Faraway from their territory, Jin and the Legion Commander, along with his three thousand troops, had arrived at their destination.
"That's a lot of holes."
Observing the amount of destruction present in this place, he glanced at Reinhard.
"So it appears... the fight against those golems was intense, but we managed to take them down without any casualties."
"Yeah, I can tell, them holes big, man."
Craters of various sizes occupied the entire rocky terrain, some had a diameter of more than a kilometer while others only a few meters.
Moreover, Jin noticed several scorch marks within those craters, which highly suggested that there had been some intense heat blasting through the area.
Walking down into one of the craters, he crouched and picked a very peculiar stone.
"..."
Tossing it up and down, he nodded before crushing it into fine powder.
"Automaton-like beings?"
With a certain gaze, he subtly peeked behind his back at the 10-foot war machine.
Reinhard nodded his head, responding in approval.
"Indeed, when we initially arrived in this vicinity about a week ago, I registered certain tremors.
Yet, despite thorough scans, my sensors failed to detect any signs of thermal activity..."
Thinking of something, he shot out a blue projector from his golden eyes, causing Jin's eyes to widen.
'That's rad..."
"Please, take a look, Sir Wulfric."
"Hah."
Tiredly giving up the attempt to correct the bionic being's sudden use of honorifics, he swiftly reviewed the recorded fight and found himself... unsurprisingly unsurprised.
'What a mouthful...'
Seeing the giant 20-meter rock golems being taken apart like the many videos on the hub, a pondering expression appeared on his face.
Reinhard understood that look as well.
"It seems you have come to the same conclusion, but-"
Glancing at him, the war machine spoke with a helpless tone.
"-we also suspected it to be a triggered mechanism upon our arrival, but after thoroughly surveying the entire territory and employing our sensory systems, we found nothing out of the ordinary."
He gazed towards a distant point where smoke billowed from a colossal mountain.
"Except for some volcanic activity a few hundred kilometers west from here, we haven't found any other reason as of yet."
After he finished listening to his explanation, Jin's gaze suddenly began wandering around.
'Mechanism...'
Once more, he lowered himself, resting his hand on the ground, and closed his eyes in focus.
'... da fuck?'
After a while, his eyes went wide.
'Holy shit.'
"Sir Wulfric?"
"You guys..."
Jin's eyes went upward to see the Legion Commander and the rest of the airborne troops looking down on him.
"Y'all were fighting above some big ass illusion."
"How could that be? We thoroughly scanned every conceivable area, even delving deep into the ground..."
"Some magical illusion."
Everyone went silent, prompting Jin to confusingly scrutinize them.
*CREAK*
Yet, upon seeing Reinhard's clenched metallic hand, he decided to keep his curiosity in check.
'Something about that word just ticked bro off.'
Observing the rest of the troops, he could sense a similar tension towards the word 'Magic'.
Deciding to ignore it, he suddenly dug his hand deep into the ground.
"Imma need you guys to move far away, preferably... not in the direction my hand has dug in."
"Understood, Sir Wulfric."
Not questioning his choice, Reinhard calmly suppressed the rising rage within his artificial heart, ordering his soldiers to move.
"Nice."
Having secured the vicinity, Jin dug his second hand in and-
*TREMBLE*
-with it, the earth trembled.
Rocks danced in place, defying gravity's hold.
The ground convulsed as if struggling to contain an unseen force.
Fractures spread their way across the landscape, resembling a spiderweb.
And then, with a mighty roar-
[Double-Handed Tableflip]
-colossal chunks of rock shattered and gave way, revealing Jin rising from the depths, his hand still holding on to a massive piece of land.
Every single muscle, tendon, and joint worked in perfect synergy, tensed as a rod and solid as tungsten.
Suddenly, Jin assumed a stance resembling a Zercher squat, utilizing his lower body to drive forward, while simultaneously bearing the immense weight of millions of tons on his hands.
*TREMBLE*
With one last push, he swiftly launched his hands into the air, his legs straightening out.
With a thunderous sound, every piece of land within sight was catapulted into the air, slightly curving outward in an unbroken wave.
Yet, for some odd reason...
*DRIP*
Confusingly looking at his hand, Jin saw some kind of red liquid slowly dripping down.
"Blood?"
It ain't his though, so what's the deal here?
'Hmmm....?!'
{DING! Host, Σ(°ロ°)!}
"What in the actual fu-"
Seeing a tidal wave of red blood suddenly gushing out of the place he had torn opened, the man was fuckin' stunned!
Wait, wait, wait!
"Sir Wulfric!"
Feeling a presence behind him, he couldn't even respond before he was grabbed and launched into the air, leaving a sonic boom in his wake.
Reinhard along with his troops swiftly blasted through the sky going through the clouds in continuous succession, before they stopped.
Now, hoisted on the war machine's shoulder, Jin was about to say something but-
{Host... (。Ó﹏Ò。)}
"Oh."
Meanwhile, emergency warnings rang out in every single soldier's mechanized system.
...
Warning! Abrupt rise of thermal heat detected! Unknown surge of energy detected!
Warning! Abrupt rise of thermal heat detected! Unknown surge of energy detected!
Warning! Abrupt rise of thermal heat detected! Unknown surge of energy detected!
Warning! Abrupt rise of thermal heat detected! Unknown surge of energy detected!
...
That was all they heard.
But it was understandable.
After all-
*THUD*
Ignoring the sound, a sudden gap opened up between the Legion Commander's hand, revealing a spear that slowly got pushed out.
The three thousand troops also silently deployed their weapons.
One thousand with hands that transformed into Plasma Guns.
One thousand with hands that transformed into Plasma Whips.
One thousand with hands transformed into micro-sharp scimitars which shone with a dark hue under the sunlight.
"..."
With unmatched tension in the air, they saw 'it'.
"Hrmrmrmrm..."
A weird grotesque sound was emitted from 'it', as 'its' massive shadow overcame them, covering them in a veil of darkness.
This...' thing' continued rising above the clouds, whilst blood continued to drip down alongside what seemed to be its back.
'Oh, my bad, homie...'
Looking at this, nay, ginormous or colossal wouldn't even be enough to describe the sheer size and monstrosity of this thing.
Reinhard gripped his golden and black spear with a vice grip.
'System.'
{Host! This-}
'Scan it.'
{Yes!}
⋘ 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡...⋙
⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎...⋙
⋘ 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡...⋙
⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎...⋙
A partial scan is complete!
I'm sorry I couldn't-}
'Nah, it's fine.'
Looking at its status, he had a hunch why that was the case.
✦•······················•✦•······················•✦
Name: Unknown
Age: 20.000+?
Race: Ancient-Sky Shrieker
Bloodline: Unknown (Unknown Divinity)
Traits: Indestructible, ???, ???...
Passive Skills: Near-Magic Invulnerability, ???
Combat Skills: ✖
Active Skills: Sky Piercing Screech, Claws of the Damned, ???
Miscellaneous Skills: ✖
Divine Arcanum: Gates of the Damned
Overall Evaluation: ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!
✦•······················•✦•······················•✦
Having risen from its slumber, 'it' slowly turned its head around.
With a near-dislocated jaw, 'its' rotten teeth emitted a stolid stench of demonic-like energy.
Its hollow eyes, devoid of life, appeared to drain the very essence from those who dared to meet its gaze.
Its skinny form, unbefitting of its immense size, had long elongated claws that reached down like deathly talons.
With a sudden, eerie movement, it twisted its gaping maw in their direction, opening them up.
"MOVE!"
Swiftly, everyone dispersed in opposite directions.
However, the long-awaited roar did not come, but-
".!.!.!.!.!.!.!"
BOOOOM!
Its huge size made its roar sound like a massive quake that shook the air, scattering the clouds for miles on end.
...
...
...
"Umu!"
Nero proudly watched as the foundation of her Empire slowly began taking shape.
Looking at the blueprints, she couldn't wait to start constructing various architectural masterpieces, especially alongside her Praetor!
"Shouldn't they be back now?"
It's already been hours but-
"Huh?"
She cranked her neck up toward the sky, particularly the clouds.
Rubbing her eyes, she scrutinized it again.
"Why are they in a V shape?"
Tracing the source, she suddenly widened her eyes.
"Shit!"
...