Zack stepped out from behind one of the fearless warriors, his expression unreadable. "Check if there’s anyo alive," he ordered ftly.

  The battle was over, and the enemy had been annihited. But Zack wasn’t satisfied. All of this could have been avoided. If only he hadn’t ed to install anti-EMP devices on the armor, none of this chaos would’ve happehe fight would have ended long ago, and those who sacrificed themselves could have been spared. "Sir! Watch your back!" Ego’s sudden warning rang in his ears.

  Zack reacted instantly, snatg the sword from the fearless warrior. Without even gng back, he spun around and swung the bde.

  g!

  The saw sword met a pale, glowing bde of light—and was sliced ly in half. The alloy steel stood no ce against the light bde’s devastating edge. Lillian was still alive. Dragging her wounded body, she had unched a surprise atta Zack. "Boy!" Lillian’s voice was sharp yet oddly charged with emotion. "To be ho, I like yrith," she admitted, her tone ced with grim resolve. "But you must die today!"

  With a twist of her wrist, she swung the light bde in an impossible arc toward Zack. The ck of a physical bde gave her infinite flexibility, makirikes uable ahal. "Yeah?" Zack tossed aside the broken sword and sidestepped her attack with practiced ease. Stepping intuard, he unleashed a ferocious punch aimed directly at her lower side—a brutal Liver Punch.

  Bam!

  The blow nded with the force of a hammer, sending Lillian’s lightweight body hurtling through the air. She arced gracefully before crashing heavily onto the mountainside, rolling several times before ing to a stop.

  Bang!

  She coughed violently, blood spttering onto the dirt as she struggled to her feet. "No wonder you took out Verrik with one punch," she gasped between ragged breaths, coughing up more blood. "I didn’t think you’d be strohan that bear... but it seems I uimated you."

  Despite her frail appearance, Lillian’s strength was astonishing. Her muscle density far surpassed even Verrik’s monstrous brown bear form. "But this ends now," she spat coldly, her tourning icy as the faint white light on her bde began to spread. It traveled up her arm, enveloping her entire body in a soft, ethereal glow.

  She now seemed as if she were bathed in moonlight, her luminous figure radiating a deadly beauty. "Die!" Lillian roared, her speed exploding as her body blurred into a streak of light. She charged toward Zack like a shadow uhe moon, her light bde poised to strike.

  "Sir! Apex has rebooted! ons are online!" Ego’s voinounced as the nanosuit’s systems sprang back to life. Not far away, Zack’s Apex armor roared to life, its on systems log onto Lillian as she sprioward him. Hundreds of miissiles swiveled into position, targeting her with precision.

  At the same time, the seven remaining fearless warriors, their armor now fully reactivated, surged forward. Their strength and speed amplified by the suit’s systems, they easily matched Lillian’s superhuman movements. "No..." Lillian’s expression shifted as she sehe rising danger. Her instincts screamed at her, but she had no choice. She pressed on, hoping to reach Zack before she was overwhelmed.

  Suddenly, a fsh of bck streaked across the sky. A feminine Power Armor, sleek and elegant in design, flew into the air, emitting a faint hum as it hovered above the battlefield. "You bad people! All of you, just die already!" Sophia’s voice echoed from within the suit, her tone fierd determined.

  Lillian froze mid-charge as Sophia raised her right arm. The armor’s only offensive on—a 50mm heavy on—activated with a sharp whine.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  High-explosive grenades rained down in Lillian’s path, f her to halt. The successive explosions shook the mountain, sending shockwaves rippling through the battlefield. Sophia’s Power Armor wasn’t built for offe was a suit, designed for tai, support, and battlefield first aid. Yet, without hesitation, she had used its only lethal on to defend Zack.

  It was an act of both fierce loyalty and familial love. The bsts obstructed Lillian’s advance, but her focus wasn’t on the explosions. Her mind g to the voice that had just echoed from the armor. "Sophia?!" Lillian whispered in disbelief, her glowing figure trembling as she turoward the sound.

  H in the air, Sophia froze. Her eyes widened behind the armor’s visor as her gaze locked onto Lillian’s bloodied face. The realization hit her like a truck. "Mom...?" Sophia’s voice faltered, thick with fusion and shock.

  For a moment, everything stopped. Lillian’s glowing bde dimmed slightly, her murderous aura faltering as tears welled up in her eyes. "Well, that ges things," Zack muttered under his breath, watg the emotional standoff unfold. "Ego," he said, his tned, "looks like ygestion was right after all."

  At the base of the mountain, Bck Hand y in the wreckage of a destroyed vehicle, his broken cloak barely c the grotesque, half-human, half-mae body beh. His red, meical eyes locked onto Lillian and Sophia on the mountain. His damaged lips moved slightly, though no sound emerged. "Call headquarters. Mission failed. Moon Shadow has rebelled... In order to protect anizational secrets, I request authorization to destroy Moon Shadow... and myself."

  Just moments after the signal was sent, Lillian’s expression ged. Still weak and scarred, she k on the bloodied ground, clutg her lower abdomen as fresh blood seeped through her fingers. The damage Zack’s earlier punch had caused—nearly shattering her liver and kidneys—was catg up to her.

  But it wasn’t just the injuries that brought her to her khere was something else, something far heavier weighing on her. "Sophia... so you’re still alive after all..." Lillian murmured with a sad smile as she looked up at Sophia, who was desding rapidly toward her. Her eyes, filled with a deep, motherly affe, softened.

  "Mom!" Sophia cried out as she nded and ran toward her.

  "Internal bleedied. Liver and kidneys damaged. dition is life-threatening. Immediate medical attention required!" the armor’s medical system announced, sing Lillian’s body.

  "Mom, stop talking! I’ll save you! Just hold on!" Sophia said frantically, activating the medical tools ied into her armor.

  But Lillian weakly shook her head. She gently cupped Sophia’s face with trembling hands, her gaze filled with love a. "I’ve searched for you for so long," she whispered. "I followed your tracks... I even found the gas station... but I couldn’t find you." Her voice cracked, tears welling in her eyes. "They showed me your body. The Vanguard anization told me you were dead," Lillian tinued, her voice trembling. "I believed them. I thought you were gone... I’m so sorry, Sophia... I should’ve looked harder."

  Sophia’s tears streamed down her face as her visor flicked open. "Mom... stop bming yourself! I’m the one who should be sorry! I never searched for you... I thought you were dead. I—I vinced myself you were gone because I couldn’t ha!" Sophia sobbed, her voice breaking as she clutched her mother’s hands.

  "Heart rate spiking! Subject is in critical dition!" the armor’s system bred again.