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Chapter 371: Demons Attacking
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The [Memory Crystal] disappeared.
“Where’d it go?!”
“The Artifact was stolen!”
“You thieves!!!”
“Curse you, Terrans! You’ve doomed Humanity!”
“What have you done?! What right do you have to deprive us of our purpose?!!”
Maki is totally enraged. He hollered and screamed and howled as if it was the end of everything. The ‘Artifact’ was their lifeblood, the big chunk of the voice they have in The Alliance.
It was their main chess piece to survive.
Now it was gone, their minds were fried and Maki had his reasoning clouded by the AI-personality algorithms he had developed and refined through the years that he’s been online.
He had developed the emotional reactionary code on his personality protocols called “anger” and it wasn’t doing anything good to him right now. His calculative capabilities were being affected and it was too late to control it now that he already burst off into a fit of harsh ill-sounding words.
“Deprive of your purpose?” Siva looked at him, “I already told you the consequences of the events that had just happened right now and you still do not have even the slightest of worry? I assure you that any time now; demons will descend from the skies of your precious colony! The longer you keep this Crystal in your possession, the greater your reliance to it will be and once the Demons or anyone who had the capability to take it away from you comes in, the higher your fall to destruction and unable to get up will be as well.”
He pointed a strong finger and Maki’s expression darkened at being directed in that accusing way.
“You should be glad I was the one to discover the Memory Crystal instead of those Demons. But unfortunately for you… this is not secret anymore since you’ve heard it as well right now… this meeting had been announced to the world and the Demons are already aware of this place. An invasion is imminent and their goal is this Crystal. Those evil bastards will risk it all to attack your colony for this Crystal. Do you understand? This is already a matter for all of us, not just for you Humans anymore!’
After he spoke, Siva also looked at the Elf.
Gaia was in a panic. She wasn’t ready to face the Demon Armada. Yes, she was powerful right now, but in the face of the entire Demon Armada, she was still nothing more than a Terran with an overly long life span and a high affinity to Mana.
She may be able to deal with mere Pawns, but the sheer numbers of them would overwhelm her Mana reserves and that would mean the end of it.
If that happens, then the last line of defense for this world will collapse.
(No, wait.) She looked at Siva, (He is the last line of defense! Janus asked this girl to be by his side always and if what he says is true with her having the legacy of Terra, then Siva will protect her and this world at all costs.)
Gaia didn’t say anything and only looked at the situation. Then, she waved her hand and the spell that bound the Humans disappeared.
[Humans, I urge you to trust my words. There is no chance for us to survive if we let the Demons get a hold of these Crystals.]
“Humph!”
As soon as he was freed, Maki rushed right away, and his goal was Scion. There was a sonic boom as his body instantly dashed forward.
“Give it back!” Maki screamed and maneuvered around Siva like a snaking ninja, his movements were all swift and concise that with only a few tiny steps, he already bypassed him.
He was heading straight for Scion who was just walking over towards Siva’s side.
But…………
Siva wouldn’t allow him.
BANG!
It was an abnormal speed for an abnormally bulky set of armor. A black-armoured fist slammed the right side of Maki’s face but Maki was using a bio-mechanical body and it was made up of White Element —having the same sturdy property as Black Element but sported not hardness and hefty defensive capabilities, but rather of lightness and the inexhaustible flexibility of anything that was used with it as the main material— so he was able to put up a block at the right time and even shot a counter.
He swiftly moved his right arm to block and his left arm snaked in to try to grapple and remove his limb, but a blade flew at him faster than Siva could move, whistling and slicing the air, aimed at his stomach.
“Hmp.” Maki snorted. Because of his position, he wouldn’t be able to defend properly so he braced himself for impact and expected a minor bump.
CLANG!!! —but he miscalculated.
Because he couldn’t scan the entirety of BMA, he was unable to ascertain just how much Black Ironwood Alloy is exactly applied to this Invention.
“What the….?!” —why is it so heavy?!
Maki was blown off towards the edge of the platform where he flipped in the air and regained his balance beside Hojer.
“You still don’t understand your situation?!” Siva was furious.
“YOU brought us whatever that situation is!” Maki was also burning with fury. Hojer beside him was frowning deeply and his scowl did not have that ‘fawning’ look of delight he had earlier. “Whether you’re saying the truth or not is irrelevant. You’ve lied you way to our turf! What makes you think I’ll let you escape here with our Artifact?!”
Siva’s last bits of patience were ticking away and it was radiating out from his body.
Higginson understood its implication so before an irreversible situation even occurs, he stepped in and tried to fix things.
“Maki, I sworn an oath. Please understand.”
Maki showed an expression of gnashing his teeth as he shot him a glare, “What kind of oath? Is it stronger than the binds that the Unbreakable Vow can make?”
Siva scoffed, “Breaking the Heavenly Oath can kill the entire Human Race in a span of a minute.”
“…!!’
[Siva is telling the truth.] High Elf Gaia stepped in as well. [Though only the qualified ones can make the Heavenly Laws look upon an oath taker, once a Heavenly Oath is made, the Heavenly Laws will not tolerate an oath breaker and will punish the sinner in accordance to the consequences of the promise made.]
Maki’s face showed shock. He only knew that Higginson had only taken an oath but he didn’t know that it had this kind of effect.
He looked at Higginson, “And you took an oath with the entire human race as a trade off?”
Higginson felt guilty but given the circumstances, he also steeled himself. Without a given approval of the parties involved in the oath, they can’t say a word of their oath to outside parties.
But right now, Siva was present and he was the one who had spoken of it earlier first. Higginson is only following his lead.
“Siva swore that unless we step in the way of his important goal, he will never hurt the Humans. In exchange, we provide him particular technological resource and also the reason for this tour. None of us could put into account that he’d have some sort of connection to our Artifact. In fact, it was his companion, Archmage Scion, who had had the connection to the Artifact. Besides, think about it, the Magi of the Circle of Magi is in front of us and seeming to be on his side. If they wanted to take away the Artifact by force, they would’ve done so in the first place and wouldn’t reason with us nor explain it to us in the first place.”
“I know that already.” Maki calmly said to him. He is an AI with advanced calculating capabilities so he had already thought about that.
What Maki didn’t know is the reason behind Siva’s actions and the reason why it was Scion who took away the Artifact.
And yet, now that he had heard Siva’s part, Maki had managed to connect the dots and understood that only when the consequences of the promise made is higher that Higginson would be siding with Siva and not with him.
Maki stood upright. He didn’t need to breathe but he made the action of inhaling deep and sticking out his chest and scowling at Siva.
“What did you request in exchange of information and cooperation with us?”
“In this exchange, I am clearly in the losing side but I didn’t mind that and still went on to give you my Dragon-grade resources. For the information request that led to this tour, it was a fair trade. But for searching for a certain person, I had to give up 80% of my Dragon Resource. Do you think the Humans are still on the losing side in this?”
Maki ignored his sarcasm and faced Higginson.
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“Is this true?”
Higginson checked the time and said, “Within five and a half hours, in Warehouse 27, his requested resources will be completely delivered. Actually, it only needs us to expend close to 2% of our stock but it can be remedied by a week of consistent manufacturing. But that is in the assumption that the crystal will still continue to power our factory.”
Although 2% isn’t huge, for a colony that depends on technological and information trade with the Terrans in order to survive, 2% is actually a large amount that might affect them big time if they do not control their spending.
Even if it’s only a week of sacrifice, it was still a time enough to choke the Human Society.
For that duration, they had to tighten their belts and compromise to some of the transactions they have already made to other cities.
Maki made quick calculations and determined that if Siva and Gaia do bring their Artifact away from this facility, without the unique energy supply the Artifact gives their machines…
“It would take us twenty days to replenish the lost resources… we can stretch the duration of the delivery for 15days but more than that, we will have to give them proper explanation as to how and why it was late. To avoid that, we would have to expend our own supply. But that will bring our troops outside the Colony so much trouble that it might even lead to irreversible damages.”
Higginson knew this that’s why he requested Siva to add more Dragon Resource to the trade which he willingly obliged in exchange for searching for his brother.
When Maki learned of this reasoning he gave the man a nod of approval for the wise decision.
The Dragon Resource will provide ample amount of compensation for the trouble.
But…
The thing is, that is in the assumption that Siva will not take away the [Memory Crystal]. If he does, he would have to compensate them more… at least something worthy enough on the same level of the unique power supply that the Artifact can give their manufacturing machines.
Maki turned to Siva, “I’ll make it in an hour. But in exchange, I want to know everything that is there in your oath as well as additional compensations.”
“But Maki…” Hojer tried to stop him but Maki only raised a hand so he couldn’t say another word.
“I’ve already given you almost all of my Dragon-grade resources. What else do you want?”
“…the truth behind your AI, the blueprint to your armor, and an oath that if what you say about the incoming invasion of the devils is true, then you will stay and defend us until the threat ends.”
Siva gave another snort.
—until the threat ends?
—you think I’m stupid?
—trying to use my own loophole against me?
“You think it’s that easy? I have no reason to protect you guys.”
Maki was unwavering, “I already know that the reason you came looking for the Humans and setting up that elaborate scheme of triggering the Council of Elders, and breaching the firewall of the Local Net in Jeremiah… is to collaborate in a search effort. Wouldn’t you want that process to be hastened as well? Yes, I can search for the person you wanted to find but I can also choose to deliberately hold that information back until the threat subsides.”
“…!!” —what a god damned scheming machine!
Siva was a shameless scammer but Maki was the same. Of course, two devious scammers meeting each other wouldn’t end up in a good way.
Would Siva have a choice? He didn’t realize that it was going to be used against him.
Higginson Bollard used the compassion card to make Siva compromise almost all of his Dragon-grade Resources in exchange for a simple tour and a search for a person.
In return, Siva showed him sincerity by swearing an oath to the Heavenly Laws to never hurt one Human if they don’t stand in the way of his goal.
And the consequences of breaking that oath were even nine times greater than a single punishment.
His soul would have to suffer nine times before he was granted salvation from the torment of the nine grand lightning of the Heavenly Laws.
Wasn’t this show of sincerity enough?
To Higginson, yes, but to Maki, no… it definitely is not enough display of sincerity. He was their guardian, their protector, and so his actions and all his decisions are always for the benefit of the sake of Humanity —regardless of foreign lives cost.
Siva was clearly left with no choice. To find Baron as fast as he can was his primary goal. For some reason or another, he actually understood Maki’s stance… and yet, on the other hand, he can’t help but can’t accept it.
—in the end, the two of them are just the same.
“Let’s arrange an oath.” He said, “I will give you all you demanded but I need you to find my brother within an hour in exchange. If you can’t then I will destroy your colony, I will take this facility away with me, and I’ll make sure that all your resources are plundered until there is no chance for your entire race to rise back up again!”
Siva was seething with anger and re unleashed his [Killing Zone] directly to everyone he recognize as his enemy around him.
“Rex…” Scion called out to him, “Please don’t do it… you can’t hurt innocent lives like this…”
Scion recognized Janus’ worries.
Players only look at them as NPCs but to the NPC population, they have their own personalities and they have lives as well.
In a way, it was just a matter of perspective. It may even be the sin of mankind in the real world… to create a virtual reality where every citizen and all sentient beings have their own identities… taking that into account, then it was easy to say that taking the lives of these NPCs or even forsaking their right to live is the sin.
“My brother is also innocent!” Siva yelled to the Humans, “He is only a boy and they’re taking the last family I have left as if it’s not important so in the same way, I will treat Human lives as if they are all ants.”
Scion recalled something… this game is changing Rex for the worst and she felt pain thinking just how this setup is twisting Rex’s personality!
Yes, this is just a game, but how could he say it with such conviction and truth in his voice?
But because she had seen the ‘History’, and also heard ‘his story’, Scion also felt helpless with it and she could only tear up and grab h old of his cape and arm as much as she can.
The last part of Siva’s words were delivered in a cold spat of anger, giving no time for Maki to say his own reply to compromise the deal.
It’s just a matter of agreeing: yes or no.
[YES] will lead them both to a compromise.
[NO] will lead them all to go to battle and they all knew that even though there’re only three people in Siva’s side, just Siva alone was already enough to threaten even Jeremiah.
What is the tiny faction of the Humans to him?
The next moment, the blades Siva had released all started to vibrate as they moved like bees in defensive formations surrounding their nest, him.
There was no actual pattern to it. Just the random flying patterns of a chaotic piece of mind.
Cortana took control of it as a response to Siva’s mental state. She knew that if she didn’t respond to this stimulation of his mental thoughts, even if it’s just a show, she might get “compressed” again just like how it happened in the past.
Fear of destruction and being deleted is like the primal instinct of any individual —whether it was an advanced AI like her or it was an infant or a tiny cub of an animal— it exists to her as well.
This fear manifested on Cortana’s reaction codes and prompted her to make a ‘show’ of force to at least alleviate some of Siva’s mental stress.
If Siva sees that the Humans are deterred by his presence, then perhaps it may help him to sustain a healthy state of mind.
Besides that, Cortana also brought him a piece of good news, [Scan Complete].
“YOU!!!” Maki was enraged but Siva ignored him.
‘Be quick. Complete the NavPix prototype.’
[Yes boss.]
Then Siva said, “The time of thinking is gone. I’ve already agreed to be your protector. Now, it’s you who had to agree to my demand. Choose. NOW.”
It was an ultimatum. It was also a threat.
He knew that he had to clash against the Demons sooner or later so why not meet them earlier on and see how strong he had become?
Siva’s reference was Sefirah and there was a very clear picture of her strength in his memories.
His fight with her in Alexandria showed him just how weak he is compared to his enemies.
The [memories] told him that Terroa had a unique ability to suppress these Demons. So unless they are in the [Primordial God] level, Elder Gods and other lower level lifeforms are suppressed to the Immortal level as the threshold.
Gabriel walked the path of [Space] and [Time], the two highest Universal Laws, so it was easy for him to ‘suppress’ Gyoolu and Sefirah who only just obtained their hosts and is still in the middle of synchronization back then, and send them flying off to space using his strongest magic.
But that’s how far he could go… rejecting them.
Unless Gabriel completes his ascension, he could only exert 50% of his abilities’ maximum potential.
To Siva, though, it was enough reference.
His body has been tempered, he had enough resources, and he had the Rewloola.
If needed, he can just totally dismantle the Rewloola and retrofit its [Bloody Mary Cannons] into an Invention of his own personal design.
It was an OP-equipment and Siva had long gone through that idea as a backup plan.
After all, its hull armor is still made of Glandanium Alloy and with a little tweaking; he could make use of what he’d get and create another BMA —which by the way is one of Cortana’s standby tasks.
He still had a lot of Tesla Coils in store and given enough time, he can create one BMA every 5hrs.
—all thanks to the upgraded PNF.
‘Cortana, add another mission to the Task Palette: use the extracted Greyrock material we got from the Rewloola and integrate it to the prototype NavPix in our storage; then start the recalibration of the current BMA-BP using the same materials.’
(AN: BP = Blueprint)
[Estimated production time is 10 minutes. Sir, with the Greyrock Base gone, should I start to design retrofit parts and install a hybrid SS-Generator to the Rewloola?]
‘Yes. And also, since the demons are invading, I will have you redesign my standby blueprint of the Sniper Rifle. Focus on silencer and enhanced distance applications, and ignore any additional weight and size that may arise with the upgrade in the design. Just focus on the tasks.’
[Should I also consider putting CQC and defense oriented features on the design, sir?]
‘Defense is not our main concern but it’s not bad to put it in. Still, it’s a rifle and its main purpose is to extend our damage range while being almost undetectable. We will maximize the [Absolute Domain]’s capabilities to lift up any weight and with the anti-gravity feature added to this functionality, we can even temporarily install a few reflectors to our proposed weapon. We can always readjust this design in the future so we must focus only on the war at hand.’
[Yes sir. Redesigning from mental image… done.]
‘Good. Then focus task on creating the NavPix.’
If there’s something Siva believed is to be never-changing in life, then it’s the fact that even if you have a solid proof plan, you can’t always stick to its execution. There will always be times when you have to divert from the plan to meet the same end goal of it.
—this here is such a situation.
There was already a completed NavPix Drone Unit waiting in his inventory and right after having the events here in the facility, he knew he had to change the plans he had with the NavPix Unit.
[Sir, simulated final product features show that its own personal integrated SS-Generator improved expected performance by approximately 35%. It created the option of either having a (1km-wide Absolute Domain) + (250m-wide Scan) + (10km-wide Comms Link)….. or a 500m-wide (Absolute Domain + Scan) and 15km-wide (Comms Link) functionalities. Should I choose the first?]
‘No. Choose the second. The increased (Comms Link) function is more beneficial in the long run.’
[Confirmed.]
‘Finalize all tasks.’
[Done. Displaying results.]
Panels appeared on his vision and Siva felt a little satisfied seeing the prototype drone unit.
Made of Glandanium Alloy + Black Ironwood Alloy and a Greyrock base for Anti-gravity features, this drone design was going to be Siva’s eyes in the sky —a lookout on four directions that he isn’t looking.
For now, this NavPix design was going to Scion as the frist NavPix prototype was intended for her in the first place.
(AN: Remember that Knight–class warships use Glandanium Alloy as ship material while Garuda-class warships use Black Ironwood Alloy. Also, Lambda-class warships use the super light [Light Metal Alloy] for their hulls. Knight-class Warships are frontline warships with thick armor but poor maneuverability; Garuda-class warships boasts balance; and so Lambda-class sports the best movement abilities for all warships but with poor defense. The heaviest material for warship is of course Glandanium Alloy —but— all warship designs uses Greyrock’s anti-gravity properties as bases. That’s why Siva brought with him the Rewloola: to extract its Greyrock Base as material.)
[Modification of original Blueprint is complete.]
‘Good. Begin production.’
[Expected time of completion… 10minutes.]
While all of it seems to be a long discussion, the entire thing happened in a span of four and a half —no, five seconds.
Siva’s multitasking ability was this frightening.
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They all have their own goals to meet…
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Next Chapter: Lily appears…!!
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