"... What do I do..."
The meteorite's impact had left Thurien in a complete state of shock: while the perfect combination of the defensive functions of the shields and the rapid deconstructive effects of the nanite-warheads had managed to neutralize what would have been a catastrophic cataclysm, she couldn't help but think of what would have happened had everything failed at the very last moment.
Fortunately though, everything had gone by as planned, and the sea castle had been protected and still remained perfectly unharmed. There was just one more issue to deal with, though there were many problems involved with how she was supposed to approach this matter.
And the main problem, which was the greatest out of all of them, was that she had no way of solving the current predicament she was in right now.
"... Damnit... Only the rockets can hit that damn thing... And they're all currently reloading..."
This was a terrible problem... The defensive shields that protected the castle had been temporarily taken out of action: to add insult to that injury however, was that the long-ranged missiles had already been exhausted from the previous attack, and there was no way for the other defensive weapons to be able to hit the dragon, as the damn creature was at a too faraway distance for any of the other weapons in her arsenal to be able to even effectively hit its vast mass.
What's more was that the dragon was seemingly preparing to cast another horrid spell with its arcane might, as it was remaining still in the air as a massive, magick circle formed in front of its scaled body: it was preparing perhaps another massive attack that was aimed at her location, and there was nothing much she could do to stop it from occurring.
"... There's no way to reach that lizard... What am I going to do...?"
A faint sense of panic began infiltrating her once calm line of thought: if the dragon threw another spell at her, she had no way to determine just what sort of disaster it would unleash. Would it be another meteorite hailing from the sky? A massive hurricane that could destroy the entire castle? Or perhaps an unnaturally strong earth tremor that could easily break down the very foundations of the ground she was standing on?
Regardless of what horrifying manner of magick he would unleash, it had quickly become clear to Thurien just how truly dreadful the problem that had trapped her into a dilemma really is: she couldn't help but pause in silence, stuck in her own thoughts as she was unable to even lift a finger to act due to the disorderly state of mind she was in.
[Notice: 2 new sources have been detected within the proximity of the dragon...]
Suddenly, however, the multiple systems that were observing the dragon's movements from faraway had suddenly detected more beings that had entered into the fray, and as Thurien quickly saw what these beings looked like, her eye brows furrowed themselves in confusion, as her entire face exuded an incredibly clear expression of disbelief.
"... Who are those 2...?"
From the video feeds presented to her by the holographic displays, she could see 2 humanoids in the sky wearing an unnatural armor that closely resembled the ones her creators once wore during conflicts... How strange, it seemed; just who were these 2 entities anyway? And what were they doing in such a place all of a sudden?
Great, she surmised... There were 2 other impossible factors that had just appeared before her, and she wasn't even sure if these recent ones were ultimately going to be hostile presences.
________________________________________
SWOOSHHH!
The air was rough with its turbulence as the 2 rapidly descended from the skies: it would have been dangerous had they been normal humans, but that was no such case for advanced beings such as themselves.
As soon as they had left and leapt away from the safety of the invisible aircraft that they jumped off of, they could almost immediately see the target that Novus had mentioned for them to deal with- it was a massive, red dragon flying at a distance that was a bit far away from their positions. Even so, they could clearly see such a massive entity even if it was present at such an incredibly distant location: after all, the very size of its body was too massive, and its appearance had quickly stuck out like an obvious hint before their eyes as they continued their ceaseless free-fall.
[Synchronization Complete... Activating advanced armor...]
The upgrades that had been augmented onto them would then finally show themselves in a majestic fashion, as their bodies became wrapped in sleek, metallic armors that enveloped them from head to toe: almost immediately, their bodies, with the help of the battle suits that they had already activated, quickly ceased from their plummeting and began to hover in the air like beings who were completely unbothered by the concept of gravity.
"Now then, sister... Since you're the rookie between the both of us... I suppose it's time to teach you a few things about 'battles'..."
Speranza quickly perked up in response to Whitlea's words. "Battles? I see... Please do so then... What will your first lesson be though, I wonder?"
"For the first lesson I'll be teaching you..." a faint aura of lavender began to envelop her body with its weak glow. "... Always strike first against an enemy..."
"... And let nothing hold you back... Not even mercy..."
The waters would suddenly rise in unison as she raised her hand, causing a gigantic tidal wave of monstrous proportions to form at her command: by now, she had been fully integrated into the newfound power she had just earned thanks to one of her creators, and now she was going to use it to its full extent without pulling any punches.
She couldn't let that tragic incident happen once more, after all... Deep inside, Whitlea had already made a firm resolve to never allow any sort of tragedy to occur once more, and she would do this by always being quick and ruthless to the threats that would suddenly appear before her and violently threaten everything she stood for.
Today, she was not going to take any chances and was going to do everything she could to wrap things up quickly.
"... Let's see how you'll survive this, you overgrown lizard."
...
...
At last, another opportunity had presented itself before his very eyes, and now it was now or never: he could tell that he had already partially exhausted the defenses of the ancient one's fortress, which had thus offered him an incredibly advantageous moment for him to attack.
"... Still... I must be careful..." he thought to himself, still being wary with how he proceeded in order to not cause any more failures. "... Hm? What are those...?"
His magick would stop flowing for a moment as the magick circle before him faded away. His senses could detect 2 lone figures approaching him from a certain distance: as his draconic eyes began focusing onto their general direction, he could only feel a rising sense of confusion in his mind... Just who were these 2 entities who were approaching him from out of nowhere? They were even adorning some sort of armor that seemed strange to him...
Could it be? Could these 2 perhaps be some underlings sent by the one he was supposed to slay? Very well then, he thought: he wouldn't be taking any chances today. A vast magick circle would rematerialize in front of him as he began chanting his next devastating spell, which was aimed against those 2 beings who were getting closer to his location...
"... I don't know who you 2 are, but... Farewell, you-"
His words would come to a grinding halt as he sensed that something was off: he could feel something large approaching him from behind his back, and it was an unpleasant feeling that quickly made him dispel his magick once more as he turned to face the source of his sudden sense of danger...
".... You bastards...!"
A massive tidal wave, one that greatly exceeded even his already great size, would hit him from behind with its immense body: its great pushing force was too powerful, and as such, he had been irresistibly pushed down into the watery depths beneath.
"Arghhh!"
...
________________________________________
5 Days Ago...
The battle was both intense and ferocious as the air shook and quivered with their movements: 2 figures wearing uniquely-conceived armor of a futuristic design clashed with each other in a chaotic melee as another figure watched from the sidelines in silence.
"..."
"..."
The 2nd Combat Model Hybrid Series 1001: Codenamed "Speranza"- a white haired beauty with alluring, blood-irised eyes, a creation of science who had terrifying combat capabilities that rivaled her sister and predecessor, Whitlea.
While her sister was an esper who could control minds and bend and render metal and stone with a single thought of her mind, Speranza's main power was something that took more of a direct approach: using the advanced nanotechnologies that were a part of her biomechanically advanced body, Speranza could construct and utilize any form of scientific weaponry on the spot, using deadly armaments such as lasers, machine guns, missiles, and even complex weaponries such as gravitational weapons against any enemy she could face.
What was even more horrifying however, was the fact that these 2 had recently been given a few modifications just a few days ago: using the data they obtained from Anastasia's personal data logs, they had found blueprints about their own existences, as well as other logs and interrelated plans that mentioned about some upgrades that would allow them to improve their combat abilities by a hundred-fold.
Of course, they wouldn't hesitate as they immediately began to utilize such blueprints: after all, it was all necessary for the sake of the cause that Novus desperately wanted to be fulfilled- there was still that small, faint hope within his heart that Anastasia could still be brought back to life. For him, even if the chance was microscopically minuscule, it would ultimately be more vastly acceptable than having no such possibilities at all.
Eventually of course, after several painstaking hours of careful procedures and monumental efforts made by Novus himself, as well as with the help of a couple of some of the surviving automations in their castle, the overall implements would finally be implemented successfully onto their hosts: it had taken a while, and they even had to remain in deep-sleep for several days, but now, the 2 combat maids had access to dedicated combat forms that would allow them to engage in battles more effectively, and they now also had developed some new abilities that they were quite dying to test out as soon as possible.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"!!!"
In a ranged battle, Speranza would easily have the upper hand against her sister, however, such an advantage could not be utilized in close-quarters combat: instead, the white-haired maid clashed with her sister using a sharp-edged, jet-black blade she held with her right hand, swinging its metal body to-and-fro in an attempt to cut her down in an instant.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
On the other hand, Whitlea had been combating her strikes using a rather unique method: while it appeared that she was only using her hands alone to shrug off the attacks that were being dealt to her, she had actually used a simple technique in order to be able to do such a thing.
"!!!"
In short, using the small, dutiful clusters of nanomachines within her body, she had been able to harden the hand-sections of her armor to the extreme, which led to her palms and fingers developing a pitch-black discoloration that covered the entirety of her hands with a thin, protective, metallic layer that prevented them from being cut.
CLANG!
"... I guess it's my loss..."
The conclusion of the mock battle would eventually end with Whitlea managing to catch the blade with a grip firm enough to allow her to yank it off from Speranza's hands in a quick, single motion: at last, it had finally ended, and now it was time for a moment's worth of rest.
Novus would then stand up, approaching them as he clapped his hands, amazed with how things had went according to how he expected. "... So, how was it, you 2? Were the improvements I made on your combat capabilities good enough?"
"... It's good, dear. I've become stronger, and I also have these new abilities with me thanks to the modifications you did for me."
"Still though.. I don't understand why you are making us do these... Mock battles, my creator." Speranza would say as soon her sister finished speaking. "These 'practice' trainings... We aren't even able to showcase the augmentations you gave us to their full extent in these types of... Simulations."
"... Simply put, my creator..." Speranza continued without a moment's delay. "I don't think there's any point in doing this."
"... She has a point there, dear." suddenly, Whitlea spoke out after a few moments, clearly agreeing with what Speranza had just stated. "What's the point of training if we aren't able to fully use everything we have? Is there perhaps something you want to test out?"
Novus would then huff a bit as he smiled: it was amusing for him to see them being so confused about something so simple.
"Don't think too much about it, it's actually quite simple." he answered back. "I just wanted to see for a bit just how effective the improvements would really be. After all, there's no need to test the full power of your upgrades... Well... At least not yet."
"Not yet...? What do you mean by this?" Speranza replied as she looked back at him with curiosity written all over her face.
"... I have a feeling that something big will happen when we arrive there..." he told. "It's just a hunch though, so simply take it with a grain of salt and don't pay attention to it too much."
Speranza would then stare at him for a few seconds in silence before finally managing to come up with a response.
"... You are an incredibly strange person, my creator... Don't you think so too, sister?"
Whitlea quickly giggled at her words, finding them to be quite agreeable. "Hahaha, you're right, Speranza, but... you'll grow used to his antics eventually..."
...
________________________________________
SPLAASHH!
They had chosen to pursue their target into the watery domain he had been forced into, diving into the cold water without a moment's hesitation, with the waters quickly and completely engulfing them as they found themselves in a completely new environment.
The water was murky and littered with the broken bits of stone and metal, all of which were proving to be hazardous obstacles as they descended further: despite this, the 2 would continue to sink themselves further into the depths, with the harmful debris scattered about doing nothing to them as they were harmlessly pushed away by the advanced armor they had currently equipped.
Of course, after a few seconds of moving through the water unnaturally, as if they were merely flying in the air in defiance of gravity, it wouldn't take more than a few seconds for them to finally see the crimson dragon in all its fury and newfound anguish.
... What a shame... Whitlea had expected him to have ended up as a corpse by now. Still, she had already expected this to happen: after all, there was no way for such a powerful monster to go down that easily.
"This is interesting, sister... It's quite beautiful down here... It's such a shame that the hideous reptilian has to ruin the view though..."
Despite the scattered, sunken debris that were dispersed all throughout the areas of the deep ocean, there was still that sense of beauty that came from simply seeing it with your own 2 eyes whenever one would consider observing the sceneries beneath: there was that sense of otherworldliness as well as admiration that ran through their line of thoughts, making them feel a bit in awe at how wonderful this part of the world truly was.
However, for today, the 2 did not have the time to gaze upon the ocean's majesty right now, as there was a vastly more important matter that they had to attend to right this very moment.
"... Indeed, Spera, however, we have to focus on what's important here right now."
The way they communicated was through advanced synaptic communication arrays attached to their armors: a mental connection that allowed them to speak without uttering a sound as it allowed themselves to communicate with each other without much difficulty.
In front of them now, however, was the massive dragon that remained suspended within the waters they were in as its massive body blotted out a great portion of their view: the fell creature, in a completely horrifying fashion, was now also observing their movements as its head remained fixed towards their direction, with its unnatural eyes producing a sharp, hate-ridden gaze that carefully observed them seemingly down to their very last details.
In truth, Albion, or so was he known in his disguise as a human being, could not help but feel an extreme, nerve-wracking anger as he saw these 2 fools approaching him as they stared back at his eyes: he had easily known by now that either of them had been the cause of the gigantic wave of water that had just hit him and pushed him into the ocean, and it had been nothing short of overwhelmingly painful for him due to the tidal's waves impressive force upon his smaller body.
These bastards, he was definitely going to do everything he could right now to kill them both as quickly and as brutally as possible.
... Although, first of all, the draconian immediately had to flee the scene and safely escape from the deadly environment he had been trapped into, in order for him to properly achieve his vengeance against these 2 loathsome fools who had suddenly arrived and assaulted him with such a vicious attack.
He immediately moved his body in short, yet powerful bursts of energy, as he propelled himself upwards towards the surface: the entire process would have been vastly easier were it not for the loathsome waters heavily suppressing the vast majority of his arcane arsenal.
"You miscreants..." his throat gave away in a futile attempt to speak, only producing a weak, barely audible voice as large bubbles flowed out of his massive mouth and into the surrounding water. "The moment I get out... I will burn this entire ocean along with you both..."
His fire magick was useless here, as the ocean itself, as well as the countless mana currents that ran all-throughout, both of which possessed water elemental affinities that were directly against his nature, had completely neutralized the vast majority of his magick in an instant: if he truly wished to be able to unleash all of his power, he first had to get out of there in order to unleash the full power of his arcane prowess over fire.
... Unfortunately, as he had just managed to ascend up towards the surface for only a few mere meters in length, another obstacle would impede him from completing his work once more.
"There's no running from us, lizard." Whitlea voiced out to the creature telepathically, to which he could immediately hear.
"... Interesting... You can voice out your words in that manner..." the dragon uttered once more, surprised that they were able to speak, though it wasn't enough to even momentarily halt his ascension towards the surface. "Still, that does not change the fact that you and your companion will die the moment I get o-"
Whitlea would quickly interrupt him, as a faint, purple glow began emanating from her body. "Like I told you, you aren't getting out."
SLAMMM!!!
"YOU OVERBEARING LITTLE-!!!"
A violent, invisible, yet greatly powerful force immediately began pushing down the ocean floor, pinning him there helplessly as he became unable to move even a single ounce of his body: it was a dreadful affair, as he not only was he unable to exert the full capability of his power over fire in such a troublesome domain where flames couldn't exist, but he had also been completely rendered unable to move.
"Spera, do it now!" Whitlea shouted, all while simultaneously exerting the full extent of her power against their now immobile enemy. "Fire everything you have! Kill him while I'm pinning him down!"
Her sister quickly gave a nod, understanding that there wasn't any time to waste. "Understood... Activating weapon systems.... Deploying Type 9... Parameters... Maximum..."
A powerful red light then flashed itself through the waters for a brief, yet incredibly intense moment, before it would finally dissipate into nothingness. However, a frightful spectacle had immediately taken its place moments after it had faded away.
A massive hunk of metal, which seemed to be shaped like a cannon, had suddenly manifested itself before Speranza's body, with its steel structure emitting fear-inducing, ominous, dark-red lights that emanated throughout the ocean floor in a completely unnatural display: in truth, this was the deadliest among the technological arsenal that was available to Speranza, and it was an incredibly destructive weapon that would easily allow her to dispatch the draconic being who had been rendered utterly impotent before them right now.
[Alles löschen: Zerstörungsstrahl]
"CURSED INFERIORS-"
Time would seemingly stop for the moment... For the ill-fated dragon, at least...
...
...
It was impossible... It definitely shouldn't have happened. He was a dragon, for heaven's sake, the greatest, most powerful creature throughout all of existence, the ultimate apex predators who stood unchallenged upon their thrones of ivory. With their incontestable strength and overwhelming arcane might, there were supposed to be no creatures who were able to stand up against them.
Unfortunately, today had been a completely different case for this pitiful dragon who was now about to perish.
The dragon's real name was not Albion... Rather, it was Andromalius, the 72nd rank, and sadly, the weakest amongst the great draconians of old. While he had always been somewhat ashamed of his low rank due to his lacking might when compared to his fellow reptilians, he was nevertheless a member of the most powerful behemoths to have ever come into existence- even the strongest of individuals from the other species would supposedly never be able to put up a fight against the weakest of his kind. It was the natural order after all; even the strongest of primates would never be able to stand up and fight against the weakest of lions.
... Today, however, this completely natural order of the world had been completely violated by the 2 monsters in front of him right now.
The black-haired one... She was capable of controlling his movements with but a single movement of her hand, and almost instantly, Andromalius had instantly been rendered utterly incapable of fighting back: then there was the issue of her companion, the white-haired one... While she seemed less dangerous, he could tell from the weapon she had suddenly formed before her was incredibly dangerous... There was even a faint sense of dread in him that made him feel that he wasn't going to be able to survive such an attack.
It was unfair for them to have suddenly appeared from the very beginning anyway; he had been planning for several years by now in order to fulfill the mission that had been left to him by the elders, and yet everything had come tumbling down at the very last moment: from the useless, repetitive failures that the humans sustained many times already, to the very deadly predicament he had been caught in presently.
... Ah, well, he couldn't do anything anymore, anyway. It had all gone by too quickly and in a horrifying fashion, and now there was nothing Andromalius could do to stop what was about to happen next.
"... This is why I hate inferiors..."
A pulsing, ungodly dark beam of light would emerge from the cannon-shaped matrix of steel, hitting the poor draconian in the head as it easily penetrated through his scales and tore through both his skull and brain matter with relative ease, scattering mists of blood that violently leaked through the deep, massive, gaping hole that had been left on him.
And with that, Andromalius' life, as well as the great scheme he had been plotting for years, had finally come to a sudden conclusion...
...
... Or did it...?
...
...
"... Good job, Spera... Our creator is definitely going to be satisfied with the results..."
"... Did I now..." Speranza told back, a small smile forming on her face as she did. "C'mon, my elder sister, surely you know that's not enough. Why don't you praise me more, hm?"
Whitlea simply smirked at her mischievous display: her little sister was right after all, as she had been a great help in this rather shortened fight, with that weapon she had unleashed quickly managing to dispatch the dragon she had expected to put up more of a fight for much longer, and it wouldn't be so wrong as to indulge in what she desired for a bit... She knew what exactly she wanted anyway, and it was something that was incredible simple.
"... Hmm... Alright, fine then..."
Her hand would then move towards the white-haired beauty's head, moving itself in a gentle manner as her fingers softly caressed her as if he were a child: immediately, this would only make Speranza's smile somewhat brighter in its appearance.
"Thank you, sister~"
"You're welcome, Spera..." her right hand would continue to move and rub her head gently, as her eyes then suddenly moved towards the motionless corpse of the enemy they had slain. "... Ah, anyway... One more thing to make sure this disgusting thing is truly dead."
Whitlea would raise her other arm, a weak, purple light enveloping that limb, as a powerful, invisible cutting force suddenly emerged from her fingers in an instant- it was a precaution she had taken in order to ensure that their enemy would not suddenly rise again from death using some forbidden magick that was carefully concealed within its now-dead body... It was better to be safe than sorry after all.
[Sever.]
The violent cutting force easily cleaved through the dead reptilian's scaled neck, piercing through his scales, bones and flesh as his lifeless head quickly departed from his neck and began scattering more of its filthy, red ichor into the waters.
... Suddenly though, the waters would unnoticeably begin to steadily increase in temperatures, the causes of this being inflicted by a terrifyingly unknown source...
________________________________________
Confusion.... All Thurien could feel was confusion as her mouth ran agape from what she had just seen on the holographic display.
Those 2 figures who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere... One of them had somehow managed to form a massive tidal wave using a strange power in order to hit the dragon from behind: while it was fortunate that the tidal wave had quickly dissipated the moment it hit the fell creature, Thurien could, nevertheless, feel a great sense of shock as she saw just how powerful these 2 unknown individuals truly were.
"Where are they now...? And why did they dive into the water all of a sudden?"
What's more, however, was how the 2 of them nonchalantly descended into the water, and were now completely out of her sights: the more time continued to pass by, the more Thurien felt uneasy about everything that was happening before her very eyes... Who were these people, and why had they suddenly appeared from out of nowhere?
[Warning: and unknown aircraft has landed in Hangar Bay 1-B..] An even greater situation had reached to her, one that only served to increase her anxiety even further- a warning had appeared in the holographic display, as the video feed on the place that had been supposedly infiltrated by an unidentified perpetrator appeared before her eyes almost immediately. How strange... What sort of aircraft was this one? And how had it even managed to get inside the fortress without alerting the numerous detection systems that protected the castle from these form of threats? There was no time for her to think too much, as the unknown infiltrator may have already began its terrible plans as she remained in silence: almost immediately, she would quickly give a single order to the display, not wanting to risk any more dangers as she instantly made the decision that she calculated in her mind as the most logical decision. "Send all available units to Hangar Bay 1-B." she voiced out to the holographic display without a pause. "Disable that craft and capture any threats you see."
________________________________________
"... Well, if you look at that... This entire place looks just like home..." The aircraft Novus was piloting had finally landed at the destination it was meant to arrive at- the massive castle situated at the center of the sea, where that individual named 'Thurien' had lived in isolation for who knows how long... It was, after all, incredibly obvious how this place never had any guests visiting its lonesome place; the moment the craft had landed inside one of the fortress' many hangars, he could instantly tell how secluded the entire place was due to the sheer silence and dust he met when the plane finally landed upon the dust-ridden ground of the hangar. What got Novus' interest the most however was how remarkably similar this 'Thurien' individual was to his mother. She was just like Anastasia, he thought: a cold, lonely being who had remained in seclusion for many years without a single contact with other individuals.
Perhaps his 'mother' was more closely related to this 'Thurien' individual than what he had initially thought?
"I guess it's time for some action..." he then got off his seat as he began preparing to go outside. "Time to put on my gear..." There was still the issue of his sudden, unexplained arrival at this place all of a sudden: if there was any form of defense or resistance that would suddenly appear, he only had his current gear to help him if such a thing was indeed meant to happen: his energy weapon, his stealth weapon, as well as an assortment of explosives that each had their own purposes.
... Well, it wasn't really going to be much of a problem anyway- he already had a plan he made right from the very first moment he had landed in this place. After all, what kind of man wouldn't have a scheme after arriving at such a completely different place as this one?
"Alright then..."
Novus then walked through the small spaces of the craft as he made his way to the its sole, massive exit, which was the same way where the 2 had previously jumped from when they made their descent: a massive, iron door that had now opened as he slowly made his way to the massive, dusty floors of the hangar he had landed in.
It was such a familiar sight, he thought to himself in silence. This place reminded him of the old days in his past life when he had served as a soldier of the united front of humanity: while it hadn't been quite a fun experience, they were still incredibly memorable moments that he could never bring himself to forget.
Suddenly, however, as he had barely even made 10 steps on the unkept grounds of the airdock...
"Halt, intruder. Cease your movements. Lay down your arms and surrender."
The defense Novus expected to come had arrived so quickly: almost instantly, hundreds of humanoid-shaped automata equipped with dangerous, steel weapons had rushed into the hangar he was in as they all faced towards Novus in a cold, unflinching gaze as they all spoke in unison for him to surrender immediately. It was such a dangerous sight, as even Novus couldn't help but remain standing still for a moment as he stared at their sudden appearances for a while.
... Fortunately however, Novus had already thought this one through: he had already conceived of a plan in order to survive in such a situation, and so simple was it that he could quickly begin to proceed with its steps.
There wasn't any moment to spare, as each second that passed provided only more dangers to him as he silently chose to remain idle from where he stood.
And now, to reveal the grand, yet simple plan he had quickly concocted.
"... I surrender." Novus said nonchalantly, as he dropped his blaster to the ground and raised his arms up without another word coming out of his mouth.