The main venue's doors had long since been shattered. Glass shards and twisted metal frames littered the ground, glinting in scattered flashes beneath the lights and fire.
Lin Hai was the first to rush in, greeted by a scene of utter chaos.
More than a dozen unmanned Iron Soldiers roamed inside and outside the venue. Machine guns and miniature missile launchers were mounted on their arms and shoulders, firing indiscriminately in every direction. Screams and sobs echoed everywhere.
A middle-aged man was curled up in a corner, clutching a child of seven or eight tightly in his arms. He pressed the child's head against his chest and shielded him with his body. Above them, a wall was being riddled by an Iron Soldier's machine gun, sending rubble spraying everywhere.
Lin Hai raised a hand and flicked it. A streak of teal-gold light flew from his hand, striking the energy core in the chest of the Iron Soldier firing toward the corner with pinpoint accuracy.
The Iron Soldier froze instantly. Blinding electrical sparks burst from the reactor in its chest, and after swaying twice, its entire body crashed to the ground.
"Gwen, left side," Lin Hai said over the comms.
"Got it."
Gwen raised both hands, and golden light spread from her palms, swiftly forming a translucent shield. The shield expanded like an enormous open umbrella, covering more than a dozen fleeing spectators.
Bullets that had been headed for those people struck the shield, sending ripples of golden light across its surface. They froze for a moment, then kept running to one side, leaving the shield's range and heading for safety.
On the right side of the venue, Matt stood amid a field of rubble, every movement of the Iron Soldiers within his perception.
He twisted aside, letting a burst of