The hivemind is conquering for me? Chapter 766: Step 11: Storm The Ramp.

Before diving in, I nodded to the Knights while scanning the comms for that one vital piece of intel I required.

"Castellans, have your scans of the base pinpointed the giant mech I mentioned? I'm puzzled why it hasn't joined the fray yet."

A few moments passed before a voice, fractured and distorted, crackled back.

"Negative Sentinel. Our scanners detect nothing that large. Awaiting your orders."

That response made me scowl. I knew exactly what I'd spotted. 'Where the hell is it?'

No time to dwell on it further. I faced the knights, hoisted Zircon high. "Forward, brothers!"

Through the chaos of the battlefield we carved with savage rage. My fresh shield let me unleash aggression freely, tanking Drakoshi strikes while countering fiercely.

Clinging tight to my sides, Nerissa and Gabrielle spun like deadly tempests. Nerissa wielded her spear with the grace of countless millennia, embodying a lethal ballet against the Drakoshi.

Gabrielle mirrored her style. Her dual hook swords crippled foes before finishing them off in droves, yet she glanced my way after each slay to ensure I was fine, which hampered her pace compared to Nerissa and me.

Sithrik shadowed me like a guardian veil, slaying any threats slipping behind or toward the knights, while Onyx scouted ahead, culling the masses. Despite her compact form, Onyx's speed and lethality far surpassed mine. She was a supreme hunter shrunk to a tiny form. Pure annihilation.

Our advance toward the ramp drew enemy swarms from every direction. The Phalanx provided cover fire, shooting past the knights. Rhea and Willow rushed to join, and Tamara at last reached my position, deployed in the second wave as shock troops.

After a squire returned my Deimos rifle, I passed it to Willow, who wielded it with lethal precision.

Rhea echoed Valerica's ferocity. She gripped a plasma pistol in one hand, melting gaping wounds into bigger Drakoshi effortlessly, and hammered close-range foes with fists showcasing her Hyllus power.

Tamara thrived in the melee crush. She'd seized a Drakoshi axe and swung the massive two-hander wildly, shredding hordes into pieces amid manic laughter.

Despite the brutal grind, our vanguard hit the ramp's base amid heaps of corpses from both sides. Undaunted, I surged ahead. Ducking a head-chopping axe, I drove Zircon deep into one's knee joint. Then I barreled past, shield-bashing another with Gyrokinesis force, launching it like artillery into a cluster.

A gruesome crack echoed behind as a knight smashed a two-handed Morningstar into that Drakoshi's skull, bursting it wide. I pressed on relentlessly. Those third-wall guns above remained pinned down and silent.

Our immediate aim: scale the first ramp, and ideally the second, before the guns reactivated. Yet blocking the path loomed a 400-meter slope teeming with Drakoshi up to the fort's next level.

Our edge lay in their ammo shortage. Supplies seemed rerouted to the summit, as I spotted while felling another—most visible Drakoshi ahead brandished only close-combat arms.

This tilted the odds massively our way. As we climbed, Phalanx troops would flood the ramp, lower Drakoshi would fall sans backup charging down, and enemy fire would concentrate here.

We'd claim the kill zone for ourselves. But right now, charging ahead meant battling every step!

...

The fight dragged on mercilessly. Reflection was a rare indulgence. Kill, parry. Kill. Block. Dodge. Kill. Unleash Psionic bullets. Kill. Shield ally. Kill. Kill. Kill.

Halfway up the ramp, we'd hit a deadlock. We'd chewed through all the fodder; only bare-skinned, elite Drakoshi warriors endured. Yet my resolve held firm. Knights bore wounds now, but the spearhead core fought on fiercely, with mere scratches marring us.

Me? Untouched since the clash began. My new shield lived up to its legend. Damatrium soaked up shocks, blunting even the fiercest Drakoshi assaults. Bolstered by my immense power, I dominated. Gore plastered my armor head to toe. Amid the crimson, only the purple chest orbs gleamed—Drakoshi repeatedly targeted them, suckered by the feint of vulnerability.

Their unsurprised reaction allowed me to easily shield myself and my comrades, all of whom were managing to fend off the enemy.

Yet, something shattered the ongoing pattern.

Suddenly, a huge squad of Drakoshi armed with flamethrowers burst through their ranks and pointed their weapons straight at us.

Behind me, the Phalanx was crammed together like sardines due to the ramp's narrow width. If the fire broke past... But it wouldn't manage to pass.

Pyrokinesis typically meant one individual's command over their own fire. Yet I stood apart. Owing to Sol, I commanded non-Psionic fire too. So when these blazing bastards released their fiery blasts, I imposed my control upon the flames.

The fiery streams halted in mid-air. Shock gripped the Drakoshi at the sight. Their astonishment deepened further as the flames reversed course, hurtling back to engulf hundreds of them in a blazing barrier.

We pressed forward through the inferno and flames, maintaining our fierce charge. That purifying blaze claimed nearly eighty Drakoshi lives, creating a vast opening.

Into that breach I plunged headlong, unleashing boundless fury and slaughter. For a brief instant, I ceased conserving my strength. The atmosphere remained scorching, bodies still crackling. Thus, I drew massive Pyrokinesis from the ambient heat and erupted with a wild surge of internal fire.

"Hahahaha!" A thunderous laugh burst from me as flames surged from my core. Sol's power permeated every fiber of my form, bolstering me and my inferno. It let me incinerate foes to ashes until the Knights and allies reached me. The onslaught proved utterly ruinous. Right away among my companions, I curbed myself, denying Pyrokinesis further sway. Once reined in, I grinned.

My explosive display had secured the key victory.

We had reached the ramp's summit.

We spread out at once. Shifting from cluster to protective barrier, enabling the Phalanx to ascend and deliver covering fire. Skaja swooped down from above, recalled from prior skirmishes, touching down beside me as our advance persisted. The Phalanx surged upward en masse from the ramp, firing lines reactivating. They faced clearing this entire fortress tier, turning the fight into a grueling grind amid the Drakoshi's overwhelming hordes.

Now the knights were forced to fall back. Without their formation's backing in open ground, their injuries mounted unbearably. One knight's arms lay both crippled, compelling its withdrawal. The rest followed suit, Knight Theolan proclaiming.

"My lord! It was an honour, we must regroup and rearm."

I activated comms. "Of course, do what you must." My response came direct and crisp, but trouble struck the instant we crested the ramp. Overhead guns roared back to life.

Phalanx soldiers fell like swatted insects, and I gazed upward in anguish. They had to withdraw; staying exposed while shooting was suicide. Dread knotted my gut—I needed another risky move. And so I took it.

"Castellans. Destroy those emplacements on the ramp side. We cannot allow them to butcher our men further. If the mech turns up... We will have to improvise."

A tense pause hung before the response arrived.

"C-nfirmed Sentinel. Beginning. Assault."

Beyond the walls, Castellans powered their primary armaments, targeting the fortifications. After a brief buildup, they unleashed blasts at the third and fourth walls in turn.

*Buoooooom!*

Their barrage hammered the western walls, obliterating turret after turret and crumbling the battlements atop.

The devastation proved enormous. Guns lay in ruins, and chain reactions of blasts suggested the beams had struck vast ammo stockpiles.

"Targets h-t Sentinel. Beginning heavy assault on the south with new engagement parameters."