Tragedy Always Escalates

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two missiles came hurtling in. Russell instinctively chose to evade. Megatron was not Starscream; recalling the battle of Los Angeles, Russell still shuddered at his overwhelming firepower.

Boom, boom!!

The missiles exploded behind Russell. Ignoring the four or five Decepticons closing in around him, he kept his gaze locked tightly on Megatron.

Clank, clatter, crunch!

Megatron finished transforming and hovered in midair with the aid of the thrusters on his back. His crimson eyes stared fixedly at Russell, his hostility unmistakable.

Did I ever offend this guy?

Russell thought about it and figured he had not. On the Los Angeles battlefield, Starscream had been the one to kill Megatron. It had nothing to do with Russell… no, nothing to do with Skyfire.

"Human wizard, I’ve been looking for you for a long time." Megatron bared a savage grin, exposing a mouthful of sharp fangs.

"You’ve got the wrong person. I’m Skyfire, not some human wizard." Russell decisively shook his head. With this nose, these eyes, and this oil hose grand enough to swallow mountains and rivers, how did he look human?

"Hmph!"

Since Russell would not admit it, Megatron did not waste any more words. With a wave of his hand, he ordered the nearby Decepticons to spread out. He wanted to duel Russell one-on-one.

This was the biggest difference between Megatron and Starscream. Starscream possessed an exceptional team spirit and faithfully upheld the principle that strength came in numbers; if there were not enough people, he would never show himself. Megatron, on the other hand, was clearly a leader, yet always charged at the very front whenever battle came.

Whoosh!

Megatron did not rashly close in. He raised a hand and fired a missile first.

A piercing roar erupted as Megatron followed close behind the missile. His massive body broke the sound barrier, trailing a white shockwave. At the same time, his right arm transformed into a metal blade equipped with a cannon, its edge aimed directly at the AllSpark in Russell’s chest.

With such an obvious attack path, Russell felt he would be letting Megatron down if he did not fire a few shots. He immediately revealed his arm-mounted weapons.

Boom! Boom! Boom—

One missile after another roared out, raining densely upon Megatron ahead. Explosions burst into orange-red fireballs, black smoke blanketed the sky, and the shockwaves forced several Decepticons back again and again.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

While their vision was obscured, several missiles shot out of the black smoke and struck them with perfect accuracy. Flames exploded, and before they could figure out what had happened, they were spinning through the air, smoking from head to toe as they plunged toward the ground.

"During a fight with me, you actually dared to get distracted and attack others."

Megatron burst from the black smoke and charged straight at Russell. His long blade thrust forward, locking against the spear Russell had raised to block it. Grinning viciously, he lowered the blade, then suddenly fired at point-blank range.

Boom, boom!

The explosive shockwave sent Russell staggering backward. He felt that Megatron was much fiercer today than before. Perhaps he was determined to regain face; both times, he had used attacks that hurt himself nearly as much as his enemy.

Whoosh!

An explosive whistle rushed toward him. Russell raised his spear to block the meteor flail, then faced Megatron’s long blade head-on. A trace of confusion flashed through his eyes. His back thrusters accelerated, and he leaped upward to avoid the blade before driving a vicious kick into Megatron’s face.

Screech!!

A deafening metallic scrape rang out. Several white marks instantly appeared across Megatron’s neck and head, while shattered metal fragments sprayed everywhere.

If he had been human, his face would have been ruined.

Megatron shook his head, his electronic eyes locking onto Russell as his thrusters accelerated and sent him chasing after him.

The two fought while flying at high speed. Their cold weapons clashed in sprays of sparks, punctuated now and then by thunderous explosions.

Following his principle of not wasting ammunition, Russell led Megatron darting around the defensive shield, dragging one unlucky Decepticon after another into the fight.

These Decepticons were all elite warriors, and their strength was quite respectable. Yet on a battlefield between leaders, they were simply not enough. Russell blasted apart their shields, then Megatron, charging wildly about, tore them into pieces.

"Coward! Fight me properly!!" Megatron had barely managed to hit Russell a few times, while many of his own men had died instead. He was furious beyond measure.

Russell chuckled and continued using the same tactic. He had already discovered the truth. Megatron’s ferocious fighting style was not driven by the hatred of a killer; he was concealing his own decline in strength.

That was right, Megatron had grown weaker!

They had both died and been revived. There was no reason Optimus Prime’s strength should have been impaired while Megatron was completely unaffected.

Russell clearly remembered that throughout the Transformers trilogy, Megatron’s strength declined layer by layer.

In Transformers 1, when he first appeared, he displayed combat power in a class of its own. Without human assistance, Optimus Prime would have been beaten to death by him.

In Transformers 2, he had joined forces with Starscream and Grindor. It took three against one, plus a sneak attack, for him to finally fulfill his wish of personally killing his nemesis and blasting Optimus Prime’s AllSpark apart with a single shot.

As for Transformers 3…

Best not to mention it. He only fought Optimus Prime once, got his head split open by an axe, then had his spine ripped out. He died miserably. Before that, Sentinel Prime had humiliated him in every possible way. For the future of his race, he endured disgrace and carried on, making fans ache for him.

At first, he had suppressed Optimus Prime completely. In the end, Optimus Prime had cut him down like a weakling. The turning point was that after his revival, he was nowhere near as capable as before.

Russell saw through it but did not expose him. Leading Megatron along while wreaking havoc, he set his sights on a metal spire and raised his missile launcher, firing repeatedly.

To Russell’s surprise, the metal spire was made from Decepticons combined together. The instant the missiles arrived, it split apart into four separate Decepticons.

Eight cannons transformed into view, their pitch-black muzzles glowing with spiraling red light!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—

The shells struck Russell’s shield, sending him crashing to the ground with a boom. He was not injured, and the shield’s depletion would not affect the coming battle, but… having his intelligence slapped in the face left him deeply annoyed.

Boom!

Megatron seized the opportunity to catch up and blasted Russell in the back. Then he descended from the sky and stepped on Russell’s chest, swinging down his meteor flail to entangle the spear.

"Die!"

Red light blazed in Megatron’s electronic eyes as his metal blade stabbed down. At the critical instant, Russell twisted both hands gripping the spear, splitting it apart into two longswords.

A flash of cold light passed. The longswords pierced the insides of Megatron’s elbows, blocking the incoming blade.

The two wrestled for a moment. Seeing Decepticons closing in from all sides, Russell kicked Megatron in the back, knocking him flying. He rolled once, then climbed to his feet.

The two longswords merged back into a spear. Russell swung his arm-mounted weapons and fired missiles to drive back the encroaching Decepticons. The four Decepticons that had transformed into a metal spire received his particular attention. He was a cautious man… and he always repaid his grudges. They had ambushed him once, so he had to strike back.

Megatron rose from the ground, fury burning in his electronic eyes. Realizing Russell had seen through his diminished strength, he stopped pretending and flew into the air. "All Decepticons, focus your fire on ‘Skyfire’!"

At his command, the Decepticons scattered around the pyramid all converged. Pairs of red electronic eyes made one’s heart tremble.

Russell inwardly cursed. But once he had landed, taking off again was difficult. Megatron led the barrage, sealing off every escape route around Russell before the encirclement closed. Missile after missile fell and struck his shield, leaving him unable to move.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom, boom, boom—

Blazing red fireballs swelled one after another. Fierce winds tore wildly through the air, while scorching heat swept down and devoured everything like madness.

Megatron grinned again and again. The red glow of the flames painted his gloomy face crimson. As more and more Decepticons gathered, the frequency of explosions below rose sharply. He could already foresee Russell’s shield being blown apart and Russell dying beneath the barrage.

Bzzzz!!

A sudden buzzing sounded behind him. Megatron’s heart jolted in alarm, and he instinctively tried to dodge sideways, but it was already too late.

Russell appeared behind Megatron, raised his spear high, and drove it down with brutal force. It pierced through Megatron’s back and emerged from his chest. Then Russell drove both knees down, his thrusters abruptly accelerating as he forced Megatron into the sky-filling artillery fire.

Spatial transfer was not suitable for use in battle. Left with no choice, Russell had drawn upon the power of an AllSpark fragment again. Every bit of that power used was gone for good, but if he had not used it, he would have been blasted into fragments.

Before entering the artillery barrage, Russell pulled out his spear and stomped down hard with both feet, using Megatron as a springboard to launch himself high into the air. Megatron, meanwhile, fell into the sea of fire screaming. Amid the endless bombardment, that sound was quickly swallowed whole.

The Decepticons all reacted a beat too late. Realizing their barrage had missed the enemy and landed entirely on their own boss, they hurriedly ceased fire in fright. Several loyal Decepticons even rushed into the flames, intending to drag Megatron out.

Time waited for no one. Russell decisively attacked, darting at high speed across the battlefield and severing the limbs of Decepticon after Decepticon.

Whoosh!!

Missiles came flying in, and several exploded directly at his side. The shockwaves destabilized Russell’s flight. He paid them no heed, approaching two Decepticons with coldness in his electronic eyes. He kicked one to the ground, then stabbed his spear straight through the other and lifted him up.

Boom!

The two Decepticons crashed together like stacked acrobats. Russell whirled his spear and slashed repeatedly at their four arms.

Screech!!!

Amid a sharp tearing screech of metal, all four arms hit the ground almost simultaneously.

"Tch! Pathetic!"

Russell hooked up the two Decepticons and hurled them out, watching them get blown apart by missiles. If the mission had not tied his hands, he would have gone all out long ago. Why would he need to go through so much trouble?

Raising the spear in his hand, Russell sneered and turned sideways, dodging three incoming missiles as he locked onto the Decepticon who had fired them.

Under the other’s terrified gaze, Russell accelerated and reached his side in an instant. His blade swept past, severing the cannon on the Decepticon’s arm. Then he lifted the Decepticon’s body before him, using it to block the barrage pouring in from the side.

"Kill!"

Flames spread across the battlefield as Russell rampaged freely through the field. Every place he passed was accompanied by screams. Because their formation was too dense, the Decepticons began to fall into disorder, and their hasty attacks created one tragedy after another as they struck their own allies.

Tragedy always escalated…

Boom! Boom! Boom, boom, boom!

Flames soared into the sky. The Decepticons were killing each other with great enthusiasm. Russell flew high into the air, and seeing the harmonious scene below, he shrugged without saying a word.

After all, nine out of ten Decepticons had violent tempers. Having fought wars year-round, they must have built up plenty of stress. Relaxing once in a while was good for their physical and mental health.

Just as Russell was enjoying the spectacle, his Sixth Sense suddenly issued a warning. An enormous source of danger was approaching.

This was the first time Russell had felt such a sensation in the world of Transformers. Without even thinking, he followed his instincts and rolled once in midair, plunging rapidly to the side.

A howling explosive roar grazed past him, and the fierce wind churned Russell’s heart with fear. It was a spear—an ancient-looking spear carrying some unknown energy.

That energy was somewhat like… Magic Power!?