Zane performed an invincible roll to dodge the Tempest Mephis's lightning-covered right claw. Taking advantage of the opening after the claw strike, Zane decided to counterattack.
But just as he raised the pistol in his left hand toward the Tempest Mephis, that massive figure instantly vanished from his sight.
According to movie logic, at a time like this, the Tempest Mephis would definitely appear behind him. Then come in with a face-smashing attack!
So Zane decisively turned around and instantly threw a Rider Kick behind him…
Unfortunately, he didn't have the "when you use a Rider Kick, the opponent will run straight into it" effect.
While Zane was still stunned after kicking empty air, the Tempest Mephis whipped its tail across his back, sending him flying.
And sure enough, the attack came from behind.
Enduring the burning pain from his back, Zane bared his teeth and pushed himself up from the ground.
"Damn it, these young TDs have no sense of honor, sneaking attacks like this…"
Before he could finish speaking, the Tempest Mephis's figure disappeared again, instantly reappearing in front of him.
Clearly, the Tempest Mephis had no interest in listening to Zane ramble. It raised its claw, preparing to slap him again.
In that critical moment, Zane barely had time to pull out his shield to block.
But along with a loud impact on the shield, a massive force surged through it. The overwhelming strength, far beyond what an ordinary human body could withstand, sent Zane flying once more.
"Do you even know how much damage that slap does to someone like me?!"
However, the Tempest Mephis didn't expect that this strike would instead create distance between them, giving Zane enough time to react.
Using the momentum from being knocked away, Zane adjusted his posture and rolled several times upon landing, dispersing the force.
Making up his mind, Zane pulled out the weapon he had just drawn from the system.
Calling it a weapon wasn't entirely accurate. Compared to conventional weapons, it looked more like a wrist guard.
And this silver wrist guard had a rather resounding name...
[Nexus Armament]
Although Zane would have preferred to draw the Evoltruster from the system.
If he could just transform directly, there wouldn't be a single opponent in all of Solaris who could stand against him.
Even though the Nexus Armament couldn't let him transform, it provided him with quite a few abilities derived from it.
"The offense and defense have switched, baby!"
Dark purple lightning flashed briefly along the left side of Zane's body. He pulled back his left hand, stepped forward, twisted his waist, and threw a punch to his right.
Originally intending to feint east and strike west, the Tempest Mephis could never have imagined that one day its movement would be seen through by an ordinary human who wasn't even a Resonator.
As Zane's left fist swung out, fist and claw collided violently. In the next instant, a fierce storm erupted with them at the center, briefly dispersing the falling Retroact Rain around them.
Crackling lightning snapped continuously, like tightly beating war drums.
Zane had never imagined he could subdue the Tempest Mephis with a single strike. He stepped forward again, closing into its inner range, and followed up with a rising uppercut from below, smashing hard into the Tempest Mephis's chest, which was like knotted muscle.
The heavy blow to the abdomen forced the Tempest Mephis to take a step back.
It had never expected that the white-haired human, who had been suppressed just seconds ago, would suddenly erupt with strength equal to or even surpassing its own.
But Zane's attack didn't end there.
What kind of complete hook-and-swing combo only has a hook without a swing?
Although the Tempest Mephis was just a TD driven by instinct, it possessed human-like combat techniques. It knew very well that if this continued, it would only be beaten down one-sidedly by Zane.
Thus, its dark purple body instantly retreated, successfully dodging Zane's left swing punch.
But how could Zane let it escape so easily? The Nexus Armament on his wrist shone with light as he fired a Particle Feather toward the direction it retreated.
The glowing projectile whistled through the air, catching up to the Tempest Mephis in an instant and striking its abdomen once again.
Sparks exploded outward from the point of impact. Even for a Whisper-type TD that felt no pain, taking two heavy blows to the same spot within seconds was far from comfortable.
And even a brief moment of stiffness was enough for it to die once.
"The finale…"
Silver light spread from both of Zane's hands. In the next second, he crossed his arms, preparing to end the battle completely.
But at that very moment, a sudden change occurred.
A massive bone sword abruptly appeared beside Zane, aiming straight for his heart.
Caught off guard, Zane had no choice but to switch from offense to defense, quickly bringing both hands in front of his chest to block the sudden attack.
Even so, with the enemy striking with intent against his unprepared state, the bone sword still left a deep bloody gash across his chest.
Meanwhile, the Tempest Mephis, which had just been beaten into a sorry state, seized the opportunity to catch its breath. It then raised its right claw high, dark purple light gathering within it.
In the next second, a purple beam shot out from its claw, rushing straight toward Zane.
Seeing this, Zane's eyelids twitched. In this situation, even trying to counter with a beam would probably be too late.
And he wasn't even sure whether he'd be standing on the right side if he tried.
So he could only perform another invincible roll to dodge the attack range of the beam.
Using the momentum of the roll, Zane adjusted his stance and looked up.
A figure extremely similar to the Tempest Mephis now stood beside it. The only difference was that the demonic wings behind it were larger, and the bone blade in its hand gleamed with a chilling light.
If it wasn't the Thundering Mephis, then what else could it be?
"Are you kidding me? Pairing the Tempest Mephis with the Thundering Mephis… what kind of new abyss monster combo is this?"
Aside from that absurd abyss, Zane couldn't imagine any situation where these two would appear together.
He didn't have any buff that let him win a one-versus-two fight.
Seriously, was the Threnodian this broken? It could summon both the Thundering Mephis and the Tempest Mephis at will, and didn't even need to sacrifice a monster card…
Facing two powerful enemies, Zane had no choice but to steady himself and prepare seriously.
Since the Threnodian could reconstruct the frequency of a defeated Thundering Mephis and revive it, then the Crownless he encountered when he first met Rover could probably also be revived the same way.
Although he didn't know why the Threnodian sent two Fury-tier TDs to deal with a small fry like him, there was no guarantee that this shameless the Threnodian wouldn't suddenly decide to summon the Crownless as well.
———
[Inside The Threnodian's Domain]
Rover raised her eyes and glanced at Zane in the image, fighting against the two TDs. Her golden pupils were filled with anger.
As smart as she was, she immediately understood that this was done intentionally by the Threnodian.
The Threnodian had deliberately split off part of its power to let them witness the tragedy of the battlefield outside.
On one hand, it was to distract them. On the other, it was likely trying to use the lives of the soldiers outside, including Zane, as leverage against them.
But how did the Threnodian know about Zane?
"Don't fall for it."
Although the doctor was trying to comfort Rover, the gritted tone in her voice made it clear that she was just as furious at such despicable tactics.
"I know." Rover took a deep breath and raised her swift blade again, slashing toward the Crownless.
"But he definitely won't lose."
As for the Crownless, the grotesque bone structure of its face now seemed to be mocking their helplessness, forcing them to watch as Zane was surrounded by two powerful TDs, with death as his only possible outcome.