11:29, February 10, 2295

  Terminal 4, Songnei Starport (松內星港), No. 340-9, Dunhua North Road, Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan, Imperium of Dragons territory

  "Fuck off!" Lorna barked, her voice a blade cutting through the chaos. In one fluid motion, she drew Baldr, her trusty Psytum Sword, its hue mirroring the tempest churning within her. The blade sang, its resonance syncing with the adrenaline that spiked in her veins. Her Psi Shield, a sleek silver device that looked like a small earphone with an earhook, was perched on her left ear. Aside from being connected to her team's voice comm, it emitted a soothing hum as it generated a quantum blue energy barrier around her, protecting her from harm and deflecting any minor damage that came her way.

  Three Skuggrs, insectoid creatures with brown carapaces, flanked the Bone Fiends and spat corrosive bile at them in hopes of dissolving their flesh. But Lorna's blue energy bubble kept the acid at bay, turning it into harmless mist upon contact.

  As Lorna dispatched the monsters one by one, civilians scattered in fear and fled the area.

  "Lorna, amiga," Diego's urgent voice cut through the chaos, breaking through Lorna's earpiece in her right ear amidst the battle. "Xin told me you're going after Skarn. You need to abort that."

  "I can't," she replied with a growl as she swung her sword, Baldr, cutting into the belly of a Skuggr and spilling its insides. Her blonde ponytail, held high on her head, whipped behind her like a banner of war. "Skarn just escaped from Amber Moon. It's the perfect time to take him down while he's weakened."

  "Amiga, you can't possibly think you can defeat Skarn alone!" Diego's usually calm voice was now filled with panic.

  "I never got the chance to avenge the loss of my homeland," Lorna's sapphire eyes were now burning with tears of rage. "But today, I will."

  "Please, calm down. Let's regroup and bring this information back to Director Otis. We'll come up with a plan together —" Diego's voice came through her earpiece.

  "Sorry, Diego. I have to do this," Lorna said, reaching up to tap on the cool surface of her Psi Shield, turning off her earpiece with her left hand while wielding Baldr with her right.

  With determination, fear, and courage driving her forward, she continued on, her Psytum Sword shining like a supernova in her hand.

  The scent of ozone and burnt blood mingled in the air. Lorna parried and thrust, her swordplay a deadly sonnet composed in the language of violence as she cut through a pack of frenzied Bone Fiends. Each strike was a stanza of her fury.

  A massive beast, resembling a mutated octopus, emerged from the shadows, itts dark brown body floating in the air. In front of it stood three Bone Fiends, their mouths dripping with saliva as they awaited their next command.

  The Kraken, its flesh pulsating and oozing with a foul slime, spoke in a deep voice. "You are alive, Lorna Weiss. Lord Skarn shall be most pleased."

  Lorna's left hand hovered over her trench coat pocket as she faced off against the Kraken. She warned, "Back off, Kraken. You don't want to fight me."

  The monstrous creature laughed in amusement. "I do not have to. My minions will take care of you after I weaken you." With that, it spewed out a pile of putrid green goo in Lorna's direction.

  But Lorna was quicker. As the Kraken released its goo, she chanted an incantation under her breath. "Passus Transitus!" In an instant, she teleported one meter to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.

  With her left hand, Lorna drew Váli, her 10mm Magnum, and aimed at the monstrous creature. Focusing her psionic energy, she chanted before firing a bullet, "Glacies Lunae Fulgur!"

  The bullet transformed into a large blue ball of energy and flew towards the Kraken with deadly force. As it struck the creature's flesh, it exploded in a dazzling display of light and sound.

  The Kraken screamed in agony as its flesh began to disintegrate into blue piles of ash. The explosion also caught the Bone Fiends under the Kraken's control, obliterating them completely.

  Lorna tucked Váli back into her pocket and took a moment to catch her breath, kneeling down on one knee. Casting psionic spells through her pistol may have amplified their power, but it also drained more Aether from her than usual.

  "Frykt ikke m?rket," she whispered, repeating the lullaby like a mantra, finding solace in its familiar words as she stood up and continued forward, her beige trench coat billowing behind her and her black military boots echoing on the floor.

  The air was thick with the stench of burnt circuitry and ozone, each breath a toxic reminder of Skarn's destruction.

  She didn't flinch as she encountered more Radi-Mons — a pair of Skuggrs descending upon her, their antennae whipping with a disgusting menace in the dim light. Lorna drew Baldr, her Psytum Sword, and it sang through the air with deadly precision. She moved like a specter through their ranks, her blade a blur of silver that left only dismembered limbs and brown shells in its wake.

  "Dere skal alle til helvete!" Lorna hissed, each syllable dripping with contempt.

  With a final, sweeping arc of her sword, the last of the Skuggrs fell, leaving only the sound of sickening screeches echoing off the cold metal walls. Lorna pushed on, her blue eyes ablaze with a fire that no horror could quench.

  And then, there he was: Skarn, the false promise of her people’s salvation, and the embodiment of her nightmares, standing amidst the carnage like a deity, a towering figure in a metallic exoskeleton, strode confidently through the ranks of basic security guards belonging to the Imperium. Their futile attempts at stopping him were met with bullets bouncing harmlessly off his armor, accompanied by thermal blades scraping in futility.

  With each step, the creature’s massive claws sliced through flesh and bone, leaving a trail of crushed bodies in his wake. The sound of shattering bones and splattering blood filled the air as he effortlessly plowed through his enemies. The once pristine floor now stained with a gruesome mixture of brains, bones, and flesh.

  His mottled skin beneath the brown exoskeleton seemed to pulse with dark energy, and his red eyes locked onto hers with a predatory glint.

  "Skarn," Lorna spat out his name like venom.

  "Sigrún Fjeld. You're alive," Skarn sneered, his twisted mouth forming a grotesque imitation of a smile as he recognized Lorna. It had been many years since anyone had called her by that name. "Change your appearance and take on new identities all you want, but I'll always recognize your fragrance."

  "Where’s my father?" Lorna challenged, taking a step towards him.

  "I've missed you, Sigrún," Skarn spoke in a low growl. "Must our dying people fight amongst ourselves? Until we're all extinct?"

  Lorna's grip tightened around the hilt of Baldr until her knuckles turned white.

  "You are the reason our homeland was destroyed," she said, her voice steely. "If you and Ysolde hadn't used the Nucleus Virus, the Imperium and the Alliance would have never invaded Scandinavia."

  "Lies, Sigrún!" Skarn snarled, five gigantic tentacles connected to his lower torso writhing behind him like serpents. He raised his hands, sharp with long claws and adorned with the same exoskeleton that covered his entire torso. "But that matters little. I have acquired the very power to dominate the Universe – and those such as yourself."

  "You’ll die today!" Lorna declared, channeling her psionic energy. The space between them crackled with unseen forces as they circled each other, two predators ready to clash.

  And then, with the fury of storm-tossed seas, Lorna charged, her muscles coiling and uncoiling like springs. Baldr, her Psytum Sword, hummed with a resonance that mirrored the torment in her soul.

  Skarn's massive claws swept through the air with surprising speed. His tentacles lashed out, one narrowly missing Lorna's head while another grazed her leg. The sheer force behind each attack sent tremors through the floor, and Lorna quickly recognized that a direct confrontation would be suicide.

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  She dodged and weaved through Skarn's onslaught, each movement a lyric in her ballet of vengeance.

  "Is that fear I taste in your sweat, Sigrún?" Skarn's voice was a guttural rasp as he swung his massive limbs.

  "Where is my father, Skarn?" Lorna spat back, a smirk slicing her lips as she raised Baldr high. "You know where Harald is. Tell me!"

  "Harald Omdal exists beyond your reach now, little Sigrún," Skarn replied, his voice booming like thunderclaps. He loomed larger with every second, his regenerative prowess evident. "He walks a path where neither you nor I can follow. Not yet."

  "What did you do to him?" Lorna's breath hitched, the sight unsettling the cadence of her heart. A cold whisper of doubt slithered down her spine.

  Her fingers tightened around Baldr's hilt, the Psytum pulsating in tandem with her rising psionic energy.

  "Fine, I'll just have to hit harder," she declared, voice a steel thread weaving through the din of battle.

  The sword sliced effortlessly through the air, leaving behind traces of ethereal light. In the known world, Skarn was impervious to harm from most human weapons. Even powerful siege tank cannons were no match for him. But a Psytum Sword — powered by its wielder's own heartbeat and infused with psionic energy — could cut through anything, limited only by the wielder's mental state. The more determined and focused the master, the more devastating her blade became.

  With precision born of fury, Lorna struck, carving gashes into Skarn's grotesque exoskeleton, blue energy searing his flesh.

  The wounds should have been mortal, and on any other day, they would have been. But something was amiss.

  Lorna's blue eyes narrowed as she watched, disbelieving, the sinew and skin knitting itself back together before her gaze. Where once there had been gaping lacerations, now only faint scars remained, mocking her efforts with their rapid closure.

  Lorna leapt forward once more, attacking relentlessly, her Psytum Sword a blur of incandescent blue. Each strike aimed with lethal precision, yet each time the blade met flesh, the monstrous visage before her laughed off the damage, his wounds sealing shut with a grotesque efficiency that defied nature.

  "Did the Imperium of Dragons not tell you?" Skarn taunted, his voice a guttural rumble of scorn. "Their finest engineers toiled to weave cybernetic sinew beneath my skin." He flexed, showcasing the unholy symbiosis of metal and muscle. "I am reborn, beyond the reach of death."

  The revelation struck Lorna like a physical blow, her next swing carrying the weight of desperation. The tentacles and cables protruding from Skarn's form pulsed with an otherworldly glow. "They did this."

  "Their Emperor thought he could control me and use me to crush the Alliance," Skarn said with a deep, unsettling chuckle. "I should pay him a visit soon."

  "You’re invincible," she spat the sentence like venom, her mind racing for a countermeasure, for any weakness in the monolith of horror before her. Her confidence, once an unassailable fortress, began to crumble under the onslaught of fear that clawed at its walls.

  "As I always am," Skarn advanced, a predator scenting blood, his red eyes gleaming. "Your toy is not enough today."

  Her backpedaling steps were measured, her icy gaze locked onto his. Lorna swallowed the panic rising like bile, forcing her mind to stay clear amidst the chaos.

  "I’ll still take you down," she managed, though her voice wavered. "Then my people will find the Moondust Crystal, and your Fenris Horde will fall."

  But even as she spoke the words, doubt gnawed at her resolve. Every slice of her sword met with more resistance, every drop of alien ichor that spilled seemed inconsequential.

  "‘My people’? Is that what you call those lesser races these days?" Skarn taunted, a colossus of regenerating terror, and Lorna a lone figure dwindling in his shadow. With every parry and thrust, Lorna's movements grew more frantic, the staccato rhythm of her heart keeping time with the clash of metal against regenerated flesh.

  "Long have I waited, Sigrún. This consummation," Skarn bellowed, his tendrils whipping the air like serpents tasting the scent of dread.

  "What," Lorna whispered to herself, a lifeline pulling her from the dark abyss. She would not yield to fear, but the confusion caught her off guard. "What are you doing…"

  In that moment, malignant coils encased Lorna, Skarn's dark tentacles constricting like pythons around her limbs. Her Psytum Sword clattered to the ground, its resonant hum silenced by gravity's unceremonious kiss as Skarn raised her into the air with his appendages.

  "Be still," he sneered, a tentacle writhing lasciviously, its tip morphing into a grotesque mimicry of genitalia. It coiled around her, seeking purchase against the fabric of her suit. Another appendage slithered under her turtleneck, a perverse invader tracing the curve of her collarbone with abhorrent fascination.

  A third appendage oozed a thick white liquid, pressing against her lips in a vile attempt to enter her mouth. In an act of defiance, Lorna clenched her jaw tight.

  But Skarn’s tentacle was relentless, its strength inexorable. With a wet squelch that echoed the horror clawing at her gut, the tentacle forced past her defenses, worming its way into her mouth. It tasted of petrichor and decay. Her throat convulsed, gagging on the intrusion.

  Skarn taunted her as she struggled against him. His voice was a deep rumble that echoed around them. "Lorna, Sigrún. Whatever name you call yourself," he growled. "Your role in the upcoming crusade remains unchanged."

  Lorna's response was a soundless snarl. Her fingers clawed at the air, seeking the hilt of Baldr, yearning for the familiar comfort of her sword's grip. But it lay just beyond reach, a mocking testament to her impotence in Skarn's grasp.

  "Valorans. Imperials. Maridians. Those outsider’s lineages are worth little to me," Skarn purred, his words dripping with malice. Each syllable felt like a knife twisting in Lorna's heart, reminding her of the devastating loss she had suffered. "But you, a Nordling with such fierceness...and functioning reproductive organs…"

  Despite the horror and violation coursing through her body, Lorna continued to fight with every ounce of strength she had. Her legs kicked out in a futile attempt to break free from Skarn's monstrous grip, her mind roaring with silent battle cries. Minutes felt like hours as Skarn's eyes closed in ecstasy, his tentacle still thrusting into her mouth as he uttered low grunts of pleasure.

  And when the thrusting finally stopped, a sickening stream of warm liquid filled her mouth, its pungent scent reminding her of a mixture of bleach and vinegar. Struggling for air, Lorna ingested, barely able to gag as the liquid slid down her throat.

  "Become my Hundkynda and bear my progeny, Sigrún. I could make you birth thousands of creatures to conquer the planets and moons in all Five Realms," Skarn's red eyes fluttered open, alight with the perverse delight of a predator savoring its prey. His tentacle, repulsively warm, withdrew from her mouth and caressed her cheek with a lecherous touch. "Then, in a new form and protected by the Fenris Horde, our near-extinct people shall rise again!"

  Revulsion coursed through Lorna's veins as she coughed, tears tracing down her ivory cheeks. The thought of Skarn’s perversion fueled her defiance, even as her body remained ensnared.

  "Any words before we return to my Hvel for your impregnations?" Skarn added confidently with arrogant nonchalance.

  Lorna's stormy blue eyes locked onto Skarn's, full of determination amidst the chaos. With the remnants of his juice still dripping from her mouth, she spat out the words. "Baldr, h?r meinen Ruf!"

  The air around her hummed with the invocation's potency, and the Psytum Sword, lying discarded on the ground, answered her call. Igniting itself, Baldr soared, a vengeful comet, toward its mistress.

  In a symphony of screeching metal and alien flesh, the blade severed the tentacles that held her captive. Skarn's scream pierced the silence of the battleground, a cacophony of pain that clashed with the triumphant ringing of Lorna's freedom.

  She crashed to the ground, gasping for breath, her trench coat billowing around her like the wings of an angel in descent. As she steadied herself amidst the ruins of combat, the taste of Skarn’s essence remained sharp on her tongue.

  As Skarn's agonizing roar echoed in the background, Lorna steadied herself and reached for her Medi-Vap inhaler. Her skin was still slick with the residue of Skarn’s assault as she pressed it to her lips and inhaled deeply.

  The device hissed, releasing a mist of healing agents into her bloodstream. She convulsed, her body wracked with spasms as she vomited up the foul white substance onto the charred floor.

  Bending over Skarn's severed tentacle, Lorna gasped for air, then let out a heavy breath as she expelled more of his cum onto the ground. The fluids mixed with undigested rice and seaweed from the onigiri she had eaten earlier, forming a thick coating on the tentacle.

  "I swallowed…" Lorna panted between shudders, her gaze cutting through the haze to where Skarn thrashed in his own torment. For women like her, there was one fate worse than death when dealing with Radi-Mons. With panic filling her mind, she muttered. "This must be a dream. It has to be…"

  But battlefield instincts took over. Whatever awaited her, she needed to leave the scene and stay alive.

  She retrieved her Psytum Sword, Baldr, and deactivated it before slipping it into her pocket. Then, she chanted, closing her eyes. "Passus Transitus."

  The world around her fragmented, reality splintering as atoms rearranged and light bent to her will as she teleported away, now over a kilometer away from Skarn.

  "Diego…" Lorna spoke to the voice comm as she placed a hand on the Psi Shield Device resting on her left ear, her voice strained. "I fucked up. Need a way out — now."

  Diego's steady voice cut through the static. "You're already forgiven, Lorna. But my StarWhale can't land in that hot zone. I'll pin your location and contact Xin."

  "Yeah, okay," she replied, her breath catching as she ran further away from Skarn. The ravaged Starport, with its smoldering remnants and the resurgence of her nemesis’ fury, began to blur into irrelevance. "Can you contact Doctor Nikki?"

  "Is there an injury your Medi-Vap couldn’t handle?" Diego asked.

  "I...Skarn...he..." Lorna struggled to explain, still reeling from the shock and trauma.

  "It's okay, Lorna. I won't tell anyone," Diego reassured her.

  "Skarn did to me — what he does to women," Lorna's voice steadied as she walked, letting out a heavy sigh. "But he did it through my mouth. I don’t know what that means."

  "I'll contact Nikki immediately! Stay safe, Lorna," Diego urged, his professional demeanor tinged with concern.

  "Thank you. I'll try," she muttered, wiping a lingering strand of Skarn's semen from her chin and leaving behind the reminder of her resistance on the scorched ground.

  Nucleus series and its no-holds-barred approach, you might be feeling the need to take a break. Maybe you're ready to catch some z's in your cozy bed, or perhaps you've just arrived at your daytime office or stepped off the train and are heading home? Just curious whether my readers tend to binge-read this in one go or savor it over time.