The cavern shook as Khar’zek forced himself back to his feet, molten drool spilling from between jagged tusks. His knee joint smoked where Jack’s dagger had carved, emerald fire still eating into the flesh beneath the armor plates. Yet even crippled, the beast radiated fury that felt bigger than the battlefield itself.“You dare cripple me?” Khar’zek bellowed, his voice echoing like a war drum across the cavern. “I will grind your bones into the magma!”Jack didn’t answer. He couldn’t waste breath. His chest rose and fell in ragged bursts, blood trickling from his torn shoulder. Every muscle screamed for rest, but his eyes stayed sharp, emerald flames flickering in their depths. Old Joe’s words whispered again in his mind: When the enemy grows larger than life, remember—the bigger they are, the more they bleed when cut right.Khar’zek lunged. The Bloodfang Saber came down in a thunderous arc, splitting stone. Jack slid sideways, boots skidding across molten dust. The air exploded as p

Khar’zek’s saber hissed down in a crimson blur. Jack twisted to parry, but the warlord feinted—then reversed. The blade bit deep across Jack’s lower abdomen, tearing through the scorched fabric of his suit and carving a searing gash across muscle. Emerald sparks burst from the wound as his aura faltered. He staggered, a strangled cry torn from his throat.Pain became fire. Fire became movement.Jack’s free hand shot forward before thought could catch it. He drove his fist, wrapped in emerald flame, straight into Khar’zek’s armored chest. The impact cracked like a thunderclap. Bone plates split under the blow; molten blood fountained outward in a hiss of acid steam. Khar’zek roared, tusks snapping, as the force knocked him backward.Both of them toppled. Jack crashed to his knees, clutching his abdomen, vision swimming. Khar’zek sprawled onto his back, chest heaving, golden eyes flickering. The Bloodfang Saber spun away from his claws, skittering across the molten rock with a shriek of

Khar’zek’s crimson blur blurred past Jack’s outstretched dagger. For a heartbeat it looked as though Dhot would parry again — but the Bloodfang Saber feinted high and then came low, a brutal backswing. The jagged edge bit across her torso-plate with a sound like tearing steel. Silver-blue light exploded from her wound. Dhot gasped, teeth bared, and staggered. Acidic, mercury-bright blood sprayed out, hissing where it struck the stone. She went down on one knee, blade-staff clattering, then collapsed completely, visor cracked, her clawed hand still reaching for her weapon even as her body failed. “No!” Jack’s roar echoed through the cavern. Khar’zek wrenched the saber free from the cut, molten gold and silver-blue acid dripping from its edge. He turned on Jack, tusks slick with steam. His golden eyes glared like two suns about to go nova. “You will watch them all fall before you,” he snarled. “Then you will die last.” Jack didn’t answer. He moved. Emerald fire flared up his fram

Khar’zek’s tusked mouth curled in a snarl that was almost a grin. The Bloodfang Saber’s crimson storm crawled up his arm and into his chest, turning his scars into glowing runes.“Enough waiting,” he bellowed, the saber amplifying his voice until it became a living shockwave. “Cut them down. Start with the silver-skins.”The red-eyed soldiers snapped to attention as though pulled by wires. Smilodon brutes pawed at the stone, tusks clacking, swords rising. Even the Hidden Ones hissed, their long shadows curling forward like claws. The cavern’s temperature spiked. Pebbles trembled on the floor.Commander Dhot, pale under his silver plates, forced himself to his feet, leaning on his tri-barrelled rifle. He looked once at Jack’s still form, then raised the weapon high. “Circle on the human!” he barked in his own tongue. “We hold!”His warriors surged inward, forming a glittering ring around Jack’s fallen body. Sniper-rifles unfolded like wings, barrels humming as capacitors charged. The f

Khar’zek’s nostrils flared. He tore one clawed gauntlet from his chestplate and slammed it into the centre of his own sternum. Crimson sigils flared across his armor, crawling up his throat like molten veins. His eyes rolled back, then snapped forward, glowing white-crimson like twin dying stars. His tusks lengthened. The Bloodfang Saber pulsed once, twice, then began to hum at a pitch that shook dust from the cavern roof.“Witness the SaberCore!” he roared.A detonation of red-white light rolled out from him, scattering Smilodons, red-eyes and silver-skins alike. When the glow cleared, the warlord’s silhouette had changed. His shoulders were broader, the plates of his armor jagged like a predator’s spine. Every motion vibrated with coiled speed. The Bloodfang Saber no longer bled light — it devoured it, a blade of black edged with red lightning. Each swing cracked the air like a whip.Inside the DragonGP Sarah’s hands trembled against the glass. “What is he—what is he becoming?”“He’