“Increase speed.”
The Enforcers were now in a dead sprint, pushing aside all obstacles. The earth shook from our advance, and a trail of broken trees and mangled greenery was left behind us. We were close to the village within an hour, and from the drones in the area, I could see the attackers were gearing up for another attack. Running along the edge of the lake, I saw the attackers making their way across the fields. Zooming in, I noticed that the palisade gates were opening, and the hammer wielding man, along with a few farmers, stepped out. Behind them, the village women held makeshift spears to defend the walls. A few of the attackers stopped, and turned towards the forest. Did they hear my footsteps? Either way, it was too late.
“Use lethal force!”
“[Acknowledged.]”
I burst out of the trees, charging with my shield towards the unfortunate individuals in my way. My unexpected appearance shocked everyone, and in the distance, I heard a familiar voice scream “Evan!”. The first unfortunate soul to die, a balding middle-aged man wearing shabby leather armor and wielding a spear, was tossed aside by my shield. He landed on his neck with a disturbing crack, and didn’t get back up. Behind me, the Enforcers spread out, approaching the attackers like a tidal wave.
A wave of dizziness and nausea washed over me as I realized what I had done. My mechanical hands began shaking unconsciously, and I looked at the hot blood that covered my mace.
“[Detecting host distress. Temporarily suspending host emotion,]” Eve’s comforting voice echoed in my head. My hesitancy disappeared like fog in the sun, and I gripped my mace tightly once again.
Without any more inhibitions, my assault could resume. I smacked another one of the attackers aside, his ribcage obliterated by my spiked mace, before crushing another one underfoot. Part of me felt like a god, devastating all those who stood in my way. Realizing the new threat, the attackers ignored the village and focused on the Enforcers. Their iron weapons did little damage to the Enforcers, and many were quickly punched to death. Others had their bones broken, fated to die slowly and painfully via blood loss. Someone shot an arrow at my head, but it only left a small scratch. The Enforcers were unstoppable, pushing the attackers back and away from the village. At the edge of my vision, I saw a bright light coming at me. I instinctively raised my shield, and a wave of fire washed over it. If I had been in a living body, the shield would have been useless as the heat melted my flesh. Lowering my shield, I looked for the origin of the unexpected attack. At the edge of the charred forest, a strange man stood, covered in black robes. He raised his hands, and a strange orange light began emanating from them.
“The hell is that light? Does he have a flamethrower?”
The other attackers whooped and hollered with excitement upon seeing the robed man. I raised my shield again as another ball of flame came towards me. This time, I had to dig my feet into the ground as the attack pushed me back. The moment I could move, I charged.
“I have to close the distance and take him out. I’ll figure out what weapon he’s using afterwards.”
The ground shook as I ran towards the robed figure. I was forced to hunker down again as another attack came my way. As I withstood the heat, I knew I couldn’t take many more attacks. The circuitry inside me was in danger of overheating or melting, and I would lose control of my body. Luckily, I had reinforcements.
“Kill him.”
“[Acknowledged.]”
Unbeknownst to the robed man, he was surrounded by Falcons. On my order, they emerged, stabbing him in several places with their bladed arms. Seeing him die, the other attackers broke and ran.
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“Don’t let them escape.”
The Falcons played an important role here. Their speed allowed them to catch up to the attackers and cut them down from behind. Some tried to fight back, but those that did were quickly surrounded and killed. One of the attackers, however, caught my eye.
“Leave that one alive. I have a plan for him.”
Year 0, Month 0, Week 2, Day 6, Hour 10, Minute 51
There was nothing left of the attackers besides broken bodies and shredded corpses. The battlefield was soaked in crimson blood, a stark contrast to the peaceful farms I had seen a few days earlier. I finished killing the attackers that were still alive, then started walking towards the palisade. The hammer wielding human and farmers were still standing outside, in shock of the slaughter that had occurred right in front of them. Seeing me approach, they held up their weapons. It was painfully obvious how scared they were, their weapons shaking in their hands. Dropping my mace and shield, I held my hands up in a peaceful gesture. This did nothing to ease their fears, evidenced by their angry words and threatening posture. This was until Aurea pushed her way through the crowd, and ran to me. The man with the hammer chased after her, calling for her to come back. Ignoring him, she ran to me and hugged my leg. I knelt down, saying “Hello, Aurea.” The man refused to come within 5 meters of me, but after seeing how I interacted with Aurea, he seemed to relax just a bit. Lightly patting her on the back, I sent a command to Eve.
“Bring the guy over.”
The Enforcers behind me parted, and two of them dragged a prisoner forward. I felt Aurea stiffen as she recognized the man. Walking forward in a daze, she collapsed onto her knees as the Enforcers kicked the back of his knees, forcing him down. Picking up a sword left on the ground, I handed it to Aurea. Taking hold of the handle, she looked back and forth from the weapon to the man. Tossing it aside, she walked towards him and began punching him. The man yelled in pain, but my Enforcers held him still with an iron grip. Aurea soon tired, and the punches became ineffectual. Pulling out a small hunting knife from her belt, she stabbed the man several times in the thigh. He screamed and tried to wiggle free, but to no avail. He soon fainted from the pain, going limp in my Enforcers hands. Yelling in frustration, Aurea ran into the village, ignoring her still healing leg wound, and came back out holding a wooden bucket full of water. The man woke up when she tossed it in his face. Picking the knife back up, she dug it into his bicep and pulled downward, making a cut so deep one could see the bone underneath. The man screamed his throat out, only able to make hoarse cries.
This went on for several more minutes, with Aurea unleashing her rage and hatred. Finally, as the man was close to death, she grabbed his hair and pulled his chin up. Looking directly into her eyes, she said something I couldn’t hear clearly, then drove the dagger straight into his throat. Dragging it sideways, she made a jagged gash across his neck. The man made a weak gurgling sound as he choked on his own blood, until the light faded from his eyes and he went limp. My Enforcers let him go, and he fell sideways. Aurea stared at his dead body for a long while.
“Is she ok?”
“[Analysis: Based on her pale complexion, hyperventilation, and the recent traumatic event, Aurea is most likely experiencing moderate to severe shock.]”
Aurea walked backwards listlessly until she bumped into me. Turning around, she grabbed hold of my leg again and cried. I sat down, careful not to hurt her, and gently held her. I had suspected that the farmer who had died was related to Aurea, most likely her father. When I saw the man that had killed him, I decided to make him face justice for his actions. Aurea cried for a good 10 minutes, releasing her pent up grief. When she was done, she wiped her tears away, staining her face with blood in the process. Picking her up in my arms, I looked at the village before walking back towards the forest. The man with the hammer looked at me for a few seconds, before shaking his head and calling the farmers to follow him back behind the wall.
“Bring the more intact bodies along, as well as some of their weapons for study. Make collecting the remains of the robed guy and bringing them back to the mine a priority. Oh, make sure to grab the body of Aurea’s dad.”
Using one hand, I brushed away the branches in my path, making sure none of them scratched Aurea. The day had taken a toll on her, and she quickly fell asleep in my arms. I walked the entire way back so as to not disturb her, my army following behind me.
“Well, that was a successful test run.”
“[Agreed]”