Raphael tightens his grip on the sword and advances once more.
With a final thrust reinforced by crackling energy, he drives his blade into the robot's chest core. Lightning surges inward, exploding from within the metallic body.
The robot collapses to one knee.
Blue light flickers wildly.
Raphael steps back, breathing hard.
The strain of repeated high-level techniques weighs on him. His fighting energy reserves have thinned considerably.
The robot's head tilts.
Its internal systems recalibrate.
Then it moves.
Not to attack,
But to retreat.
With a sudden burst from its feet, it launches backward toward the gaping hole in the cavern wall.
Raphael's eyes widen.
"Now!" he calls.
Kaelan steps forward.
His expression remains calm.
His spirit stirs.
Invisible pressure spreads outward instantly, weaving through the air like threads tightening across space. Runes begin to manifest around the retreating robot, glowing symbols forming in a circular array midair.
The robot's feet lift from the ground involuntarily.
Its propulsion jets fire uselessly as the runes lock into place.
Suspended.
Trapped.