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Chapter 395: The Box
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He gave a call, “A package is coming. It’s important to me so please secure it.”
The one he contacted was Lily.
[Boss, the defenders are losing the Battle Zones.]
It was Cortana who reported.
Siva took a glance at a live video feed of his allies and his gaze stopped at one of the panel videos.
—towards Gaia’s cocoon.
“If she can’t survive this corruption, then I will kill her myself. Tell Lily to prepare.”
[Righto!]
After that, Siva didn’t care anymore as he drank a second vial of Red Potion, looking at the direction of the hallway he was currently standing on.
He considered the more pressing problem.
“I have to find a way to get upwards.”
[Just keep walking. Just keep walking. Just keep walking, walking, wa…..]
‘Are you trying to be a fish?’
[It was just a suggestion, (grumpy ole grandpa).]
‘…’
Cortana had learned how to whisper and grumble, like a teenager. Apparently, she was still too loud.
—she’s growing up way too fast…!
Siva didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Anyways, now that we’ve successfully kidnapped one of their Supremes, I bet the real Captain of the Ship won’t be sitting on this one anymore.”
[I’ll keep my eye out, sir.]
Siva began walking.
“That earlier Lightning Bomb earlier… didn’t we get a good energy boost from it?”
[Just 6%.]
“2500 PSS-Grenade worth of explosion and only a meager 6% in power boost?”
[Your design is really demanding, Boss.]
“…”
—Siva inwardly face palmed to comfort himself.
*****
“He got El Bravo!”
“Your Highness. Your Highness!”
“How dare that Terran trample over our race!”
“You Highness, just one Supreme is already a bad loss and a great boost to Terrans but El Bravo had even [Released] his seal! If we let them use him as a weapon, then the Terrans will…”
“I KNOW!!! This Terran is clearly not in the level of an Immortal nor is he even at the verge of it. But he’s using abilities that Immortals can… he’s not normal, that I am sure of.”
“But Your Highness….”
“Fret not. I will personally deal with this Terran. All units prepare for deployment. Retrieve El Bravo at once and kill every Terran in the ship’s vicinity!”
“Sir!”
*****
It was easy for an [Absolute Domain] boosted item to fall faster than the constant acceleration gravity has to offer.
And in that regard, as soon as Siva showed them the ‘package’ being carried towards the hole of the mothership, he also gave command to the Liberty Drone’s ‘package’ to accelerate its fall towards the City.
By the time The Prince’s order was delivered, the ‘package’ had already passed through halfway the battlefield and is inconspicuously heading straight towards the barrier dome, then thru the battling opposing forces, unnoticeably, unhindered, and in safety. So fast, in fact, that—
—until the order was actually implemented and the flow of the battlefield drastically shifted, with all the attention of the Aviators focusing in retrieving the ‘package’, it was now just 2km away from the dome of the city and so a sense of urgency befell the entirety of the ranks of the Aviators.
The [Aviators] were fast and formidable when on jet plane mode but although they can kill swiftly and almost unstoppable in that form, the enemies aren’t immobile targets that can’t think when in danger.
It was the reason why the Aviators have to shift in a humanoid form to become static and properly get their target but before they do, they have to also first deal with the Terrans’ ability to counter their fast movements with CC (crowd control) Spells.
In a way, the Aviators’ weakness is that when they become Mobile Suits, they lose their fast mobility and thus become targets to nimbler and the more stable Terrans wearing Flight Gears.
To counter this, Mobile Suits group together and start bombardments.
And it was very effective in cancelling the Terrans’ mobility and attack versatility, overpowering them with the superior Plasma Burst Technology.
This way, they utilize all their advantages —greater numbers and sturdy armor— and slowly but surely take control of a battlefield zone one after another.
But there are still talented individuals amongst the players and they took control over an entire zone, and slowly built a perimeter where allies can heal and also regroup themselves.
It was a tag of war and this was the reason why the battlefield shifted from one form to another, all the zones being the bubbles that move along the water flow.
And then, in the middle of it all, an order was given and an object —a box-looking falling object— had become the central pivoting cog that changed and ultimately dictated the flow of the battlefield in its entirety.
In the zones supposedly controlled by the Aviators, the bombarding attacks suddenly stopped and they took airplane forms, flying away at one direction in an instant, without even as much as a formation to follow and dictate their order and objective priority.
No in fact, they do have a priority and that is to get to a single location as fast as they can.
Other Aviators in other zones abandoned all their targets and changed forms as well, flying off in full haste towards that one direction.
Seen from afar, it would look like a large hole had suddenly opened in a tranquil lake, sucking in all the waters like a hungry black hole.
The defending Players and NPCs ain’t stupid and once they noticed this weird behavior of the enemy Mobile Suits, those closer to the direction of their target reported the source of the anomaly.
—it was reported online; both local and the Net in the real world!
“A metal Box! They’re after a falling metal Box!”
Immediately, the smart people that served as the leaders of each respective Zones issued an order to their allies from pure reflex:
[Don’t let them get that Box!]
Nobody knew what that “Box” was but they all knew that the enemies won’t abandon their battle zones for a useless object.
As such, despite the negative feelings arousing at the sight of that Box, the defenders still flew at the fastest speed to catch up to the enemies.
“We can’t outrun the jet planes! Use CC! Use CC!”
“Prepare for ambush!”
“Set up a Barrier Spell blockade!”
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“Long-ranged attacks! Use long-ranged attacks!!!”
Naturally, the first to reach The Box were the aliens, and there are thousands of them.
They were guarding The Box’s perimeter in a very tight defensive formation with a few Aviators even trying to crack the ‘lock’ that sealed one side of the object.
Despite the air-tight formation, Spells began to be cast at their directions and Mobile Suit armors fell towards the city by the tens each second that past.
This here was the sight of a defensive siege battle.
At that point…
CRACKLE!!!
When the brightest of the Aviators present actually went off his Pilot Cockpit and checked The Box, he actually triggered Siva’s trap in it.
One side of The Box cracked open and released a few hundred-worth of PSS-Grenade in it.
Everyone felt familiar with the sight and some even immediately concluded that it was Siva’s doing.
The Aviator that opened the box was stunned and he fell from the box with no Aviator even minding as he fell from the sky along with his Mobile Suit.
But that’s not the important part.
*****
Siva watched it all happen as he continued to walk inside the mothership, occasionally encountering a few walking resources and harvesting them in a blink of an eye.
He couldn’t help but smile widely.
“Now let’s see how you guys will react.”
*****
The important part is that as soon as that side was broken open, an orcish head popped out of it and through the help of the BMA ‘parts’ that Siva left in the head, it seemed to move as if actually awake, opening its mouth that seemed to scream a word.
What more, through the help of the Liberty Drone’s [Absolute Domain]’s embedded Auricle Device’s Audio Speaker Mode, a made up orcish voice was delivered in an awe-inspiring intensity.
“SIVAAAAAAA!!!”
One doesn’t need to be smart to know that it was a cry of both hate and agony, a bellowing cry of rage and humiliation, carrying all of the resentment of a bitterly defeated foe.
The defending Players and NPCs realized that that Box’s content is Siva’s victim —obviously one of the leaders of the enemy’s main camp.
They also knew that the ‘package’ was alive.
They also realized that the Aviators are trying to save that Demon Commander.
Then they understood that it was someone even a lot higher in their rankings or the Aviators wouldn’t have mobilized all of their forces just to retrieve it.
—and so—
It all boils down to one fact:
Since it’s connected to Siva, then it’s automatically a trophy no matter what it was. And with the earlier announcement regarding the prize of attacking the mothership… are they going to get their hands on his goods or not?
Of course, with the world already knowing about Siva’s exploits, would they really miss this chance to mess with his quest and get it for themselves?
Hell. No.
Thus, the time for weighing pros and cons were all over. The first to charge and unleash their greedy frenzy were the players, with the defending NPCs following the fray plainly for the spoils.
Just one look and they knew it was a Commander and if they can get its core, they can create their own BlackTech and become superior Hunters in all of Terroa.
So…
Who wouldn’t want their own BlackTech?
*****
A frenzied attack and defense occurred and three-four layers of problems stacked together to create a spectacular display of offensive and defensive formations and tactics to get the control over that ‘Box’ that Siva wanted delivered somewhere.
There are, of course, others who used this chance to sneak inside the mothership, hoping to get the same level of harvest as the ones who went ahead of the defending crowd outside.
And so, as a result, the battlefield zones outside the mothership became a tornado of shifting sides and angles; the zones had clashed and fused with each other as the Aviators tried to carry back Siva’s package to the mothership but has ultimately been blocked by the Terrans’ Barrier Spell blockade.
It was a fight for the possession of the most eye-catching resource material in Terroa as of late.
*****
BOOM!!!
Siva’s armor was broken, once again, and there are purplish-black crimson fires sticking around even to his cape as he flew backwards.
[The package’s attraction exceeded all of our initial predictions. Lily had deployed two Puppets to jump up and reinforce the recovery.]
‘It can’t be helped. That Supreme is still alive and so he can’t be brought back to my inventory. I have yet to upgrade the Inventory Plus Ultra up to that certain point.’
[But rather than that, should we just capture this one instead of the other?]
‘No. This one is different. This one’s smarter than the last one and has more dignity to himself than a blind belief and arrogance due to his bloodline.’
[Boss is wise.]
‘You already read my mind before you even heard my answer.’
[Can’t help it, boss. You programmed me this way.]
‘I know.’
As usual, Cortana was trying to maintain his mental stability through useless, sometimes meaningful, conversations… even during a battle.
It was both his training, a way to practice increasing his concentration and situational and circumstantial adaptability.
His opponent right now had suddenly appeared and blocked his way, starting with a [Release], and promised to kill him within his limits.
Since then, a bitter struggle had begun where the Supreme attacked with spells from long range and didn’t allow him to deploy his ‘blue aura’ to cancel out the heat that started to melt his armor.
With one of his trump cards neutralized, his chance to win somehow drastically decreased… but not in an empty percentage.
But instead of despairing in this seemingly negative situation, Siva was actually grinning. He recalled all the times that he experienced an unwinnable time and still manage to live through it.
Injured and almost dying, yes, but nevertheless still alive and kicking.
His brain worked.
Assess situation, self, arsenal, trump cards, enemy, and then the surroundings.
The key to winning isn’t ho polished a plan was, but in the way a plan is made, executed, and then adapted to the situation.
But what if there was no plan in the first place?
‘Even better! Hahahaha!!’
He tumbled over his back twice and rolled over to his bum, looking at the enemy on the other side of the hallway, towards The Prince who looked at his damaged-armoured-self disdainfully.
“You aren’t half bad. To survive two of my attacks and still has the energy to look at me eye to eye, it is indeed admirable even to the Terrans. I am in an invincible state when pinned against your current strength but I can’t help but still feel afraid by your ability to lower my defenses by three quarters.”
There was the sound of metal hooves hitting metal floor and was cool to hear even to the perspective of an enemy.
It was The Prince who carried himself with dignity as he strode majestically with an upright poise and lowered gaze in front of Siva.
Siva’s wrath was rekindled remembering this same appearance of Baal back then.
But he grinned instead of roaring angrily, laughing as he stood up, using the chance The Prince gave him to breathe and recover his poise as a warrior.
And speaking of Warrior, Siva’s blood boiled as he understood what The Prince wants.
“It’s really unbecoming of your race to still aspire to get the dignity of a warrior despite being born with an innate disposition to be lazy.”
The Prince wasn’t offended, “Being a warrior isn’t about racial origins or disposition. It’s about one’s own perception of oneself and one’s ability to be able to stand, as you are, in front of an enemy, and never know the meaning of surrender despite the overwhelming odds.”
Siva laughed at the words he heard. For a Devil God who lives by the way of corruption and the insatiable hunger for power, to talking about things like a warrior’s way of a warrior’s honor was just too damn ironic.
And yet, Siva understood it.
“In the beginning,” he muttered tiredly, “There was just The One… the empty universe… and the Laws of the Heavens that provided the Mana to create a strand of existence called ‘life’…”
The Prince raised a brow. For an orc-face to raise a brow is quite something but when he did it, there was nothing wrong with how he looked. It was an ancient story and despite the fact that only a few of his own very old ‘elders’ knew of this story, it’s not as if there wasn’t any old Terran who doesn’t know about it as well.
After all, even before the Devil Gods race… there were only the Primordial Gods of the ancient era.
‘The One’ created the Devil Gods with an innate disposition as rulers and dominators. The One had seen the mistake on his creation and so wished to restart all over again, creating the Devil Gods raise from the most powerful Primordial of that great era.
—at least that’s how the story goes on their side.
“…and The One created the world, day, night, the seasons and the abundance that can support life, and so the Primordial Gods prospered until the Sin of The One emerged… innately born a Corrupted Soul by the very hands that created this universe.”
“I hate to say this but I want to rest. Terran, let us finish this as warriors. I shall grant you a swift and honorably painful death.”
This centaur’s weapon wasn’t a hammer but is in fact a sword-javelin-spear 3m in length.
The reason it was a ‘sword’, a ‘javelin’, and also a ‘spear’ is because of the large 12in–wide blade at the tip, 1.25 meter long; then the handle shaft that was the rest of its length, nearly 1.75m in its size.
When held in the middle, it was a javelin; when it’s held with both hands, it was a spear; when held at the end of the shaft, it was also a sword… thus, it was named «Lancet Imperious» by its owner.
[Lancet] to define its weapons origin!
[Imperious] to signify its grand might as a weapon!
He held the lance in a charging position, a knight of old times doing a knightly duel in an arena.
Siva… well, Siva continued his story seemingly not interested at all with The Prince taking his position.
“…the Burning Apocalypse Dominion was one of the first to succumb to the temptation of power. A race of Primordial Gods who abandoned the honor and glory of their sacred calling. I would’ve been fine with all that shit, really, if you guys have not threatened me time and time again. I would have left you on your own and we would have minded our business but things have changed. You are all the same to me. Talking to me about the honor and glory of being a warrior? Hah. I can’t help but feel sick… remembering how your Emperor, that coward Baal, talked trash about my mother before he led millions of Devils to attack the very person who nurtured him from his infancy…”
Until the last words, Siva’s tone of speech became increasingly cold. Eventually, he spoke with a rage in his heart, seething and roiling, demanding to be released in one eruption.
He remembered the details, yes, and learned of the truth behind the events… but he still won’t be able to forget the pain and suffering, and the clear memory of Terra’s passing.
She was his mother…
She was his comfort and his home.
The Devil Gods killed her. Period. There was not a word to be spoken anymore regarding that fact.
Siva held nary a spear nor any lance weapon. What he held in his right hand was the Black Dragon Blade of Triune… the sword reborn as an invention and held the unlocked attribute of the passive skill:
«Kamaitachi»
“Honor… glory… ahaha… what bullshit.”
The Prince wasn’t angered and only sighed, “I see that you chose the hard way. Very well. Please die slowly and painfully. For profaning the dignity of us Fireflame Beasts, and blaspheming the name of our Emperor, I sentence you to an eternity of cruel torture and slow and painful death.”
His Mana erupted —the power of a Chaos God. It burned the air and drove away the meager ‘blue aura’ that Siva managed to conjure in the small time that he was given.
Purplish-black crimson fire roiled on the centaur’s body and the spear burned with the same fire, an even more menacing presence being awakened in the weapon spirit within it.
A resounding roar came to Siva’s ears but he only looked at the opponent, prompting for Cortana to get ready.
‘Keep up with my thinking speed.’
[I’m the only one who can, boss, although there is still this .01% latency.]
‘As long as you can keep up…’
[I’ll use all my processing ability.]
The Darkness Aura generated from the gathering of The Prince’s Mana created a domain that locked on Siva’s presence.
“You will not be able to escape.” He declared.
Siva laughed at it. “You spoke of a warrior’s way, but have you actually seen your father fight?”
The Prince frowned. He haven’t. But if he, one that is sealed for millions of years haven’t seen it, then there was no reason why and how this Terran can.
So why ask then?
The Prince didn’t even bother to think it thru nor did he ask why the Terran was asking it.
He only replied coldly, “What is your name?”
“Siva.”
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The Box! THE BOX!!
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Next chapter: The central chamber!
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