The city wall had been razed, and the entirety of district 20 lay in desolate ruins, becoming the fiercest battlefield in all of Rorgh City.
Everywhere, soldiers in armor were forming ranks to resist the attacks of the doom. There were soldiers still protecting the civilians who hadn't managed to evacuate. Explosions, gunfire, and thick smoke filled the air, as the massive doom legions slowly crushed the human forces like a meat grinder.
The area adjacent to the city wall was the most terrifying. There, gusts of wind blew everything away, and Sasha stood alone, because this battle was only for the cyborgs.
Facing her was a giant black figure, nearly 7 meters tall. It was a massive doom with a mouth split into seven parts, and its two heavy forelimbs dragged on the ground. Its hind limbs were much smaller than its front, with extremely powerful springs. Sasha had seen it leap and cling to the top of the city wall, despite its monstrous body. Its entire body was covered in terrifying bone spikes. To describe it simply, it resembled a gorilla.
Next was a doom with a similarly seven-branched mouth. It was ten meters tall, like a spider but with sixteen legs. It couldn't shoot webs, but it could shoot corrosive venomous rays. Its legs were also deadly weapons, striking down from above at high speed and moving with agility; few soldiers could dodge them besides the cyborgs.
Finally, there was a centipede-like doom, but with many wings like the aerial doom. Its length was estimated to be 100 meters, with a width of two meters. Its sheer size and ability to fly were already a threat to the army. Its flying speed wasn't slow either; it was the one that led the aerial doom legion, taking out the scout fleet and causing the sky to be covered in flying doom, concealing the situation from satellites and hiding them.
By the time humanity discovered this, it was already too late. With destructive power, they easily breached the city wall and commanded the massive doom legion to massacre humanity.
Now, humans finally understood why there were reports of the doom's commanding ability and tactical actions; these creatures were behind it all. Moreover, they had been dormant for two years before raising their heads again, leaving Rorgh City in tatters.
The command post immediately named this new species of doom "Command Doom."
Only cyborgs equipped with first-generation armor could confront the Command Doom. But the current situation was not optimistic; even the cyborgs could only face and endure, but not kill them. The longer this went on, the more Rorgh City would fall and become a feast for the doom.
Sasha had fought the gorilla-shaped Command Doom alone, to allow her teammates to use their full force to quickly take down the other two Command Doom.
Her armor was beaten to shreds. Even with the protective layer of her armor, Sasha was still spitting blood, and her entire body was in unbearable pain. The attacks from the Command Doom were as heavy as a hammer. Sasha couldn't block them directly and could only dissipate the force, then use the openings to counterattack.
Her sword sliced through the crustacean armor, but it only left sparks. The gorilla-shaped Command Doom, unlike the other two, didn't have special abilities but only pure strength. Even without relying on its bone spikes, a single stomp or punch from it could destroy a city wall. Its strong defensive armor, the strongest of the three, made it an unbeatable fortress.
"Damn it..."
Sasha propped herself up with her greatsword. It had been too long since she faced such an overwhelmingly powerful enemy. The High Priest was stronger than her, but the difference wasn't too great, and Sasha was able to overwhelm him with her techniques. As for this Command Doom, the techniques she had honed over the years with the sword in her hand only left a limited amount of damage.
"Aaaaaaa!!!!!"
She charged again, only to be knocked down to the ground, turning the surrounding hundred-meter area into a field of large and small craters, causing continuous tremors. Sasha knelt down, and golden-yellow blood began to show through the lines on her armor. She was preparing to fight to the death.
"Sasha!"
The sound from the command post's signal connection was ignored by her. In the moment she was about to burn herself out, all the events of her life, from childhood to adulthood, flashed by like a film. Finally, she turned her head to look inside the city.
"Take care, Noid."
But then, a bright spot appeared in Sasha's line of sight. It gradually grew larger, as if something was flying towards her, aiming directly at her location.
Blindingly bright like a shooting star, at a speed that broke the sound barrier, it created a terrifying pressure wave that tore through the battlefield. The luminous figure shot past her and slammed straight into the Command Doom.
The Command Doom screamed. Its sturdy arm was shattered, and the crustacean armor on its chest broke into many pieces. For the first time in a confrontation, it was overwhelmed. The Command Doom flew several hundred meters away, crashing heavily into the ruins of the city wall.
"Sasha, what's going on? Sasha!"
She stared blankly at the familiar figure. He was like a hero from an epic story. Great and powerful, yet not divine or arrogant. She felt the familiar warmth of the sun radiating from him.
Was it him... ?
Noid looked up and flew into the air. His Cosmic Wings spread wide, releasing a massive amount of Cosmic Energy that radiated in all four directions.
A man was desperately holding a door shut, keeping the doom on the other side. But how could a normal person's strength compare to a doom's? The door broke, and the horrible mouth of the doom reached in.
"No!!"
Behind him, he heard the screams of his wife and child. Even though the man was filled with fear and his body was trembling from the imminent death, he didn't retreat. As a husband and a father, they would have to step over his corpse to get to his family!
A beam of light suddenly burst in from outside, enveloping the man. The sharp bone spikes that could easily tear through a human body were blocked. The man realized he was wearing a suit of armor.
"This... what is this..."
Not only the armor, the man realized that a wave of power was flowing through him. He shouted and sent the doom flying with a punch.
This kind of situation was happening everywhere, whether with soldiers or civilians. Fear slowly disappeared, replaced by the excitement of a counterattack.
"As long as hope isn't extinguished, we will never be defeated."
Noid's voice echoed throughout Rorgh City, reaching the hands of every person. Everyone, without exception, looked up at the same time. They saw a figure in armor, with a pair of wings on his back that emitted brilliant beams of light like stars.
"Never be defeated!"
"Never be defeated!"
"Never be defeated!"
Everyone shouted in unison, the sound of millions of people together drowning out the sound of the doom. The flame within each person was being ignited, resonating. At this moment, the doom legion could not scare them, because hope was still alive. They would fight to the end, even if they had to burn themselves out.
Noid landed in front of Sasha. Like a gentleman, he took her hand. Both of them took off their helmets and smiled.
"Noid, you're back."
"Yeah, I'm back."
Cosmic Energy flowed from his hand to hers. The lines on Sasha's armor were filled with the ethereal energy of the cosmos.