Chapter 347: The special one

The killing intent radiating from Xallon was so intense it felt like drowning in a malice. Lucas’s soldiers stood frozen, their weapons trembling in hands that had never known such primal terror. This wasn’t just another Harbinger—this was apex predation given form and consciousness.

"Ah, yes," Xallon purred, his theatrical accent making every word sound like poetry written in blood. "That expression. Do you know how many worlds I’ve conquered, my dear little humans? How many species I’ve watched transition from hope to despair to acceptance? The faces change—tentacles, scales, fur, flesh—but that look... that beautiful realization that death has come calling... it’s universal."

He traced one clawed finger along the massive scar crossing his chest, the tissue damage so severe that even Harbinger healing couldn’t completely erase it.

"This little souvenir came from the last species that thought they could resist me. The Kethran Empire—proud warriors, six arms each, natural armor that could deflect plasma fire. Their champion gave me this mark before I peeled him apart like an overripe human fruit. Twenty billion souls screaming my name as their worlds burned... such exquisite music."

Lucas felt something cold and calculating settle in his chest. He’d fought alongside Noah against a two-horn Harbinger just days ago, and that battle had left him feeling like a broken marionette. A three-horn was exponentially stronger—the power scaling wasn’t linear, it was geometric.

And this one... this one was drunk on its own legend. Usually overconfidence could get someone killed in battle. But something about Xallon’s casual arrogance suggested the opposite—that every boast was backed by centuries of successful genocide.

That settled it. Everything he needed to know.

"Rodriguez, Vasquez, take Alpha and Beta teams," Lucas commanded, his voice carrying absolute authority despite the impossible odds. "Coordinate assault on the remaining one-horns. Get them off the field. That’s an order."

"Sir, what are you going to do?" Torres asked, he could sense a tone in Lucas’s voice that he didn’t like that much.

Lucas turned to face his soldiers, rendering a perfect military salute with battlefield precision.

"Today might be the day I die," he said, his voice steady as bedrock. "But I want you all to know—you are one hell of a fine group of soldiers. As your squad leader, it’s my duty to assess risk and lead you to victory. This may not turn out that way. But you should all know, you’ve made me proud."

Patel opened his mouth to respond, but—

BOOM!!!!

Lucas exploded forward, lightning erupting from his legs like plasma thrusters. His fist cocked back, electricity cascading around his form in distinctive arcs that turned the air itself into a weapon. Every muscle in his enhanced physiology channeled into the most serious punch of his entire military career.

The sonic boom of his acceleration shattered every remaining piece of glass in the facility. Sand and debris blasted outward in perfect spheres as Lucas became a living missile targeting Xallon’s smug face.

BOOOOOM!!!

The impact sent shockwaves through the ground that cracked concrete for a hundred meters in every direction. Every grain of sand in the area was blown backward, dust clouds erupting like miniature nuclear explosions.

When the debris settled, Lucas’s team struggled to their feet from the devastating shockwave their commander had generated, squinting through the haze to see the result of his assault.

Xallon stood exactly where he’d been, Lucas’s lightning-wreathed fist caught casually in one massive palm.

"Oh, this is going to be fun!" the three-horn exclaimed, his grin stretching wide enough to reveal rows of serrated teeth.

Xallon’s free hand slammed into Lucas’s ribs with enough force to crater mountains. The impact folded Lucas in half around the alien’s fist, blood exploding from his mouth as his ribs shattered like kindling.

But Xallon wasn’t finished.

The three-horn swung Lucas sideways like a ragdoll, and in less than a second—impossible speed for an eight-foot monster built like a tank—he was already there to catch him. A double axe-handle punch drove down into Lucas’s spine with enough force to liquify normal human bones.

Lucas’s body bounced off the concrete like a broken toy, creating a crater where he impacted. But there was no reprieve—Xallon’s foot caught him in the ribs, launching him skyward with a kick that sent him tumbling through the air like a discarded mannequin.

"You know what I love most about lightning?" Xallon called out conversationally as Lucas crashed back to earth. "It’s so... dramatic! All flash and fury, but ultimately just electrons looking for the path of least resistance."

Lucas rolled with the impact, his enhanced physiology already working to repair the catastrophic damage. Blood streamed from his mouth, but his eyes burned with furious determination. He wasn’t going down easy.

Lightning erupted from every pore of his body as he activated his soul awakening again, transforming into pure electrical energy despite the massive drain on his reserves. But this time, instead of concentrated beams, he unleashed something different.

A tsunami of raw lightning exploded outward—not focused strikes but a torrential flood of electrical energy that turned the entire battlefield into a Tesla coil array. Millions of volts cascaded through the air like liquid fire, seeking any conductor, any path to ground.

Xallon simply clapped.

The sonic boom from his massive palms meeting created a pressure wave that scattered Lucas’s electrical assault like leaves in a hurricane. The three-horn’s casual gesture generated enough force to disrupt electromagnetic fields and send Lucas’s plasma form tumbling through the air.

"Is that the best humanity has to offer?" Xallon asked, advancing with predatory grace. "I’ve seen solar flares with more conviction."

Lucas reformed his physical body just in time to catch Xallon’s fist with both hands, lightning crackling between his fingers as he struggled to redirect the alien’s impossible strength. For one moment, they were locked in a contest of pure power—human determination against alien superiority.

Xallon’s second punch came from below, an uppercut that would have launched Lucas into orbit. Lucas released his grip and spun sideways, the alien’s fist passing inches from his jaw. The displacement created a shockwave that pulverized nearby concrete and sent his soldiers diving for cover.

"Better!" Xallon laughed, genuinely delighted. "Show me more! Show me why your species thinks it deserves to exist!"

Lucas responded by grabbing Xallon’s extended arm and channeling every volt of electricity in his body directly into the alien’s nervous system. Lightning poured into Xallon’s bloodstream like liquid death, enough electrical energy to power cities flowing through alien synapses.

Xallon’s roar shook the facility’s foundation, but it wasn’t pain—it was ecstasy.

"YES!" the three-horn screamed, his muscles convulsing as electricity coursed through his system. "More! Give me everything you have!"

A backhanded swipe sent Lucas tumbling across the battlefield, his body carving a furrow through solid concrete. But he was already rolling to his feet, electricity crackling around wounds that should have been fatal.

"You want everything?" Lucas snarled, blood streaming down his face as he rose to meet the alien’s charge. "Then come and fucking take it!"

He launched himself forward, not at Xallon but past him, using his lightning form to accelerate beyond human limitations. At the last second, he spun and drove both fists into the three-horn’s spine, channeling concentrated electrical death directly into the creature’s central nervous system.

Xallon stumbled forward half a step—the first time Lucas had managed to actually affect his balance.

"Delicious!" the alien purred, spinning with fluid grace to catch Lucas in a devastating combination. "You actually made me feel something! Do it again!"

The exchange that followed was pure violence distilled to its essence. Lucas flowed between attacks like liquid lightning, his enhanced reflexes the only thing keeping him alive as Xallon’s fists carved trenches through the air. Each missed punch created sonic booms, each deflected strike generated shockwaves that cracked the facility’s foundation.

Lucas fought with the desperate fury of someone who knew he was dying but refused to go quietly. He channeled lightning through his bones, turning his skeleton into a conducting rod that could channel impossible voltages. His punches carried electrical death, his kicks sparked with concentrated fury.

But Xallon was enjoying every second of it.

"Tell me about your pain!" the three-horn demanded, catching Lucas’s lightning-wreathed fist and using it to slam him into the ground hard enough to create a crater. "Tell me about your fear! I want to hear it!"

Lucas’s ribs cracked, his left arm bent at an unnatural angle, blood pooling beneath his broken form. But instead of screaming, he started laughing.

The sound was raw, unhinged, tinged with desperate fury that made Xallon pause in genuine curiosity.

"You want to know about fear?" Lucas gasped, struggling to his feet with his good arm. "I’m not afraid of dying, you oversized fucking lizard. I’m afraid of leaving this world with you still breathing in it!"

He exploded upward, wrapping both arms around Xallon’s massive torso and channeling every remaining volt of electricity directly into the alien’s heart. His soul form destabilized, pouring raw electrical energy into Xallon’s cardiovascular system with suicidal intensity.

"If I’m dying today," Lucas screamed, his voice cracking as his body began to shut down from the electrical overload, "then you’re coming with me! You hear me, you sick fuck? You’re dying with me!"

Xallon’s roar of genuine pain shook the heavens, his massive form convulsing as Lucas poured his life force directly into killing the creature that had murdered billions. The three-horn’s natural armor began to smoke, alien flesh cooking from the inside as Lucas turned himself into a living electrical weapon.

But even that wasn’t enough.

Xallon’s fist drove into Lucas’s solar plexus with enough force to stop his heart. The human’s electrical assault cut off abruptly as his enhanced physiology finally reached its limits.

Lucas collapsed, his broken body smoking from electrical burns, blood streaming from wounds that would have killed a normal human instantly. But his eyes—his eyes still burned with defiant fury.

"Not... finished..." he wheezed, struggling to rise on arms that wouldn’t support his weight.

Xallon looked down at the broken human with something approaching respect.

"No," the three-horn said quietly, "I don’t believe you are." raising his massive fist slowly, preparing for the final punch.