“He’s here! Open fire!”
“We need reinforcements here now!”
“Maintain distance! Maintain distance!”
“Die! Protector scum!”
Adam dashed across the Field of Vengeance. Countless Crusaders, Marauders, and a hundred other supplicant legions tried to stop him. Golden blasts and orange photon shots rained down on him, but Adam was fast. Too fast. Crusaders and Marauders were by no means weak. Crusaders had basic CAS of 700 and Marauders had 800. But they weren’t able to delay Adam for as much as one second.
Hundreds of figures leaped toward Adam from the shadows. The Forgotten. A race born with the passive ability to be ignored by all that they come across. They were known for casually wandering into a heavily defended position and then assassinating the enemy defenders. All the guards would simply ignore them. CAS: 900.
They were some of the most feared assassins in the Infinite Realms. Not the best, but enough to terrify most.
But Adam wasn’t here to fight them. His lance brought him dashing across the entire platform. The Forgotten didn't land a single shot before Adam was no longer in the battlefield.
In the command center, 19 Aggressors circled around a hologram projected map of the Field of Vengeance. A red dot on the map showed where Adam was, and that dot was moving pretty damn fast.
The Aggressors’ expressions were ice cold.
“He is going for a phaseship.”
“Deploy the Dragoon legion to the hangars in that proximity. If he tries to lift off, shoot him down.”
“Are our orbital defenses online?” One Aggressor turned to the AI.
“Affirmative.”
“Project Adam’s path and commence orbital bombardment.”
“Caution. Orbital bombardment on our own platform will result in significant friendly fire.”
“That is irrelevant. Execute the command.”
“Affirmative.”
Suddenly, a few Marauders at the door protested.
“Commander Qing, you are not allowed to enter…”
Just like a lot of times, a statement like this was followed by the sight of the said commander bursting into the room. As soon as he got in, the Crusader general turned to the Aggressors. The scent of alcohol could still be smelled from him.
“What is happening with Adam?”
An Aggressor turned to Qing while the rest carried on what they were doing.
“Adam has betrayed the Aggressor Corps by assassinating one of us. It is obvious his defection from the Protector Corps has been a lie. If he is allowed to leave, then the coordinates of the Field of Vengeance will be compromised. He must be stopped.”
“But your orders were to kill him on sight!” Commander Qing protested. “Something is off! I have fought side by side with Adam more times than I can count! His hatred for the Protector Corps is anything but a pretense!”
“Yet how do you explain his deeds? If he truly hated the Protectors, then why did he slay thirteen of the Protectors’ foes without mercy?”
“I don’t know...but we should take him in alive and find out what is happening.”
“That will increase our casualties and his chance of escape. We will not take that risk.”
Qing frowned. That argument made sense. As a seasoned commander, he was no stranger to making hard decisions, and normally, he would just accept the order and take down the traitor. At most, he would wonder what happened after everything was over. But there was this feeling that something was really, really off, and Qing has been saved by his instincts enough times to know sometimes following his guts was the best choice.
Finally, he made his decision.
“I respect your choice, but the Crusaders will attempt to take Adam alive and investigate what truly happened.”
He turned and walked away. One of the Aggressors stared at his figure, wondering if he should make a move that wasn’t too ally-friendly. But another Aggressor shook his head. The influence of the Crusaders among the Aggressors was countless times greater than a dozen Marauder troopers.
----------------------------------------
On the other end, as Adam finished another jump, he suddenly sensed an imminent threat coming down from the sky. His expression changed as he swung his lance and leaped to a spot twenty kilometers away.
But the Aggressor troopers at that position weren’t so lucky. The Field of Vengenace had an entire system of orbital platforms. They were armed with enough firepower so that in case this world was discovered, these platforms could hold the Protector supplicant fleets back for a while. Now, they were turned to the ground.
Aggressor troops with an average CAS in the hundred perished. If they were given a number, each shot from the orbital cannons had a CAS of 3,000, and there were hundreds of them raining down. It was a surprise all those bombardments didn't blow a hole in the platform itself.
Under this amount of firepower, even Amon would never survive more than one round of bombardment if he stood there and tanked all the blasts.
“Uh!”
Adam was leagues away from the center of the blast, but some of the shockwave still washed over his back, and that was more than enough to throw him onto the ground. Even that was because he was already at Tier 3. If he was still Tier 2, he would be erased from this world with not a trace of his very existence, just like the thousands of Aggressor supplicants back there.
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Adam coughed. He tried to stand up. He knew he had to. If the Aggressors weren’t afraid of firing one round of orbital bombardment to conceal their secret, then they definitely weren’t afraid to fire another. He would never survive a direct hit!
But his attempts ended up wasted. It took Adam half a second before he felt the pain washing over his back. A single scan from his power told him even the shockwave resulted from the blast was enough to rip a hole in his Voyager armor and burn half his back to crisp.
His body was trying to heal, but the destructive energy that followed the shockwave latched onto his body, constantly corroding away at his flesh and bones and fighting his regeneration in the battlefield that was his body.
Adam collapsed. His lance hit the ground.
Is this the end? In two seconds, the second round of orbital bombardment would come down from the skies and rip him to shreds.
And the secret that he knew would be erased with him.
As well as the only chance to take out the Protectors.
He would never let that happen...no matter the cost.
“No!” Adam screamed. Inside his body, a part of his soul suddenly ignited. A portion of his very being, the foundation of his very existence, disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a surge of extremely powerful energy.
This damage was near permanent. It would take a miracle for Adam to repair his soul. Before he could find that miracle, he would be forever damaged. Both his power and his potential would drop dramatically.
Then again, potential didn't really matter if he was dead.
Another wave of bombardment rained down. Shot after shot rained down on Adam.
When the smoke finally cleared, Adam was still alive, barely. He just won two more seconds with the utmost sacrifice, and he wanted to spend that time moving, but as soon as he moved his leg, he collapsed.
His injuries were just too great.
Adam resisted. He really did. But the outside circumstances were just too overwhelming. Suddenly, the former Voyager shut his mask and closed his eyes.
He was tired. No. He was exhausted. Ever since the World of the Runes, he has travelled through countless missions and countless worlds. He has killed, maimed, tortured, and betrayed, just so he could get as much power as possible.
In the end, what did he get? His only hope, the Aggressors, was a lie. Sure, he was sent to chase after some weapon supposedly powerful enough to destroy the Protector Corps, but who was to say that weapon even existed? Plus, how powerful could something called “the Chapter of Graham” be? Who even came up with that sorry excuse of a name?
And now, all his efforts got him was here, laying down on the ground and about to meet his end.
Maybe it was best to just let everything end here and now. He tried, and he failed. Even if he saw all those that have perished at the hand of the Protector Corps in the afterlife, he could tell them he did all he could. The Protectors were simply too much.
Suddenly, a voice called out to him.
“Are you giving up?”
Adam looked up. Distinctly, he could see a slanted figure in red and gold.
A familiar one.
The Empress.
Adam gulped.
“Are you giving up?”
“No…”
“Are you giving up?”
“No.”
“Are you giving up?”
“NO!!!”
Suddenly, Adam stood back up. Hundreds of orbital blasts came down from the sky, demolishing everything in its path. Adam couldn’t deflect it. He knew he couldn’t. Then again, he wasn’t trying to tank it.
He channeled the space piercing power in his lance.
But he wasn’t trying to blink to safety. No. Even the blast’s shockwave could wipe his defenseless body out. Instead, all the energy in his body flowed into the lance’s functions. With sheer power, he upgraded the space piercing ability to a world piercing ability.
When the blasts hit the ground for the third time, Adam was gone.
Inside the command center, the Aggressors exchanged glances. They could sense Adam wasn’t killed in the blast, but where is he now…
“Chaos Domain.” One of the Aggressors suddenly spoke up. “He managed to break open a temporary dimensional portal to the Chaos Domain.”
“That is really bad…”
----------------------------------------
Jean waved her Soulbringer. In front of her, twenty rebels collapsed, dead but without injuries.
Behind her, nineteen other Voyagers slaughtered their way through the resistance. The average CAS of the Voyagers on this mission ranged from 600 to 1,200. The rebels? Average of 200. Yes. This wasn’t even their first kill mission. This was their ninth.
In just a few days in the Infinite Realms, Jean and her comrades have destroyed eight different worlds. The casualties were in the trillions.
They were about to claim their ninth target when a message suddenly reached every single one of them.
“All Voyager units, disengage hostiles and prepare for teleportation. I repeat. Disengage hostiles and prepare for teleportation. This is mandatory.”
Jean frowned. With a single move, she wiped out every local in the several kilometer proximities. Within seconds, the twenty Voyagers were consumed by twenty light beams.
When Jean reappeared in Engulfer’s Bay, she realized her team was hardly alone in its experience. More Voyagers than she has ever seen before solidified in Engulfer’s Bay. Above her, fleets and fleets of the Iron Garrison jumped into the docks.
Distinctly, she even saw hundreds of white armored Protectors scattered among the recalled.
What is going on? Something very serious must’ve happened for the Protector Corps to execute such a drastic move. From what she saw, all the missions have been cancelled. Whatever was happening must be more important than grinding rebels into dust.
But what could it be?
Jean didn't know, but by the looks of it, that would change very soon.
One message came through from her watch.
“All 43rd Voyager Legion units, assemble at platform VJS201.”
Jean complied. She left the rest of her kill team and found her way to a portal. When she came out again, she was standing among thousands of men and women in black Voyager armors. This was hardly a match for the 1 million Voyagers in the entire 43rd Voyager Legion, but this was pretty much the essence. Every Voyager here had a CAS of at least 600. They were the best of the best. How to put things into perspective? Their kill counts weren’t measured by lives. They were measured by worlds.
None of the Voyagers exchanged words. All of a sudden, a hologram projection appeared in front of them. It was a Protector, and not a low ranking one. An “A” sigil was at the top of her helmet. Black and red stripes covered the armor on her arms.
“I am Protector Commodore Artemis. I am the head of the ARCADIA Legion, and I will be the commander of this mission.”
Artemis’s figure was replaced by the footage of a particular world. Even through hologram, anyone that saw the map could see a cloud of black and red covering that world. Some of the Voyagers of the 43rd Legion shuddered. There was something from that world that just made them frown.
“This is a world called the Chaos Domain. The Chaos Domain is no normal world. Everyday, throughout the Infinite Realms, there are quintillions and quintillions of souls in agony. They generate hatred and fear and anger and jealousy and lust and every other negative emotion in the playbook.”
“I am sure most of you are aware of this, but emotions are a powerful source of energy. They are so powerful that even Protectors have been corrupted before. More importantly, these forces of agony are naturally attracted to each other as time passes. Put together decades of suffering across the Infinite Realms, and the Chaos Domain is created.”
“There are 30 Protector Legions, 1,302 supplicant legions, and 800 Voyager Legions gathered here. My ARCADIA Legion will participate in combat as well. Our mission,”
Commodore Artemis waved her hand, and the face of one familiar former Voyager popped up.
“is to invade the Chaos Domain and terminate the individual known as Adam.”