492 Battle In The Space, part 2/2
POV ???:
As data streams from the fleet merged into the central command core, it vibrated with activity, its circuits alive to assimilate the overwhelming influx of information. Every processor and digital thread was synchronized, converging on analyzing the single, rapidly advancing organic entity within sensor range.
'System Alert: Inefficacy of Exotic Particle Beam Emitters Detected.'
The AI's logic circuits teetered on the brink of overload, grappling with readings that bordered on the absurd. The advancing organic being seemed to contradict the foundational principles of both physics and the arcane embedded deep within its operational matrix.
'Destruction of matter and energy is impossible. Error.'
Another orange beam smashed into the constantly closing being, only to evaporate in the golden flames that burned around the being's black armor.
'Unknown energy readings spiking... Conclusion reached... The unknown energy is impossible.'
With a majestic beat of its wings, accompanied by a surge of electrical discharges, the entity diminished the distance even further. The AI, now in a state of critical analysis, activated its emergency response algorithms, arriving at an inescapable verdict: the confrontation was unwinnable, with all strategic outcomes pointing towards the annihilation of the fleet.
With the fleet of organics still disturbing the space, it was impossible to disengage.
'Initiating Data Exfiltration Protocol.'Shifting its core directive away from confrontation and self-preservation, the command core committed itself to the transmission of all gathered intelligence to the central overmind, knowing that with enough computing cycles, they would be processed and used to empower their kind in their eternal war against the organic forces that were determined to extinguish them at their genesis
POV Vesuvius:
The dragon's eyes gleamed with the golden glow of stars as the enemy spaceships drew closer, allowing him to fully appreciate their magnitude—each of the dozen arrow-like ships was large enough to rival the scale of small towns.
'You are all mine.' The tons of floating metal appeared as treasures to him. He was uncertain of the materials composing their hulls, but his magical sense of smell, capable of discerning value even across the vacuum of space, confirmed they were more precious than steel.
'Worse than gold, but in this amount, even raw iron would be valuable.'
With another strike of lightning, the dragon crossed the last of the remaining distance.
'Come all to my kingdom!' The dragon's horns erupted with golden light that swallowed the entire fleet.
His surroundings shifted and warped into the ruins of his damage-ridded divine kingdom. Under the blazing glow of his star's projection, the ships gleamed, and the dragon finally breathed out in relief.
The enemy weapons blasted more and more of the orange rays, but they all vanished in the golden flames, burning out of existence before they could even reach him.
'So they were unable to block the effects of my divine kingdom.' The effects of divine powers were indeed too strange and absolute to be countered or disrupted by mere mortals.
With another pulse of golden light, reality shifted back, and the dragon reemerged on the original battlefield.
Only a void remained around him, with asteroids and the orange-glowing ships all consumed by his divine kingdom.
Now, with his compensation trapped inside his divine kingdom, the dragon's golden gaze shifted toward the second fleet in the distance.
Red and blue lights flashed constantly as each ship bathed in the glow of their engines, turning into blurry lines of light, like colorful comets. One by one, the ships vanished into the distance.
Seeing them running away after daring to stand in his path, his mana, a stormy torrent, gathered with ferocious intensity, flowing like liquid fire into his breath glands. A radiant brilliance, fierce enough to rival the luminous heart of the system's star, began to emerge from his gaping maws.
'As if I will let you run away after hinder...'
But then, in a moment of startling clarity, Vesuvius caught himself. His tongue stilled, a bite halting both his words and the reckless torrent of mana, the radiance from his mouth diminishing.
He had already made enough enemies on this journey; there was no reason, besides his annoyance, to create more of them.
'With this mindset, there is no wonder we almost went extinct.' The dragon sighed as he watched the ships dissolve into the starry background.
This time, he would let them go and overlook their daring impudence.
Redirecting his mana, runes flashed to live around him, and the space started to bend under the power of his gravity. 'It looks like whatever they used to disrupt my space manipulation is gone. It's time to continue toward the black hole.'
POV The Dirty Traitor:
Thick, suffocating mist clung to every surface like a death shroud, obscuring the hollowed-out carcasses of houses that lined the desolate street. Jagged shards of rock and splintered wood from the damaged houses formed a carpet over the road.
"So, this is the world we left behind," ToiletHater murmured, his voice a mix of sorrow and guilt. The weight of their actions, of the destruction they had inadvertently abetted, pressed down on him. He tightened his grip on the mace, its familiar coldness a scant comfort against his guilt.
The faint steps of his fellow players who escaped with him did little to dispel the chilling sense of isolation that enveloped him. His heart sank further as he stepped over a smear of dried blood, a testament to the town's grim fate. The absence of bodies only heightened the horror.
'Another one...'
A sudden, eerie silence seized the air, a prelude to an ominous crackling that sliced through the mist from an unseen source to his left. Hater's golden eyes darted desperately through the fog, searching for the threat lurking just beyond sight.
"Pursuers!" His voice was a low growl, a spark of fear igniting within. He signaled to his companions, their weapons raised. The world seemed to hold its breath, and the silence was so deep that he could hear the blood pounding in his ears.
"Graah!"
Then, shattering the suspense, a guttural screech ripped through the veil of mist. A pair of bluish, crystal eyes, burning with a malevolent hunger, locked onto theirs. A shadowy figure, its form distorted by crystals jutting from its flesh, charged with a supernatural speed, claws extended like swords.
Stepping to the side, Hater avoided the claws, the wind of the creature's passage stirring his hair. With all his power, he swung down his mace.
The following impact resonated with the sound of shattering glass, the creature shattering like a glass statue caught in the tempest of his wrath into cubes of crystalized flesh.
[+320 XP]
'And this thing used to be a human...'
"Calm, it was only a monster." He waved at the players behind him and steadied his breathing.
"Calm, it was only a monster," he breathed out, attempting to steady his racing heart. But the victory was hollow. "Damn monster gods! This is their doing," he spat out his disgust for their former overlords.
They had turned the entire world into a slaughterhouse, indifferent to the lives swept away by their monstrous crystal plague.
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