Volume 47 - Defenders no More

== Chapter 553 - The Execution ==
Andromeda slowly awoke to find herself suspended in the air, her arms, legs and horns trapped within some sort of golden crystal. At first, she tried to wrench herself free, but it was soon apparent that it was no use.
Then, she noticed an angel-like rock creature floating directly in front of her, its right arm raised into the air. She glared for a moment, then looking around to see if she could spot Ares. And sure enough, there he was, Sanjuro also standing beside him. Sanjuro...she remembered him well. What a creep, he was, and yet the Galactic Defense Force saw fit to hire him...
"We are here today to witness the execution of Andromeda." Ares declares. "She has killed hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people, and represents a clear and present danger to us all."
Then, the golem forms a massive pillar of energy from its hand, like a blade of light.
"Per Custodian Edict, she shall be sliced in half and removed from reality by Oketur's hand of judgement." Ares continues. "So that we may all live in peace forevermore, never to worry again that we, our friends, our families, our nations, our species, may be in jeapordy from such an unstable and sociopathic individual. Begin the execution."
The golem swings the blade down at Andromeda, who closes her eyes, crying, waiting for it to be over...but though she feels its heat, the blade itself never reaches her.
It had been blocked by a massive energy shield, which seemed to be absorbing the energy of the blade to strengthen itself!
She quickly turned around and saw Kiyomasu holding out his cane, Jack looking on in shock and awe, but predominantly relief and dread. She smiled for a moment, before Dione punched the crystals to free her, rushing down to place her on the ground.
"...Th...thanks..." Andromeda breathes. "Wh-why..."
"You mean the world to me, Anne." Jack says. "We're not just going to let you die for stupid reasons, especially not after you've fully left the influence of Darkstar. I can tell you've changed...even if these guys can't."
They turn towards Ares, who glared coldly at them, keeping his calm expression, before drawing his blade.
"Surrender her to us." He orders. "Now."
"That's my niece you're tryin' to kill." Falqo retorts. "If you wanna kill her, then you'll have to go through us. All of us."
And right then, as Dione looked around at them, and Kiyomasu nodded to her, she sighed, as the air around her briefly distorted.
A moment later, her skin seemed to turn dark blue, as down-curling horns revealed themselves.
"You're...a Socqreath...?" Kasper remarks.
"Yep." Dione answers. "Honestly, the reason I hid it was because of guys like Richard."
"We can talk about it later." Jack replies. "Right now, I think we need to fight this guy."
And at that, they all turn back towards Ares, ready to face him down.
== Chapter 554 - The Bout against Justice ==
Falqo was quick to block Ares' slash, but just barely, as he dodged the next and slashed at the back of the officer's knee. Ares blocked that slash, and another slash aimed at his stomach, using armor plating on his forearm to deflect Falqo's shotgun.
Dione throws a punch at Ares, who leaps back to let the punch hit the ground, shaking it and creating a large crater. She leaps into the air to swing a kick down at him, as he once again dodges out of the way and slashes her leg, only for Kiyomasu to block that slash with his cane sword, the cane sword turning into a cane gun as he fires plasma at Ares.
Ares had been blasted back by it, but once again his armor protected him, as he slashed creatures made from pixelated polygons summoned by Kasper, then being fire at by Jack, and slashing most of the bullets out of the air, though one does graze his cheek, causing it to bleed.
Shunsuke fires at Ares from behind, the GDF's officer just barely noticing in time and blocking the bullet, as another hits his knee, causing him to softly grunt in pain. As he is distracted by his shot kneecap, Shunsuke leaps down at him to throw numerous punches, the first few landing, the next few being blocked.
"Leave us alone!" Shunsuke shouts, throwing another punch at Ares...right as his wrist was slit open. "Argh!"
Ares holds nothing back, slashing Shunsuke across the chest vertically but slightly diagonally, and then immediately slashing his stomach horizontally and kicking him back.
Jack, Falqo and Kiyomasu all start firing at Ares in staggered unison, Ares blocking and dodging the attacks before rushing to slash at them, the three of them dodging while Andromeda slashes him from behind. He is initially cut, but then whirls around to block the next few slashes and swing his blade at her horns.
Candice, just in time, had managed to block the blade with her own Psychic Weapons, but she could tell the Huscil in the blade was disrupting them, and swiftly tackled Andromeda out of the way of the next slash as Dione punched Ares across the execution site, creating a sonic boom from the punch, her fist wearing a Psychic Weapon in the shape of a gauntlet.
Ares manages to land on his feet, snapping his arm back into place, before blocking more slashes from Andromeda and bullets from Jack. However, his divided attention caused him to take a few bullets and slashes, bleeding from his new wounds.
Shunsuke kicks Ares from behind to send him stumbling forward, as Falqo and Kiyomasu slash at him. He blocks their slashes, but was slashed and shot from behind by Jack and Andromeda.
"Urgh..." He groans, spinning around for a moment to block all their next attacks at once, right as Dione sends him tumbling back with a right hook, and Kasper creates a cage of energy around him.
"Ready to gi-" Falqo starts, before Kiyomasu suddenly blocks an attempted stab from Sanjuro.
"Forget about me?" Sanjuro asks, slashing at them as Kiyomasu once again managed to block it, creating a forcefield around his blade to keep it from melting as he blasts at him. Sanjuro is quick to dodge, swinging his blade at them again as they all duck, dozens of buildings sliced right off their foundations behind and around them.
"Quick reflexes, for people Ares had roughed up!" Sanjuro proclaims, retracting the blade back down its normal size before preparing another stab aimed at Kasper.
"I have had enough of this..." Ares mutters, as he stood back up, his wounds partly healed by now, and his horns grew in length, resembling a headpiece.
"Oh?" Sanjuro asks, turning towards him...before slightly opening his clearly-bionic eye to see the GDF's officer holding a sword-shaped Psychic Weapon where the Huscil sword had once been. "...Oh...oh, no."
"You shall all be purged." Ares states, as the sword explodes into a massive whirlind, a hurricane almost, of blades!
== Chapter 555 - Razor-Sharp Punishment ==
Kiyomasu immediately tried to summon forcefields around everyone, Sanjuro vanishing into the storm of blades as multiple slashes from just before the forcefields went up started gushing blood!
"GAH!!!!!" Kasper screams, as Candice turns towards him in horror. Andromeda, gritting her teeth, tries to slash at Ares, but the thousands of blades block her own Psychic Weapons, and she is slashed across the torso and knees by him.
Every bullet Jack, Shunsuke and Falqo fired was shredded into metal ribbons right as they left the chambers, Dione covering her body in armor to throw multiple punches.
Ares dodges the punches, and slashes at Dione's armor to disrupt it and let blades start slicing into her stomach. She growled from the pain and swung an ankle kick down at him, which he leaped back from, the shockwave, briefly dissipating that section of the storm before it returned, Dione holding her stomach to both protect it and try not to buckle over. 
Kiyomasu fires another blast at Ares, but the officer merely blocks the blast with the blades, then shredding a bomb that was fired and shielding him from the explosion. Ares points his finger at Kiyomasu, and unleashes a spear-like blast of psychic energy right at his stomach! Kiyomasu, just noticing in time, barely has time to stop it as he is blasted back.
Leaping into the storm from above, Erzomaur slashes Ares ares in the back, Ares whirling around to block the slashes as the Shazarak's Huscil body mostly keeps the blades from cutting him too badly. However, as Ares blocks more of Erzomaur's slashes, he sees an opening, and quickly dashes directly in front of him to slash him in the diaphragm, or at least where the diaphragm could be. Erzomaur stumbles back, barely blocking another slash from Ares with his tail as the blades began to further cut into his organic parts, Ares then blasting him back again and kicking him right in the chest.
Ares is quick to turn the entire storm directly on Erzomaur, beginning to shred any part of him that was not made of Huscil, making him scream in pain, however, quick into the ordeal...the storm stops.
Erzomaur collapses to the ground, as the GDF's officer turns towards Candice and, without a word, slashes at her horns. Right before the slash could land, however, it was blocked by a green barrier, one formed by Kasper. And from behind him, Andromeda, Kiyomasu and Falqo were about to slash right at him, Ares turning his head and gaze to face them right as they swung their own blades.
== Chapter 556 - Magenta ==
Cyborgized humans of all shapes and sized were shot in the head, chest, center of mass and knees before they could react, all shot down by Reuben, who kept firing at them before whirling around to bash one's head off with the gun in that hand used as a blunt instrument. A larger cyborg rushes at him, but he slides beneath it and shoots it in the back, the cyborg whirling around to swing its arm down at him...but he tossed his gun into the air, caught the arm, slammed the cyborg to the ground, shot it in the head to kill it as well, and then caught his gun, right as the entrance sealed shut.
"Aren't they beautiful?" Saparbek asks from somewhat, using some sort of speaker to project his voice around the area. "They are nowhere near as crude as the Shazarak's sad escuses for prosthetics."
Then, the windows turned transparent, Reuben shielding his eyes from the star before adjusting and seeing Saparbek standing on an open hallway in front of said star. Magenta floodlights began to turn on around the arena in a circle, a massive fan spinning above.
Reuben turned back towards Saparbek, pointing his gun up at him.
"You do know Atlas is just using you, right?" Reuben demands.
"Is he?" Saparbek retorts. "Our plans are exclusive from each other, I want to advance humanity while Atlas has no care for what humanity does after all this. Besides, he was wearing a cloak and mask when we first met, not exactly trustworthy."
"Once he has what he wants, he'll toss you aside like trash." Reuben says.
"You mean like you did?" Saparbek hisses, glaring at the Human Star Realm's new leader. "You cast me out because you saw my plans as mad, but I was just trying to accelerate the inevitable. We're going to abandon our fleshy bodies one day, why not now? In fact...let me show you the fruits of my research."
Saparbek then raises his left arm, revealing that his hand was prosthetic, before the 'fingernails' on said hand glow magenta, and Saparbek's insignia appears in the screen on his forearm. Reuben turns towards the other entrance as magenta lights flicker on from inside. And then, he hears metal footsteps, scraping against the ground.
He lowers his gun down towards the figure, who fully steps out of the shadows, more machine than man, with a completely blank expression, yet his white skin, black hair and blue human eye were all immediately recognizable, Reuben's eyes widening upon seeing it.
It was Richard Robinson.
== Chapter 557 - Mechanical Puppet ==
"Wh...what...what the Hell is this?!" Reuben roars. "If THIS is what you meant by transhumanism, then you're not getting your position back!"
"Oh, that's fine." Saparbek replies, smiling darkly. "You'll be just like Robinson, soon enough."
Richard shambled towards Reuben at quite a high speed, as Reuben fires at him...but the blasts hit a personal forcefield surrounding the cyborg.
"Gh?!" Reuben grunts, dodging a clawing from Richard and kicking him in the stomach, gritting his teeth in pain when the forcefield burns his leg, though the kick does manage to send Richard stumbling back for a moment.
Reuben then noticed the device attached to Richard's back, the forcefield generator no-doubt, and rushed towards the former leader of the ASTF, sweeping him off his feet with his right leg. Richard falls, but grabs Reuben's face, starting to burn it as well.
"RRRRRGH!!!!!" Reuben growls, pointing the gun in his left hand at the shield generator and firing, before pulling Richard's hand off his face and kicking him in the stomach while punching him in the face, then leaping back and holding his burned face in pain.
For a moment, Richard twitched and convulsed, then going limp for a moment more. And then...he screamed in agony.
"WHERE THE HELL AM I?!" Richard howls, before looking down at his prosthetic arm, and seeing in it a reflection of his half-machine face. "WH-WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!"
Then, strings of magenta energy attach to nodes on Richard's limbs and back, all from Saparbek's fingertips. Richard is forced to stand back upright, and shamble back towards Reuben.
"...Kill...me..." He manages to whimper. "KILL ME, PLEASE!!!!!"
Richard then rushed at Reuben, panting and wheezing, as Reuben, grimacing, blocks Richard's punches before kicking him to the ground, and then firing point-blank at his chest.
Reuben hears clapping, and turns back towards Saparbek, who was holding his pistol in his right hand. "Just so you know..." Saparbek mocks, sounding much more animated than normal. "...all those 'robots' you killed were just like poor old Richard, only he had not yet reached the final stage. And now he may never."
"You're a madman, Saparbek." Reuben retorts, pointing the gun in his right hand back up towards the scientist. "When all this is over, you'll be put in a cell right next to Fulke's."
"Oh, I'd love to see you try." Saparbek taunts, still smiling as he pointed his own gun at Reuben, turning a dial on it.
== Chapter 558 - The Puppetmaster Runs ==
Reuben points his other gun at the ground, firing a pulse blast from it to launch himself towards Saparbek, who fires numerous blasts at him before leaping back to avoid a stomp. However, Saparbek is unable to avoid Reuben's punch to the face, and subsequent kick to the stomach, metallic clanging being heard from both impacts as Atlas' scientist tumbles up against the massive window.
"Wh-" Reuben starts, before noticing Saparbek getting up and beginning to run, swiftly giving chase as he fires multiple bullets at him, Saparbek using a hard light shield from his prosthetic to block.
As Saparbek blocked a few more rounds, he fires a laser at Reuben's left elbow, causing him to nearly drop his gun from the pain. Right before Saparbek had fired again, Reuben had leaped over where he was aiming, and fired at him from above.
Saparbek leaps back from the gunfire, before making a particular hand sign that causes gravity in the arena to turn off. Reuben is sent flying back from the recoil of his own bullets, as Saparbek seemed to magnetically ground himself to the floor and keep running.
"Dammit!" Reuben shouts, firing a pulse blast behind himself to nearly slam into Saparbek.
As Reuben got up, he saw Saparbek make a different hand sign, causing turrets to appear from the walls, ceiling and floor, firing more lasers at him. Reuben groaned from the constant pain, using the right side of his body to deflect all lasers from the front while shooting all the turrets from behind, then firing at the rest.
He notices Saparbek running again, and leaps after him, right as gravity suddenly shifts sideways for him, slamming him into the window, while for Saparbek it seemed to reverse, causing him to land on the ceiling. Reuben tried to fire at him, but his gun clicked, out of ammunition.
"Well, then..." Saparbek remarks, drawing his cutlass and leaping down at Reuben, greatly increasing gravity between them to slam into him with the left side of his body, causing another metallic clang, as well as a sonic boom.
Reuben is sent flying back, most of the left side of his uniform destroyed, now revealing the prosthetic half of his body. Saparbek slashes at him, but he blocks the slashes, then grabbing the blade and shattering it by tightening his grip, before firing at Saparbek with his pulse pistol to send him flying.
"Argh!" Saparbek yells, tumbling once more as he fell off the raised hall.
Reuben takes a moment to catch his breath and reload his kinetic pistol, before hearing something akin to helicopter blades and rocket thrusters.
Slowly, a massive black mech, covered in gold plating with magenta lights, rose into the air in front of him from where Saparbek had fallen. The mech was equipped with what seemed like rocket launchers, grenade launchers, miniguns, laser turrets, electric cannons, and flamethrowers, with hydraulic presses for feet and jackhammers for hands.
"I think you can now tell that I knew you were coming." Saparbek quips. "...Damn you." Reuben retorts, gritting his teeth in anger and pain.
== Chapter 559 - Angel of Steel ==
Saparbek immediately fires an electric blast at Reuben, who rolls out of the way to dodge it but was still hit by the beam forking.
"RRGH!!!" Reuben near-snarls, lightning scars appearing across his body as he immediately fires at the electric cannon to destroy it. Then, the mech unleashed a storm of missiles, which he was quick to blast himself away from as they kept rushing near him, exploding and destroying the walls and floor.
He noticed grenades flying down at him, and shot them out of the air, the mech firing bullets at him through the fireball and smoke cloud, Reuben barely blocking.
Reuben dodged the next volley of bullets as soon as he could, and blasted the smoke cloud away before noticing his pulse pistol was at 62% charge. He didn't have time to worry, however, as Saparbek had the mech unleash numerous harpoons attached to cables at Reuben.
He manages to dodge them, but sees an electric surge rushing through them. Thinking quickly, he throws a piece of debris at the harpoons to sever them from the cables, sparks and electricity flying wildly from them.
Saparbek points the laser turret at Reuben before firing, Reuben having positioned himself to reflect it just then.
"Argh!" Reuben growls, firing at the laser turret to jam it and keep it one spot before rolling out of its way, then firing at the minigun to jam that as well. Saparbek, watching this unfold from inside the mech, presses a button inside the briefcase that was acting as the control panel to the mech, which caused the mech to send powerful gusts of wind at him.
Reuben tried to stand his ground, but could feel himself sliding backwards, his foot scraping against the floor in a horrible screeching sound, before he managed to fire at one of the wings, destroying the turbine inside it and disorienting the mech.
"Hmph..." Saparbek grunts, before trying to rush at Reuben to shred him with the other turbine, but Reuben ducks beneath that one and fires into that turbine to jam it, causing it to explode and blast the mech to the side, though not enough to make it fully fall off the arena floor. It managed to stand back up, the massive camera it had for a face zooming in on him.
"Your pulse pistol is at fifty percent, Hammond." Saparbek notices. "I wouldn't recommend trying to keep using it so casually."
"Keep talking, asshole..." Reuben replies weakly. "...while you're safe and cozy inside that glorified tank of yours."
== Chapter 560 - Man and Machine ==
Saparbek immediately pointed the grenade launcher at Reuben and fired, Reuben leaping over the grenade, catching the next, and throwing it at the grenade launcher, destroying it and causing the mech to briefly stumble.
Saparbek, reorienting, has the mech stomp on Reuben, who had avoided the first stomp but not the next, trying his best to push the hydraulic press back with his prosthetic arm before noticing a jackhammer rushing at him, and blasting himself out of the way to trip the mech up, firing at the jackhammer to jam even it before trying to blast the mech off the arena with another pulse.
Saparbek uses the jammed jackhammer to keep himself steady, and fires another volley of missiles at Reuben. Reuben, trying to stay upright, barely dodges most of them, kicking one right back at the missile launcher to destroy that as well.
Now panting a bit from both heat and exhaustion, Reuben sees the mech about to stomp on him again, and rolls out of the way before kicking the functioning jackhammer into that leg, destroying the jackhammer and severely damaging the leg. Then, he fires at the camera eye to destroy that as well, leaping to the side to avoid another stomp.
"If I can't see you, then I'll just scorch the earth!" Saparbek yells, having the mech use its flamethrowers and start rapidly spinning around to torch the entire arena in flames, quickly creating a spreading ring of fire along with a thick cloud of smoke.
Reuben, keeping an eye on where the mech was, waits for it to leap at him, rolling to avoid yet another stomp before grabbing a piece of debris to throw into one of the flamethrowers, jamming it and causing the mech to begin overheating.
"No..." Saparbek groans, noticing Reuben placing his pulse pistol inside the other flamethrower and firing it! "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Then, as Reuben stepped back and assumed a defensive stance, the mech exploded violently, its parts flying everywhere and hitting the ground in an enormous plume of flame and smoke.
Right as Reuben was about to let out a sigh of relief, he hears a metallic clang, and a simultaneous thud, from behind him, one much lighter than the mech's charred remains.
Sciarhiel's President turns around, and sees Saparbek standing there in an almost-kneeling position, before slowly standing back up, somewhat slumped. Most of his clothes had burned off in the explosion, and a lot of his skin was somewhat burned as well...and so, too, the metal that made up half his body!
Sparks flew from Saparbek's cybernetic half, the same color scheme as everything else he created, as he looked up at Reuben, glaring viciously at him with the still-human half of his face, teeth gritted, while the mechanical half merely showed a bright magenta circle within the eyehole.
"...No..." Reuben breathes, Saparbek fully standing upright and assuming a combat position, while drawing a gold-hilted hangar from a sheath, the lower half of said hangar's Huscil blade glowing bright magenta.
"It's like I've said so many times..." Saparbek sneers, illuminated by the fire and obscured by the smoke. "...we were bound to cast aside our flesh eventually."
== Chapter 561 - Transhuman ==
Reuben barely had time to react when Saparbek was upon him, slashing at his throat. He just barely, narrowly, managed to block the slash with his prosthetic arm, being grabbed in said arm by Saparbek and flung across the arena, nearly into one part of the ring of fire
"Ghhhh!" Reuben grunts, before firing at the scientist, who sidestepped the bullet so fast it almost seemed like teleportation, all while still running towards Reuben.
Saparbek then ran at him while grinting one foot against the metal, lighting it aflame to kick at at his jaw with. Reuben dodged, but was hit in the chest by that same foot, now rocket-propelled.
Reuben once again tried to fire at Saparbek, but Saparbek knocked the gun out of Reuben's hand and kicked him towards the center of the arena, grinding his sword across the ground to set it aflame as well before slashing. Reuben managed to dodge, or so he thought, as a gash appeared in the bionic side of his body, sparks, cables, tubes and wires spilling out, along with blood.
Reuben gritted his teeth once more, and threw a punch at Saparbek, who batted his forearm aside with his own before headbutting Reuben, sending him stumbling back once again before preparing another slash.
Reuben grabs one of the jackhammers to try and block the slashes with, but it only blocked one before the second cut through, and he was forced to roll out of the way to avoid it, feeling a gash appear in his organic shoulder.
He roared in pain, trying to sweep Saparbek off his feet, but the cybernetic scientist leaped over the sweep and went to stab him in the head. Reuben once again rolled out of the way, then grabbing Saparbek's sword arm by the wrist and punching him repeatedly in the chest, mostly managing to ignore the pain that came with punching solid metal with a broken human hand.
Then, before Reuben could react, he felt a sharp, indescribable agony in his left arm...or rather...where his left arm used to be.
Reuben's remaining human forearm flew into the fire, as Saparbek swiftly stabbed him in the stomach. The pain was so immense that he couldn't even really scream, his mouth gaping as wide as his eyes, blood beginning to spurt from it and boil in the heat of the inferno surrounding the two of them.
"You know you only lasted this long because of your bionic half, right?" Saparbek asks rhetorically, smiling once more. "You'd have suffocated by now if your lungs were organic, and so'd have I. It's our cybernetics that allowe us to survive in such conditions, and put us above regular humans like Jack."
"S-says...the cheater...who n-needed...t-t-to...whittle me...d...d-down..." Reuben manages, groaning weakly from the pain, as groaning weakly was all he could do now. He tried to lift his bionic hand to Saparbek's throat, but lowered it, not only due to losing the strength, but also the resolve. He probably couldn't choke Saparbek to death anyway.
Then, as everything began to fade in and out, his vision becoming blurry and wobbly, in part due to his own head swimming and in part due to heat distortions, he saw Saparbek placing his forearm in front of his face, showing the eye, as his vision became increasingly magenta.
"I believe we could...improve your prosthetics." Saparbek remarks. "But first...you'll get the mental anaesthetic."
Reuben tried his absolute best to resist, but he could feel himself slipping away, becoming increasingly dazed, increasingly tired, increasinly weak.
However, right as he was about to fall under Saparbek's control, his forearm is suddenly blasted, the screen destroyed!
"Ugh!" Saparbek roars, leaping away while pulling his sword out of Reuben's chest, letting him fall to the ground. "And who the Hell do you think you are?!"
"A 'friend' of one of your students..." A voice replied calmly, almost aloof. Reuben managed to turn his gaze towards the figure, as Saparbek fully turned towards them.
Standing there, with Shazarak prosthetics including a mask, yet the same hairstyle and clothing style as ever, spinning his sword around his finger as a taunt...
...was Betram Bartrop.
== Chapter 562 - Light at the End ==
"...You worked alongside Kazuyuki." Saparbek realizes.
"And you taught him everything you knew, right?" Bertram asks, once again sounding nonchalant about the whole situation. "Got abducted and transformed a while back, but managed to kill the bastards before they could take too much."
"...What inferior machinery." Saparbek retorts, leering at Bertram, who just leered back. "The Shazarak are nothing more than savages attaching random metal parts to organics, no elegance or discipline whatsoever."
"Yeah, yeah..." Bertram replies. "...let's just cut the bullshit, because I'm not letting you kill Rosenstock's successor."
"...Fine." Saparbek finally says. "If you are so eager to donate yourself to science, then let me help you speed up the process."
Blades clashed, sparks flew, flames roared. Saparbek was blocking all of Bertram's slashes and Bertram all of Saparbek's, right as the scientist went to kick the teacher in the stomach, he flipped over the kick and blasted him forwards.
Saparbek rights himself mid-air and lands on his feet, blocking Bertram's next few slashes before ducking beneath one and slashing at his stomach. Bertram narrowly avoids that and slashes at Saparbek's side, his sword's blade clanging against the metal and carbon fiber that made up the entire left side of Saparbek's body.
Bertram leaps back from another slash, and unleashes another blast of light to send Saparbek sliding back.
"What's wrong?" Bertram taunts. "Not used to fighting someone you haven't weakened a whole bunch before directly engaging in combat?"
Saparbek doesn't verbally respond, instead running at Bertram to slash again. Bertram blocks that slash, but Saparbek grabs his wrist and slashes him across the chest, sending Bertram stumbling back a bit before kicking him in the stomach to nearly send him into the ring of fire.
Bertram manages to right himself and duck beneath a slash to the throat, then twirling away from a kick to the kneecap and blasting at Saparbek again, though this time Saparbek had positioned his blade to reflect it.
Bertram tosses a bomb at Saparbek, who slices through it and through Bertram, who exploded into particles of light. Right as Saparbek turned around, he was blasted once again, and forced to stab his sword into the ground to stop his sliding into the flames, then seeing a column of light appear around him.
"You're pretty good..." Bertram says breathlessly. "...but Kazuyuki only got out of this with his control over others' tech, and I bet destroying your gauntlet shut that option for you."
Saparbek only glares at Bertram, as the pillar shrinks, then exploding violently as Bertram shields Reuben from it.
Bertram looked on for a moment, before seeing a flicker of magenta light from the smoke cloud!
Saparbek rushes out at it, slashing directly at Bertram's midsection, as Bertram just barely manages to block the slash, batting Saparbek's sword arm aside, stabbing his own sword into Saparbek's chest, and unleashing a massive beam of light from his sword through the scientist's entire chest cavity.
Saparbek's breathing was labored and heavy, like wheezing, as he slowly looked down at where his chest cavity used to be, now only sparking and bleeding, as he grabs Bertram by the neck with his free hand, the other trying desperately to hold onto the hanger.
"...Killing me...won't...stop it..." Saparbek manages. "...Eventually...I...assure you...all flesh...will become...steel...it is inevitable."
And then, Saparbek's grip around Bertram's neck loosened, as he dropped his sword, and collapsed to the ground, the lights of his body flickering for a moment before fading out entirely. He exhaled for the last time, his organic eye glossing over. All that was left of his body's activity now was a pool of blood, and a stream of sparks.
Reuben looked on for a moment, sighing in relief, before he noticed Bertram extending a hand to him. He grabs it, as Bertram helps him up and begins to help him walk through the hole in the flame wall he had created.
"You've been pretty roughed up, huh." Bertram remarks. "Let's get you patched up."
Reuben only nodded shakily in response, his breathing almost as labored as Saparbek's.
== Chapter 563 - Judgment of the Galaxy ==
Candice was clasping Ares' blade between her bionic arms, trembling and silently crying, as Ares tried to wrench his blade free of her grip. The others were on the ground, defeated, it was just her who remained able to fight.
"P-please..." She begs him. "Please...let her go...we just want...to protect everyone..."
"...After this stunt..." Ares retorts. "...the Human Star Realm shall soon cease to exist."
"It appears I'm late to the party..." Atlas remarks from behind Ares. "...and it also appears that Saparbek has died, meaning his Damocles Virus will be ravaging your computer systems by now."
"...What?" Ares demands, turning around to face Atlas.
"Hello, Ares." Atlas says. "My name is Atlas Abraxas, Heir to all Socqreath."
"Really...? You...?" Andromeda mutters, trying to force herself back to her feet, as Kiyomasu first looks on at Atlas in shock, and then at Andromeda in dread.
"You're the creep...who's been controlling our lives?" Jack grunts, also trying to stand back up.
"Hmm, I believe I am." Atlas replies. "Hello, Jack. I do appreciate your role in all this." 
"Shut the Hell up!" Andromeda roars, managing to stand. "He's not your fucking pawn and neither am I! What the Hell do you even WANT with me?! Is it just obsession like Bellatrix had?! Did I screw up your life somehow like with Phantom?!"
Kiyomasu's expression only became more one of dread, as Atlas' smile became more malicious, more cruel, more amused. "So Kiyomasu never bothered to tell you?" Atlas asks. "I'd have thought my old Chess teacher would have tried to put all the pieces on the table."
"What is he..." Shunsuke starts, as Dione looks at Kiyomasu.
"No, Andromeda, you're not my pawn." Atlas clarifies. "A pawn is an interchangable piece, unimportant except for the structure of the plan. No, in the context of Chess, you...are the Queen, and I the King."
"Oh, so you really are a creep..." Falqo retorts.
"Oh, not like that." Atlas corrects. "You see, really, neither one of us is a King or a Queen...yet. And when the time comes, only one of us will be able to claim such a ti--"
"CUT YOUR BULLSHIT!!!!!" Andromeda screams, Jack looking on in shock. "I AM DONE WITH EVERYONE GIVING ME THE GODDAMN RUNAROUND!!!!! IF YOU CAME HERE TO TELL US YOUR PLAN, THEN JUST FUCKING TELL IT!!!!!"
"A-Anne..." Jack weakly replies.
"No, it's alright." Atlas interrupts with a chuckle. "She has every right to demand the truth, after all this time. After all, it's usually frowned upon for family to keep secrets..."
"...f...family...?" Andromeda breathes.
"So you've finally figured it out..." Atlas says. "...Andromeda Abraxas."
== Chapter 564 - Cards Unveiled ==
Everyone was silent.
"...no...no..." Andromeda mutters. "...No...NO...NO!!!!!"
"I had long had grand ambitions for the universe at large." Atlas explains. "But to truly become worthy, I needed to defeat my sibling in fair combat while we were both at our peak. That sibling is you, Anne."
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!!!" Andromeda roars, shaking, crying and hyperventiliating. "Wh-WHY?! WHY?!"
Kiyomasu lowered his hat over his eyes.
"These past two decades have transpired as they did for one, and only one, purpose." Atlas continues, raising his hand towards her. "To strengthen us both, for the time of the challenge. That time is soon, very soon, and so we must both prepare."
Andromeda glared so viciously at Atlas that everyone there was holding their breath.
"Whomever wins the challenge shall rule the universe." Atlas finishes. "See you soon, Sister."
Andromeda tried to slash him, but in a flash of light, he was gone...or perhaps had never physically been there to begin with.
"...Gh...hh...hrrh..." Andromeda growled, slowly turning towards Kiyomasu, who was kneeing down before her, holding his hat to his chest.
"I am truly sorry, Andromeda." Kiyomasu says.
"...Apology not accepted." Andromeda retorts, beginning to walk away from him.
"Anne..." Jack starts, before trailing off immediately.
"...She needs time, Jack." Dione tells him.
"...We don't have time." Kiyomasu replies. "Indra and Proto did not take part in this attack at all, which means I have a pretty good idea of where they are."
"A PRETTY GOOD IDEA?!" Andromeda shrieks. "IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU TAUGHT ATLAS EVERYTHING YOU KNEW, AND BOTH OF YOU HAVE BEEN MANIPULATING MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!!!"
"I'm not omniscient." Kiyomasu responds sternly. "And honestly...I didn't tell you because I was waiting for you to be ready."
Andromeda didn't respond.
"...She still needs to be executed." Ares says. "To foil Atlas' plans."
"Don't be ridiculous..." Kiyomasu retorts. "...if you kill her now, he'll just abandon the challenge and take over the universe anyway. We need her alive if we're to have any hope of stopping him!"
"What did we just walk into?" Bertram asks, still helping Reuben walk.
"...We don't have time to waste." Kiyomasu answers. "We need to get back to New Earth, as soon as possible."
An army of soldiers stood in the center of Farfair, flanked by tanks, drones, robots and airships, all staring up at the top of a building where, silhouetted by the sun behind, stood Proto, brandishing two blades with four more equipped on its body.