The Thirteen Knight

Chapter 4- Killed of Demon

The heat inside the helmet was unbearable. It felt like I had my head inside an oven set to broil. The warning light in my visor wasn't blinking anymore, it was just a solid angry red line. The Imp Crystal was pushing out too much energy and the scavenged cooling unit I ripped from the sky train simply couldn't handle the load.

I looked down at the Shadow Wasp thrashing under my hands. Its mandibles clicked and snapped at my faceplate as it tried to chew through the metal. It was strong but I had the leverage of a hydraulic suit and the desperation of a dying man.

I looked back at the broken cafeteria doors where Sylvia was still trying to stand up. She was staring at me with wide terrified eyes. I knew I couldn't stay here. If I stayed the suit was going to explode. The containment seals on the gauntlet were melting and if they failed here the raw demon energy would release in a shockwave that would turn this hallway and everyone in it into ash.

I couldn't let that happen to her. Not after she saved my life with that note.

"You are coming with me," I grunted at the Wasp.

I grabbed it by its neck and its broken wing. I didn't wait for it to agree as I stood up dragging the creature with me like a ragdoll. It screeched and dug its claws into my armor causing the metal to groan under the stress. I felt a sharp point puncture the plating on my forearm stabbing into my skin underneath but I didn't let go.

I turned and started running down the hallway away from Sylvia. Away from the safe zone.

I ran like a linebacker pushing a heavy sled. I slammed the Wasp into the wall as we moved to keep it stunned. We crashed through a wooden door and into a service corridor that led to the back of the facility.

"Let go! Burn!" the Wasp hissed as it twisted its body trying to sting me in the stomach.

"Shut up," I roared back my voice modulator cracking from the static.

The suit was getting heavier with every step as the joints began locking up from the heat. The hydraulics were hissing steam that smelled like burning copper and ozone. I saw the loading bay doors at the end of the hall where the supply drones dropped off food. It was a wide open space with thick reinforced walls and open to the sky on one side.

I put my shoulder down and rammed through the double doors tumbling out onto the concrete floor of the loading bay. I let go of the Wasp and rolled away trying to stand up but my left leg didn't work. The knee servo was fused solid. I had to drag myself up using a shipping crate for support while the suit vented hot gas.

The Wasp scrambled to its feet. It looked bad with cracked armor and a missing wing. But it was still a demon and it still wanted to kill me. It looked at me and then it looked at the open sky like it was thinking about escaping.

"No you don't," I said with my breath rasping in the helmet. "We finish this right here."

The Wasp turned back to me. Its yellow eyes flared because it knew I was hurt.

"You burn," it clicked. "You are cooking in your shell little meat."

It was right. My skin felt blistered and the sweat was running into my eyes stinging them. The Wasp charged lowering its head to ram me since it couldn't fly. I tried to dodge but the fused knee slowed me down and it hit me square in the chest.

The impact lifted me off my feet. I flew backward and slammed into the concrete wall with enough force to dent the plating. The breath left my lungs and I tasted blood in my mouth as the armor crunched inwards pressing against my ribs.

The Wasp didn't stop. It pinned me against the wall using its weight to hold me there. It raised its good arm with the razor blade gleaming in the moonlight ready to end it.

"Open," it hissed. "I will crack you open and eat the soft parts."

It stabbed down.

I caught its wrist just in time. My gauntlet groaned as the metal fingers dug into the Wasp's chitin armor. We were locked there pushing against each other and I could feel the vibration of the crystal reaching a breaking point.

It wasn't a hum anymore it was a scream that rattled my teeth. The violet light flaring from the wrist socket turned blinding white. I knew the casing couldn't hold it. The energy wasn't venting it was building up inside the crystal itself because the output channels were clogged with melted slag.

I looked at the Wasp's face just inches from mine. I saw the hunger in its eyes turn to confusion.

"Too much," I whispered.

There was a loud crack like a gunshot. The Imp Crystal shattered inside the socket.

The explosion wasn't fire it was pure concussive force that ripped the world apart. A massive shockwave of violet energy exploded from my wrist. It blew the Wasp backward instantly shattering its carapace and turning its insides into jelly before it even hit the ground.

But the force also hit me. The Apostate Gauntlet disintegrated tearing the armor off my body in jagged chunks. I felt like I was being ripped in half as the transformation undid itself violently.

I hit the ground hard and rolled across the concrete until I slammed into a pile of pallets. My ears were ringing so loud I couldn't hear anything else. I tried to move my arm but it wouldn't listen to me. I lay there staring at the ceiling of the loading bay watching the smoke drift up toward the stars.

The Wasp was lying a few feet away. It was a twisted heap of black sludge and broken limbs that wasn't moving. I did it. I actually killed it.

But I couldn't celebrate. My body felt broken. I tried to sit up to hide the pieces of my armor to hide the evidence but the room spun violently. I coughed and spat out blood. I couldn't move. I couldn't hide.

I was just lying there in my torn jumpsuit next to the illegal technology I built. The darkness crept in from the edges of my vision swallowing the stars one by one. I hoped Sylvia was okay. The last thing I saw was the blue flashing lights of the security drones hovering outside before everything went black.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. It didn't smell like ozone or burning demon anymore. It smelled like antiseptic and clean linen.

I opened my eyes slowly fighting against the heaviness in my eyelids. The ceiling was white and pristine with soft glowing tiles that didn't hurt my eyes. There was a rhythmic beeping sound coming from somewhere to my left.

I tried to sit up but a sharp pain in my ribs made me gasp and fall back onto the pillow. I looked down and saw I was wearing a hospital gown. My right arm was wrapped in thick bandages from the wrist to the elbow and there were sensors stuck to my chest monitoring my heartbeat.

I was in the Academy Infirmary. Panic spiked in my chest overriding the pain.

Did they find the suit? Did they find the shattered crystal?

I looked around the room frantically. It was a private room usually reserved for elite students or faculty. Through the glass wall I could see healers moving back and forth in the hallway. I was alive which was good but being here meant I had been found.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to remember what happened after the explosion. But there was nothing. Just a black void. If they found the Apostate Gauntlet shards next to me I was dead. I was worse than dead I was a lab rat.

"You are awake," a voice said from the doorway.

I froze. I turned my head slowly to see who it was. A doctor in a white coat was standing there holding a datapad looking at me with an expression I couldn't read.

Behind him were two Zodiac Corps soldiers wearing full ceremonial armor and standing guard. My heart sank into my stomach.

"Mr. Royce," the doctor said walking over to the bed. "You have been unconscious for three days. You took quite a beating."

He tapped the screen on his pad. "Multiple rib fractures. Severe mana burn on your right arm. Exhaustion. But you are stable."

"The... the attack," I croaked my throat feeling like sandpaper. "What happened?"

"The attack is over," the doctor said calmly. "The perimeter is secure."

He paused and looked at the soldiers behind him. They shifted their weight causing their armor to clink.

"But there are some questions Mr. Royce," the doctor said turning back to me. "Regarding how a student with zero mana compatibility was found in the loading bay next to a dead High Level demon."

He leaned in closer. "And what exactly caused the explosion that knocked out the power grid for the entire sector."