Ian and the army braced for the final clash.
The demon army poured down from the shattered mountain path, marching through the snow and broken stone like a black tide. Above them, demon jets and warships came screaming over the ridge, trying to break through the sky before the ground forces reached the Empire's line.
The STF warship answered first.
Its guns lit up the heavens.
Missiles launched in waves. Anti-air cannons roared. Imperial jets poured out from the hangars, meeting the demon air force head-on. Explosions bloomed across the clouds as the warship turned the sky into a storm of fire and metal.
In the air, the Empire owned the battlefield.
On the ground, it was different.
The demon army hit hard.
Tanks faced tanks. Gunships screamed overhead. Soldiers fired through the snow as demons charged into the trenches. Kia users clashed with weapons and techniques strong enough to tear apart the land around them. Missiles cut across the battlefield, vehicles ripped through ruined snowbanks, and the entire mountain pass became a warzone.
Steel and Stark fought in the middle of it all, moving from close combat to gunfire without slowing. Steel grabbed demons and hurled them across the battlefield like they weighed nothing. Stark fired into charging groups, then dropped his weapon and met the next wave with his fists.
Ice King held another section of the line, freezing entire waves of demon ground units before they could overrun the trenches. Azaryl and the other Kia soldiers reinforced him, turning the snow itself into a weapon.
Trenches were dug into the frozen ground as fast as engineers could carve them. Tank walls formed across the pass, heavy armor lining up side by side to block the demon advance. Jets screamed overhead. Bombers lit the ground with fire.
Ian's order came through every comm channel.
"Hold this line at all costs."
No one questioned it.
There was nowhere else to fall back to.
Then Razor walked through the chaos.
The demon commander moved like none of the destruction around him mattered. Gunfire passed around him. Explosions shook the ground near his feet. Soldiers and demons died on both sides, but Razor advanced with the calm of a veteran who had seen a thousand battlefields and feared none of them.
An STF Kia soldier rushed him from the side.
Razor cut him down in seconds.
Ice King saw him and swung his staff forward, launching a blast of ice across the battlefield. Razor dodged it cleanly and dashed straight toward him.
Their weapons clashed.
Ice King moved well, landing a few solid strikes with his staff and forcing Razor back for a heartbeat. But Razor was faster. More aggressive. His chainsaw swords screamed as they came down again and again, pushing Ice King off balance.
Razor slipped inside his guard, grabbed him, and locked him into a chokehold.
Ice King gritted his teeth and jammed his staff upward, blasting Razor in the face with ice at point-blank range.
Razor released him, but not before driving a kick into his chest and sending him flying across the snow.
Before Razor could follow, two figures appeared in front of him.
Ian.
Optimus.
Razor's eyes locked onto Ian.
"You," he said. "You're the one I want."
Optimus blinked. "Huh?"
A swarm of demons suddenly jumped toward him from the side.
Razor's blades spun as purple lightning crawled over the teeth. "Now we can fight fair."
Ian didn't answer.
He moved.
Dark lightning trailed from his body and wrapped around his katana as he dashed straight at Razor. Razor came forward at the same time, both chainsaw swords roaring in his hands.
The clash hit like thunder.
Ian blocked the first sword with his katana, twisted away from the second, and returned with a strike that cut across Razor's face. Purple sparks and dark blood sprayed into the snow.
Razor snarled and answered with a brutal swing, catching Ian's side and sending him flying back.
Ian twisted midair and released a blast of Kia straight at him.
Razor barely dodged, but the edge of the attack caught his side and hurled him into the ground.
Ian landed, gathered himself, and charged again.
Razor rolled back to his feet just in time to block Ian's overhead strike. Their weapons locked together, dark lightning pushing against purple energy.
Razor spun for a counterattack,
Then Optimus came from behind and kicked him into the ground.
Razor hit the snow hard, rolled, and threw one of his chainsaw swords toward Optimus. The blade screamed through the air, forcing Optimus to shift back as it curved around and returned to Razor's hand. At the same time, Razor met Ian's next strike with his other sword.
But now he was trapped between them.
Ian pressed him with speed and precision.
Optimus pressured him with overwhelming force.
For the first time, Razor looked like he was being pushed.
He jumped back just as a demon jet flew overhead and opened fire on Ian and Optimus. The two rolled out of the way as bullets ripped across the snow.
Optimus raised one hand.
A beam of Kia launched from his palm and tore straight through the jet, blowing it out of the sky. The wreckage spun into the distance and exploded against the mountainside.
Then Optimus looked at Ian.
"Hold on. I have an idea."
Ian didn't look away from Razor. "Wait, what?"
Optimus took off running.
Ian stared after him for half a second.
"…Of course."
Razor attacked again, and Ian met him head-on.
They clashed across the battlefield, matching each other in speed, timing, and killing intent. Ian found one opening and pushed harder, slipping past Razor's guard with a faster swing that landed another cut across the demon commander's armor.
Razor stepped in to punish him,
Then bullets ripped into Razor from the side.
The impact sent him flying into the snowy ground.
Ian turned.
Optimus stood a short distance away, holding a massive machine gun he had ripped off a crashed gunship helicopter.
Ian stared at him.
"So that was your idea?"
Optimus grinned. "Yeah. I knew this was gonna work."
Ian shook his head once, then ran toward Razor.
Before the demon commander could fully stand, Ian grabbed him and drove a punch into him, smashing him back down into the snow.
Razor rolled away and rose again, both swords in hand. His armor was cracked now. His face was bleeding. Purple lightning still danced over his blades, but his eyes briefly scanned the battlefield.
His army was shrinking.
The Empire's tank wall held. The STF warship had control of the skies. Steel, Stark, Ice King, and the others were tearing through what remained of the demon push.
Razor understood.
This battle was lost.
He looked back at Ian.
"You have enough skill to hang with me," Razor said, voice low. "But fighters' blood must truly run in your veins if you hope to handle the Ancient Shade."
Ian tightened his grip on his katana.
Before he could answer, Razor vanished.
A pulse of purple lightning cracked across the snow, and the demon commander disappeared from the battlefield.
Not long after, the remaining demon forces began pulling back.
Stark's voice came through comms. "They're retreating."
Optimus looked toward Ian. "We chasing?"
Ian stared at the collapsing demon line for a long moment.
Then he lowered his blade.
"No."
He looked over the battlefield, where smoke rose from ruined vehicles and soldiers stood exhausted in the snow.
"His army is broken. Let them run."
The order spread.
The Empire held the line.
The demons fell back.
And after two brutal days across jungle, desert, and mountains, the battle finally ended.
But Ian kept looking toward the ridge where Razor had vanished.
Because Razor's final words still hung in his mind.
The Ancient Shade was waiting.
And this army had only been the warning.