Ragnarok: Alpha and Omega-Chapter 21 - 20: The Test

"Ugh," I muttered in frustration. This better not be some kind of setup.

Jason shook his head. Forget that for now—let's focus on what's in front of us.

Even so, something about this didn't sit right with me. This didn't feel like a random attack, it felt more like a test, measuring whether we were truly up to the challenge.

We quickly noticed several tables scattered around the room and wasted no time flipping them over for cover.

Jason glanced at me. I'll distract them while you sneak up on the humanoid robots and take them out. I'll also cover you from the flying drones.

I nodded. Got it.

With that, Jason opened fire, his bullets tearing through the air as he drew the drones' attention. Seizing the opportunity, I dashed forward, moving swiftly toward the back while staying low, preparing to strike.

A ninja-like humanoid robot hurled a shuriken at me. I barely spotted it in time, deflecting some with my dagger while rolling past the rest. But before I could recover, a sword-wielding humanoid swung at me. I barely dodged, feeling the rush of air as the blade passed inches from my face.

I retaliated, driving my dagger into the machine's armor, only to find that its material was insanely strong. My blade barely left a scratch. Frowning, I quickly analyzed its structure, looking for a weak spot. Nothing.

Meanwhile, Jason was still covering me, taking down drones one by one, but some of them were so durable that they took five shots before finally dropping. They were becoming overwhelming.

Desperate, I tried punching the humanoid to see if brute force would work. Bad idea. A sharp pain shot through my hand—it felt like I had just punched a wall of solid steel. The strategy quickly shifted from offense to defense as I found myself barely dodging a relentless storm of attacks—shuriken, swords, even a mace and a dagger.

I fell back to Jason, breathing heavily.

What's wrong? he asked, still firing at the drones.

They're made of ridiculously strong metal. My attacks won't do a thing.

Jason narrowed his eyes and took a shot at one of the humanoids. The bullet deflected off its armor without leaving a dent.

He clicked his tongue. Okay... that's bad. What do we do?

I looked at him. Do you have Excalibur with you?

Jason scoffed. Of course. Do you think I'd leave our most dangerous weapon at home?

Then summon it, I said. We don't have any other options.

Without hesitation, Jason materialized Excalibur. The moment it appeared, a powerful aura radiated from it, its runic engravings glowing with a mystical light.

Cover me, I told him. I need to get to the center.

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He nodded, reloading his pistols. Got it.

Jason fired at the humanoids again, the bullets doing nothing but at least distracting them long enough for me to slip under one and move into position. Gripping Excalibur tightly, I took a deep breath—then swung the sword in a wide arc.

A sharp whoosh cut through the air.

The next second, the humanoids were sliced apart like sheets of paper.

My eyes widened. Now we're talking.

With a grin, I surged forward, Excalibur in hand, slashing through the enemy ranks. The once-impenetrable machines fell before me like dominoes.

Meanwhile, Jason provided cover, taking down the laser-firing drones with pinpoint accuracy.

We were in sync. A perfect combination.

And this time, we weren't the ones on the defensive, we were now the hunters.

After a few minutes of repeating our strategy, something changed. The once-blue eyes of the humanoid robots suddenly turned red.

Hey, Ragnarok, Jason called out.

"Yeah?" I responded, still catching my breath.

I don't like the look in their eyes.

I narrowed my gaze. "You think so too?"

The moment I saw saw-blade machines emerging from their backs, I knew things had just gotten worse. Sure, Excalibur could cut through them, but if they swarmed me, I might not survive.

Jason! I shouted. Try materializing an EMP! If you can craft weapons, then technically, an EMP counts too, right?

He hesitated for a second before nodding. Yeah, but I'll need time to make one!

I glanced at the approaching humanoid robots, their blades whirring menacingly, while the drones above locked onto us, preparing to fire. I turned back to Jason.

That's easier said than done! I muttered.

Without waiting for a response, I grabbed one of his pistols, wielded Excalibur in my other hand, and charged forward. I slashed through the robots while firing at the drones, doing everything I could to hold them off. But it didn't last long.

One of the humanoids nearly took my head off—if not for Jason.

A sharp crack rang out as he fired an EMP bullet, stunning the machine just in time.

Then, without hesitation, he tossed an EMP bomb into the center of the battlefield.

A pulse of energy erupted from the device, followed by thick smoke rising from the robots. Their movements became sluggish, sparks flying from their joints.

My heart pounded in my chest. If Jason hadn't acted in time, I'd be dead.

Catching my breath, I turned to him with a grin and gave him a thumbs-up. He smirked and returned the gesture.

Just then, at the far end of the room, a large chamber door slowly slid open.

With the last sparks fading from the defeated machines, the heavy silence felt almost unnatural. A mechanical voice blared above us—

ENTER.

Jason and I exchanged glances, gripping our weapons tightly before stepping inside.

As we stepped inside, we found ourselves in a dimly lit lounge. At the center of the room, a man sat with his back to us, reclining in an office chair while watching a monitor displaying the battlefield we had just fought in.

Without turning around, he spoke. "So, this is the strength of the new Rankers. Chase wanted me to help out, but..." He paused, as if considering something, then let out a low chuckle. "I'd say they don't need any help at all. With the power they've shown here, they can already be considered top-tier Rankers."

Then, with a smooth motion, he turned his chair to face us.

The moment his gaze met ours, an overwhelming aura crashed into us like a tidal wave. It was suffocating, pressing down on us with the weight of sheer authority. Our knees nearly buckled under the pressure, but we gritted our teeth and held our ground.

He smirked. "Hmm. You two pass."

I stared at him, still feeling the lingering force of his presence. He was a man who had clearly seen countless battles—a veteran in every sense of the word.

His short, silver-streaked hair matched the jagged scar running down his temple. Sharp gray eyes, cold and calculating, studied everything in silence. Dressed in a worn leather coat, he radiated an effortless strength—like a warrior who had nothing left to prove but everything to teach.