Chapter 36: Endgame.
In a heaving whir of motors, the Wolfhound leveled its heavy rifle directly towards the hard cover that Ahri and Yamoto had taken shelter behind.
In a bulky crack of the round's propellant, the 30mm shell was sent airborne and blew an entire chunk of rock from the small monument dedicated to an unknown apothecary.
The recoil resounded out as steel jarred against steel with the reactionary force of the propellant.
With a chink the barrel ejected the casing, singing out a somber tone, before the rifle breech slammed shut, chambered and new round, and the rifle cracked once again.
The same song repeated over and over in her mind, its chorus sending shivers down her spine.
She could feel the old days again, those times of uncertainty and predictable disorder.
They caressed her body with immaterial hands, their touch bringing out the terrors she thought had been locked away.
She wanted to scream, but she knew that it would be no use.
The Boss wasn't even remotely close.
She wasn't safe without him around.
She just needed to hold out a bit longer until this was all done.
Praying to whatever gods she could think of to help her, her mind began to settle once more.
After this last time though, no gods would ever be able to aid her.
Her breath steadied and her eyes concentrated on what was before her.
She still had the 5.56mm rifle on her, but she knew that this short-barreled carbine would not be able to do any appreciable amount of damage to the Wolfhound, even to its optics.
She needed something bigger.
Looking across to the small field of carnage that Ahri had wrought several moments ago, she scanned for the grenade launcher.
Nat wasn't in the direct line of fire because she wasn't a threat like a mage, so she had a small window of opportunity to potentially run over and grab the launcher if it was still intact.
But it wasn't.
Ahri's magic had detonated the chambered round and ripped the weapon apart along with it's operator and any ammunition he had been holding.
Great.
Nat scanned around for something else.
Wait.
Is that a ZPBR-M19?
That is!
The ZPBR line had been developed as an anti-battlesuit weapon for standard infantry, in response to the Piltoverian battle suits that had become significantly more popular compared with the previous heavy walkers that had problems navigating streets or rough terrain that were alien to the old ages of frontline warfare.
Although a Wolfhound had thicker frontal armor than a standard battle suit, the heavy hitting 8.54mm rounds should be more than enough to pierce through the more exposed regions such as the armpits or motor servos.
To get the ZPBR though, she would need to cross roughly fifteen meters of open ground to get the rifle, then another ten or so to get to a small shrine to some Ionian healing god or whatever the hell they worshipped there.
Even if I got the rifle, then what?
There would be no way that I would be able to actually open fire without being suppressed.
If anything, I'd need Ahri or Yamoto to distract it for a little bit.
Yeah, this should work.
The mech's rifle was loud, incredibly loud.
It echoed inside her again and again.
There was nothing that she would be able to do while trapped like this.
Sh*t.
But then a small stone landed a foot away from her, its direction noting that it had not originated from the memorial she had dragged Yamoto and herself into.
Glancing across to its origin, Ahri saw Nat.
Her face was stern and prepared.
There was no fear or hesitation, nothing but a soldier's discipline that had been carved into her.
Her hands started moving, miming a code.
"I get attention. You target up and into right shoulder. Hold it off. I move to get bigger weapon. Will kill the target. Take care after. It has reinforcement coming. Return to cover then we plan again. Okay?"
In a quick assertive nod, Ahri signaled.
"Understood."
The Centurion's underslung Gatling cannon had opened fire, sending bright flumes of tracer fire across the hall as it began its steady advance on Xerath's position.
The dual shields of both Syndra and Xerath were holding well, but Xerath knew that they could not falter.
His own reactive plasma shields would be able to hold off the majority of the cannon's payload, but he could not say much as to the vast quantities of shrapnel being launched in all directions. This was where Syndra's material shields would have to physically block the heated lead and steel that would otherwise cut her into literal shreds.
It was a good defense, but they could not go on the offense without an opening, something that under this amount of fire was impossible.
The Centurion was a massive thing, easily four stories high and armored in some sort of shimmering magic that danced and flickered across its steel hide. Its beckoning red eyes glared into Syndra like something out of legend, and its ornamental crest and structure made it like an ancient giant warrior beyond the concerns of mere men.
Its gathering stride and echoing stomps sent fear coursing through her, the cannon fire like an intense battlecry as it stormed through the adepts who had wished to show their skills in combat, crushing them like weeds in a stampede.
How…
How can we stand against this thing!
Natalie opened fire from her position, spraying hot lead at the Wolfhound.
The small 5.56mm rounds ricocheted off the steel structure with impunity.
But she had done what she needed, swiftly ducking her head behind her cover and braced herself.
The Wolfhound leveled its rifle towards her, sending a salvo of rounds towards her.
She knew that her cover would not be able to hold up like the monument had done so far, the significant amounts of rubble and stone providing more than enough evidence.
But it was Ahri's turn now.
In those fine moments when the mech had shifted its focus to Nat, Ahri manifested her spirit orb and bursted out of cover, ready to do battle.
In a blink, Ahri summoned forth a fusillade of foxfire and launched it at the Wolfhound.
The cerulean fireballs blasted across its hull, staggering the Hound with incredible ease.
Its wound blazing red, the Wolfhound tried to level its rifle at the fox.
But Ahri was quick.
In a jet of spirit fire, Ahri dashed across gracefully out of its fire arc and launched another fusillade of dazzling foxfire at the Wolfhound.
The fireballs struck the hull once more with explosive force, causing the Wolfhound to raise its arm to shield its optics briefly from the spectra burst.
This was it!
Ahri dashed once more directly in front of the Wolfhound, her spirit orb whirring with intense power.
Ahri drove her spirit orb directly into the exposed shoulder joint, the molten blood pouring out of the Wolfhound's gaping wound.
Ahri dashed back defensively, the Wolfhound desperately trying to target her.
But it was no use.
In a hiss of depressurizing hydraulics, its right arm grew limp and useless, its grip around its rifle slipping.
Understanding that trying to reestablish command of its primary weapon, the pilot swiftly abandoned the rifle, letting it crash hard on the paved stone tiles.
Quickly, a side panel on the Wolfhound's left calf unbuckled to reveal a three meter short sword.
As the weapon was drawn, inner motors churned into life, turning the blade red hot as the chain-edges roared from the grating friction.
The Wolfhound rammed the weapon into its useless right shoulder and quickly amputated the limp limb.
This guy knows what he's doing. There would be no way that he would be able to fight with such a handicap.
As the steel fell hard, the Wolfhound braced itself, ready to lunge at the analyzing Ahri.
Ahri quickly assumed a combat stance, ready to take this thing on one on one.
But her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the clunk of heavy rifle fire.
It was Nat.
She had somehow managed to find a really big weapon. Surprisingly, it wasn't a rocket launcher that Ahri had been hoping for.
It was a large rifle though, and Nat's opening salvo had already pierced several holes in the mech's side.
The Wolfhound tried to turn to face this new threat, but was met swiftly by another salvo of clunky cracks that pierced its domed sensor array, blinding the beast.
"AHRI!" Nat cried "LET'S KILL THIS F**K!"
Nat talked as though she had already had half a decade of warfare under her belt.
Kinda cute really.
"Where are you guys? My optics are gone and I'm pinned down her- Sh*t! There go my locomotors! I'm f**king stuck here! I need evac immediately!"
"Don't worry man, we're on our way! Fifteen seconds tops!"
"Make it twelve! I don't even think I can hold out that much longer!"
The Centurion was almost upon them before something changed drastically.
In an intense whir of massive motors, the Centurion leveled its weapon skyward.
In a deafening burst of super-heated air, the cannon projected forth a short energy blade that burned like the Sun itself.
The blade's form solidified the gatling cannon into an immense broadsword before the Centurion's arm brought it down at the two's position.
Sh*t! There's no way our shields will be able to hold against this! We need to break its swing!
"SYNDRA! FORGET THE SHIELD! WE NEED TO STAGGER THIS THING NOW!"
"But you said that magic wouldn't have an impact on this thing-"
"USE A SHOCKWAVE! JUST DO IT!"
Syndra could feel the disruptive energies blighting her, the sheer proximity of the arcane disruptor shield alone forcing her to concentrate all of her power into this one last blast.
Even then it was pathetic compared to what she would normally be able to do.
But somehow, their combined magic was enough to stagger the massive mech.
But only that.
The Centurion quickly regained its footing, seeking to once again to strike these ants down.
A cacophonous reptilian battle cry echoed throughout the entire catacombs.
"Well it's about damn time." Xerath commented.
Giquan barreled into the Centurion, their impact alone causing the ground to sunder and cry out.
The mech barely managed to stand against the dragon's charge, but still it strived on.
It was something out of a Demacian epic, except the dragon was the good guy.
But Giquan should be able to hold the Centurion off while I channel an arcanopulse.
"Syndra! Cover me! I'm going to be channeling!"
"But magic won't work against that thing!"
"Oh please, I just need time to circumvent the disturbance."
"Wait, what?"
"You have a lot to learn." Xerath sighed before concentrating on his signature spell.
His body burned with cerulean energies, his crystalline body scattering and refracting the light across the entirety of the hall.
In its struggle against Giquan, the Centurion noticed this immense surge in magical energies.
This should not be possible unless the mage was a grandmaster!
It needed to stop this quickly, but how was it going to with this dragon bearing down on it?
It needed to get rid of this dragon quickly, before it was too late!
Ahri stood triumphantly over the wreck of the Wolfhound.
It was still moving, but it was completely unarmed and immobile.
Thankfully Nat had known the rough whereabouts of its mobility matrix, although it had been just a foxfire burst into its lower spine that was enough to burn it out.
She was surprised by Natalie's actually useful information and planning, enough so that she was even impressed.
For someone so young to actually grab those confusing concepts that the summoners had just barked about back in the Institute was truly impressive.
"Ahri, this guy's reinforcements should be here shortly! We need to prepare now!"
"Got it! Yam's been pretty useless this whole time, but that's kind of what it's like with his magic."
"So, he's been completely useless why?" Nat inquired.
"I'm not the best to explain this, but Xerath told me about how he thinks Yam's magic relies on arcane conduction to burn through armor and stuff. If it doesn't have enough inherent magic, then Yam won't be able to cut through it with his Sentinels."
"Xerath was right, and I'm surprised that he managed to guess it so easily. There is so much to Kokorokoiken that no one has ever truly managed to decipher the very basics of what my master taught me."
"Kukuruwhatnow?"
"Just don't bother." Ahri quickly interjected.
There was another whirring of motors very close.
"REINFORCEMENTS! GET TO COVER!" Nat cried before three Wolfhounds barged their way into the courtyard, leveling their weapons towards them.
The air was dense with the magical energies that Xerath's body radiated out in intense droves.
It was almost suffocating to Syndra, but still this amount of power was something she had witnessed.
It was of course from a different person, but this amount of power was very comparable to her own after she had realized what that monk had been doing to her.
The monk had been suppressing her powers and slowly devolving them over the decade that she had spent in confinement.
That was something unforgiveable.
She had already caused enough problems for her mother, but she couldn't have done anything about her at the time.
But that *ss had been lying and deceiving her for so long.
He had gotten what had come to him.
Nostalgia and regret aside, Xerath was taking a long time to channel.
She knew about standard channeling taking around fifteen seconds or so, but at least twenty-five seconds had passed and Xerath was still showing little signs of finishing.
The battle between the two giants still raged, but it was obvious how much of a threat this Centurion was.
It had almost defeated a champion on its own, only stopped by taking a dragon to the face, and even then it was still managing to deal a significant amount of damage to Giquan.
Giquan had already been pushed back three times, and it was obvious how frustrated she was at how this machine was even able to fight against her on superior grounds.
But it did not matter to her.
She would show this machine the absolute authority that was held by Dragons by ripping out its heart and devouring it herself!
Giquan roared once more before conjuring an immense and blinding torrent of fire from her mouth.
The torrent cascaded around the Centurion's shield, like a knight guarded by his own faith alone.
As the stream faded, the Centurion readied itself once more to unleash its energy sword upon the dragon.
But Giquan was faster.
She tackled the machine hard, its shifting stance having weakened its steadiness, bringing it down with her as the machine crashed on the ground in an epic and earth-shattering crunch.
Like a hound, Giquan roared mockingly into the machine's face before rearing her head to prepare for another breath attack.
Knowing the danger, the Centurion's servos roared into desperate motion, launching the dragon off to his side in an incredible feat.
His shimmer field was on the fritz, and the power feed to the arcane disruptor shield was leaking heavily.
It would only be a matter of minutes before he would need to fall back to repair the faulty equipment, but he knew his mech could stand long enough to kill this dragon.
The Centurion swiftly rose to its feet before slashing down at the recovering dragon.
Giquan, knowing that she would not be able to dodge, brought her talon straight up to catch the blade before it could strike any vitals.
Dragon hide was exceptionally tough, but several thousand degrees of heat would be able to melt anything given enough time.
Giquan was able to stop the blade in its path, but her claw was quickly struggling to deal with the immense heat, already turning white hot within mere moments of contact.
Giquan roared in agony as the heat spread through her scales and echoed inside her flesh.
She could not hold on much longer!
It was then that the winds changed.
Xerath's cerulean corona blazed out across the hall, casting all in the sapphire glow.
A rising screech of accumulated power screamed out from his enlightened and noble form, a deity among mortals.
It was a truly incredible sight, something that no mortal should ever have been witness to.
The very world sung out in chorus to this new hero as even the magical ley lines that flowed through Runeterra adjusted themselves ever so slightly to Xerath's impressive power.
A spectacle to all onlookers, only one other entity dared try to stand against him.
The Centurion pushed Giquan aside, desperately charging towards this immense power to attempt to kill this immortal.
But Xerath was ready for it.
He had been preparing just for this moment.
In a whip-crack of thundering energy, Xerath unleashed a blinding bolt of cerulean energy that bathed the hall in white.
All was silent and blank for a moment while the bolt faded from Syndra's retina and the crack muted all else.
As her senses returned to her, she was dumbstruck.
Xerath's bolt had completely passed through the Centurion's shield and liquidated it's torso, leaving only melting slag and sparking electronics in its wake.
The mech powered down in a slowing whir, its once glaring eyes going dim as its reactor failed.
The giant fell slowly, crashing upon the hard stone with a deafening crunch.
After only a few moments of sparking and groaning pivots, the Centurion fell silent.
Descending from his noble form, Xerath stumbled for a moment.
"Xerath! You okay?" Syndra sprung to his side to steady and support him.
"Yeah, that technique still takes quite some effort to sustain though. The disruptor shield didn't do much good for me either." Xerath said, obviously exhausted from the spell.
"How were you able to pull that off? I thought magic was useless."
"It's called disruption, not immunity. Full immunity against anything is impossible. But it'll still work wonders against most conventional magics as I have already said earlier."
"I still have a lot to learn, don't I?"
"You're damn right."
Looks like the enemy force is falling back now. Not surprising considering that their ace has just been killed.
Syndra turned to the dragon before thanking her in her master's stead. "Thanks Giquan, you came just in time."
"Forgive me that I could not be sooner, my dear. Whatever that machine was, it was exceptionally powerful, even standing so easily against me."
The echoing boom of large footsteps entered the hallway, swiftly followed by the familiar archaic voice of Myuin.
"DARLING! I am going onwards, to protect our city and its sanctity. Remove the remaining vermin from the premises." Myuin spoke hurriedly while surging towards the launch pad with wings ready for flight.
"Fear not, we'll finish them off. Good hunting, darling."
"I intend it so."
"Gamma to all teams, I have sight on the target. Engaging."
The very world quaked in fear, sending Xerath's vision haywire.
But there was far more to it than that.
The entire cavern was rumbling from whatever force had just hit it.
There was a magical trace, but it was far, far weaker than anything that could have even caused this earthquake.
The deafening bass of the quake was dying down, and there were no aftershocks.
But as his senses returned to him, he realized what had happened, but even then it was hard to rationalize.
Myuin was lying slumped on the ground, dead.
Something had just managed to kill a dragon in a moment.
Something had just pierced through Myuin and still had enough power to cause this quake.
Wait.
Had this been the prophecy?
'A queen is crowned, the crest of Ionia falls low, as doom roars triumph.'
It had to be.
A queen, Syndra, is recognized so she truly becomes one.
The Ionian crest is that of a dragon, in this case Myuin's fall.
And the roar of doom is the quake from this weapon.
It had to be.
Xerath never had much interest in predictions and prophecies since they were often vague and some may even be considered an eventuality.
But this one had been different.
The signs were there, but he didn't have the ability to change anything.
No one had the ability to change anything in this scenario.
Fate's hand is such a cruel thing.
He felt something quiver by his side.
It was Syndra.
She had taken cover by him as soon as the quake happened, clinging to him tight.
Her open mouth and wide eyes towards the fallen dragon told him everything he needed to know.
She was scared.
She hadn't really known much or spoken with Myuin and had held no attachments to him, but something inside her felt obliged to be scared.
Some strange sense of respect for the dragon that called upon her to grieve for it, a feeling she could and would never be able to explain.
The winds churned against the two as Giquan soared over them at out into the skies above.
She required, demanded even, vengeance for her dead husband.
From her judgment, the attack must have come from the far side of the mountains that cradled Yamanoryu.
But that was several kilometers of open air.
She could clear that easily within two minutes, but she didn't know if that weapon could fire again within that time frame.
But she needed to seek vengeance.
It was an absolute necessity to rip the idiot's body apart to remind the world what happened when one wronged the Dragons.
The Wolfhounds had stopped their fire.
As soon as the whip-crack of some massive weapon had happened, they had frozen in place.
This is bad.
I have no idea what will happen next.
Will they storm us?
Doubt it, considering how strong and maneuverable Ahri is in an enclosed environment. It'd be a bad idea for them to engage like that.
They could fall back though. That would be the most optimal and safest option. With this many forces on the ground, I believe they could have been buying time for another group to take out an important target.
It's the most logical, but what about their friend?
It'd be hard for them to extract him without covering fire, and even then his mech is not operational. But then that would mean-
Her thoughts were cut short by one of the Wolfhound's motors that whirred into life once more, leveling its weapon towards the wreck.
Oh sh*t!
Scorched earth tactics!
"HEADS DOWN!" Nat cried out.
Both Yam and Ahri both followed her, ducking their heads swiftly behind their own cover.
The weapon cracked several times, its rounds resounding off the wreck's armored plates before one managed to pierce through the hardened steel and into the Hound's operational reactor.
The entire area was cast in blazing orange light as the wreck detonated.
The hot air blasted around the cover, but even then the warmth stung her flesh and eyes as it passed over her.
Waiting several moments for the heat to weaken, Nat saw the corpse of the Hound.
The wreck was now almost nothing more than a steel husk, bellowing out plumes of dirty yellow flame from its manhole.
The other Wolfhounds had dispersed the instant the wreck had detonated, making pursuit impossible.
But that was fine.
It was done now.
Yeah… all done now.
Nat felt her body grow heavy as her arms weakened and barely managed to prop herself up against the shrine's warm stone.
Nothing mattered any more, she just wanted rest from this.
Yeah… that sounds good.
"HQ to Gamma team, we're heading out to the rendezvous at checkpoint Omega. Follow us as the Boss has planned."
"Gotcha HQ. Take that 'Jinx' kid with ya too, would'ya? She's been bugging me too much about havin' too much firepower. Now I know why tha' boss hates her guts."
"Copy that, command vehicle is now mobile and we have Jinx banging on the cockpit going 'Yip-Yip!' Make sure that mech gets back in one piece, you hear?"
"Copy that, making final preparations." Jim said as the vox cut out.
"I assume that means we are returning home?" The toneless mechanical voice asked him.
"Got that right, Gale. First though, how's the venting going?"
"I require one minute to begin primary motive functions. First stage venting will begin shortly."
"I always hated this first part." Jim sighed as the massive accelerator churned into activity once more.
In a roar of a furnace, the columns that flanked the mounted weapon scolded the air around them as the immense recoil energies stored from the firing dispersed into the atmosphere.
"We have a new object incoming on our position. Relaying optical data."
"Great, what now?"
The pixelated screen blinked into life as Jim saw the dragon soaring straight towards his position.
It was still two clicks off, but it would reach him within the next two minutes if he couldn't do anything about it.
But he could.
"Gale, prime the accelerator and cancel my previous orders. We need to take this other b*stard down now."
I've already killed one of those f*cks today. This day just keeps getting better and better.
"Priming accelerator. Approximate firing time is forty seconds."
"Make it thirty!"
"Removing tertiary precautions… Calcutions show thirty seconds is achievable."
"You're such a good mac'ine ain't ya? When we get back, I need ta' treat you to something, you hear? We may even get a reward from the boss if we take this thing down."
"Understood. Rewards are… good."
Ahri was fine.
The blast had been deafening and crippling, especially to her with her acute senses.
Yam was fine as well.
It was a good thing that Nat had gotten what that Wolfhound was going to do.
She's surprisingly quick on that.
Like, really quick.
That reminded her.
What had happened to Nat?
"Hey Nat, you alright over there?"
…
Sh*t.
This was bad!
Ahri rushed over to the charred shrine.
Nat was lying propped up against the stone, her eyes closed.
Her slowed breathing was a sign of life, and Nat was having no troubles.
Ahri moved closer, using her hand to probe for warm blood.
Nothing like that.
"Oh…" Nat spoke up quietly.
"Thank god you're alright!"
"Yeah… I just felt like I needed a rest is all." Nat smiled weakly.
"You hit anywhere? I can't find any blood."
"I'm just exhausted. There's… been so much happening since I've been with you four… and now this full-on f*cking invasion. Hehe… So this is what happens when the Institute goes for a stroll."
Ahri smiled softly. "Not always. Don't worry, I think this is all over now. Those mechs have run off, and with this big burning wreck I don't think they'll be coming back with friends or anything like that."
Nat laughed briefly. "I'm not a kid you know? I've been through some hard sh*t in the past, so I'm fine with this. Yeah… It's all over now. All f**king over."
Nat was talking into space, or perhaps herself.
But then Ahri looked back into Nat's face.
It was red with tears.
"It's over… It's all over…" She repeated over and over again.
"Lady Ahri! Is Natalie alright over there?" Yamoto asked, rushing over.
Ahri stopped him silently with her hand.
Taking the hint, Yamoto halted and allowed the two space.
"Nat…" Ahri spoke softly.
"It's all over, right?" Nat mumbled between her running nose and streaming eyes.
"Yeah… It's all over. We're all fine now. You don't have to worry about anything anymore. We're here for you." Ahri assured her gracefully.
Nat launched herself into Ahri's chest, wailing like a child.
Ahri chuckled softly before kindly embracing the girl robbed of her childhood long ago.
There were no words for it, but Natalie felt that, for the first time in her life, she had actually found a mother.
Moments passed as the two remained completely silent, only to be interrupted by Yamoto's respectful tone.
"Lady Ahri, it is best that we get out of here. We need to regroup with Lord Xerath and Syndra to make sure that everyone is alright."
"Alright. Mind helping me getting Nat to her feet?"
"Okay." Yamoto replied, moving over to support her.
The wind churned overhead as a massive wing soared over the three.
It was a dragon.
"That's Lady Giquan! She's here to defeat all of those b*stards!" Yamoto declared triumphantly, his face full of hope.
"There's another dragon? I only saw Myuin when I was here last."
"Don't worry, both are incredible warriors of Ionia. The both of them will easily be able to take out the remainder of these cowards!"
Giquan suddenly banked right, but something managed to whittle past her.
It was then that the three were catapulted into the air by some massive explosion.
The world felt slow as earth and stone alike scattered around them.
Then the hard ground broke their flight and everything went blank for Natalie.