"I can't," Lyra replied, her voice heavy with regret. "My leg was damaged by the earlier rocket blast. All we can do now is hold out until help arrives."
As if in response, another wave of Ya'juj and Ma'juj surged forward, leaping over the wreckage of burning tanks and helicopters. Lyra raised her weapon again. Bullets tore through the air, grenades were hurled, and chain explosions lit up the night. Yet their numbers never seemed to thin.
Kaivan grabbed Fabrizio's trembling shoulder. "We have to help Lyra! If we don't, we'll die here!"
"I can't…" Fabrizio sobbed. "I'm out of strength."
Kaivan stared at him sharply, then kicked the capsule door wide open. He drew a pair of kujang blades, their edges gleaming beneath the firelight.
"Lyra, gather them in one spot. I'll draw their attention."
Without waiting for a reply, Kaivan ran forward. His movements were swift—a fleeting shadow amid the storm of bullets. His blades danced, slicing through flesh and tendons with deadly precision. Black blood sprayed, bodies collapsed. His breathing grew heavier, every muscle screaming in pain, yet he did not stop.
Lyra fired her grenade launcher again and again. Explosions shook the snowy slopes of the Caucasus. Fire and snow collided, creating a battlefield that looked like hell beneath a frozen sky. Her ammunition was running low, and cracks spread across her metal frame.
"Kaivan, there are too many of them!" she cried, her mechanical voice trembling through the gunfire.
Kaivan glanced back, his face lit by the glow of explosions.
"We don't need to win," he said softly. "We only need to survive."
Amid raging flames and swirling snow, the three of them stood among the ruins—Kaivan, Fabrizio, and Lyra—facing an endless storm.
Fabrizio crouched behind a layer of steel, his body shaking—not only from the freezing air, but from the fear crushing his chest. His breath faltered. He bit down on his lower lip until it bled. The metallic taste snapped him awake.
Like a flash of lightning, memories of the previous user of the Tome of Omnicraft surged through his mind.
"Unlimited Creativity… We can create anything, as long as we understand how it works…" he whispered, like an ancient mantra.
His eyes now burned—not with panic, but with determination.
With trembling hands, Fabrizio activated rapid crafting mode on his arm. Scraps of iron, wires, and shattered armor plates began to assemble themselves. Blue holograms of mechanical designs spun in the air, while his thoughts raced faster than his fear. His hands moved like an artist standing at the edge of the apocalypse.
In just two minutes, two automatic grenade launchers and a massive minigun were forged from the wreckage.
"Lyra! Catch this!" he shouted hoarsely, throwing her the still-burning minigun.
Lyra stood between Kaivan and the swarm of Ya'juj and Ma'juj. Her emerald eyes scanned the structure of the weapon, and with a single, decisive motion, she pulled the trigger.
RAAAAAATTTT—TAT-TAT-TAT!
The minigun roared like a storm from hell. High-caliber bullets tore into the enemies from every direction, shredding and burning their bodies. Lyra stood in the midst of blood and debris, her mechanical frame trembling from overheating—yet her face remained calm, almost emotionless.
Elsewhere, Kaivan, surrounded on all sides, heard Fabrizio's shout.
"Kaivan! Dodge!"
A blast of blue plasma shot from Fabrizio's modified Energy Blaster, wiping out five creatures at once and leaving a scorched crater in the ground.
Kaivan leaped backward, his body covered in wounds, yet his eyes blazed with adrenaline. Dust and bone fragments scattered as he sprinted toward Lyra and Fabrizio, diving through the ruins, evading fangs and claws.
"Where did you even get that idea?!" he yelled, pointing at the grenade launcher in Fabrizio's hands.
Fabrizio gave a faint smile, even as blood dripped from his chin.
"I just remembered Megaman… and merged it all in my head."
Kaivan grabbed one launcher, pulled the pin, and unleashed a barrage of explosions. Each grenade carved a crater of fire, burning and blasting the enemies away. In the raging flames, Kaivan was no longer merely surviving—he became a living storm.
Lyra moved in rhythm with the explosions, her body sweeping through enemies like a goddess of war. She leaped, swung the minigun, and smashed into a creature's face with a satisfying crack of breaking bone. The joints in her legs fractured, yet she endured—her eyes never leaving her targets.
Behind her, Fabrizio fired the Energy Blaster in a steady rhythm. Each shot was like an arrow of light, carving a path through the horde of Ya'juj and Ma'juj. He was no longer panicking. Now, he knew—they were fighting together. Not alone.
Time seemed to slow. Heartbeats blended with explosions and screams. Blood, fire, snow, and bullets formed a brutal symphony of war.
Thirty minutes passed—like thirty years in hell. The once-silent Caucasus Mountains had become an open graveyard. White snow turned crimson. The stench of burned flesh mixed with gunpowder, stabbing the air. Mountains of corpses covered the ground, and the sky trembled with endless thunder.
From within the fog and smoke came the thunder of rotors. Military helicopters in snow camouflage hovered low, their spotlights sweeping across the battlefield, revealing blood and devastation.
"Move! This is your chance!"
The voice from the speakers crackled with distortion, yet its tone remained firm.