Subtly Alkanphel reached into the mind
of the Proto-Zoalord, wanting to know just how and why this one
was able to resist even with Reholt so close. What the Supreme
Zoalord found there surprised him, but only for a short time.
Hatred, after all, was an easy emotion to understand. Alkanphel
knew now that even were Reholt to extend all of his mental
powers with the goal of subduing the Proto-Zoalord attacking
him, his former Twelfth would stand a chance of failing.
This Proto-Zoalord seemed to despise
Reholt as well as Chronos itself, but his hatred of Reholt was
what drove him now. Drove him to fight even when he knew, even
as Alkanphel himself did now, that he was at the end of his
lifespan. Alkanphel was very impressed by the Proto-Zoalord’s
tenacity. Perhaps this one could also be used to serve Chronos’
ends.
It would require extensive reprocessing,
to be sure, however it would perhaps provide Chronos with an
able and determined warrior. Hearing the Proto-Zoalord’s scream,
Alkanphel turned his attention back to the battle. Reholt had
dealt the Proto-Zoalord a very serious wound. As the
Proto-Zoalord grabbed Reholt’s remaining hand, removing it from
his own midsection with a rather disgusting wet popping sound,
Alkanphel was again impressed with the Proto-Zoalord’s strength.
Even from his position above the battle,
Alkanphel could see pieces of the Proto-Zoalord’s entrails
hanging out of the wound. It took a great deal of determination
to ignore such a wound. And to keep fighting even when he had to
know the futility of his situation; Alkanphel was very impressed
indeed with this Proto-Zoalord.
His remaining children made another
inquiry, asking him if he required their assistance. They had
been doing so for some time, and as before Alkanphel gently
refused them. He was rather interested to know how the battle
between Reholt and the Proto-Zoalord would play out. If Reholt
were to sense the presence of the remaining Overlords, it was
likely to make him do something rather drastic.
And, even though this Proto-Zoalord was
at the end of its life, Alkanphel still wanted to collect its
body. Since this one was an experimental prototype it would not
have been modified to dispose of itself once its lifesigns had
terminated. And there was still a use within Chronos for any
Zoaform who had demonstrated this much strength of body and
will. Modifications would have to be made, but Alkanphel was
certain that between himself and Hamilcal they would be able to
remake this one.
Perhaps it would even be more expedient
to remake this one into his Twelfth Zoalord. It would take less
time than educating an untested child, and there was also the
concern that Reholt had done something to ensure that Kenji
Murakami would be loyal to him. As soon as he had that thought,
however, Alkanphel dismissed it. Reholt was not one to be so
cautious. Only the fact that the Mt. Minakami processing
facility was understaffed had even allowed him to secret the boy
away.
It
was
an interesting mental problem, though. As a child, Kenji
Murakami’s mind would be more open, hence more malleable. It
would be very easy for Alkanphel to mold the young human into
his ideal Zoalord. However, the Proto-Zoalord fighting Reholt on
the ground had fully proved himself to be strong enough to make
a formidable Zoalord. There was only the fact that he despised
Chronos to deal with.
There were benefits and costs to be
considered on either side of the equation. However, Alkanphel
had long since realized that this was the way of any worthwhile
decision.
Alkanphel’s attention again came back to
the battle, in time to watch as Reholt grabbed the
Proto-Zoalord’s head in his single remaining hand and smashed
the Proto-Zoalord’s forehead firmly into his knee. As Reholt
tossed the dying Proto-Zoalord aside, Alkanphel saw the damage
that had been done. The Proto-Zoalord’s Control Crystal had been
shattered rather completely.
Pity, Alkanphel had hoped that the
Proto-Zoalord would have been able to do at least a fair amount
more damage than what he had done. Still, removing Reholt’s hand
and – as Alkanphel had just noticed – one of his eyes, could not
have been easy for such a relatively weak Zoaform. Signaling to
his loyal Zoalords, Alkanphel ordered them to attack the Relic.
That was the only real reason that a
Proto-Zoalord would have allied himself with a Guyver, after
all. To either obtain the Relic for themselves, and in so doing
destroy the facility, or to simply destroy Mt. Minakami itself.
Either way, the Relic was not going to fall into the hands of
this impetuous gnat. A blast of energy from off to his right, a
blast that cleaved the black Guyver’s left arm off at the
shoulder, alerted Alkanphel to the fact that his Zoalords had
arrived.
-Thank you, Tuarhan, that was most
appreciated.-
-I do my best, my Lord.-
Satisfied, Alkanphel lowered himself to
the ground so that he could deal with Reholt. Grasping his
former Twelfth Zoalord’s neck firmly, Alkanphel slammed Reholt
into the far wall of the basement with enough force to cause the
reinforced concrete to buckle in some places and shatter in
others.
"Were you really so arrogant as to
think that you, made as your were from a
single part
of my body, would ever be able to best me in single combat?"
Alkanphel demanded.
"Stranger— things have— happened,"
Reholt managed to gag out, despite the crushing grip that
Alkanphel maintained on his throat.
Disgusted with Reholt’s sheer lack
of anything even resembling
sense, Alkanphel threw him through the wall. Ripping him out of
the body-sized crater in the wall, Alkanphel began to almost
casually smash the back of Reholt’s head into the wall
repeatedly. Taking hold of the protrusion on the left side of
Reholt’s head, Alkanphel tore it off. Reholt screamed, but the
heat from Alkanphel’s own body cauterized the wound even before
he could start bleeding.
Grabbing Reholt’s face, Alkanphel threw
him to the floor. Reholt’s body slammed into the floor of the
basement with shattering force. Albeit most of that force
damaged the floor rather than Reholt’s own body, but Alkanphel
was not so concerned about that. He knew that there would be no
way for Chronos to repair the damage that had been done to Mt.
Minakami, knew it and did not care. This facility may have been
the largest in the area, but it was by no means the only one.
Glancing over at the Relic, Alkanphel
was surprised to note that there was a second Guyver standing
atop the ancient spacecraft. Hamilcal’s reports had indeed
stated that there were two Guyvers in this area, however since
only one of them had appeared, Alkanphel had held out at least
some hope that Reholt had managed to destroy the second Guyver.
Apparently, his former Twelfth Zoalord was even weaker than he
had at first suspected.