Titanfall: Phase 3
1521 Words
[Location: Graviel (North Gate)]
(voice-over) The silence after the Titan’s collapse lasted only a breath. Then the Rift split wider, flooding the plaza with a howl that shook every wall. Shadows bent against themselves. Geometry warped. The air carried weight, pressing on every chest as if gravity itself had doubled.
[SYSTEM WARNING]
Final Phase: Core Collapse
Entity: Breach-Titan (Manifested Core)
HP: 18,000 (Regenerated)
Traits: Reality Fracture, Endless Spawn, Core Beam
(voice-over) The Titan’s shattered frame twisted. Where exoskeletal fragments had fallen, a mass of raw distortion reformed, darker than the night sky, its surface crawling with unstable textures. Its chest split open, revealing a pulsing crystalline core, an exposed heart of corrupted light. Every beat of that core sent ripples through Graviel, shaking the city’s very foundations.
Nyra (sharp and commanding): ‘Everyone focus on the core. Its shell is only a shell; destroy the heart, or Graviel falls with it.’
Guild Leader (yelling to troops): ‘Shift formation! Core priority, front line will hold the swarms, and casters prepare suppression fields!’
(voice-over) Shields locked once again, and trembled under stress. Lines of archers stepped into formation, arrows already glowing with charged enchantments. Mages raised trembling hands, each word of incantation pulling unstable power into fragile constructs. Kaien stood at the center, hands tightening, forming a fist. He took out the trinket out of his inventory and put it in the pocket near his heart. His trinket glowed erratically against his chest, pulsing like a heartbeat. Sweat traced down his jaw as his eyes locked on the Titan’s core. He could feel its pull, not just in the world around him, but in his bones, as if it was dragging the system’s instability through him.
(Kaien’s Pov) (inner thought) This isn’t random anymore. The Rift is watching me. The system anchored me, and now the Titan is hunting that anchor. If I falter, the breach will devour everything.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Core Pulse Charging
Time to Release: 18 seconds
Nyra: ‘Kaien, invert the pulse when it fires. Nothing else can neutralize that surge.’
(Kaien’s Pov) Understood. (steady voice)
(voice-over) Around them, panic threatened to rise again. Rift-crawlers poured from the cracks in relentless waves. Tanks fought desperately, shields slamming into the ground with rippling wards that cracked under endless claws. Torches and spell-light illuminated the plaza, but it was dim against the abyssal glow radiating from the Titan’s chest. Then, a voice rang out through the north zone.
Irene (Mage, Happy Guild): ‘I’ll suppress the swarms. Tom, hold my flank. Lisa, keep your arrows steady on the core.’
Tom (Berserker, Happy Guild): ‘I’ll keep them off you.’
Lisa (Ranger, Happy Guild): ‘My arrows won’t miss.’
Nyra: ‘Kaien. Stay with me. And synchronize or we will lose this city.’
(voice-over) Kaien nodded. His hand burned with light as he activated the skill.
(casts) “Error surge”.
[ACTIVE SKILL]
Inversion Applied - Error Surge Lv.2
- Raw system feedback floods outward. Enemy defenses destabilized.
(voice-over) Sparks of data burst across the Titan’s torso. For a heartbeat, its surface unraveled, fragments of code falling away in glowing dust. Nyra’s blade followed, slashing in arcs that resonated with Kaien’s pulse. Each strike sank deeper, leaving fractures across the shell. And as the countdown ended.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Core Beam Released
(voice-over) The Titan’s chest erupted with blinding energy. A lance of corrupted light tore across the plaza, ripping stone and soldier apart alike. But before it could consume the defenders entirely, Kaien raised his hand, forcing his body against the torrent.
[PASSIVE SKILL ACTIVATED]
Invert Output
- Incoming hostile energy redirected into opposite output.
(voice-over) The beam bent against his barrier, the searing light fracturing into shards of healing resonance. Instead of burning the frontline, waves of energy rushed into tanks and fighters, restoring wounds, sealing cracks in armor, knitting torn flesh. But the inversion had a cost. Kaien staggered, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth as the backlash tore through his veins. His HP plummeted, even as the rest of the raid healed.
Nyra: ‘Stay firm, Anchor. Just a few more seconds.’
(Kaien’s Pov) I can… hold it. (strained)
(voice-over) His knees shook, but he knelt one knee on the ground, until the beam finally dimmed. Around him, the frontline roared in renewed vigor, their strength restored, their morale unshaken.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Core Beam Neutralized
Raid Progress: 62%
Anchor Stability: Critical - Sustainability Required
(vision blurred) Huff... Huff...
Nyra (catching his arm, holding him upright): ‘You’ve done more than anyone else could. But this fight is not over yet. So, you need to hold on a little more.’
(voice-over) Above them, the Titan screamed, its voice a chorus of distortion. The swarm doubled, pouring from cracks in walls, from fissures in the air itself. Graviel’s streets became rivers of claws and fangs. Irene’s firestorm erupted, incinerating a line of crawlers. Tom’s hammer crashed down, breaking three in a single strike. Lisa’s arrows rained upon the Titan’s exposed heart, each shot splitting into tracer shards. But the Titan endured.
[SYSTEM WARNING]
Core Overdrive: Active
- HP Regeneration Increased.
- Swarms Reinforced.
Happy Guild Leader: ‘Push harder! Every second we stall, it grows stronger!’
(voice-over) Kaien’s chest burned as his trinket pulsed again. He forced his trembling hands to lift.
(casts) “Surge”.
[ACTIVE SKILL]
System Surge - Channels unstable energy, amplifying INT and WIS by 20%.
Side effect: HP Drain.
(voice-over) The world blurred. His veins seared with white-hot agony, but power surged through him. Every spell amplified, every inversion sharper. When his next cast detonated, it wasn’t a ripple; it was a storm.
(casts) “Error Surge”.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Triple Effect Activated
System Surge (Active) + Error Surge (Active) + Bug Bloom (Passive)
Damage: 800 True Damage
Effect Radius: 180 meters
(voice-over) The blast ripped across the battlefield. Crawlers evaporated in showers of glitching light. The Titan’s shell cracked wider, the core flaring with instability. But Kaien’s inventory flickered in the corner of his vision. Potions, scrolls, even rare items winked out of existence.
(grimly) It doesn’t matter. I’ll give everything if it results in our victory and everything settles down.
(voice-over) Nyra’s blade struck again, resonating with his surge. Together, their combined output sent shockwaves deep into the Titan’s chest. The crystal pulsed erratically, its rhythm faltering.
[SYSTEM GLOBAL NOTICE]
Stagger Threshold Approaching
Instability Index: 62% → 52%
(voice-over) The raid pressed harder, shouts echoing across the plaza. Shields locked tighter, mages burned their reserves, archers released their final enchanted arrows. Graviel’s defenders fought as one. But the Titan retaliated. Its claws slammed down, shattering half the plaza. Dozens of players were caught in the impact, their bodies disintegrating into shards of corrupted data. The scream that followed was not just pain; it was fear, raw and desperate.
AHHH... AHHH... (screams of fear)
(Forcing his legs forward, hands trembling when raising it high) All units... Focus fire. Strike it while it is faltering. (shouts)
(voice-over) For the first time, his voice carried command, not hesitation. The raid responded. Spells and blades converged on the Titan’s chest, ripping into its core.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Critical Core Damage Sustained
Raid Progress: 70%
(voice-over) The Titan reeled, its body collapsing into fractured wireframes. Nyra’s eyes glowed with steady resolve as she lifted her weapon beside Kaien.
Nyra: ‘One more synchronization. Anchor, with me.’
(voice-over) Kaien met her gaze, and for a moment the battlefield faded. His hand pulsed, her blade shimmered, and the rhythm aligned. Together, they became the link holding Graviel against annihilation. Their strikes landed in unison.
[SYSTEM GLOBAL NOTICE]
Phase Three Stagger Triggered
- Core Stability Collapsing
- Instability Index: 45%
(voice-over) The Titan shrieked, its form unraveling piece by piece. Shards of corrupted crystal fell like meteors across the plaza. The Rift itself shivered, shrinking, resisting, desperate to remain. Kaien dropped to one knee, the last of his strength bleeding out.
Nyra (hand steadied him): ‘Not yet. You must endure a bit more. The final collapse is near.’ (voice low)
(voice-over) The plaza burned with light and shadow, defenders crying out in unison as they drove forward. Graviel’s fate hung on the Anchor, his fragile body channeling power no mortal should withstand.
[SYSTEM WARNING]
Final Collapse Window Approaching…
(voice-over) The Titan screamed once more, its core flickering violently.
(Kaien’s Pov) (inner thought) This ends now. (grip tightened)
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Unstable Anchor Detected
- Skill Pathway: Resonance Initiated.
Dormant Node Activation Condition: Critical Instability
Synchronizing: 45% → 63% → 89%
(voice-over) The trinket at Kaien’s chest pulsed violently, threads of light fraying into corrupted signal. His hotbar flickered, one skill icon glowing faintly; the long-muted one he had never been able to use.
[SKILL NOTICE]
Bugged Skill (Dormant): Pending Awakening.
- Activation Threshold: Nearing.
Nyra (voice low but urgent): ‘Something in you is answering the Rift… Be prepared. Once it awakens, you may not be the same.’
(Kaien’s Pov) … Then if that’s the cost, I’ll bear it.
[SYSTEM WARNING]
Dormant Skill: Awakening Sequence Locked.
Final Condition Required: ???
- Writer
