**Chapter 707: Blood Sacrifice**
**Scene 1**
**Geonosis, Main Hive Central Chamber**
**Dagon POV**
The battle had dragged on too long.
Itsuki was relentless, empowered by the Justice Bow's brainwashing and his own twisted sense of righteousness. The girls — my girls — attacked without hesitation, their eyes empty, their movements precise but devoid of the warmth and love I knew. Every time I deflected one of their strikes or absorbed a blast meant to kill me, something inside me twisted painfully.
I couldn't keep doing this.
"Enough," I growled, the massive Nova Mode armor humming with barely contained power. The three cannons on my body charged with dark crimson energy as I began the chant, my voice echoing like thunder through the chamber.
**"Foolish sinner, I sentence you to cast your screams unto the heavens!"**
Itsuki's eyes widened. He drew the Justice Bow back, firing a desperate barrage of Shining Arrows and Arrow Squalls. The glowing projectiles rained down like holy fire, but I didn't dodge.
**"Within the dragon's jaws born from my flesh, become an offering to the gods as you howl in pain!"**
The ground beneath Itsuki cracked open as a massive amount of my blood — amplified and corrupted by the dark side — erupted upward. It coalesced into a nightmarish construct: a giant, skeletal dragon-shaped bear trap, its jaws lined with razor fangs made of solidified blood and dark energy. The monstrous maw opened wide, roaring with primordial fury.
Itsuki tried to run. "No— this isn't justice! This is—"
**"BLOOD SACRIFICE!"**
The dragon trap lunged. Its jaws clamped down around Itsuki with bone-shattering force. He screamed — a raw, agonized sound that echoed through the hive as the trap violently mashed and devoured him. The Justice Bow shattered in his hands, its phase matter regeneration failing against the overwhelming dark side hunger. The legendary weapon crumbled into dust along with its wielder.
The brainwashing broke instantly.
Ahsoka, Zule, Flare, Stella, Kayla, Visenya, Shin, Erictia, Aayla, Sakura, and Grace collapsed unconscious where they stood, their bodies finally freed from the bow's control. I caught Ahsoka and Zule with the Force before they hit the ground, gently lowering them.
Aubrey Wren staggered back on her dais, eyes wide with horror. "No… my hive… my perfect order…"
**Scene 2**
**Geonosis, Main Hive Central Chamber**
**Dagon POV**
Aubrey's face twisted with rage and fear. "Stay back! The will of the hive is mine! You can't take this from me!"
I stepped forward, the massive Nova Mode armor shaking the floor with each step. "I would rather save you, Aubrey. You don't have to be this."
She screamed and unleashed a torrent of dark side lightning mixed with corrupted Geonosian sonic waves. The attack slammed into my armor, cracking several plates, but I kept walking.
With a thought, I shifted out of Nova Mode. The massive suit collapsed back into the standard Wrath Shield configuration as I approached her. Aubrey tried to run, but I caught her wrist with one hand and placed the other on her forehead.
"Hold still," I said calmly.
I poured the raw power of Wrath Shield into her — not to destroy, but to purge. The dark side entity inside her — the parasitic force that had twisted her mind and soul — shrieked in agony as my energy burned through her systems. Black veins surfaced on her skin before dissolving into smoke. Her eyes flickered between crimson and their original color as the corruption was forcibly ripped out.
Aubrey screamed once, then went limp in my arms, unconscious but alive.
I lowered her gently to the floor beside the other girls. "Rest now. It's over."
**Scene 3**
**Aubrey Wren's Mindscape**
Inside Aubrey's mind, the world was a twisted Geonosian hive filled with shadows and whispering voices. A dark, amorphous demon — a writhing mass of black tendrils and red eyes — loomed over a smaller, chained version of Aubrey.
I appeared in the mindscape as a glowing figure of white and crimson light.
"So you're the nasty grass wad that's been holding Aubrey hostage," I said, my voice echoing with power.
The Dark Side Demon laughed, a wet, gurgling sound. "Without me, she is a slave. Weak. Pathetic. I gave her strength. I gave her purpose."
"You sicken me," I replied coldly.
I raised my hand. Pure Wrath energy — balanced between light and dark — erupted from my palm in a blazing torrent. The demon shrieked as the flames consumed it, burning away every tendril, every corrupted fragment it had embedded in Aubrey's soul. The chained version of Aubrey looked up, her eyes clearing for the first time in months.
The mindscape began to brighten.
**Scene 4**
**Geonosis, Main Hive Central Chamber**
**Dagon POV**
I opened my eyes, exhaling slowly. Aubrey was still unconscious, but her breathing was steady. The dark presence inside her was gone.
I activated my comm. "This is Dagon. Target neutralized. Contact Valentra — we need immediate pickup. The girls are safe. Prepare medical teams."
The reply came quickly. "Understood, General. Valentra's fleet is already en route. ETA ten minutes."
I looked around at the ruined chamber, the unconscious girls, and the broken body of Itsuki.
The war had claimed another monster today.
But the real fight was only beginning.