Neo’s blood boiled, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. Or was there?

​His eyes turned toward the armory where the ammunition and supplies were kept. A dangerous glint flashed in his dark eyes as he thought of a nasty plan.

​Meanwhile, the battle between the Ancalagons and the Hydras erupted in earnest.

​[Shield of Aegis]

​"Raah!" As Agnes bellowed, the radiant white shield in her hand expanded rapidly, becoming a beacon of impenetrable defense.

​Boom! Boom! Booom!

​The volleys of energy beams landed, causing furious explosions of blue fire capable of incinerating the toughest metal with ease. However, the Shield of Aegis held firm. The energy beams from the enemy ships barely caused minor scratches and ripples.

​Buzz!

​Another barrage of particle beams buzzed through the vacuum. Captain Ajaz took charge next.

​[Oceanus] "Activate!"

​As Captain Ajaz swung his blue spear with a seamless motion, he transformed into an advanced, armored sea creature. The blue spear in his hand transitioned into a literal trident. With that in his hand, he resembled a sea god from myth.

​When the barrage of energy beams loomed above, Ajaz used [Hydro-Spears].

​These were not those mini-spears that get blasted into water puddles; they were the size of intercontinental missiles. Captain Ajaz raised his trident and thrust it forward violently.

​Whoosh... Whoosh... Whoosh...

​The Hydro-Spears lunged forward with the ferocity of ocean tides.

The result was pure domination.

​The massive watery projectiles tore through the vacuum, colliding with the enemy particle beams and neutralizing them in a spectacular hiss of steam and light.

The spears didn’t stop there, they slammed into the front lines of the Ancalagon mechs.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The sheer hydraulic pressure crushed their reinforced titanium like soda cans.

All the space pirates, including their captain, froze in disbelief. Soon, that disbelief turned into pure irrationality.

​"How dare they!" he barked through the communication channels. "Vice captains, we cannot return empty-handed, much less with this unbearable shame sullying our names. Activate the Doom Protocol!"

​"Are you sure, leader? This will be catastrophic for both of us!" one of them suggested.

​"I know, but there is no other choice. We cannot fight in space like those damned Beyonders, can we?"

​The vice captain nodded. "Ah, you’re right. We will initiate the Doom Protocol immediately sir!"

​Not long after he spoke, one of the ships from the Ancalagons’ side suddenly began to transform. Its cannons, hull, and mainframe all readjusted their positions, becoming a giant mech of pure horror.

​"Oh damn!" Max exclaimed.

​"What are those, Mr. Deus? How did their ship transform into giant mecha?" Angelica asked curiously.

​Mr. Deus sighed. "It looks like we underestimated them. Those are a special kind of ship called ’Doom Bringers.’ As you can see, they can transform, allowing non-Beyonders to fight head-to-head. But don’t worry; it also means the other side doesn’t have many Beyonders, and even if they do, they must be weak," he added confidently, trying to raise the juniors’ morale.

​"Huh! Where’s Neo?" Max asked suddenly, noticing his absence.

​Angelica and Mr. Deus also noticed his absence.

​"I don’t know. He was just here moments ago," Angelica said.

​"This brat. Let me look for him," Deus said, turning to the control panel where various camera feeds appeared one after another.

​Just then, Neo appeared.

​"Are you looking for me, sir?" he asked so suddenly that the trio almost got a scare.

​"Neo! Where were you?" Angelica asked suspiciously, noticing the amount of sweat running down Neo’s temple.

​Neo’s face was scrunched up as if he found it awkward to speka. "You know... just a bathroom emergency!"

​"Pffft!" Angelica instantly burst into laughter, imagining Neo’s constipated face.

​Max laughed out loud, slapping Neo on the back. "I didn’t know you had such a tight ass, Neo."

"Hey, don’t make it sound so gay, stupid," Angelica berated Max while pulling his ears.

"Ouch! Ouch! That’s hurts Angie."

​"Damn brats! Enough with your ass chemistry! Don’t you see we’re under a serious threat right now?" Mr. Deus barked loudly.

​The trio instantly shut their mouths. They focused on the fight ahead, already forgetting Neo’s suspicious absence.

​Neo’s face was completely relaxed now. He watched as Moon performed some kind of Ice Domain, which instantly froze several mech warriors into motionless statues. Whether they were dead or alive, no one knew.

​Flameboy turned into an Infernal Warrior, intercepting the incoming Doombringer with his flaming fists.

​Sizzle, sizzle.

​However, when his destructive Flame Fist landed on the metallic exterior, it barely made a scratch.

​"Fuck! This one is tough, Captain!" he spat angrily.

​On the other hand, the Doombringer launched a barrage of precision-strike rockets, forcing Flameboy to run around like a dog.

​"Monk, what are you standing still for?" he growled.

​"Amitabha!" Monk clasped his palms together and came to the rescue.

​"Thousand Buddha Palm!"

​His palms landed on the metallic monster like the hands of Buddha. His small palms transformed into massive ones, and these palms landed directly on the Doombringer, breaking through all magical defenses like wet paper.

​CLANG!

​With a resounding metal-against-metal sound, the Doombringer vibrated violently. The place where it made impact formed a clear dent, and the nearby circuits were ruined. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Seeing this, everyone thought Monk had done it, that he could beat the Doombringer.

​However—

​No sooner had they thought so than a searing plasma beam shot forth from the Doombringer’s eyes.

​BUZZZ!

​The plasma beam struck directly across Monk’s reinforced chest. It didn’t pierce through, but it flung him away into the distant vacuum, drifting aimlessly with several ribs broken.

​"HAHAHAHA... DIE, YOU DISGUSTING, PRIVILEGED BASTARDS!"

​"TODAY I WILL PROVE THAT EVEN NON-BEYONDERS CAN DEFEAT YOU PIGS!"

​The enemy captain bellowed with maniacal glee.

Inside the ship, the atmosphere became tense. The smug, scarred face of the enemy captain was too infuriating.

"Motherfucker! Why is this bastard so arrogant," Max uttered hatefully, fists clenched.

​"Looks like a nutcase to me," Angelica remarked.

​"Will Monk be alright?" Neo asked as he saw Flameboy going for the rescue.

​Mr. Deus was too busy to answer the question. He furrowed his brows, finding the situation to be grim. Out of desperation, he launched all the plasma cannons at the Doombringer at once.

"....."

"....."

​Five minutes later:

​A deathly silence fell over the battlespace like a blanket.

​"Holy fuck! What did I just witness? Someone tell me I’m dreaming!"