“Sinoitarepsed Sutirips!”

“Ailanrefni Alucniv!”

“Dner Issyba Eamina!”

A spell to make you lose the will to live, a flaming bond that wraps you up like some infernal chains, and lastly, a Soul attack capable of killing the Soul directly.

After taking care of another guard, it seemed like the rest of them figured out were were hunting them, and all of them prepared for our arrival. And as we approached a particularly large fortress with plenty of Cultivators manning it, we were attacked.

The bastards didn’t even give us the opportunity to examine them and directly attacked us as soon as we came in range. And by in range, I mean a few kilometers away. In a forest. Partially hidden by uneven terrain.

“Take cover!” The Elder shouted and the rest of us quickly summoned a barrier of earth and stone and reinforced it with magic, while hiding our presence. Weirdly enough, the spells were very loud and clear, as the voice was carried perfectly across the large distance. The three that suffered from the first wave of the assault were beyond saving and we dragged them back. Well, what remained of them anyway.

Two of them were corpses, one charred and the other perfectly preserved, while the third one might as well be dead as well, considering his state. His eyes were empty and he was staring into the distance, not reacting to any external stimuli.

I examined his Soul and it seemed fine on the surface, just its activity dropped by about 99.9% by my estimation. It was like he was in a coma, yet still conscious at the same time.

“They figured out we are onto them.” One of the other guys said.

“Thanks Mister Obvious. Why don’t you tell us the sky is blue as well?” Another hissed beside him as part of our defensive wall was blown up. The guards couldn’t detect us anymore, so they were just shooting in our general direction. A few dozen meters of stone and soil were just barely enough to block one attack.

“Spread out. We need to get closer to disable their barrier.” The Elder ordered in a low voice.

[What if I just blow them up from here?] I asked.

The Elder gave me a look and lifted an eyebrow. “We can’t. No offense, I know you are strong, but this particular bastion is pretty far forward. It has way more defenses than the other ones.”

[Well, it doesn’t hurt to try, right?] I smiled and then turned back at the enemy. A large figure suddenly appeared beside me in all its dark metal glory. Tiny’s cores powered up and he steadied himself, waiting for orders.

[Alright buddy. Time to see what good were those upgrades. Destroy the enemy.]

As the rest gawked at my creation, Tiny turned, his eyes aimed at the distant fortress, and began walking steadily forward as the ground kept exploding around him.

----------------------------------------

“Damn it, this piece of shit machine can’t see them at all.” One of the possessed guards cursed as the aiming apparatus of the cannon he was using was bugging out. He could detect the enemy just fine on his own, but aiming with the unfamiliar weapon proved harder than he thought.

While the automatic aiming system was operational it was a piece of cake to even hit a fly at such a distance, but doing it manually after the enemy cloaked himself required a bit more finesse.

The relic was used to amplify and transmit Mystic Arts and spells at a distance, but their powerful curses weren’t made for such warfare. Without the cannon’s automatic aiming system’s accuracy they had to result to basic energy blasts that were more precise at a distance.

“Just keep shooting. They are bound to make a mistake soon.” Another guard manning a similar contraption beside him spoke, calmly shooting a blast every few seconds while systematically covering the general area of their opponents. “Sooner or later they will have to come closer, and that’s when we will be able to crush them easily.”

“Yeah, yeah…” The first guy grumbled dismissively. He knew his colleague was correct, of course, but truthfully, he just wanted to vent in peace. They had plenty of energy to defend for days, but they knew such a long siege was unlikely. If there wouldn’t be any progress in an hour, the humans would call for reinforcements as they always do.

They were already outnumbered about five to one, and if another fifty or so came they would be dead, having an advantageous position or not. That’s why they had to leave as soon as possible. But with the enemy at their doorsteps, such a thing became complicated.

The guard nervously looked at the stack of tablets in the corner of their tower, debating if he should just use it to get to the heart of the enemy.

“Don’t do it. You will just die like the rest of them.” His partner said without even looking at him.

The guy gritted his teeth and cursed. Possessed corpses could not be teleported, the humans made sure of that very early in the conflict. Anyone trying to do so now would find himself torn to shreds and get his Soul crushed. Only a few strong ones managed to escape such a fate, and that’s how they even learned of it. They lost many good Souls inexplicably before that happened. The first such attack was just too successful and the leaders wanted to keep pushing their advantage.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Well, since the fix, the tablets have become a surefire way to delete yourself. One gentle squeeze to break the ceramic tiles and you would be wiped from existence.

“Aha! There, see? I told you!”

The guard looked up as his partner shouted excitedly. He looked at his screen and saw a humanoid figure appear. It was walking towards them.

“Finally!” He grinned. “Leave him to me, I’m going to curse this bastard into oblivion!”

He zeroed in on the approaching figure and cleared his throat, the Qi swirling inside him.

“Suceac Se Sutcaf Te!” He shouted, and the curse was carried and amplified by the cannon, striking the approaching figure.

“Haha! A direct hit! Take that you ugly bas-! Huh?”

The guy did a double-take to make sure his senses weren’t deceiving him, but no. He was seeing correctly, the approaching figure just didn’t react to the spell at all.

“Uh, okay… This guy has some resistance it seems.” He quickly realized and then decided to try something else.

“Muut Maretnoc Surc!”

The curse went out, it hit, and … nothing.

“Sinoitarepsed Sutirips!” He tried again. That curse would bring anyone to their knees in an instant. It sapped the will to live out of living beings, leaving them depressed husks of their former self. And yet…

“How?!” The man screamed, incensed.

“You do know you are shooting at a golem, right?” The other guy said calmly, still shooting at the original spot.

“Oh…” The man blinked a few times and then focused his senses on the distant figure. It really was a golem. A weird one too. It was shaped so much like a human, he made a mistake in his haste.

“I mean… Of course, I know it’s a golem, I was just playing around, hehe. I’m impressed you noticed.”

“Thanks.”

Nodding to himself, the first guard pushed out his chest smugly. “Hmm, hmm. Now I’m going to show you my techniques for real. Get ready-!”

At that moment the golem exploded. There were cheers from the courtyard below where a massive turret was still glowing from the energy it just delivered.

“Ah… Hey! What do you think you are doing?! That one was mine!” The guy roared from the tower.

“Haha, sorry Tardor, the boss said to take it out. Be quicker next time.” One of the guys on the ground laughed as he answered.

“Why those little…” Tardor ground his teeth in anger. He was supposed to be the one to destroy that pile of scrap! How dare they!

He turned back in anger to the battlefield and watched the veil of smoke that covered his sight when something suddenly appeared in his vision. It was the golem! It was walking out of the crater like nothing ever happened, not slowing its movement in the least.

“Eh? Oh, haha! Is that how you destroy a shitty construct? I’m impressed!” Tardor laughed, taking the opportunity to gloat. He then puffed out his chest and grinned.

“I’ll show you how this is done!”

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and made weird gang signs with his hands. Qi swirled around him and the cannon turned on its own, aiming at the golem. Energy crackled around him as it manifested, and he pointed both his palms at the loading opening of the stationary weapon.

“Disappear.” He whispered and pushed the energy outward. The cannon absorbed it, amplified it, concentrated it, and then shot it out as one continuous beam.

The sound was deafening. Like the hum of thunder when a thousand lightning bolts go off at once, reverberating between the mountains.

The ground shook and the sturdy fortress barely withstood the forces of the sound alone.

Then, there was silence.

Tardor stood straight, watching the results of his power, and smirked with satisfaction. “Not too bad for a useless meat sack." His hands were cracked and burning, yet he didn’t seem to care. His chest also, was falling apart. But that was to be expected. He had possessed a corpse, so that much was expected. Still, despite lacking his full strength, he had outdone himself.

“Hahaha! Now this is power!” He roared towards the sky.

The day was ending, and the smoke and dust covered the sun, painting the sky blood red.

“Um…” His partner didn’t move from the cannon, still intently watching the screen.

“What?!” Tardor snapped. He was enjoying his victory when that emotionless guy ruined it all with his useless comment.

“…Nothing.”

The mood was ruined so Tardor just rolled his eyes and focused back on the screen, hoping some of the human animals would reveal themselves. They didn’t. Instead, the inside of the smoke cloud showed a peculiar shape.

“…Son of a whore.” He quietly cursed and looked at the battlefield. Out from the cloud stepped a metallic beast. It was glowing bright red from heat, yet it was already cooling down. The outside layer of anti-magic armor was pushed to its limits, yet it held. And it was already recovering.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it all!” Tardon shouted, pulling his hair.

“I think the body might be affecting you. We’ve been inside for a long time already.”

Tardon snapped around, his eyes wide as saucers and bloodshot. “Are you serious? It’s been a week. Do you really think such a short duration could possibly affect me?! Do you take me for a child?! ME?! TARDON OF THE-!”

He paused. He couldn’t really remember his title in the spur of the moment.

“Just a thought. Your body has been deteriorating quite fast. There is no way such a lowly human could possibly contain your greatness.” The emotionless man stated as a matter of fact, but in reality, he was just trying to avoid conflict with his unreasonable colleague.

“Oh… Time to go.” He suddenly abandoned his post and jumped down from the tower on the other side.

“Hah?! Where are you going? Coward!” Tardon shouted after him. But then he looked back down at the golem and noticed it was dangerously close to the barrier. Not that it mattered. The thing was extremely resistant to damage and tampering.

The golem stopped as it reached the barrier, and under Tardon’s watchful eye, its chest opened, and an inner structure of dull golden metal was revealed. It was very pretty, especially the inscriptions carved into the solid metal. At such a distance, he could see it clearly. And, unfortunately, he understood it as well.

“Ah, fuck.”

There was a pulse of magic and the barrier rippled like the surface of water. At the same time, the golem took a step forward and crossed the weakened barrier. Almost instantly after, the wall of energy resolidified, with the golem already on the other side.

“Yep, about as much as I expected from human garbage. One Void Pulse and it all turns to shit.” Tardon sighed calmly and then looked at his hand. The body he was inhabiting was already falling to pieces, he was out of energy, and as the other guy said, he couldn’t even remember his name anymore, so his mind was failing him as well.

“Time to go.”

He was just about to jump when he looked at his metal opponent one last time and frowned. “You win this one, but I’ll get you next time, machine.” He snorted and spat out the last word with contempt.

The golem looked up at him and they had a staring contest for a few seconds. Then its eyes glowed, the sheer energy gathered enough to level a small city.

“Oh, shit.” That was the last thing his shriveled rotting brain managed to process before everything went bright, and then dark.