"It is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog." — Mark Twain.
Micah screamed the words into the dust-choked air then he held his knife tightly.
The Stone-Ape didn’t care about his bravado. It adjusted its footing, lowered its center of gravity, and prepared to strike again.
The construct took one step forward, then another. Each footfall sent tremors through the floor that made Micah’s teeth vibrate.
He stumbled backward, his boots scraping across the loose rubble.
His ribs ached , and the cut on his forehead was bleeding into his left eye again. He wiped it with his sleeve and forced his brain to work.
His Beast Analysis Talent was already working at full capacity. The golden glow in his eyes grew brighter as the system analyzed the construct, stripping away its outer layers one by one until its entire structure became clear in his vision.
[Scanning target: Stone-Ape Construct, Mark IV.]
[Armor Composition: Compressed bedrock, magically reinforced. Thickness: 30cm torso, 22cm limbs, 15cm joints.]
[Standard physical strikes: INEFFECTIVE.]
[Basic kinetic impacts: INEFFECTIVE.]
[Edged weapons: INEFFECTIVE.]
’Useless. All of it.’
Thirty centimeters of reinforced stone on the torso. His six-inch knife may as well have been a sewing needle against a brick wall.
But the system kept digging. It dug deeper, past the armor, past the servos and joints, into the chest cavity itself. Then it stopped.
[ANOMALY DETECTED.]
[Scanning deeper...]
[STRUCTURAL VULNERABILITY IDENTIFIED.]
[Location: Center of chest cavity, 34cm beneath surface armor.]
[Designation: NEXUS CORE — Primary power source.]
[Status: ACTIVE. Energy output: CRITICAL.]
[NOTE: Nexus Core is shielded by overlapping chest plates. Plates remain sealed during standard operation. Plates separate ONLY when construct executes dual-armed overhead strike.]
Micah’s eyes widened.
"When both arms go up... the chest opens."
He remembered the first smash. The construct had raised both fists above its head, and for a split second, the chest plates had shifted apart. He’d seen the crimson glow through the gap.
"That’s the window. The only one I’ve got."
But the math was ugly.
The overhead smash took less than a second from start to finish. The opening would last only a fraction of that.
He had to be in position before the arms even came up, standing directly in front of the construct, close enough to touch it. Inside the kill zone.
One wrong move, and he’d be nothing more than a red smear across the concrete.
The Stone-Ape didn’t give him time to plan.
Its right forearm split open with a grinding clank. A circular barrel emerged from inside the stone. Micah felt the heat wash over his face from ten meters away.
WHOOOOSH!
A blinding beam of superheated plasma tore across the vault.
His body moved before his brain caught up. The Shadow Step Boots fired at full thrust, killing all friction beneath his feet.
He dropped into a low slide, his back nearly touching the floor as the beam passed directly over him.
The hair on his forearms singed instantly, and the collar of his jacket began to smoke. Behind him, the plasma beam struck a titanium server console.
The metal didn’t even melt. It simply vanished. One second, it was solid and intact. The next, it had become a cloud of glowing vapor and sparks that scattered across the far wall.
"If that hits me, there won’t be enough left to bury."
The construct swept the beam sideways, carving a glowing trench across the vault floor.
Micah planted his boot and twisted hard. The thrusters kicked in, throwing him sideways just as the beam tore past. His afterimage caught the blast instead, bursting into purple sparks.
He came out of the turn running, covering the distance between them in seconds.
The construct spotted him coming. The forearm cannon snapped shut with a metallic clank, and the Stone-Ape spread its feet and braced itself.
Both fists came up in a guard position, protecting its chest.
The construct swung its right arm in a wide, horizontal backhand. The fist tore through the air with enough force to make it howl.
Micah dropped into a flat slide. The boots reduced his friction to zero, and his body skimmed across the concrete.
The wind pressure from the swinging arm flattened his hair against his skull. The fist missed him by inches.
He slid straight between the construct’s legs.
For one breath, he was completely beneath the creature. The heat pouring off the construct’s body was like standing inside a furnace. Sweat broke out across his entire body instantly.
But he didn’t stop.
He planted both hands on the floor, kicked off, and slid behind the construct before rolling back to his feet. The Stone-Ape’s servos whined as it tried to turn. It was huge, and it couldn’t change direction quickly enough.
Micah used every one of those seconds to reposition. He circled to the construct’s left flank, staying just outside arm’s reach. His eyes never left the chest plating.
"Come on. Raise those goddamn arms. Give me the opening."
The Stone-Ape faced him again. Its optical sensors burned brighter. The deep hum in its chest grew louder, building like an engine revving up.
The red veins across its body pulsed faster, pumping raw energy into its limbs.
It was charging for something big.
Micah held his ground. His fingers tightened around the grip of his combat knife. The blade was small, cheap, and never designed for anything like this.
But it was all he had.
The construct’s arms began to rise.
Both fists rose slowly at first, then picked up speed. The servos in its shoulders screamed under the strain.
Then the plates covering its chest began to pull apart.
Three centimeters of open space appeared directly in the center of the construct’s torso.
Behind the gap, the Nexus Core blazed like a tiny sun. Crimson light poured out, painting the dust-filled vault in shades of blood.
’THERE! NOW!’
Micah bent his knees and poured everything he had left into his legs. The Shadow Step Boots fired at full power, launching him straight up.
Wind ripped past his ears. The glowing gap rushed toward him.
He could see the Nexus Core through it now. The crystal facets were so clear he could almost count them. Heat poured from it like he was standing in front of an open furnace.
And then he heard it. A deep, steady hum that he could feel inside his skull.
He gripped his knife with both hands. The construct’s arms reached their peak.
The gap began to close.
Micah pulled the blade back and thrust forward with everything he had left. Every muscle in his body groaned. His broken ribs ground against each other.
But his arms stayed locked. His grip was solid. The blade drove forward, aimed directly at the glowing crimson core.
The fists began their descent, while the gap was still barely open.