Shattered stone rained from the rooftops as smoke rolled over the streets like a rising storm.
Hido rushed through the chaos, his armor dented and his face streaked with soot. He spotted Euly, Lanni, and Naggi standing in the middle of the broken square, surrounded by fleeing villagers.
"Lanni!" he shouted. "A massive Delta just landed, it's flattening everything!"
Lanni's tone was sharp, commanding. "What does it look like?"
Hido's voice shook. "Huge. Violet metal. Like a titan. Cannon for an arm."
Lanni exhaled slowly. "It sounds like a Delta Giant"
Euly's eyes flickered with sparks. "They want absolute chaos."
Naggi stepped forward, gripping her sword. "What are we waiting for? My son needs me."
Lanni turned to Hido. "Get your men out of here. Evacuate everyone you can."
Then to her knights, her voice hardened.
"The Delta's name is Warden. It's a military robot designed for mass destruction. We are the only ones who can stop it."
A shadow swallowed the end of the street.
Then, thoom... thoom... thoom.
Each step made the ground quake. Dust shook from every window frame.
Delta Warden emerged through the smoke, its violet armor glinting under the dim orange firelight. Every motion was mechanical perfection, precise, soulless. Its cannon rotated with a hiss, locking onto the heat signatures of the living.
Its voice thundered through the air, flat and inhuman:
"IDENTIFIER: DELTA WARDEN, UNIT 07-Χ.
PRIMARY FUNCTION: KING'S EXECUTIONER."
It continued "SECONDARY FUNCTION: ENFORCE COMPLIANCE.
FOR TOO LONG THE ZONER KNIGHTS HAVE BEEN NONCOMPLIANT AND DEFIANT.
THIS BLATANT ACT OF DEFIANCE REQUIRES MAXIMUM PUNISHMENT."
It raised its cannon. The glow within built to a blinding white.
"COMMENCING PURGE."
A blinding beam fired.
The impact split the street open, molten stone exploding outward as entire rows of homes vanished in a single pulse of annihilation.
Lanni braced against the blast, shouting over the chaos.
"It's not even distinguishing targets, it's burning the entire district!"
Euly's eyes flared with sparks.
"Trail of sparks!"
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A ribbon of flaming energy ripped across the air, striking Warden dead in the chest. The explosion staggered it, for a moment, victory looked possible.
But then, slowly, impossibly, the machine straightened again. Its armor smoked and dented, but it still stood.
"DAMAGE LEVEL: ACCEPTABLE.
PROCEEDING WITH EXECUTION PROTOCOL."
Lanni stepped forward, voice cutting through the roar of fire.
"Leave this place, Warden! You are not wanted here!"
"REQUEST DENIED.
THE KING'S WILL IS LAW.
ORDER WILL BE RESTORED."
The cannon began to turn toward her.
Naggi broke into a sprint, bronze Abi flaring around her like wildfire. Her blade glowed bright orange, crackling with molten light.
"Bronze Sword, Electric Orange Wolf Strike!"
Her slash hit like a thunderclap. The energy wolf roared from her blade and tore through Warden's arm, ripping the cannon clean off and hurling it across the street in a storm of sparks and shrieking metal.
The Warden stumbled, then straightened, releasing a mechanical growl.
"ARM LOSS: NONCRITICAL.
RECONFIGURING OFFENSE SYSTEM.
ADAPTIVE FIRE MODE: ACTIVE."
Panels across its body opened, revealing rotating barrels, vents, and smaller plasma emitters. The machine's internal lights shifted from violet to a violent crimson.
Euly darted forward, his sparks igniting in bursts around his feet.
He swung his sword, sparks exploding off the edge as his blade met steel.The impact rippled through him, but barely scratched the armor.
"Tch! It's like cutting into a mountain!" he hissed.
The Warden countered, slamming its other arm down. Euly barely rolled aside as the ground cratered where he'd been standing.
Lanni charged next. Her blade struck in rhythm, one, two, three, arcs of white light tracing through the air. But each blow merely sparked off the armor, useless against the reinforced plating.
She landed back beside Euly, breathing hard, eyes narrowing.
"We gotta hit it harder," Euly snapped. His Abi flared, sparks racing up his arm as he slashed again, bright lightning licking across Warden's leg joint.
It stumbled slightly, then planted its foot, pistons hissing.
"ANALYZING: ZONER KNIGHTS TACTICAL PATTERNS.
RESISTANCE RATING: INSUFFICIENT.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: TERMINATION."
Its eyes pulsed red, and it fired another beam. The shockwave sent all three knights sprawling. Naggi rolled hard, slamming into a collapsed wall. Lanni's sword slipped from her hand, and Euly's ears rang with static.
He groaned, sparks still flickering off his fingertips. "It's adapting to our Abi..."
Lanni's voice came hoarse through the smoke. "It's like it's learning how we fight—"
The Warden's shadow darkened over them.
And then the ground trembled again.
A low hum.
A chant.
The sound of portals tearing open. Grave hands sprouted from the portals.
Lanni froze. "Artimancers..."
The Artimancers
PITA
ARTIMANCERS
Their robes fluttered as they stepped through the smoke, faces half-shrouded in the dying firelight, calm, patient, watching.
No words were exchanged.
Only the cold stillness of realization.
The knights stood battered and bloodied as the Artimancers shadows stretched over the burning street.
The Warden's red eyes gleamed again behind them.
To be continued...