They were right to be tense. Because at that moment, the humming they had heard since their arrival in the plain—that deep, constant sound like the breathing of a sleeping giant—began to intensify. Not gradually, though. Suddenly. As if something was awakening.

  The luminous crack that Rusty was reaching began to pulse frantically, and for the first time since the beginning of their crossing, the lightning pattern was interrupted.

  "The system," Eleonora whispered, her fox ears moving nervously. "The system has stopped."

  From the point where Rusty had been struck, the earth began to crack. Not thin fissures like those that scarred the plain, but deep fractures that widened as if something enormous was pushing from within. The ground shook, then lifted, then exploded upward in a fountain of earth and rock.

  A dark form emerged from the depths. First a hand. Metallic. Massive. It had articulated fingers like those of a mechanical giant. Then an arm followed, covered in dark metal armor that reflected the light.

  "What the...?" Brando began, but the words died in his throat when the rest of the figure emerged completely from the earth.

  [APPARITION: Mechanical Colossus]

  The screen appeared in front of each of the players.

  The Mechanical Colossus rose from the plain like a nightmare of metal and energy. Four meters tall, with shoulders as wide as an automobile and a presence that dominated the surrounding landscape. Its armor was composed of dark metal plates perfectly fitted together, decorated with golden inlays that pulsed with electric light. Three junction points were particularly visible: two at the shoulders and one at the pelvis that glowed more intensely than the others, as if they were focal points for the energy that powered the creature.

  In its right hand it held a massive sword, a blade as wide as a man's torso and three meters long, that sparkled with electrical energy. Arcs of power jumped along the blade's edge, creating a continuous hiss that filled the air.

  But its eyes were the most terrifying. Two electric lights that shone with cold, calculating intelligence. They weren't the dead eyes of a stupid machine. They were the eyes of something that thought, that observed, that judged.

  And in its left hand, with a delicacy that contrasted dramatically with its imposing nature, it held Rusty.

  The small Pseudo-Glacial was apparently unharmed, but seemed to be in a state of stasis. His three eyes were closed, his body was motionless, but his chest rose and fell regularly. He was breathing. He was alive.

  "He's still alive," Eleonora whispered, and in her voice was a mixture of relief and terror.

  Tommaso studied the creature with the analytical eyes of someone who had spent twenty years identifying threats and opportunities. "It's a machine. Probably a system defense mechanism."

  The Mechanical Colossus moved for the first time, and the sound of its steps made the earth tremble beneath their feet. Brando felt anger rising inside him like a tide of fire.

  "I don't care what it is," he said, and in his voice was a determination cold as ice. "It took Rusty."

  What happened next was so fast that Brando barely had time to register the movement. The Colossus attacked, and not with the ponderous slowness one would expect from a creature of those dimensions, but with a speed that defied every law of physics. Its four meters of height and tons of metal armor didn't seem to slow it down at all. In one instant it was motionless, the next it was airborne, launched in a jump that carried it ten meters forward, directly into the heart of their group.

  The impact when its feet touched ground was like a localized earthquake. The cracked ground of the plain fractured further, sending shock waves through the electric veins that ran beneath the surface. Brando was thrown to the side by the force of the impact, rolling on the packed earth while fragments of rock and sparks of energy hit him from every direction.

  "Everyone back!" Alessio's shout cut through the air like a blade, and in that same instant the veteran launched forward with the fury of someone who had spent twenty years fighting for survival.

  His tin armor thickened instantly and from his hands emerged the war hammer he had used against the Pyromaniac. The weapon's weight would have crushed a normal man, but in Alessio's hands it seemed light as a feather.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  "Come here, you piece of scrap metal!" he growled, charging toward the Colossus with the determination of a war ram.

  Alessio's hammer crashed against the Colossus's electric sword in an impact that sent shock waves through the air with a deafening sound. For a moment, it seemed Alessio could hold his own against the mechanical giant. His blows were precise and powerful. The hammer moved in perfect arcs, seeking weak points in the Colossus's armor, testing its defenses with methodical precision.

  But the Colossus was something different from everything they had faced before. It was decidedly cleverer than the Frost Goblins of the forest. It wasn't just bigger, stronger, and more resistant. While Alessio fought with the passion and experience of a human warrior, the Colossus fought with the relentless precision of a machine designed to kill. Unlike Alessio, who began showing signs of fatigue after a few exchanges, the Colossus seemed inexhaustible.

  The decisive moment came when Alessio attempted a particularly aggressive attack, raising his hammer above his head for a blow that could have split a building. But the Colossus had been created to read movements like that. Its electric sword rose, not to parry, but to counterattack.

  The blade sparkled with pure energy as it descended in a precise, calibrated, lethal slash. Time seemed to slow as the weapon approached Alessio's neck, where the rock armor was thinner to allow movement.

  CLANG!

  The sound was different from that of previous clashes. Not the crash of metal, but the dry, definitive noise of something breaking. The Colossus's electric sword struck Alessio's neck with surgical precision, cutting through the armor as if it were paper.

  Alessio's head detached completely from his body.

  For an instant that seemed to last an eternity, everything stopped. Alessio's head flew through the air, then rolled on the ground with a dull sound. His body swayed, his hands still gripping the hammer and his legs trembling under the weight of the armor.

  "Oh God, I'm dying! Oh God, I'm dying!" Alessio's voice came from the detached head, and there was a note of panic in it that none of them had ever heard before. The veteran who had guided them through twenty years of survival, who had faced every danger with soldierly stoicism, was screaming like a frightened child.

  Alessio's body moved awkwardly as it blindly searched for the lost head. His movements were uncoordinated, desperate, like those of a drunk trying to orient himself in the dark.

  "Alessio, stay still!" Eleonora launched forward with lightning speed, dodging a swipe from the Colossus that could have crushed her like an insect. Her hands grabbed Alessio's rolling head, and with a fluid movement she put it back in place.

  There was no magical light, no particular sound. The head simply reattached, as if it had been magnetic. Alessio moved his neck experimentally, rotating it left and right with the expression of someone expecting it to fall off again at any moment.

  "Ah... better. Much better," he said, and in his voice was profound relief. "I thought I was really dead."

  "You probably were," Eleonora whispered, observing the point where the head had reattached. "But I brought you back to life."

  The Colossus began swinging its sword, creating arcs of electrical energy that cut through the air like luminous whips. The group dispersed instinctively, moving away from the immediate danger zone. But even as they reorganized, Brando could see that the mechanical giant wasn't pursuing them with particular ferocity. It seemed almost... to be playing with them.

  "It's like it's testing our abilities," Giordano murmured, preparing his Cold Enhancer. The ring around his finger pulsed with blue light, reacting to his adrenaline and determination.

  Brando felt his Cold Veins respond to the call of combat. Rust Ice began forming around his hands. A mechanical enemy like this seemed perfect for his ability. Metal corroded, energy dispersed, mechanisms jammed. All he had to do was find the right spot.

  Tommaso, meanwhile, carefully observed the Colossus's structure with the analytical eyes that had kept the group alive for two decades. His rock armor thickened as he studied every detail of the enemy before them.

  "Look!" he suddenly shouted, pointing to the three junction points that pulsed more intensely than the others. "Those plates are the weak points! Two at the shoulders, one at the pelvis. They glow more intensely than the others!"

  Brando followed his gaze, and immediately understood what Tommaso meant. The plates weren't just decorative. They were focal points, control centers, perhaps the equivalent of joints in a human body. If they could damage them...

  "Worth a try," he said, concentrating all his energy into creating the most powerful Rust Ice sphere he had ever produced. The dark energy condensed around his hands, pulsing with a light that seemed to absorb that of the electric cracks in the ground.

  SWOOSH!

  The throw was perfect. The ice sphere flew through the air with sniper precision, hitting the Colossus's right shoulder plate dead-on. The impact was spectacular: arcs of black energy dispersed along the armor, and the metal began to corrode and rust visibly.

  Eleonora didn't waste time. With a feline movement that defied gravity, she launched into the air and drew her blades. In a fluid motion, she cut the corroded joint with surgical precision.

  CLANG!

  The Colossus's arm detached completely, falling to the ground with a noise that nearly shook the plain. The mechanical giant swayed slightly and its posture became unbalanced as it tried to compensate for the sudden loss of weight.

  "It worked!" Giordano shouted, excited. "The bastard isn't invincible!"

  But their celebration lasted exactly three seconds.

  The detached arm began to glow with intense light, and then, as if attracted by an invisible magnet, it lifted from the ground and flew toward the Colossus. It reattached to the body with a perfect metallic sound, as if it had never been detached. The corroded plates cleaned themselves, the armor repaired itself, and in a few instants the mechanical giant was whole again, exactly as if nothing had happened.

  "The Colossus can self-regenerate!" Eleonora shouted, frustrated. "How the fuck do we stop it?"