"I am Tirk, Guard Captain of Koloum City! And the first son of Baron Luce of the Orben Kingdom! Under whose authority do you have any right to make demands from me?!"
Tirk was fuming towards the golem for making such ridiculous demands as if it were the King. Furthermore, he couldn't feel any mana emanating from the golem, so he believed it had to be weak, as golems were creatures born from mana and couldn't live without it for very long.
The absence of any mana emissions from the bizarre golem heavily implied to Tirk that it wouldn't be able to exert much power. However, that didn't make him any less cautious since its smooth and unnatural design led him to assume it was a dwarven golem, and nothing good would occur if the dwarves were planning something against the Orben Kingdom in their mountains.
"Leave immediately or be detained!"
As the captain's warning faded away, Juve could feel his heart pounding in his chest, hair all over his body stood, beads of sweat slid down his forehead, neck, and back. His legs quivered as he stared at the golem, the otherworldly impression of the golem caused his familial trait to roar in his mind, telling him that staying wouldn't end well for him.
He sent a glance onto what he could only assume was the golem's face, and that brief look was enough to send his family's unique trait into complete pandemonium. He'd never felt his trait undergo such a meltdown before, and unnoticed to Juve, the tendrils of his trait began taking control of his mind and body.
Thoughts of fleeing drowned his mind, eliminating any semblance of rationality from him. Slowly and unnoticeably, he started sidestepping away from his fellow guards who were all too focused onto the golem to notice Juve's desertion. Once he got far enough so that he wouldn't be seen fleeing, he broke into a thoughtless sprint determined to get as far away from the city as fast as possible. No reasoning or thoughts other than fleeing could enter his frantic, trait-controlled mind that was burying all of his concerns away from his consciousness.
"Universal Articles 22B And 99X, Demand Compliance In Assisting Nylus Corporation Employees or Property, Failure To Comply May Result In Retaliation By The Nylus Corporation..."
Tirk was irked by the black golem's threat of retaliation and shouted an order to detain this bizarre golem until someone from the city lord's office arrives to question the golem.
The Automaton observed the contingent of twenty guards as they moved forward with their spears ready and fanned out in a circle around it.
"Analyzing Threat Level..."
"Threat Level: Zero..."
"Adding Analyzed Action To Attempted Deterrence And Obstruction..."
"You Are Attempting To Obstruct Nylus Corporation Property Assigned With A Task Prioritized As Level A, Continued Obstruction Will Result In Retaliation, And The Tagging Of The Orben Kingdom As An Enemy State..."
Tirk's temper was boiling from the golem's threats. He'd never heard of a golem with enough intelligence to speak on its own, but Tirk didn't care as he'd also never heard of this 'Nylus Corporation' whatever it was.
"Someone place a binding circle on this damn golem!"
Hearing his captain's order, one of the guards planted his spear into the ground and retrieved a single, small glowing circle from a pouch tied to his waist. Under the alert gazes of the captain and the other guards, he moved forward cautiously and gradually reached the golem. He didn't waste any time to quickly press the binding circle against the golem before dashing back to his spear. The circle the guard had pressed against the Automaton grew to encompass the Automaton's entire waist. Within seconds of the circle's activation, ethereal golden chains shot out from the circle; attempting to wrap themselves around the Automaton's legs and arms.
"Analyzing Threat Level..."
"Threat Level: Z..."
"Adding Analyzed Action To Attempted Restrain And Capture..."
"Under Universal Article 1A, Attempted Theft, Capture, Damaging, Espionage, Or Interference Of Nylus Corporation Property, Warrants A Level E, Retaliatory Action..."
"Unknown Particle Invasion Detected..."
"Beginning Subatomic Deconstruction Of Detected Hostile Particles..."
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Tirk felt like his eyes were going to pop out of his head, as he watched the binding circle glow brighter, before flickering and exploding into a puff of golden light, leaving only small wisps of golden light all over the ground.
"As Suspected Personnel Of An Unknown Sovereign State, You Have Attempted To Capture Nylus Corporation Property, And Have Made The Intentions Of The Orben Kingdom Towards The Nylus Corporation Hostile. As Such, The Orben Kingdom Has Been Listed As An Enemy State, And Level E Retaliation Towards The Orben Kingdom Will Now Commence..."
Both points of red light at the tips of the Automaton's shoulders flared brightly, blinding the guards temporarily. When they reopened their eyes, they saw that the Automaton's shoulder tips had peeled apart, revealing small glowing red crystals.
----------------------------------------
Far from the city, Juve continued running as if his life depended on how far away from the golem he could get. He stumbled when a sudden, bright, flash of red light blinded him. The slow and unnatural pressure wave that followed the flash swept him off of his feet and slammed his unbalanced body against the ground. These two events were accompanied by a screeching sound that pierced into his ears and grew in pitch over time as if the world itself was crying out in pain. Blood trickled down from Juve's ears as his mind and body were assaulted by the insufferable howl of the world being irreparably scarred.
To Juve, it felt like it took an eternity for the horrid, worldly screech to die down. When it did, he slowly stumbled to his feet, fighting to keep his balance as his ears rang and his head ached. Dread crept into every fiber of his being as he turned towards the city and saw nothing but a giant cloud of black smoke rising from a perfectly circular hole, right where Koloum used to lie.
The sight before him sapped any scrap of strength out of his legs, causing him to collapse to his knees, like a puppet whose strings have been cut. The realization of what he'd done began seeping into his thoughts. Disbelief at the sudden annihilation of Koloum City, made him pray to forgiving heavens that this was all just a dream, that he would awaken from this nightmare soon.
Denial washed over Juve's mind towards his actions.
He refused to accept, to believe, that he had just mindlessly abandoned his wife and daughter, that he would desert his duties as a guard of Koloum. He continued profusely gazing at the thick black smoke rising from the gaping maw of the hole, with the expectation that he would just wake up, and shake off this insane dream. The longer he gazed into the endless, unforgiving depths of the maw, the more light and life left his eyes.
His thoughts descended further into chaos as he realized, this was no dream, but reality. His family was dead; his friends were dead, his senior officers, deceased; his livelihood, destroyed; the joy he'd obtained in life, erased; the very home that he grew up in, annihilated.
Juve sat there, a broken shell of the man he was, cradling his knees with his head hung low as he repeatedly whispered beneath each gasping breath that he drew.
"Sorry...sorry...I'm sorry...so sorry..."
He dearly wished that he could cry, that he could vent his anguish through tears, but his trait stopped him from doing so and screamed for him to continue running, however, Juve wouldn't, no, couldn't run anymore, his mind too lost in grief over his actions and all that he'd lost which could never be returned.
"Are You A Citizen, Or Personnel Of The Orben Kingdom?..."
Juve gazed up with hollow eyes, lacking any shred of what one would consider life, and stared directly at the unharmed black golem that had likely been the cause of the destruction of Koloum City.
"I... I... I'm... No..."
Juve couldn't finish stuttering out whatever he'd tried to say as he passed out, his mind overcome with remorse, stress, and fatigue.
"Bystander Unfit To Respond..."
"Proceeding With Primary Objective: Locating Commander Hermund Jones..."
The Automaton ignored the unconscious Juve, and left behind the desolate wound it had caused upon the world, heading in a random direction while scanning for more signs of life; preferably, humans associated with the Nylus Corporation.
Day turned to night as the Automaton continued its unhurried pace; continually scanning and surveying the land for signs of civilization, and entered a new tree line.
It slowly walked for one and a half week through the forest. Encountering no new animals as it wandered through the woods, but when it emerged from the forest, it instantly spotted a chain of mountains rising ahead. Its vision zoomed in on the large stone gate carved into the largest mountain among the chain.
Four large, two hundred meters tall, and intricately sculpted, weathered statues of bearded armored men stood on either side of the three hundred meters wide and five hundred meters tall gate, crossing the colossal war hammers they held before the entrance of the mountain.
"Possible Civilization Detected; Proceeding With Primary Objective..."
The Automaton began its slow march towards the mountain, however, the closer it got, the less data it received from its short-range surveillance until its scanning outright failed.
"Increased Unknown Particle Interference Detected..."
"Short-Range Surveillance Offline..."
"Surveillance Module Deactivation In Progress..."
"Surveillance Module Deactivation Successful..."
"Diverting Excess Power To Optics..."
"Power Diversion Successful..."
"Proceeding With Primary Objective..."
The Automaton's short halt to disable its now nearly useless surveillance module lasted only a moment before it swiftly returned to sauntering towards the mountain range.