THUD!

General Sylvari Charr was forced to his knees!

The 3 D Rank Ascended who watched this battle from its beginning to the end froze as they stared with shock in their eyes. Beyond the battlefield, the distant battalions of the Federation Army also stared with terror in their eyes.

The instant the General was forced to his knees, the massive PR machine of the Omnicore Federation instantly went to work, churning to delete every footage and make sure that no image of this leaked out into the psionic network.

Despite this though, no one moved to help the General. They just watched.

Their priorities was a bit misplaced, or was it?

No one knew, and no one questioned it. All the soldiers stayed still with terror in their eyes because they knew that a man who could defeat their General could obliterate them with a simple breath.

Right now, General Sylvari’s life was within the grasp of his enemy. In a twinkle of an eye, Ren Nora can end the story of one of the two Presidents of the Omnicore Federation! A feat that no other C Rank Ascended in the history of Neo-Tokara have ever done or even attempted.

In that moment, time seemed to freeze.

Due to his towering size as an advanced Synth, Sylvari was far taller than Ren Nora before but now, forced to his knees, it was now Ren Nora who looked at him from above for the first time.

Seeing his sworn enemy stare at him from above made Sylvari feel like his pride was being trampled on.

The feeing irked him so much that even in defeat, he tried to struggle, but his body was no longer obeying him.

His body already gave up.

All the world-shattering powers that were in his body, always at his fingertips for centuries were now gone, replaced by a numbing feeling of weakness that he was not used to. His power betrayed him when he needed it most.

And this feeling of weakness, he was not used to it.

It filled him with panic.

He tried not to show it, but his true feelings were leaking through as his gray eyes darted about, looking for help.

For a few seconds, Ren Nora did nothing but just grab his throat and look down at him from above as time slowed down to a crawl, pressing him and keeping him on his knees.

The more time passed, the more Sylvari’s panic leaked through.

Tremors began passing through his body occasionally, reflecting his fear even as he struggled to maintain eye contact with Ren Nora.

The more he looked at Ren Nora from below, the more he felt weak and useless as all his insecurities came to life like Dragons in his head.

At first, there was a cold and impassive look on Ren Nora’s face as he coldly stared at the Federation General from above, but then the look on his face suddenly changed as he shook his head with contempt.

"Weak". Ren Nora spat.

General Sylvari shivered. "W-what?"

Ren Nora looked at him coldly and rephrased. "I said you’re a dog," he shook his head. "What a brat".

That struck a nerve.

Bzzz!

Sylvari’s mechanical face twisted as his ADE tried to flare instinctively but with one hand, Ren Nora suppressed it all as he kept him pressed down.

Ren Nora stared into his gray eyes with cold contempt. "From the very first day that I met you, I knew you were weak".

He grinned. "And in the past 30 minutes, you proved just how weak you are".

Sylvari’s eyes quivered, but this time he kept quiet, simply glaring at his enemy with rage and badly hidden panic in his eyes.

Ren Nora shook his head at his reaction, clearly disappointed, then he continued. "I’ve read your story, I’ve looked into your history," he looked the General in the eyes. "I don’t blame you, it explains why you’re weak".

His eyes glowed with neon green light as he said. "Born in Year 334 A.G at the very height of the Federation Era, you found yourself in the right side of history and power".

Sylvari’s eyes widened. "H-how...?!"

Not paying attention to him, Ren Nora continued. "Born into a high noble family, privileged with access to everything that you ever needed, you found yourself in the right side of heritage".

"You never had to fight for anything to get it, all you needed was ask". His eyes gleamed with contempt.

"Hailed as a genius after becoming a NetRunner at the young age of 12, you found yourself in the right side of talent".

"You had everything, wealth, fame, talent, and faction. Your path to the top was more or less guaranteed. You had no obstacles, no challenge, nothing noteworthy that could obstruct your path and your growth".

"All you had were people who fawned and sucked up to you, feeding your ego, weakness, and incompetence".

Ren Nora looked down at him with contempt. "That’s exactly what bred your weakness".

"You’re a C Rank Ascended, yet you’re weak".

"You’re so weak that it disgusts me".

"From a young age, you became arrogant and conceited. You didn’t just look down on others, you also looked down on suffering and struggle".

"To you, suffering is meaningless, right?" Ren Nora laughed coldly.

"And when Epsilon took you under his wings, your arrogance reached the heavens. It peaked when you became a C Rank Ascended".

"Yet look at you," his emerald eyes burned coldly. "Despite all of your power, despite your exalted status, despite all of your might and privileges, here you are, on your knees in front of a lowly freedom fighter like me".

Ren Nora smiled darkly. "Ironic, huh?"

"That’s how fast life can come at you when you’re allergic to struggle".

Ren Nora’s voice deepened, turning into a growl as he spat. "Unlike us who were bred through struggle, pain and challenges, you’re weak! You’re the personification of everything I hate about the Omnicore Federation".

"You’re the worst!"

Sylvari glared back at Ren Nora and growled. "Bastard, you lie!"

"Oh, really?" Ren Nora’s lips curled up in a delighted grin. "Your sorry ego still won’t accept your weakness?" He grinned. "You want evidence? Oh, I have tons of them".

His smile turned even more sinister. "Do you remember 131 years ago?"

Sylvari froze.

Ren Nora grinned. "Failing to conquer a city led by me, a mere D Rank NetRunner. Failing to think and use your brain even with so much resources and soldiers in your control, falling into a trap like the fool that you are, leaving yourself to the mercy of an E Rank Ascended".

A tremor ran through Sylvari’s body. "Bastard...!"

Ren Nora’s grin widened. "You want me to stop? Oh, I’m sorry. I have more, I have a whole lot more".

"Do you even realize how easy it was for me to manipulate you just now while we fought?" He laughed. "All I had to do was inflate your ego and make you feel like you’re winning, and like the fool that you are, you believed the narrative and went all in".

"Even the least of my soldiers wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake".

"You’re weaker than my weakest soldier!" He spat.

"When I couldn’t teleport here immediately, I didn’t panic, you know why?" His lips curled up again. "That’s because I knew that a weakling like you can never kill Leon, you simply don’t have what it takes".

"BASTARD!" Sylvari’s eyes were now turning black, deep with emotion and unearthed traumas and failures that he’d been trying to bury for a very long time.

His emotions became erratic but Ren Nora paid him no attention.

He laughed coldly. "You had a whole minute and you couldn’t even kill a D Rank Ascended. Do you know how dumb that sounds?"

"Do you know how weak and useless it makes you?!"

"You know the craziest thing? It’s that you’re not just a weakling, you’re a tool too, a discardable tool to your allies".

Sylvari’s eyelids trembled. He opened his mouth and closed it back.

Ren Nora continued. "We’ve been fighting for over 30 minutes. Knowing how fast Murphy can move, why is he not here yet?" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"You really think if he wanted to help he won’t be here yet?

"Let’s rephrase that," his lips curled up in another mocking grin. "Do you really think that Murphy is not nearby right now?"

Sylvari’s eyes quivered, he gritted his teeth.

Ren Nora laughed coldly. "You’re in this situation because Epsilon abandoned you. You and I know that he’s been watching this battle from the very beginning, he abandoned you because he sees you as a necessary sacrifice".

"If I want to kill you, I can kill you easily right now," his grip tightened around Sylvari’s neck, his eyes cold and filled with mocking. "Yet your allies show no sense of urgency".

"You really think it’s a coincidence? Surely you’re not that dumb," he laughed coldly. "This current situation is only possible because you’re discardable. Epsilon is desperate to unveil the mystery of the ’Glitch’," he grinned. "And he doesn’t mind sacrificing you to learn the true secrets of my main ability".

"That’s how weak and useless you are to your boss".

"You’re not just weak to your enemies, you’re useless to your allies".

By now, Sylvari no longer had the energy to glare at his enemy as he simply stared with a numb and pained look on his mechanical face.

Ren Nora laughed. "Stop lying to yourself, tell yourself the truth for once in your life. He knows, and he’s watching this battle".

"Now ask yourself, why is help still not here?"

"Apart from the hope of learning my main ability," he laughed again. "Right now your only use is to tempt me enough to abandon all consequences and kill you in cold blood. That is Epsilon’s wish. Afterall, doing that will give him the excuse he’s always been looking for to start a justified war against the Freegrid Collective".

Sylvari froze.

Ren Nora continued. "Like I said, that’s the only thing you are to him, a tool that’s too weak to serve a bigger purpose".

"A tool that can easily be discarded for a bigger purpose," Ren Nora turned his head and looked right at the spot where an invisible eye was watching the entire battlefield and asked. "Right?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

The moment Ren Nora looked in that direction, there was a reaction.

A far and distant sigh seemed to reverberate across the world, and then a rift suddenly opened in reality and from that rift...

BZZZZ!

General Murphy stepped out.